Hey all, I have been a member of Acurazine since 2000 (that's 11 years!) and I am about to leave the Acura family for now. I have my eyes on a white Audi A7 Prestige with 20" sport package and my leasing company is locating a car right now for me.

My 2006 RL has only 23k miles that's why I am going to lease my next car. If anyone is interested in my Enkei setup, pm me. Please go to the photo section to check them out.

This forum has been great. I have learned a lot from you guys and thanks for the support. I will post again when I get the Audi.

 

UW RL, sorry to see you go man, but I think you will like your new choice. I went to check out the A7 last week, very nice looking car. Are you getting it through Barrier? What kind of lease are they offering on the car ? I know it has only been around for a very short while and in high demand, make sure you let us know how you like it. Good luck.

 

Keep us posted on how you like the A7. I test drove one 2 weeks ago and was blown away with how well the A7 performed and handled..........and it looks as great as it drives. IMO the best looking new car out there.

I would love to own one. I drive 50k miles per year and as much as I love the way German cars drive, I am always concerned about up keep after the warranty (which for me is after 12 months) as these "machines" usually require more attention than Hondas.

I am envious! ENJOY the A7!

Ed

 

not really sure how having low miles makes sense for a lease since you may be able to recover more money on a sale for the same reason.

are you selling the RL or keeping it as backup?

 

Low miles does very little for you when trading it in, maybe on a private sale. Yes people look at miliage and are glad when the car is on the lower end, but it doesn't change the value drastically. I have a 06 RL and it also has very low miles ( 32000 ) and it is about a $1500 difference from an RL with 60000 on it.

 

when you lease a car you generally end up paying 50% of it's cost over 3 years. With very low mileage (23k in 4 years) you should be able to get more money back, assuming the car is not on the bad side of depreciation.

 

Generally you might be right, but there is always the exception to the rule. A lot of people from this forum leased their cars, the RL in particular and ended up letting the car go back when their lease ended. Their reason was that the RL had depreciated to much and they would have owed more then it was worth. So it really just depends on what deal you get. I personally would rather own the car, but a lease is sometimes the wiser choice, because of getting the lower payment.

 

I most likely won't lease through Barrier. I am working with leasecompare.com and they do have better numbers than the normal Audi lease.

 

I have kept my car for 5 years and I still have the extended warranty. For cars without the extended warranty the cost of ownership will raise if you run into problems year 5 or year 6. One of the benefits of leasing for 3 or 4 years is that you never have to worry about warranty, and the payments will general be lower than financing, considering you are not driving over the allowed limit.

Of course it depends on the car, term, residuals, and money factors.

 

Enjoy it... great looking German ride... I was on the Audi website myself just yesterday ....

 

Just left Hoffman Audi looked at a Red A7....i was blown away by the design anf craftmanship thats one sweet car. Hopefully when my Rl hits 100,000 k in the next 3 years i will consider. Please post pictures of the A7 soon. The Audi i saw has a supercharge badge on the side...

 

Will do!

 

I looked at the price for the A7 plus you throw in a Sonata Turbo if you want any options, at that price...pass.

 

and your point is?

 

Have fun with the A7. It's a fabulous car and gorgeous to boot. Hopefully Acura will make something that will bring you back to the fam in a few years--that's what I'm waiting for.

 

Looks like another member jumpin ship to Audi. Congrats A7s are gorgeous. Check out the S4 too. Thats the route I went and am super happy.Enjoy your new baby!

 

Thanks Bob, looks like you are still around!

 

Yeah, I already have a Q7 since late 06 as my wife's ride, so I am not a stranger to Audi..

Acuras to me nowadays are a little disappointing....

 

i still prefer the A6 over the A7 cause of the rear end looks like blah IMO but GL and yes acura has been very disappointing thats y i sold my TL-S

 

Don't get me wrong, i like Audis a lot and i find them to be great cars on the road. The Quattro system has saved me multiple times(snow storms/bad weather) and the high-speed stability is amazing. I speak from first hand experience.

However, the long term Audi "reliability" is what scares me. I've had two Audis in the past and both were amazing and solid until they hit ~70k miles or so.
The weird problems and the repairs i had to deal with were not fun! When the cars were fine (and new), i loved them. As they aged and they were in the shop (or in my garage) for frequent $$$ repairs - i hated them! Did i say 'love-hate' relationship? Unacceptable for cars that cost $45-50k. Most Audi owners will agree with me (and i know a lot of them) - long term reliability is not Audi's forte! Still great cars, but not for everyone.

On top of that, my local Audi dealer was so rude and incompetent. Expensive and useless. I never got a loaner that was better than a VW Jetta. Waiting for parts was usually measured in weeks! My Acura dealer is not the best either, but they do try a lot harder to earn my business and i always get brand new TL or MDX loaners.

As a comparison, we've also had Nissan Maxima, Infinity G35 and currently Acura RL and they have ALL been very very reliable cars. We drove them the same way, i did the same maintenance(by the book) on these cars and we have/had ZERO issues, with well more than 100k miles on each. My RL is not a true sports sedan, it's a bit boring and sluggish, but for the money - i love the AWD (same, if not better than Quattro), it is fully loaded with features that all WORK well, and so far, i've had zero issues with it. I am not ready to go back to German, unless i justify a lease for 3 years.

Good luck with the brand new Audi, enjoy it, and IF you decide to keep it for more than 4 years, i truly hope that you have better luck than my family did with ours.

