Misunderstanding Something with Q4 Pre-Negotiated Deal?

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1

Hey all, I’m looking for some clarification and community insight here.

I reserved this pre-negotiated deal posted here:
:link: Reserve a 2024 Audi Q4 e-tron - Premium Plus - Demo Vehicle

I got a reply from the dealer (Queens Audi), who told me:

“The used/demo cars will not be qualify for any EV rebates/incentives.”

“For CO DMV… they charge around $400 for DMV fee plus 1.9% fee on selling price of the car. For example, if the selling price is $45,000, it’ll be $855 additional.”

So two questions:

  1. Isn’t this just a used car lease at that point (i.e., titled already, not eligible for any federal or state EV rebates)?
  2. If so, shouldn’t the cap cost reflect actual market value and not $62–64k MSRP?

The listing makes it seem like it’s based on a new vehicle MSRP and doesn’t disclose the rebate ineligibility up front. That obviously impacts the value of the deal substantially, especially for folks in states like Colorado where the EV lease incentive is significant.

Am I missing something here, or is this a bit misleading?

Thanks in advance! I just want to make sure I’m seeing this correctly and maybe help others avoid confusion.

2

Let me know if you get any clarification on this. I am also looking to lease an EV in Colorado and want to make sure I’ll get the full CO EV credit if I’m looking at demo/loaner vehicles.

Also I believe that the CO DMV charges are all based on original MSRP of the car for registration fees. The % just gets reduced each year based on the model year of the car. (2024s would be cheaper than 2025s)

3

I am not involved in LH deals and am speaking in a personal capacity on this. From looking at the listing, all details on that deal are disclosed in the calculator link that is provided, where you can see that there are no rebates being used. This deal works solely based on a bigger discount due to the car being a demo.

Leasehackr Calculator - Hack your next lease | Leasehackr

The listing also states:

Consult with your local jurisdiction whether pre-owned vehicles qualify for any further EV incentives that may be available from your state or locality.

Different manufacturers have different policies when it comes to the applicability of rebates. Generally speaking, Audi demos do not lease well, due to their policy on rebates. With BMW or Mercedes, for comparison, demo units can quality for rebates up to a certain mileage cap. This is only applicable for rebates they provide. State level rebates will vary in terms of requirements and a national ad for a car, seemingly based in NY, will not factor in your local details until you proceed.

Regarding state rebates in CO, have you confirmed if you can apply for them after the fact or if the dealer needs to do it? I know anecdotally from another LH member who did a demo lease that he was able to apply CO rebates, so it doesnt seem to be a state policy.

4

also that deal is awful.

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Just to reply to all here, a couple of things;

When I made this post, I reached out to the pre-negotiated team at LH for clarification as well. They changed the ad fairly quickly. They changed the details to state that these were previously titled (i.e. “used” in the eyes of every agency that matters) vehicles, and added that bit about state eligibility for EV discounts might vary as a result. As far as I could tell, if the car has been titled, the EV discounts do not apply in CO. I could not find a single state with EV tax credits that would apply to a pre-titled vehicle. This was a learning experience for me as well since I wasn’t aware that there are two types of demos; ones that aren’t titled, and ones that are titled.

The replies I received from the dealership were lackluster. They were super short, and getting basic information out of them was like pulling teeth over several emails. I never once got information the actual sale price, window stickers, the mileage, a lease worksheet, on and on. The kind of information that should be front-loaded and I’ve never had to ask a salesperson for, they just include it in the first contact.

The more info I got, the less competitive this deal this appeared to be, especially for a used vehicle. They told me that they “must” use a third party to do the title and tax for CO, which is funny because I’ve bought cars from out of state to myself and have done it all myself without a need for paying a third party anything aside from a small shipping fee. I checked around to make sure there wasn’t some whacky NY state law around this and there doesn’t appear to be.

This is part of what I wrote LH after all of it became clearer:

“Given all that, do you all feel like this is in the spirit of “pre-negotiated” or consumer-friendly deals? A used Q4 e-tron Premium Plus with that kind of mileage and no incentives should realistically lease for far less, based on real-world depreciation. It feels like there shouldn’t have been any need for this kind of back and forth with the dealer to get basic information like the actual MSRP, actual condition of the vehicle, actual mileage, etc. Her responses read more like we were discussing a Facebook Marketplace coffee machine than a $60,000 lease commitment.”

So yeah, not a great first pre-negotiated lease experience to be honest.

6

So you absolutely can get the EV lease credit on demo and loaners ONLY if they haven’t been previously titled, at least that’s what I read. Not all dealers title demos and loaners I guess?

And yes, titling vehicles here is based on the original MSRP, so it’s a lot bigger than people expect. I remember that sticker shock the first time that happened to me years ago. Yowzers.

In case anyone needs it:

Colorado’s “Specific Ownership Tax (SOT)” is based on the vehicle’s original MSRP, not the current market value or what you paid.

The CO DMV uses a depreciation schedule as well:

1st year: 2.10% of MSRP
2nd year: 1.50%
3rd year: 1.20%
4th year: 0.90%
5th–9th year: 0.45%
10th+ year: $3 flat fee

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Let’s have the site owners take a look to see if first version of the ad you’re referring to exists.

We’ll send you a separate DM to discuss.

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If I recall correctly it’s MSRP x 85% x 2.15%, yes, similar to you I was caught off guard on my first CO vehicle.

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9

Yes, for years 1-4, that is the formula but it varies between 2.10% and 2.15% based on GVWR and other “things”. I think most passenger vehicles are just 2.10% though.

There’s a calculator on the DMV website that has helped me be less surprised in the past. Taxes and Fees | Department of Revenue - Motor Vehicle and https://mydmv.colorado.gov/ then click “vehicle services” and then “estimate registration fees”. Their website is hilariously bad and I can’t copy a direct link to the calculator.

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10

Not sure what you ended up doing but I’d cross shop the ID4, the Pro S Plus might offer most the same features for less $$$$

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No, that’s a good suggestion for sure, and I did cross shop the id4 when I got the previous Q4 Etron a few years back. Ostensibly, yes, it’s the same vehicle, but it has a few key differences I noted that made it such a better buy to me (and crazily enough, the q4 was cheaper or really close to the id4 to lease at the time, I don’t recall exactly though).

First, the cabin is SO much quieter. The fancy Audi window glass and I’m guessing just a lot more sound isolation done. It just felt really…nice inside.

Second, the infotainment in the Audi was miles ahead of the VW. It was sad, but the ID4 just felt like a toy compared to the Audi. The radio was terrrrrible and the sound quality wasn’t great.

Third, I really liked the Q4 having a real sunroof! I’m a weirdo who loves them, and it’s really rare on EVs I guess.

My unicorn EV doesn’t really exist, and it’s weird to say but the Q4 really had the features I wanted. I wish the new Volvo’s did, or VW, or someeething else that’s not this Audi, but alas.