Audi A3 1.6 Special Edition 3 door Hatchback - NOTE NEW SPEC

Loobeylou

Wishing to purchase a brand new - non import - Audi A3 TFSI 3 door hatchback, the price for which with extras is over the £20,000 mark.

I have contacted various Audi dealerships and the best discount so far has been under 3%, which I feel is pretty poor.

So can anyone give any advice on how to get a better discount than this and roughly how far these salespeople can be pushed on discount? Tips and hints welcomed.

Also has anyone got any experiences - good or bad - on places such as Autobytel, The New Car Club, and New-Car-Discount.com, to name just three, who seem to offer better discounts automatically?

Remember, brand new UK car.

Nile

Hello Loobeylou

I'll move your thread to the 'Motoring & Public Transport' board.

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

Regards

Nile

bclark

What extras in particular are you wanting?

I and my wife have bought UK Cars from Buyacar.co.uk and Broadspeed.co.uk.

Both times we have been very pleased and got good prices although I would say that buyacar was a better and quicker service than Broadspeed.

At the moment an Audi A3 1.8 TFSI (Uk Car) with Metallic paint, ipod connector and dual zone climate control is going for £18446 on buyacar. Drivethedeal.co.uk have the same car for £17768.

kitchpoo

Face to Face negotiation can yield a bigger margin, if they gave away all the cards over the phone they would never have any business. Pre arange a visit with a dealer, this way it shows the dealer you are more than tyre kicking.

Dont be too enamoured with the car as Audi sell on the prestige and image - if you fall in love the moment you step in the door and before you get your coffee at the salesman's desk you will find the deals disappear. Be blunt, pitch it that you are interested in the Audi or (for Example) BMW 1 Series - what can the salesman do to sway you to Audi?

Watch the finance options that may be put forward as the Audi Baloon payment scheme isnt the most competitive unless you are looking at a long term ownership beyond the baloon payment.

Autoglym package is a dealership's profit - look at how much autoglym products cost and weigh up if you could do it yourself and save the money. The interior protection is quite worthwhile though.

The usual starting point is about 10% off list but realistically if you can get 6-7% you are doing well.

Dont be afraid to play dealerships off on each other. I bought a car (the same car) used ex fleet management from a dealership 110 miles away as it was £350 cheaper than if my local dealership supplied it - al to do with how the company is performing on monthly sales and the company overheads.

Use outside sources to compare, it is true that a broker is not going to help you out if you have a problem - and in theory a local dealership should not treat you any diferent if you have bought the car elsewhere.

daveyjp

I took a drivethedeal quote to my local Audi dealer and they matched it - 9% discount - visit a dealer and have a face to face negotiation. Start off with you asking for a 15% discount and see what happens.

We used drivethedeal for a Toyota and had no problems whatsoever - Toyota dealer wouldn't match the deal.

We have had no problems using the main dealer as a result of buying from a broker - it was sourced through a main dealer anyway and is on Toyota UK database.

Loobeylou

Many thanks to those who have added their thoughts to this thread - much appreciated. It is always good to have the thoughts and ideas of others.

Extras required are cruise control, acoustric parking system, electric sunroof, different alloys, and a couple of other small additions.

Kitchpoo - can you please explain more fully your paragraph, "Autoglym package is a dealership's profit - look at how much autoglym products cost and weigh up if you could do it yourself and save the money. The interior protection is quite worthwhile though"?

One of the things that did worry me somewhat was taking it to my local Audi dealer when it was purchased via a broker.

It really does seem to pay though to get the different broker quotes as there are savings to be made along the way. I have to admit that my enquiries with the Audi dealers have so far been limited to e-mail enquiries - so I guess it is hardly surprising that I have been offered less than 3% discount - and some of them have not had the courtesy to even respond!!

DealDrivers_company_representative

Errr.our partnered Audi dealers give a min' of 10% on A3 orders..!

Loobeylou

Can anyone advise also on the forthcoming road tax issue regarding emmissions? How much am I likely to pay for an Audi A3 1.6 TFSI as opposed to a 1.8 after this whole thing comes in?

kitchpoo

Loobeylou wrote: »

Kitchpoo - can you please explain more fully your paragraph, "Autoglym package is a dealership's profit - look at how much autoglym products cost and weigh up if you could do it yourself and save the money. The interior protection is quite worthwhile though"?

I do not rate the life shine product, the sales patter is that it only needs doing once then 'topping up' every 6 months with Autoglym standard products. This begs the question - is the original paint not up to the job? Secondly, if you are topping it up every 6 months anyway - just do that from the beginning with Autoglym products yourself. It may take an afternoon/day depending how in-depth you go doing it - buying the Autoglym range to do it may cost £80 max - including cleaning cloths and wash mitt - with enough to last for well over 4 applications (2 years on a 6 monthly basis) plus your time to do it.

This is where the dealer makes the profit - as a) it gets the Autoglym products at considerably less money, plus the labour costs - then charging somewhere near £250 to you.

The interior treatment is equivilent to scotchguarding the interior - I've not found a product on the market that does this, so it would be worth looking at this option if you are opting for a cloth interior. If you are going for leather then the benefits are limited to the carpets really.

What Lifeshine is - http://www.autoglym.com/enGB/Lifeshine.asp

How much the kit costs - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180226232239&ssPageName=MERCOSI_VI_ROSI_PR4_PCN_BIX&refitem=180221398997&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&refwidgettype=osi_widget&_trksid=p284.m185&_trkparms=algo%3DSI%26its%3DI%252BIA%26itu%3DCR%252BIA%252BUCI%26otn%3D4%26ps%3D42

bclark

Loobeylou wrote: »

Many thanks to those who have added their thoughts to this thread - much appreciated. It is always good to have the thoughts and ideas of others.

Extras required are cruise control, acoustric parking system, electric sunroof, different alloys, and a couple of other small additions.

Kitchpoo - can you please explain more fully your paragraph, "Autoglym package is a dealership's profit - look at how much autoglym products cost and weigh up if you could do it yourself and save the money. The interior protection is quite worthwhile though"?

One of the things that did worry me somewhat was taking it to my local Audi dealer when it was purchased via a broker.

It really does seem to pay though to get the different broker quotes as there are savings to be made along the way. I have to admit that my enquiries with the Audi dealers have so far been limited to e-mail enquiries - so I guess it is hardly surprising that I have been offered less than 3% discount - and some of them have not had the courtesy to even respond!!

LoobeyLou I priced up a Car on drivethedeal with Metallic paint, Parking system, Cruise control, upgraded alloys, Elec sunroof and ipod connector and it has come up as £18637.

As for taking the Car to your dealer then don't worry about that, the Car would come from an official Audi dealer (thats who drivethedeal put you in touch with) and your local dealer will deal with you no problem and your warranty will be totally valid.

DealDrivers_company_representative

Looby, the 1.6 engine has been replaced. The choice now is a 1.4 T FSi (124ps) and a 1.8 T FSI (160ps). The 1.4 annual road tax is £145 as the emissions are 154 g/km, the 1.8 is £170 with 171 g/km on the 3dr manual versions.

From April 2009 these will rise to £150 on the 1.4 and £205 on the 1.8

From April 2010, for existing registered cars, these will rise to £155 on the 1.4 and £210 on the 1.8

Hope that helps.

As others have pointed out there are a few brokers who simply act as agents for main dealers, so you still buy direct from a normal Audi dealer anyway, you are just using an intermediary (at no cost) to put a dealer in touch who will offer you those discounts. Your car warranty is a UK one, car manufr's don't expects the car to always to be taken back for servicing to the dealer who processed the original order! You are not 'buying on the internet'.