When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Well, I was just approved for a really good lease for a 2016 Audi A7 premium plus.
They offered $1k below invoice ($66k), 0.00059 money factor and $6k for my Acura with 109k miles on it, tea-kettle sounds and all (although they didn't hear it lol). 3 year lease, no out of pocket, zero, zilch. Sign, hand over my trusty Acura and drive away.
I really wanted to get the Lexus LS460, but there's a new one coming in 2017 and I figure when this lease ends I'll be in the second or third year of that new LS.
I haven't pulled the proverbial trigger so to speak, but I'm tempted and it's waiting.
I know it's the wrong forum, but I've never owned or driven an Audi and asking this on an Audi forum kind of has biased views, so has anyone here ever owned or owns an Audi?
What are the long-term reliability prospects if I decide to assume at end of lease? I may look back and envy the problems I had with my Acura, lol which I hope not.
I am sure the Audi dealer will just whsle your Acura. Personally I really love the Audi A7. My sister has their starter car, the 2015 A3 2.0 Prestige Quattro. She factory ordered the car (with every extra including the sport suspension and sport seats) a year ago and has just 6k (NYC) miles. I take the car back to Audi for her for service. So far 3 visits. Bad front wheel bearing, and 2 visits to repair a rattle/squeak. She has the 2 tone chestnut and ash black trim interior which looks and feels great. I look forward to driving her Audi each time I am in NY.
My dad tried to factory order the A7 back in 2012, but Audi wanted a $2500 premium at the time over sticker price to order (he wanted to spec a non recommended interior color). The 3.0 supercharged V6 felt a lot more powerful than the stats and about equal to the twin turbo V8 in his 2012 MB CLS550. MB did a negotiated buy back last yr on his 2012 CLS550 for ongoing ck engine light / emissions. They replaced it with a 2014 CLS550. Personally, given a choice I would take the 3.0 A7 any day over the CLS.
The A7 is a great looking car with very distinctive looks. There was an RS7 parked in the lot today at my gym today in a special order non-metallic gray. For some reason, on the A6 and A7, Audi makes you step up to the Prestige Package to get perforated leather seats with cooling. You would think this would be a std feature.
The Lex LS460 is highly underrated car. My business partner has had a 2008 since new with 250k on it now. My mother just traded her 2008 LS460L this yr for a new MB S550. The LS460 was the superior luxury car.
Audi has been doing well in the reliability surveys, both short and long term ownership. How long a lease are you considering?
Last edited by CadiGTi; 12-12-2015 at 09:22 PM.
Reason: edit
Yeah, I would definitely keep the Lexus for 10+ years if I got that, but after doing some research, I discovered that 2016 is the last run for this generation and I would rather avoid being on the precipice of either the last-run model year or the first of the new generation.
Yes, I did consider a new Acura, and had the standard RL come with AWD, it definitely would have garnered my attention, but alas, the hybrid is required and that makes be a bit nervous in regards to long-term ownership.
No idea why Acura just doesn't offer a plain SH-AWD RL.
But the A7 just looks awesome and has tons of space. It's a hatchback that doesn't look like a hatchback and of course, AWD, which I really like on my trips to the Sierras.
I know BMW, which I had before my Acura, was littered with electrical glitches. Two broken window regulators and other gremlins that nagged me and here I am on the door of another German car. Kind of makes me a bit nervous, but I'll be hedging my bets with a non-committal lease, so to speak, instead of outright buying.
I'm conflicted: no car payment + whine + potential for new tranny or big car payment and double the insurance cost.
The financial conservative option would be to buy a lightly used CPO Lexus LS460. They hold their values really well. Funny thing is, a few weeks after my mother traded in her 2008 LS460L, they got a phone call from another state (Atlanta) from the new retail owner. He found their phone number and called them to ask a few questions. He said it is was the 3rd 2008 Lexus LS460 he had purchased. He buys with low miles and runs them to about 200k. He got a great car. My mother had factory ordered the car with almost every option. The car was 7 yrs old but had just 35k miles. I ran the carfax on her Lex after she traded it and sure enough it showed the Lexus dealer servicing the car every 5k miles. Plus my dad personally hand washed the car its' entire life (he has never put a car through a car wash) and I detailed it for her every Christmas.
I have a 2012 RL I purchased CPO back in February with 25k miles. I run 30k-45K miles a year. I have a mental block about leasing cars, but I take big hits due to miles. 3 cars back I had a 2006 RL CMBS I purchased in 2008 with just 4k miles. I ran it to 173k and sold it to my Acura svc advisor in 2011. He still has it. I had the driveshaft replaced at 90k + miles
under the CPO warranty. Other than that, a rock solid car.
