HA HA! Now you are talking, definitely agree with you.

I am doing a business lease, company do pay for the maintenance, they do not care either way. Personally and this may not reflect your own situation, I will do at the most 2 maintenance after the free one. I apply the same logic to my business decision as my personal, if I would not do it personally,I do not want the company I work for to do it. It is a personal preference and decision. I learned afterwards that my boss did not get the Audicare for the same reason when he got his S6, so for me, I guess I made the right decision. In the case that you explained in the last post, I could not agree more.

 

Couldn't agree more with that, except I want to add... that if the gov't is gonna take it, take it back!

 

Nealcp, once the A3 is owned free and clear, it can be operated for just insurance, fuel, oil, and basic maintenance costs. Sure, your month-to-month expenses could be lowered with a lease. My particular month-to-month costs are REALLY low because I purchased the car outright with a check. Additionally, I don't have to fret about whether I can drive my car or if we have to take my buddy's car to visit friends 100 miles away because I have to worry about too much mileage at the end of the lease. My vehicle is garage-kept and will last a LONG time with proper care. In my experience, purchasing provides the easiest no muss, no fuss style of ownership.

 

Another moment in leasing versus buying is finance charges. I wanted to lease A3 first, because I was (and still am) uncertain about no 2.0 quattro But when I decided to do it money factor on leases went up so it seem I would pay more in financial charges over 3 year period than I would in case of financing for 5. I decided that buying makes more sense since I would probably ended up buying the car out anyway (I walk to work, hence resale value would be higher I hope .

 

A lot of people get suckered into a lease thinking it's a better deal, only to be rapped by finance charges, high acquisition fees,extra mileage, and a ridiculous residual value. You need to be very careful when entering a lease, and negotiate the selling price as if you were purchasing the car outright. Always talk total purchase price of the car, and never the monthly payments. That is the best advice I can give.

Cheers!

 

Chef be nice now. I am one of those suckers you are talking about...

Your points are all valid, when people go for leasing they sometimes do forget that it is all about the purchasing price first, then you work your way down to residual value, monthly payment, mileage, extra mileage, etc.. That is true. A lease is first about a purchase so you do the same homework and once everybody agrees you go into the lease deal.

There is a case when leasing will be better and hopefully robertmrome will back me up on this since he touched on that in earlier posts but when you are talking about a business, a lease is a great thing as long as you get yourmiles under control. Afterwards, it is all about dollars and cents and where your dollars make the most sense… You can do the math and see what works for you. Just put all the parameters in the formula and see where the balance leans and in the end you have to do what makes you comfortable.

Oh yeah, I was going to forget, remember to enjoy you car…

 

Hey Olivier,

Do you want my sport springs, shocks, and struts when I replace them with the coilovers?

It may make a better ride than the premium suspension?

 

Well Chef, it is tempting… On a straight line, the stock suspension is fine, today I did my first 200+kph this morning with the little A3 and the suspension felt fine but I do like something a little stiffer, lower to the ground and that can handle turns better.

You have to understand that my mechanical prowess stops at basic gas refilling, check for oil (except for that one time when my engine blew up… I am a slow learner), change wiper blades and … well that is about it… So even though I know what you are referring to, I am not certain what is entails. I am a driver, not a mechanic (and probably not that good of a driver either!). I need to find a mechanic, anyone knows a good mechanic in the Tampa region????

 

It would cost you around $250 to get the sport springs and shocks installed on your car from a reputable shop. You would then need to spend $50-$75 to have the car aligned. The sport suspension will have stiffer springs and sit slightly lower than the premium suspension. Not a bad mod if you want just a little sportier car and want to keep the OEM parts. I don't think the dealer would even be able to tell that you've changed from the premium to the sport.

I'll have my coilovers in before long and I'm planning on getting rid of the sport spring/shocks/struts. No need to go back to stock after this mod.

Cheers!

 

I am definetely interested PM me the details