Think I did OK. Spoke to a number of dealers in NorCal and only a few were willing to do s anything on top of the costco discount (10%). Beauty in this “hack” for me was finding an SQ5 P+ with minimal options but must-have sound package:
quantum grey (desired)
black optics (desired w/all season tires)
B&O sound (required)
drivers assist (desired)
alcantara seats (not preferred but took the concession given other included options)
Monthly includes a fair amount of dealer bloat… effective payment w/no add-ons would’ve been <600 (my goal payment)
LoJack - $399 - pretty ridiculous, dealership installs all vehicles with LoJack and positions as mandatory. Went back and forth for an hour trying to remove this but ultimately best they were willing to do was discount to cost @399 vs retail of 999
audicare - $999 - but residual increase helps offset; I didn’t know this but apparently I should get refund for $250 for not using last service?
lease protect - $620ish - I street park my car, have a dog and a newborn on the way, and don’t want to deal w/the drama at return; negotiated down from starting offer of $1600
Bonus kicker… I’m not sure how common this is but the dealership let me pay for everything with credit card. (6K MSDs + 1500 DAS). Used my chase reserve card at no additional cost. Should 22.5K points = $375 point value if purchase is coded as “travel” (3x multiplier)
Hmmm. Fair point on the card, I’ve got both the freedom and reserve. If not considered travel I guess this would be 1% vs 1.5% back. If coded as travel benefit should be the same with either.
Will let @Samaudibh comment but I’m sure a key enabler for that payment would be at least having loyalty (additional $1k incentive) which I don’t have.
Assuming that’s the case, and 499 is pretax, I think we are pretty close on the monthly (netting out dealer add ons I included)
Do you have data to show an audi dealer codes as travel? Maybe now that silvercar moved to dealerships but i doubt it. I’ve never had a dealer code as travel…
Sam’s deal was also a higher msrp but regardless congrats.
Nah - I think you are right in that it likely won’t code as travel. Wishful thinking on my end - was just surprised they let me do the MSDs with credit card and no fee.
I probably could’ve explored other options a bit further but when I posted for feedback about this deal, general consensus was that squeezing anything beyond 11% + buyrate MF was possibly achievable but likely not worth the upside to use a broker.
If I’d of seen the deal earlier, I def would’ve considered! Was trying to get a payment closer to my outgoing Stelvio at 515 / month.
In any respect, thanks for the congrats, hopefully this thread helps some others trying to close on an SQ5 this month see what @Samaudibh has got to offer.
This is a very solid deal especially considering no loyalty. Refusing the LoJack is about all you could do to make this better. Others will debate the value of the lease protection but it’s subjective.
Hey @alligator - you can make adjustments in the lease calculator but i think it’s ~40-50/month more.
I can PM you a few dealers i was working with, all got close to the deal but if you’re looking to optimize the payment it’s more a function of who has inventory of low $60s SQ5 stock.
Other call out is that the Costco deal ends today, so i don’t think this deal structure will hold up exactly as referenced in October - will be new incentives, residuals, discounts, etc. for a new month.
Costco deal extended to mid Oct
EDIT:Apparently, this extension is not universal.
Impossible to replicate something near this on the East coast. After weeks of looking to lease close to buying a 2018 q5 premium+ 14.5 k miles for 36k. Not a good time to be a buyer right now as others have noted.