I toyed too with taking the plunge on a new Audi (A3 Quattro Prestige and also considered 2.0 Quattro A6), but it was a huge leap $ over the CPO Acura, and we have an annual annuity we pay the great commonwealth state of Virginia here, "Property Tax". And they really hit you on a new car. My 2012 RL cost me $1200 in property tax this yr as a "business" vehicle. The State would have attached an umbilical cord to me on a new Audi.
If you can swing it, at your age, you will probably never enjoy a car more now then ever. So if you get the Audi make sure to post!
Also, I hear the brand new A4 is due to hit dealers in February 2016. May be worth considering, and being a new model, if you buy vs lease, it should hold its' value very well (based on recent Audi resale history).
Interestingly enough, last month I traded a '11 CPO LS460 for my '11 RL Advance. The LS460 had Mark Levinson, self-parking, auto-close doors, etc.
So I guess you're wondering: Why?
Several reasons. First, the LS460 had no driving feel; i.e., there was no excitement when I drove it. I felt totally detached from the road (which might be the way that the designers want it!). But I'll mention that I had a '06 LS430 (recently sold) which drove much better. Second, the car was really big, meaning that often I felt like I was driving a boat. Third, the direct injection noise bothered me (there's a lot of discussion about this on Clublexus). By comparison, the LS430 had no engine noise. Fourth, the Mark Levinson system was a disappointment. It seems that Lexus has "detuned" or weakened the ML system in successive generations of the LS. Since I take a lot of road trips, stereo quality means a lot to me.
So at the end of the day I decided that it wasn't worth keeping such an expensive car that didn't make me happy. So I traded the LS in for the RL and left the dealership with a check.
OP, Audi (and VW go figure) has the worst reliability rankings of the German lux marks. Lease and leave. That's the way to own an Audi. The brake calipers are locked and can only be unlocked by the dealer (I hear). If you can swallow the frequent dealer visits and ridiculous price for even a brake change, then ownership would be viable. Otherwise even the Audi dealer workers will tell you a lease is as far as you should go.
Cadi, LS460 better luxury than S550? Need specifics or .
Really appreciate the feedback, and believe me, I've toiled miserably over this for the past week it seems.
You would think I would be happy, but man, I've played out every possible scenario imaginable in my head over and over it seems. The LAST thing I want is buyer's remorse.
The ONE thing I truly like about my Acura over anything else is no car payments.
I agree that there is a huge stigma with Audi. Had this situation been a few years earlier, I would be driving an LS right now as frankly, that insulated, dull feeling is exactly what I like lol. Living room on wheels? Sold.
But, passion always seem to get the better of me and the Audi A7 just catches my eye. Ironically, I felt the EXACTLY same way about the RL when I first saw one drive by, and I ended up buying one. And it doesn't happen often, as a matter of fact, the RL and A7 are the only two that just caught my eye and captivated me in the past ten years.
It's funny how things repeat itself it seems.
So tomorrow I'm getting it. Negotiated what else I could. I'll post pictures.
Thanks again.
Really appreciate the help I got here. Can't say enough about the quality of people and expertise here on these forums.
I agree with the reliability warnings. I hope the dealer has comfortable seating.
Also, make sure you drive it extensively first. Audi dropped their version of torque vectoring (S-models only IIRC) and you may be disappointed by its stoic teutonic understeer & dead steering.
I forgot to mention my sister with the A3, her colleague is on his 5th Audi, an RS5 Coupe (white). I was at function in NYC a few months ago and met this guy. He swears by (not at!) Audi. He said they have come a long way in the past 10 years. Did not get to see the car, but did see a photo, awesome car and wheels.
Lately, Audi is doing much better in warranty claims than Acura. I know the TLX and RLX have really dinged Acura's quality rankings.
Lol, well, I changed my mind literally while on the way to the Audi dealership. I still haven't let the poor Audi internet sales guy know, but I just got home and he keeps texting me pictures of it in the dealer driveway telling me "it's ready!"
I toiled and toiled over this and, unlike the Audi, I wanted to get something that I can keep for a decade so the Lexus it was, even though it is the last of this rather old generation. After thinking about it more, I truly do value quality over pizzazz, reliability over worrying about check engine lights. Man, talk about stress, but I definitely made the right choice.
Man, I hate dealerships. It was nerve-racking going from $0 to $$$$$ with one signature and I just generally dislike being there.
In any case, same deal pretty much as the Audi, they gave me a big discount off of the sticker, almost $6k off, and my insurance is $100 less per six months, dropping from the quoted Audi cost of $130 to $113, but hey, every little bit helps, especially on a car that costs this much.
It is nice and man, extremely quiet, serene and comfortable and frankly, those gadgets in the Audi were just sheer overwhelming. I felt like I was in the cockpit of a jetliner. Sure, someone people might like that, but I guess I'm getting old, so to speak (lol). This Lexus is fairly similar to our Acura in regards to complexity, which I appreciate. It really is a living-room on wheels, lol.
