I'll preface by saying that I am new to Audi and this forum. I have searched for threads on this topic unsuccessfully, so hopefully this isn't a repeat question.

I'm coming off of a lease in November and have been car shopping and decided that the 2010 A4 is the way to go. I'm going with the 2010 over the 2009 because of the improved Navigation system. I went to my local dealer today and he basically said I could buy one that is already shipping in, but recommended against it because there are no rebate or financing incentives out, but he expects there to be in the next few months. His recommendation was to order the exact car I want and by the time i arrives in 8-12 weeks, incentives should be out that make the pricing more attractive. I've never heard of a salesman telling you to buy later, so I'm trying to figure out if he has an angle he's playing here.

My biggest concern is that I don't have the ability to negotiate pricing before the car is ordered since I don't know what (if any) incentive programs will be in place when the car shows up at the dealership. Has anyone worked out something similar that can offer any advice on how to negotiate price in this situation? I like the idea of ordering the car so I can get the exact features I want. I just don't like giving up leverage in negotiation. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Justin

 

Hello,

I am pricing 2010 a4 and a6 as well northern nj. Did you find anything out so far?

Today the salesman suggested that incentives should be the same or better toward the end of the year when I asked about ordering a car that might arrive Dec and active incentives then would apply rather than current incentives.

the only option seems to be negotiate the price w/o incentives, then apply what's active when the car arrives. sounds dodgy tho. i think incentives could be confirmed online, via dealer sites, forums or shopping around.

current are loyalty and low financing on CPO. lease money factor translates to like 3.5% interest not bad but gets much better.

audiusa.com is showing a $399 lease special for a4. some individual dealer sites show what look like good lease deals too. $365/$344 with loyalty. some interesting deals on 2009s as well mostly a6.

this same build configurator site was accessible from two bank web sites that i use capital one and usaa. it's cool and says the price is guaranteed at participating dealer that it shows you. also quoting $300 under invoice as the guaranteed price on both 2010 a4 and a6 no matter what trim/options.

http://capitalone.zag.com/main.html

edmunds.com has a similar thing. not as cool and higher prices, so i like the first one.

the dealer today quoted a6 invoice + $500 on anything in stock or ordered. invoice +900 if they got it from another dealer. the first figures in our negotiation. i had mentioned that my usaa buyer program guaranteed invoice + 100 price (which it did 6 months ago, now it's invoice -300). this dealer is known for not negotiating the lowest prices.

please post what you get. 2010 a4 is sweet i am struggling to justify the a6. regards - eric

 

I had the same concerns, but this is what happened with me. I ordered a 2010 A4, prestige + s-line in late August at 1% above invoice; this was confirmed in writing and the order sheet clearly states this. There will be incentives especially in December, when the Season of Audi kick in. While details are not out yet, Audi of America has consistently provided holiday deals that will be available when my car finally comes in.

 

I also will be ordering if I get one and the said $500 over invoice for a 2010 A4 MT, prem plus w nav. I need to test drive the manual though before I decide.

Is this a good deal?

 

The configurator site shows invoice -$300 on all Audis I put into it. For that car, $36,427. Not a big difference ($800?) from invoice +$500

http://capitalone.zag.com/main.html

The (only) "participating" dealer near me Bell Audi in Edison NJ said they would honor it. Also got a followup call from the bank about what happened. Maybe legit.

I've worked around car sales a lot and would be surprised if the dealer didn't try everything to increase profit once the dealing begins.

Audi doesn't have dealer holdback, so that could mean they have at most 7% of invoice to deal before they lose money. To get price below invoice, it seems I'd have to make that offer to several dealers and see who wants to move a car.

 

Deal directly with the dealership manager. They don't get paid a commission so you'll get a better deal.

 

considered contacting the new sales manager directly for that exact reason. details are often on the dealer website. anyone had success with that?

 

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I ended up finding the car I wanted online and going to a different dealer. I walked in and asked for the New Car Sales Manager and just dealt directly with him, which made things much easier. I told him that I was coming up on the end of a lease with Lexus and they were going to give me a great deal to flip into a new car, but that I liked the A4 on the lot and if the deal was right, I would buy it right there. He ended up giving me the car for $300 over invoice and throwing in the tire package and the plan with free service for my first 40,000 miles and I drove off in the car an hour later. Overall a pretty good deal I think for the exact car I wanted.

The advice to go to the New Car Sales Manager is definitely valuable. I'd recommend that because he just cut to the chase and appreciated that I did the same. Much better than doing the typical round and round with the sales guy.

Thanks again!

 

I ended up using zag.com and got the following deal on an ordered car:

$305 under invoice
no destination fee ($900)
and I didn't have to pay some other $300 fee

so I got around $1500 under invoice and an APR of 3.9% or lower.

I ordered:
Ice silver/Black interior
18" sport package
Premium + w/navigation
dark walnut wood trim
B&O sound system
6MT

Total out the door with Audicare was $42374.78 great deal to me.

Waiting is the hardest part. Mid January.

 

nice deal. another dealer yesterday in my area quoted $500 over invoice for an a4 and confirmed the figures that the $399 a4 lease deal on the audiusa site is real.

drove the a4 and a6 again. a4 > a6. prefer the visibility, road feel, gearing/power response.

how did you get the $900 siberian dest charge dropped? were you able to use any dealer or just participating?