I took a quick look at Stinger forums and no one is getting the discount you are on a GT2. The fact that they have to do a dealer transfer is even more impressive. Hopefully the pieces fall into place!
Check out what they’re going for used online. The lowest price GT2 I saw nationwide on Autotrader was listed higher than what your net cap cost would be (sans TTL/fees), which is a pretty good metric that you’re getting a good deal. Like you said, can’t do anything about the terrible RV - so it’s a 3 year test drive and if the actual residual value tanks (like I honestly suspect that it will once the newness wears off and a ton of these come off-lease), you can get out of it easily for your sunk cost
The reason I didn’t want to get into it is because there’s so much to get into :/. I’m also emotionally upset about it because I felt so emotionally satiated by having owned it in the first place.
2009 Audi A5 S-Line 3.2L 6-Speed Manual with 141k miles at trade in.
List of maintenance I had done:
Rear Diff Service
Engine Mounts
Upper Control Arms
Rotors/Pads
Valve Cover Gaskets
MTF/Oil Changes upon purchase (at 113k)
Driver’s side door lock actuator replaced
Things it needed before trade in:
Set of four new wheels (it was a north jersey car, every wheel was bent/dented and one was already repaired for a leak, leaked again)
Set of four new tires
Rear rotors/pads
All lower control arms needed replacing
New front bumper
Window regulators needed to be replaced
Needed a new clutch within the year
So, I think that’s most of it, there were a few more things. I didn’t want to discuss it all because there was so much… but here I am! Wholesale value for the car was 4k, but all of that maintenance (with labor) was going to be 6k to 7k. So I made the call… it made no financial sense to pay over the value of the car just to fix it, especially when that exact amount could be used to pay off the car and get rid of it.
I loved the car, loved to drive it, loved to see it and be seen in it and constantly got compliments for it. But here I am.
Never again. I will never buy another German car out of warranty and all the ones in Warranty are more than I’m willing to pay. Those residuals suck too…
Despite the fact that I found all the parts to fix the car from online distributors and paid an Audi Tech 50 bucks and hour to fix my car… the maintenance was still killing me.
It nearly brings me to tears to think about, it was such a connection I had with that car :/.
How sad!! Sounds like you had no choice but to dump it and learned the German Car out-of-warranty trap the hard way. First gen A5’s are beautiful cars. I was debating between a used 2010 Acura TL SH-AWD 6MT or a used A5 3.2L 6MT when I purchased my last used car. I went with the Acura because I was scared of those types of expensive Audi issues cropping up - the TL was solid as a rock, oil changes and wiper blades and brakes lol - sold it private party with 182k miles for $7600.
You bought it at 113k miles? For I’m guessing $20k+?
Here’s the kicker… I bought it at 113k for 13,8k. All these problems crept up within first year of ownership. I did a lot of driving that year, couldn’t stay out of the cockpit.
The A5 is an amazing car and I loved the 3.2L FSI engine. The oil changes were the easiest I had ever done on a car… Plenty of space in the engine bay (built with the 4.2L in mind, stay away from that engine). Also, just remembered that I needed shocks too… go-figure.
It was just too high-mileage. Did not make for a great DD. I learned my lesson, took my spanking. I’m just glad the Stinger has been great and has had 0 mechanical issues.
ugh that sucks! I feel like the leasing world is littered with former german car owners who have tried to deal with maintenance out of warranty. I tried it with a fairly basic A3 hatchback and a few thousand ££££’s later, swore never again.
At least you now have a long and encompassing warranty on a leased car so you never have to worry about that kind of shiz again.
No, I appreciate it… I know I didn’t do great on my Stinger lease and the residual value is eventually going to put me in the ground… but I honestly think that God threw me a bone…
Consider this, with everything that I just shared… my Stinger is in the body shop for a full -respray because the yellow paint was defective from the factory. I now have options… I can accept the respray in its condition and get a check for 5k (how ironic), or I can trade it out for another GT in a different color, or I can sell it back and hopefully wipe the slate clean and start fresh.
I’m kind of leaning towards wiping the slate clean and starting over. It’s been a great 6 months of Stinger ownership, though. Car is a blast to drive.
I’m actually not a BMW fan… but I had considered the RS5 :P. Those 3,6k dollar brake-jobs are no joke, though (every 20k to 25k miles). Carbon-ceramic brakes are EXPENSIVE.
I was actually thinking about getting a 2018 Accord 2.0T Sport in manual. They have decent residuals and I miss the stick. Or a WRX. They retain their value very well.
Several years I test drove an S4 Avant with the 4.2L (coolest car ever!!) and literally blew it up on the test drive. I had read about the timing chain tensioner failures on forums and decided that it was internet folklore. 5 mins into my test drive I got it up to around 4k RPM and it started violently shaking and lost all power. Limped it back to dealer, threw the keys back at them, got the hell out of there and followed up a week later out of curiosity. Dealer told me the timing chain tensioner had failed, and it was so expensive to fix that they sent it to auction with the blown engine. I was soooo lucky that my German Used Car lesson came on a car that I didnt even own!!
Yup, stay away from the 4.2L engines. The timing chains are located BEHIND the engine (d’oh moment for the engineers) so service position for the S4’s is full front of the car OFF and engine removed to replace the tensioners and guides.
Love the S4 with a stick, but couldn’t justify the maintenance. The 3.0 TFSI supercharged engines (2013+) are actually really reliable and easy to work with. Slightly better deal.
I was going to say wipe the slate clean too but it’s tricky to know what to replace the Stinger with? the new Genesis G70 would make sense but it’s going to be expensive for a while (plus not even out yet) Accord is a good shout.
If it was me, I might be tempted by something excruciatingly boring like a Lexus GS. Just to enjoy a couple of years of no hassle motoring to get over the Audi and Stinger mess.
I’m just glad the Stinger has been great and has had 0 mechanical issues.