At what point is the 2012 price too good to pass up?

[cab2u]

With the huge discounts on 2012's, at what point is it too good to pass up? Going rate is 25k off MSRP.

[z356]

With the huge discounts on 2012's, at what point is it too good to pass up? Going rate is 25k off MSRP.

Right now is the best time to pull the trigger and I will tell you why. The $25K will probably stay constant - it is a factor of the Audi trunk money and the wishes of AudiUSA to have an 'orderly' sale of the leftover R8's. I don't see discounts getting larger. That is enough of a discount to motivate most people and should help move the remaining inventory! Certainly, for those that want a manual transmission & are not waiting for S-Tronic on the MY2014, it's a no brainer. Weather is still lousy in most of the country. Most Audi dealers are still motivated to move their last '12 R8's out. But as the spring arrives and the supply of '12 R8's decrease, there will be NO additional incentive to lower the price! So caveat emptor.

What will diminish pretty soon, for those of you sitting on the fence, is the selection of available MY2012 left-overs for sale! The best colors, interiors and specs will be the first to go! There are very few 'new' v8's left, especially Spyders. The good color combinations and specs of the more expensive v10's will start dwindling down next! Audi dealers in the US will initially give a very minimal (if any) discount on the revised '14 model. No need, there is pent-up demand for the new S-tronic! So the $25K (and perhaps $35K on the gt's) are a real delta now on the left-over '12's. I have been studying this market for a long time and I have never seen better deals on R8's - ever! My dos centavos, for what it's worth.

Saludos,
Eduardo

[aquarianuw]

Eduardo, how will the market affect the pre-owned, let's say 2011 or 2012 V10? Do you think the depreciation, or the lack of incentives from Audi, would not motivate the sellers to sell the pre-owned ones as opposed to the new ones? Do you agree that the discounts on the new 2012's will never be linear to the depreciation of the low mile almost-brand new v10?

Right now is the best time to pull the trigger and I will tell you why. The $25K will probably stay constant - it is a factor of the Audi trunk money and the wishes of AudiUSA to have an 'orderly' sale of the leftover R8's. I don't see discounts getting larger. That is enough of a discount to motivate most people and should help move the remaining inventory! Certainly, for those that want a manual transmission & are not waiting for S-Tronic on the MY2014, it's a no brainer. Weather is still lousy in most of the country. Most Audi dealers are still motivated to move their last '12 R8's out. But as the spring arrives and the supply of '12 R8's decrease, there will be NO additional incentive to lower the price! So caveat emptor.

What will diminish pretty soon, for those of you sitting on the fence, is the selection of available MY2012 left-overs for sale! The best colors, interiors and specs will be the first to go! There are very few 'new' v8's left, especially Spyders. The good color combinations and specs of the more expensive v10's will start dwindling down next! Audi dealers in the US will initially give a very minimal (if any) discount on the revised '14 model. No need, there is pent-up demand for the new S-tronic! So the $25K (and perhaps $35K on the gt's) are a real delta now on the left-over '12's. I have been studying this market for a long time and I have never seen better deals on R8's - ever! My dos centavos, for what it's worth.

Saludos,
Eduardo

[Dimitri]

I had bought my 2011 spyder v10
23 k off

[z356]

I had bought my 2011 spyder v10
23 k off

Dimitri: I remember your past postings. Yes, you bought a MY2011 Spyder v10 in around January / February of 2012 as a left-over R8 after the MY2012's were already on dealer lots. $22K or 23K off MSRP. So you would agree that $25K off on MSRP for a '12 today is slightly better in comparison, no?

March 1, 2012
"Re: V8 vs V10 and spyder vs coupe
I never driven a coupe or a v8
But i own 2011 v10 spyder that i bought for 22k off the list..."

Aquarianuw: I will get to answer your interesting post next. I just received from Intercity the R8 today and I have been cleaning it up! It was picked up on a rainy day!

Saludos,
Eduardo

[Dimitri]

Mm

Dimitri: I remember your past postings. Yes, you bought a MY2011 Spyder v10 in around January / February of 2012 as a left-over R8 after the MY2012's were already on dealer lots. $22K or 23K off MSRP. So you would agree that $25K off on MSRP for a '12 today is slightly better in comparison, no?

March 1, 2012
"Re: V8 vs V10 and spyder vs coupe
I never driven a coupe or a v8
But i own 2011 v10 spyder that i bought for 22k off the list..."

Aquarianuw: I will get to answer your interesting post next. I just received from Intercity the R8 today and I have been cleaning it up! It was picked up on a rainy day!

Saludos,
Eduardo

Good memory my friend.

[z356]

Eduardo, how will the market affect the pre-owned, let's say 2011 or 2012 V10? Do you think the depreciation, or the lack of incentives from Audi, would not motivate the sellers to sell the pre-owned ones as opposed to the new ones? Do you agree that the discounts on the new 2012's will never be linear to the depreciation of the low mile almost-brand new v10?

