My experience buying an Audi A4

mxktulu

I just booked an Audi approved A4 this weekend and the content on this forum helped me a lot with my eventual decision so I thought I'd share my experience in case it helps someone on here.

Here goes

Approved v Car Giant:
I struggled a lot with this one, Car Giant was at the top of the list but then all the reviews here indicated that for high value purchases, approved cars is the way to go. And I now fully endorse that.

I picked up a 3.5 year old A4 diesel with 50k miles on the clock (with parking sensors/cruise control etc) for 13.8k (down from 14.5k) from West London Audi. Similarly spec'd car at Car Giant was around 12-12.5k. The difference of roughly 1.5-2k is certainly worth it for the peace of mind and in real money terms is actually quite a bit less. The approved car comes with 12 month warranty included while AA warranty at Car Giant costs about 350 quid. I negotiated with the Audi dealership to include 2 years servicing in the price which I estimate conservatively is worth 650 quid. They also threw in additional stuff like floor mats and some upholstery and exterior paint protection product (with lifetime warranty) worth 500-600 quid as well. So I reckon the Audi deal is certainly positive in real money terms over Car Giant and comes with a great deal of peach of mind (for me at least).

Buying process:
Prepare to wait around quite a bit. We were a bit late for out appointment however even if we'd have been on time, the process would have taken about the same time. From start to finish it took us 4 hours to get the deal done.

Remember there is room to haggle unlike car supermarkets - we drove a hard bargain (surprisingly in the most polite of manners). The sales person seemed honest and genuine (if there is such a breed). It took us about 30 minutes to come to a deal we were both happy with. As mentioned earlier we got
- 700 quid reduction in price
- 2 yrs free servicing
- floor mats and some upholstery and exterior paint protection product (with lifetime warranty) worth 500-600 quid

Gap insurance:
This is certainly worthwhile to get considering the purchase price.
They really pushed for this however it's not worth it to buy from the dealer, I found providers online who cost less than 1/3rd of the dealership price. i.e. 500 quid at dealership while online you have options from as little as 75 quid to 125 quid for 3 yrs gap insurance.

Hope this helps others dealing with similar decisions.

I will add my experiences with their after sales service.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Nice report.

Don't necessarily agree that the car was a bargain, overpriced Passat and very overpriced Octavia if truth be told, but each to their own, lots of people like Audis and as its your money its your choice to have what you want.
Still seems a lot of money to me for a car of this type well out of makers original warranty.

Don't think the servicing will save you quite what you expect, unless your mileage is very high, starship oil change intervals on these, and the paint protection is actually worth about £40, but then you got these included so freebies anyway.

If it were me i'd have negotiated an early cambelt (assuming this engine has one) and transmission fluid change (especially if its auto), plus a second years warranty, and forgone the servicing/mats/bodywax.

Hope you enjoy the car anyway.

Oh and welcome.

Johnmcl7

I wouldn't say the A4 is an overpriced Passat/Octavia as the A4 does not share it's platform with the Passat or Octavia (whereas the A3 does) although they still share parts. (I say that as an Octavia owner)

John

tberry6686

Octavia shares it's platform with a golf. Passat, A4 and Superb have the same platform.