Just like the Audi I was going to get, it's pretty bare bones, with just Blind Spot Monitor, All Weather Package, Comfort Package and Heated Steering Wheel, that's it. But the standard features are extremely nice and offer a lot more than my Acura. Just having the ability to stream music from my phone, wirelessly, without much fuss is awesome.
Oh, and wow, this car is huge, it barely squeezes into my garage, length-wise. Man, I really have to clean out my garage!
In any case, thanks for the feedback, especially the gripes about Audi. I'm definitely more comfortable with this.
Here's the last pic ever of my RL and here is the Lexus I got.
^Honestly, I wasn't sure why you were hesitant about a final year model run. In general, those are the safest bets. The 2004 RL is by far considered to be a bulletproof vehicle. Toyota's overall reliability ranks first and has for a very long time. You made a sound choice.
Originally Posted by CadiGTi
...her colleague is on his 5th Audi, an RS5 Coupe (white). I was at function in NYC a few months ago and met this guy. He swears by (not at!) Audi.
$10 says he leases. It's the best way to drive an Audi.
Well congratulations! Is it the "L" or the regular wheelbase?
Both are quite a bit larger than the RL. The backseat of my mother's past Lex "L" had more room than most condos and apartments in Arlington and DC!
The later model LS's have I believe have full leather door panels std. The one really nice feature I liked on my mom's L vs my business partners std wheelbase 460 was the adjustable Lexus air ride suspension. In full sport, it did firm things up quite a bit. Not a pre 2001 BMW 5/7 series euro ride, but more like current 5 series ride/handling.
I am sure you will love the Lexus. I know a lot of people with them and hear a lot of praise about them. It has to be one of the, if not, the quietest vehicles on the road. On long distance travels, it is really awesome.
Congrats, quite the upgrade! The A7 is pretty but I don't think it's worth all the headache unless you lease it or have deep pockets to get it fixed when needed. And buying the last model year is definitely better than buying the first.
Originally Posted by oo7spy
$10 says he leases. It's the only way to drive an Audi.
It's the standard wheelbase. I don't believe the 'L' one would fit in my garage, had I decided to get that.
It's funny, but I always laugh at my friends who put that string/tennis ball from the garage ceiling to park their cars. Well, ironically, I had to do the same as this one barely squeezes in by mere inches. My car has the front parking-assist radar and it SCREAMS every time I park it as I'm just inches away from stuff, so the tennis ball helps, lol. I may turn off the front and front-side sensors, but eh, I'm sure I'll smash into something the minute I do it, lol.
I'll definitely post more pics once I detail it. It's going to rain soon, so I probably won't get to it until after, but I plan on waxing it and I'm sure I'll look back with envy on how easy it was to wax my RL versus what I imagine will take a lot of work, lol.
Just the little creature-comforts that are missing in our Acura are really starting to grow on me. Especially the infotainment parts: mixing presets for example, without having to switch modes. Auto seat/steering wheel heating that senses outside temperatures and adjusts accordingly. Free traffic info without XM's NAVTRAFFIC. Being able to play DVD movies on the screen was a huge revelation, being able to lock my doors, windoes, start/stop my car, locate it and see all statuses from my phone is just awesome, and on and on it goes.
Oh, this is my first, FIRST V8. It's nice, although the gas mileage doesn't seem that great so far, but I can definitely feel the difference in torque and frankly, I don't know if a V6 would work in this car since it's so dang heavy, but it doesn't feel heavy when driving.
Congrats!! Funny I saw this thread, me and my dad were debating trading his 430 for a 460awd. As far as fuel economy is concerned, his 430 v8 gets hands down better fuel economy than my RL all day every day, and he doesn't have to try. I skimp on the throttle and I still can't hit the 430 numbers. The only exception is freeway were our numbers compare...
Congrats!! Funny I saw this thread, me and my dad were debating trading his 430 for a 460awd. As far as fuel economy is concerned, his 430 v8 gets hands down better fuel economy than my RL all day every day, and he doesn't have to try. I skimp on the throttle and I still can't hit the 430 numbers. The only exception is freeway were our numbers compare...
Very true. I just sold my '06 LS430 last week. It was much more fuel efficient than the RL.
With the Lexus 8 speed, that LS does well above EPA estimates on the highway. My mom's 2008 LS460-L did better than when my dad had (new) 2003 LS430 (another great Lexus). There really is something to be said for good old fashion non turbo large displacement V8's. That LS460 V8 makes some very sweet noise when the pedal is aggressively depressed......and the vehicle responds with stunning urgency....very swiftly and very smoothly with sweet sounds only a real V8 can make. To hell with eco-boost!
I left a meeting in NC this afternoon en-route to Florida in my 2012 RL 6 speed. 27mpg, which is about what my mom's RWD LS460-L 8 speed V8 did on highway too.
12-12-2015, 08:22 PM
.
Me too. And N/A at that.