Aquarianuw:

1) How will the market affect the pre-owned, let's say 2011 or 2012 V10? The discounts will hit it hard...until all the 'new' '12 are sold! Then everybody that is selling an '11 or '12 will be in the same boat. Price then will be determined by low mileage and desirable specs...as always. But the market has a memory. Once it knows of the $25k discounts on the v8 & v10s and the $35K (if that is true) on the gt's, the cat is out of the bag!

If you look at Cars.com & Autotrader, you will see many '11 & '12 used v10's at unrealistic high prices. The unseen 'gorilla' in the room is the discount almost all Audi dealers are willing to give on the unsold 'new' left-over R8's. Most of these new '12 R8 at dealers are still listed in these same services as MSRP and NOT at their discounted price. This is plain 'dumb'. So not many in the public know of the discounts...unless they are reading a forum like this!

A few courageous dealers are willing to tell you of a 'discounted' price below MSRP. But you can count them in your hand! Some dealers that are discounting are not savvy enough to do it right...and thus confuse a potential buyer. Case in point was a beautiful v10 manual 'red' coupe at Audi dealer in Minnesota (I think) which had the car listed in the $130K's but didn't mention the discount until you saw the MSRP on the Monroney sticker on their last photo! The MSRP was a high $170K and that R8 was listed as a $130K car! It was surrounded by lower spec $130K v8's. Many casual viewers would have dismissed it as a mistake or a faulty vehicle because of the low price. The moral of the story is: if you are offering a low discounted price, tell the folks loud and clear it's a low discounted price! That particular red v10 coupe is no longer listed...so someone got a good buy there! But dealers are still all over the map as to how to communicate their discounts to the buying public.

At the present, that is helping some folks that have used '11's and '12's for sale simply because they are 'catching' buyers not knowledgeable about what is going on in the market! Otherwise, these used cars should stop selling until all 'new' '12 are sold & out of the market! But in the current market 'fog', both are selling! Not a very efficient market right now...because Audi dealers are not playing it smart! Dealers of every automotive brand are still some of the less intelligent folks left in this 'new' economy. They are still 'fishing' all the time for the sucker that will not know what is going on and will pay MSRP or close to it! They can't help themselves. It is apparently in their DNA. They have consistently garnered the lowest ratings in 'trust' for any known profession in the US! And in this case, many Audi dealers are not covering themselves with glory! AudiAtlanta, for example, is an exception.

2) Do you think the depreciation, or the lack of incentives from Audi, would not motivate the sellers to sell the pre-owned ones as opposed to the new ones? Sorry, I don't fully understand your question. But let me attempt an answer re: what I think you are trying to get at. The most motivated sellers today have to be the dealers selling left-over '12's! They have trunk money from Audi. They may have additional hidden 'incentives' from Audi to move their R8 inventory - that may be cash at year end to the principal (never disclosed), it could be allocations of hard to get models, etc. The salesman & GM at the Audi dealerships live to please the owner principals - that is now they get compensated! And the owner principals want to please Audi USA - owners are a competitive lot & always want to increase their 'standing' with the importer/distributor! And Audi needs to save face, move these '12s R8's and don't allow these unsold inventory to rain on the parade of revised '14's about to arrive this summer! So everyone has their marching orders!

So that is the #1 motivated seller right now - the Audi dealers. They will also be in a good position to sell pre-owned R8's because they are always buying them at wholesale and selling them at retail. That 'market price' a moving target! If the new '12 are discounted by $25K, you are going to offer a customer that wants to trade his used '11 or '12 a lot less, no? So they will always make a 'market' and they will always make money at it...as long as they sell that car at the end and in the shortest possible period of time!

The biggest loser here is the private seller. He is getting a lower price (usually wholesale Manheim) than he was expecting because the market is now flooded with new and used R8's! In addition, he doesn't have the 'cache' or built-in advantages of an authorized Audi dealer to facilitate the sale (e.g. Certified Pre-Own, favorable leasing, etc). I hate to be a private seller today needing to close a deal in short period of time! He will get creamed...unless he catches someone who is literally asleep at the R8's market wheel! In short, the era of low depreciation for R8 owners (something that most of you early adopters experienced in your '08, '09 models years ago) is over. Welcome to how the rest of the automotive market usually works! My opinion, of course.

3) Do you agree that the discounts on the new 2012's will never be linear to the depreciation of the low mile almost-brand new v10? See my response to #1 & #2. Hope these help answered that question.

Saludos,
Eduardo

[NavySubOfficer]

I found a few dealers willing to hit $30K off sticker for the 2012 V10 coupe, but the more desirable colors and options were getting harder to find. Some were much less reasonable, and will probably be stuck with the car for a while. In general, it was a much better deal to buy new than used. Why spend $125K on a used V10 when you can get new with full warranty? BTW - discounts on V10 Spyders were significantly lower than coupes.

[mark_nimda]

If you want a manual I might look for a nice discount on the 2012's. Thing is most of the remaining 2012's are the R-Troncis from what I have noticed. The STRONC Is going to be a different car.

[PunjabiM3]

I am contacting dealers as we speak on leftover 2012 V10 manual transmission. I am thinking that $30k off MSRP sounds about right, but the several I have contacted only offered $15k off MSRP. I SO wish Audi Atlanta had a V10 manual coupe!