Bye bye G T I...

[Exonian]

Was the factory fresh paint in fairly good condition Jim?
The ‘e’ looks nice in that colour sat in the sunshine 


Nice Audi too MH.
That was a surprise to see you swapping out the Polo but i don’t think you warmed to that one as much as the first one(?).
With numbers being so similar I’d have gone for the Audi over the Skoda too owing to the interior being such a nice place to sit.
You didn’t fancy a manual version then?! 
Was a GTD Variant not on your radar or did I miss something a page or two back?

[Jim_mk7.5]

Was the factory fresh paint in fairly good condition Jim?
The ‘e’ looks nice in that colour sat in the sunshine 


Nice Audi too MH.
That was a surprise to see you swapping out the Polo but i don’t think you warmed to that one as much as the first one(?).
With numbers being so similar I’d have gone for the Audi over the Skoda too owing to the interior being such a nice place to sit.
You didn’t fancy a manual version then?! 
Was a GTD Variant not on your radar or did I miss something a page or two back?

The paint was pretty good to be fair. If I’d have more time I’d have machine polished it but I used AF Tripple which I find gives a really good finish and then popped on a single coat of ceramic sealant. There were a couple of small marks which came off but paint now feels very smooth and got a good depth of shine. 

That pic of your bmw  makes me  bit jealous

  Must say, a very different car to the GTI but I am really enjoying it and definitely picked the right colour 

[Watts]

Looks very smart Jim Are you enjoying the change?

[Jim_mk7.5]

Looks very smart Jim Are you enjoying the change?

I am to be honest. Haven’t got back to the office yet so no regular commutes but it really excels round town or in traffic where is just a great place to be.

Did open it up a bit last night going to over to some friends a BBQ and you can definitely feel the weight in the corners, certainly not like GTI but it shifts! Not a great noise unfortunately and my GTI with the res delete did sound so much better.

[monkeyhanger]

That Audi looks like a nice car. Is the Virtual Cockpit still on an extremely expensive option on the A4?

I think it's standard on the facelift that's just happened, but it's not something anyone seemed to have readily specced 2016-2019. The analogue dials are nice and the MFD display between the dials is quite big, but i'd have had the virtual dash for nowt if there were enough cars to pick from! 

[monkeyhanger]

Nice Audi too MH.
That was a surprise to see you swapping out the Polo but i don’t think you warmed to that one as much as the first one(?).
With numbers being so similar I’d have gone for the Audi over the Skoda too owing to the interior being such a nice place to sit.
You didn’t fancy a manual version then?! 
Was a GTD Variant not on your radar or did I miss something a page or two back?

Another model where manual is hard to find.

I looked nationally at the used A4s and would've driven 200 miles for the right one, but if you get Quattro, it must have 7 Speed S-tronic (DSG). Wasn't too bothered about Quattro, but anything above base spec seemed to have Quattro option ticked.

Anything nationally that wasn't Quattro or DSG seemed to be bare bones basic with 150ps TDI or TSI engine that'll be worked hard a lot of the time.

I had a shortlist of 4 cars nationally and one was right on my doorstep with 2 in Crewe/Liverpool and one in Birmingham. They were pretty similar in spec, the one in Newcastle was lowest mileage, a few hundred quid cheaper and had 19" wheels, in a colour that was as good as any other on offer. I managed to beat the salesman down £600 citing the luxury VED tax being off-putting (everything else in my shortlist crossed that threshold too) - if you get an A4 with more than 150ps in S-line trim and above, if you add metallic paint then you've crossed that threshold. I got exactly what I wanted for the Polo in px, the same as was offered by the place that bought my R. Cost to change was £10200. The quoted GFV for 3 years time was coming out at £9200 less than the amount I paid , effectively losing £256 a month if offered only GFV in p/x down the line. That's very reasonable for the car - the hard depreciation is done.

The luxury tax thing is so avoidable - if the car companies were honest with RRPs reflecting realistic purchase price after discount, you'd have a lot of cars avoiding it. The new RRP on my A4 is £41.3k. There's not a cat in hell's chance anyone paid more than £35k for it new, probably closer to £32k going off DTD new prices.

On the other hand, the Government should be increasing the threshold in line with inflation, as they are raising your VED year on year.

[Exonian]

Not so long ago before the Germans started chasing the fleet markets it was fairly normal to pay more or less list price for a German car knowing the resale values were cast iron (assuming you didn’t spec a hideous colour).
Profit margins were therefore higher, which meant quality was higher and the factories probably made at least as good €€€€ as now.
Maybe the unions were less happy as less volume meant less overtime and less employees too (therefore lower union subs).
Maybe it’s to do with interest rates being low meaning they have to shift more volume of credit agreements, or maybe the markets are so cut-throat now that they’re scared another manufacturer will jump in and steal sales.

More realistic list prices now would address the stupid tax threshold, you’re right. I hope manufacturers are taking notice as it’ll only take one volume marque to realign list prices and reduce discounting for others to follow.

[monkeyhanger]

^ Yes, BMW were the first German marque to start chasing fleet sales. As soon as they did that, they killed residuals across the range. Then Merc, then Audi.

Excluding the 1 series, going rate discount on new BMWs is about 25% off list through brokers like "coast2coast cars", chances are, decent sized fleet buyers are probably getting another 10% off if they buy 5+ at a time.

A mate of mine lives in Dresden and up until rlabout 10 years ago, the concensus over there was - Mercs are taxis, BMWs are police cars and private buyers buy VWs or Audis.

There are certain narques where you'd struggle to get more than a set of floor mats and a full tank of fuel when buying new enquiries made with Kia, Hyundai, Skoda and Seat have been pretty much a straight refusal of any meaningful discount. Any offers on those marques generally seem to be coming from the manufacturer rather than getting a bit of the dealership's margin. Maybe sales volume incentives are just so much less with those.

I remember looking at Leon Cupras when chopping in my MK5 Golf 170TDI. The salesman baulked at the mention of discount and pretty much wanted me committed to buy the car before he'd let me test-drive it. I took one look at the hideously cheap interior and declined.

[fredgroves]

I know everyone here is a salesmans worst nightmare, but I'd expect enough people pay close enough to rrp that it is still worth it...

I've tried pushing for broker level discount many many times and never get anywhere near it over the desk. Even showing them the quote from the broker they still stick at a grand off and a free paint protection as their final offer.

[Guzzle]

List prices are an irrelevance for many buyers these days. They either PCP, or lease, or buy used to avoid the worst of the depreciation.

For those leasing or PCP'ing, your typical punter just looks at whether or not the monthly payment is affordable.