 

congrats a7 is a sick car....I just got rid of my RL myself lookin to maybe jump in a super clean e46 or g37 I gotta say the RL is a great car but like everyone has discussed a bit sluggish and boring, but I do not regret owning I would reccomend to anyone as long as it is in warranty

 

Yea my /S4 is my first Audi and while reliability and Audi in the past have not gone together their cars seem more solid these days. They do have little issues here and there and some have large issues but so do any advanced cars these days. My RL hasnt been the most reliable car either especially considering it is sitting in the shop right now with 58k miles waiting on a 2nd propeller shaft to ship and be installed into it. And I have pages and pages of service records of non-routine stuff this car went in for under 40k miles. New radio, new dash bulbs, new climate control unit, propeller shaft, and the recall done and redone 2x. Any car worth really loving these days will have issues. I think getting the Audi is a plus just because at least its more solid fit and finish, nicer interior, better AWD system (IMO), and just newer in general. Plus Audi is moving away from traditional trash Nav systems and paving the way with the google maps in the A7. GO for it

 

Ok, as promised, here are some photos of my new Audi A7. The RL has been sold to a friend, and she won't be picking it up for another week.












I picked it up this morning and have already hard-wired my old Escort 8500 this afternoon. It was pretty much the same as my old RL.

 

Holy crap man what a nice looking ride! Congrats! Those new A7s are stunning. How does it drive compared to the RL?

 

Digging the rims! Not so much the back end. Looks kinda like a hatchback or a fastback. And damn that thing looks like it sits high. I thought the RL sat high! lol

Good luck man, looks like a sweet ride. I hope it drives like it looks!

 

wow

you are the first person I have seen with the A7. I saw it on the commercials and was like damnn.

NICE upgrade UW.

on another note: 037 you seem to try to push everyone to hyundai way to hard!!...why didnt you buy one yet?

 

That is a beautiful car. It almost looks like they "borrowed" the CLS basic shape, but did it right.

 

probably cause no one has any yet. I am talking to one dealer who will have a couple in 2 weeks.

And I'm not pushing people anywhere, just want the value to be recognized. Then again...I'd hate to see everyone driving in R-Spec...cause that makes em like what...common? sort of like 535's

 

Impression of the A7:

This car is amazing in every way. The interior is super quiet even though it's on 20's. Road noise is very minimal. Maybe because I was kind of used to having an CAI on my old RL, but this car is really quiet unless you go WOT. Since I am still breaking the car in, I can't say if it handles better than my lowered RL with SH-AWD, but this car is FAST. Motor Trend tested the A7 from 0-60 in 5.3 seconds, which is amazing for this size of the car. It is no M5 or CTS-V.

The steering feels slightly "fake" maybe because the car is trying to "assist" you, but the power steer feel can be adjusted.

The interior is easily recognized as one of the best in the industry. There are typical Audi buttons but the layout is very ergonomical.

 

That is seriously a nice ride! Congrats!

 

Hey, Congrats on the A7. I'm an Audi dealer in NJ and those cars are being received extremely well. I hated the look of the car when I first saw the photos, but now it's my favorite car to look at in the showroom.

I will note that the A7 as with the CLS, Panamera and 5 series GT is not for everyone. I've noticed that it's a love it for hate it type of car. That type of car is somewhat of a niche market so as the saying goes "to each his own".

Did you get the LED headlamps? I can't tell from your pictures.

On a side note, the new A6 should be to be looked at as well. It's not as sexy as the A7, but the interior is identical and it has the same available options.

 

Good looking ride!

 

I <3 the Audi A7. Congrats!

 

UW RL - so who did that company end up going through to get your lease ? If you don't mind, can you tell us a little about your experience and how it went ? Thanks man. Go Dawgs ! ! !

 

So what...so he can afford it, you can't. There are also guy out there who would scoff at the A7 and think it's beneath them......as they drive off in their Maybach or S55 AMG

And there are guys in a rust bucket who drool over your Hyundai. Everything in life is relative...

 

I saw an A7 on the road over the holiday weekend. It's another of those cars for which pictures do not do it justice. It is simply beautiful.

Maybe Acura needs to steal some designers away from Audi? Just saying.

 

I wouldn't be shocked if the next RL looks very much like the A7. There were rumors going back a year or so that the new RL would look similar to the Mercedes CLS, which the A7 sort of resembles.

 

Congrats on a great ride. Every automotive mag review of the A7 is just dripping with praise for the stunning design inside and out. I couldn't agree more, the car is beautiful and gives a unique combination of panache, style and performance

 

Had to check out the A7 after reading this thread. Test drove one locally today. Nice torque from the supercharged 3.0. Smooth 8 speed trans. Fully optioned out the way my standard 06RL is, it would be about 68K MSRP before tax etc. And I can only fit two people in the back.

I expect it would sell at 5% or so below MSRP.

The onboard technologies seem great and the google earth map feature is pretty cool. Handling seems really top notch. Very pretty looking profile.

Just dunno if it makes sense to buy something for nearly 70K and have to deal with the reliability issues that many German makes are known for a few years down the road. I tend to keep cars for 5 or more years so ...

Think my 06RL will press on for a few more years. Just did my 3rd tranny fluid drain refill in the last 15,000 miles and my old 5 speed trans in the RL is doing its job pretty well after 66,000 original miles.

 

if money is not an object - the A7 is an awesome car that any of us RL owners would trade for.

when you are on a budget, and cost is an issue - and a car like an A7 is not within reach, or within your financial means but it would be at the expense of other things - and you HAVE to assess need vs "want" - then the RL is still an awesome car.

I'm dying to see more pics.... looks like a very nice car. If I had $70k I'd go test drive one!! oh wait.. if I had $70k to spend on a car I'd be over at Porsche... sorry.