Internet manager here. Ask me anything!

Do lease deals ever have all the maintenance paid for? Also how much is it usually to return a lease after the end of the term?

Yes, Audicare can be added for an extra cost at the time of signing but the benefit is a 1% RV increase which helps in your end of lease equity.

Dispo fee is $495 ? You can get that waived if you either sell the car to someone else (Vroom, Carvana) or lease /finance another Audi…

Hi @IvanAudi! Thanks for starting this thread - very informative.

A relative of mine decided to lease an Audi 18 months ago when I knew nothing about leasing. I did a bit of research to help him along as I knew he didn’t have much interest in learning the ins and outs. I eventually read up on adding AudiCare and he did pay the ~$800 for 3 years of AudiCare maintenance on my advice that it would bump the residual 1%. When I look at the paperwork now, it doesn’t look like the residual was bumped up.

Does he have any recourse?

Thanks!

Do you remember what the RV% was 18 months ago without AudiCare to determine that?

@mp11477

Yes…I posted on Edmunds and the Residual on an A6 3.0T Premium Plus Quattro was 51% at 36mo/45k.

MSRP was $62,175 and the Residual was $31,709.25 on paperwork (51%). The purchase of AudiCare should have bumped it up to 52% or $32,331.

Lets say I go to a local dealer to test drive before even doing my Edmunds research (just to see if I even like the vehicle). I then get a highball price quote from the salesman, thank him for his time, and head out.

I later decide I like that make/model, and research the MF, RV, and incentives from edmunds, and determine a fair price. I don’t want to sit for 2 hrs in the dealership waiting for the salesman to keep going back and forth to his manager, so I email the dealership internet sales group and ask if they can meet my target price. (or maybe I went on truecar so the internet team from the dealership already reached out to me before I get back in touch with the salesman).

If the internet sales team come backs and meets my price target, does the salesman who showed me the car and test drove it with me get screwed, or will he still get any credit for the sale?

Justin

The right thing to do is setup an appointment with the internet dept right off the bat and do the test drive with them.

Every dealership operates differently…some will find any way to screw over even their own employees and some will do the right thing.

I never even thought of that as an option…

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My rule (and what I advise others) is that if you set foot in a dealer to test drive a car and are assigned a salesperson, that is who we talk numbers with at that dealer when the time comes. Therefore, it would be a smart decision to schedule an appointment with an internet person because you may not like dealing with a floor person. Actually, I can almost guarantee you won’t like working with a floor person.

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Most of the time it’s a timing thing. Our dealer “protects” the salesman for 36 hours from their last contact with customer. So depending on when they followed up with you they may or may not get credit. Most hackr deals are “mini’s” so it’s really only costing them $50-100

While losing 50 might not be the end of the world, I’m sure it adds up…especially if you’re relying on that for dinner tonight.

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Plus, a $50 mini may mean hitting a unit bonus, so now that mini could cost hundreds (or more) dollars. Never discount the effort made by a salesmen on the line. If you use their time respect their right to a commission. However, I think the above rules are fair and about par for the course at most dealers (i.e. follow-up/contact within certain amount of days). Rules are, you log 'em, you follow up, did your job and should get credit.

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For sure. The rules help make sure we stay on top of our customers and don’t ignore them. Though a lot of the guys suck at follow up.

You are right on the unit bonus of the store does it. My current store doesn’t do unit bonus but in the past my stores have.

If you had a good experience and want to get them credit I would ask them direct for the fleet manager and they generally will turn you to someone they know and it ensures they both get credit.

I have interacted with some people who were A+ on follow-up but just D for everything else. Like sending a generic national offer for a volume trim when I asked for proper numbers on a more loaded model. And every subsequent conversation was a variation of “I don’t know, I’ll have to ask a manager.”

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Question. New vs used? What do you guys like better? I feel like used cars actually have better margins, but new cars probably bring in the prestige. What are your thoughts?

How often do dealers hide add-ons into the lease?

@coss1600 most of the depreciation of the car happens in the first couple of years. It means that you’ll lose most of your money on a car’s value in the first few years. As the years progress, you’re going to have less and less depreciation between individual years.

On the other side by buying a new car, in first few years you’ll have very little repair cost (if any). Your repair cost are low at the beginning and they start going up over time exponentially.

So, should you buy new and have heavy depreciation at the beginning but very little repair cost, or have a used car that has had a lot of depreciation that occurred and risk the repair cost.

The answer is: buy a used car that has been used from two to eight years and has between 24 and 96 thousand miles.

So, you’re doing to get the best possibility of getting the car for the best price with the least amount of maintenance during your ownership.

Greg Macke

I believe he’s asking about what the dealer prefers to sell more…new vs used. @coss1600 isn’t a rookie…he’s aware of the depreciation aspect.

I’m not sure I’d agree with buying an 8 year old/96k car unless you tinker on the car yourself. You’re going to start having some maintenance/reliability issues + parts wearing out at this point. JMO though. I wouldn’t do it.

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When I purchase used, I prefer to buy newer (age-wise) but with more miles, to maximize depreciation of the additional mileage, but minimize some of the repairs that may involve pieces whose wear curve is tied to age as opposed to miles (rubber hoses, wires, etc.).

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