I’m hoping someone may be able to help with this question. I am currently leasing a 2019 Audi SQ5. I am about half-way through my lease, but due to Covid, I really don’t need the car. I’m working from home and my wife also works from home. We almost never need to be in two different places at once - the kids are scheduled such that we can manage without a second car. Given that I won’t be going back to the office until July at the earliest, and probably not every day, my needs for a car for the next several months are limited and when I go back probably can live without an SQ5. All things being equal, between the monthly lease payment, MA excise taxe, and insurance, and the estimated value of the vehicle (I did get an offer from Carvana) I would be at break even in April/May and ahead financially by July.
My question is - will an Audi dealer have a better “payoff” number from Audi Financial Services than a third-party such as CarMax and others? Assuming I got the same offer to buy the car from CarMax and an Audi dealer, is the net negative equity going to be less at an Audi dealer?
I know this is the case if I were to be trading the lease early for another new Audi. I assume it’s the same situation if I am just “selling” the car back to them - they would have a lower payoff than a third party. Does anyone know for a fact if this is the case when there is no purchase of a new vehicle attached to the transaction?
I’m pretty sure there have been a few threads in the last few months where Audi/VW/Porsche payoffs have been higher for non Audi/VW/Porsche dealers. So selling to an Audi/VW/Porsche dealer should be the best option assuming they’ll give you the same or close to the other highest offer, might need to shop it around though. I can’t find the threads but if you search for “Audi buyout” they should be here somewhere from the last 6 months.
I’m in a similar situation with my wife’s 2019 Q7, way under miles and should break even mid next year. Have toyed with the idea of trading it in for a Tiguan (so the buyout is lower at a VW dealer), saving some cash even with the small trade in loss for the next few months and then getting a nicer 2nd car when we need it late 2021.
I know there have been a few threads noting that for Audi, the private party payoff was different than the dealer payoff (like a lot of brands).
But I don’t remember anything about there being different payoffs for dealers depending on whether they’re an Audi dealer or not. Just came out of an SQ5 lease myself.
In any event, OP you just need to call Audi FS as mentioned above, ask them for the dealer payoff and if there’s a difference between Audi dealers vs. non-Audi dealers. Do report back.
Thank you. I did look pretty carefully and I did see a lot on early buyouts, etc. but they seemed to involve the purchase/lease of another car. My guess is the case is similar for a pure buy, but was just trying to know for sure. It sounds like Audi won’t share the dealer and third party buyouts with customers.
I do plan to shop it around…there are 6 Audi dealers within an hour of my home, so I can bring it to a few of them to see what the best option would be. Thanks for your reply.
Thanks. I don’t think they will share the dealer payoff - but I guess I could give it a try and perhaps I might get lucky and end up talking to someone there who might share the info.
Yeah dont waste your time. I tried calling AFS at least 5-8 time hoping to find someone that would share dealer payoff, but they refuse. They’ll only provide it to the dealer who calls (Carvana, Vroom, etc.). It makes the process frustrating because you can get a quote from Vroom/Carvana instantly but then you have to provide them your drivers license/registration etc before they’ll even call AFS to get the payoff. Then you have to wait at least a few days for that call to happen to see if you’re underwater or not
Not really, instead of been 2.5 k upside down I only was 1.5.
But then I received the $500 Costco card and because I only had 15k on the odometer, I received a $994 check from Audi labeled Audi care refund.
So today I sold my SQ5. I was 19 months through a 39 month lease and the dealer payoff was about $975 less than my own payoff number. There was about 11,300 miles on my SQ5. There seems to be a market value component to the Audi dealer payoff and some formulaic adjustments made as well, but I couldn’t get a complete look behind the curtain. Hope this helps.
I did not…but there would be a lot of factors in play so everyone’s situation is different - the factors would include the deal negotiated at the beginning of the lease and whether any negative equity was carried into that lease.
Just curious: when you shopped the car around, did you call primarily Audi dealers and ask if they wanted to buy your SQ5? Am in a somewhat similar positon: 2018 Q5 with 12 months to go on a 39 month lease and wondering if I should try the same. TIA.
Exactly that. They can have a better payoff number than you and certainly non-Audi dealers. Of course, everything is situational based on inventory, condition of vehicle, etc… You probably want to check a few Audi dealers just so that you get the best offer. You’ll probably need to visit them to show you the car, but you can try to make an appointment with the user car manager.
