Considering chopping in the A3...

[PNH80]

Lads & Lasses....

Since getting my A3 only a couple of months ago i've looked into retro fitting various options which it wasn't supplied with as well as changing the wheels, brakes etc etc.
Now that i've done my sums it's looking like i'd be ******* my money up the wall quite frankly and that i'd be better of taking the hit and chopping it in for a higher spec car.
I do like the A3 a lot so if i did part ex it, it would be for an S3 as it has all the bells and whistles i want. If i went non-Audi it would be for a BMW Z4 coupe (feel free to give advice Marriedblonde!). Whichever i choose it'll be the same age and mileage as my A3.
I actually prefer the way the A3 s-line looks compared to an S3 but in basic economic terms.... If i'm spending £4K on my £19K car adding options it will still only be worth £19K whereas if i take the car and put the money towards P/X-ing it for a £23K car....I have a car which is worth £23K! Hardly rocket science but i just can't bare the thought of ploughing dead money into a car.

So basically considering i still have most of the finance on the car still outstanding how should i go about doing this? AS i've only had the car a couple of months it hasn't depreciated much by current prices so it's probably the best time to do it.
Has anyone else chopped in a car after so little time with outstanding finance and how did it work out? What should i look out for?

Also how much should i expect Audi to budge on the price of a lightly used S3? E.g. If the screen price is £25K what should i be reasonably pushing to pay for it?

Any advice would be most appreciated. I don't want to go making any rash decisions!

Cheers guys.

Paul.

 

[phantom]

You will have much more discount power if you sell the S-line private , and go to the dealers with the 25k , or buy private even?

p

 

[h5djr]

You will have much more discount power if you sell the S-line private , and go to the dealers with the 25k , or buy private even?

I don't agree than you have more discount power going to a dealer with cash rather than a trade-in. If you trade-in the dealer has two chances to make some profit, one on the new car and one selling the car you trade-in to another customer.

When I changed to my current Sportback I got a good trade-in price for my existing A3 plus 10% discount of the new one.

 

[PNH80]

My main point of concern is the finance situation. Is that going to make any difference to the deal or is it just incorporated into the price of the car and transferred over?

 

[SteveTDCi]

If you have the car on finance, is it dealer or with a personal loan ? with dealer finance the car has to be paid off before the car car be sold ( would you buy a car with outstanding finance ? ) but with a personal loan you can do what you want. Personally I would trade the car in or look at selling it to a VW/Audi specialist, and let the trader settle the outstanding finance, also you need to get a figure from the finance company before going any further, you might owe more than its worth.. thats presuming the car is on finance.... I would be inclined to keep it and modify it a little.

 

[phantom]

I don't agree than you have more discount power going to a dealer with cash rather than a trade-in. If you trade-in the dealer has two chances to make some profit, one on the new car and one selling the car you trade-in to another customer.

When I changed to my current Sportback I got a good trade-in price for my existing A3 plus 10% discount of the new one.

I know where your coming from Dave , the dealers usally give you LESS trade in, than what you can get for the car if you sell private.

That said if the car is roughly worth 19k on Autotrader , i would still get a trade in price from a dealer!

If the value is £500 or so maybe take the dealer price , to save you messing around, but if it's £1500+ .

p

 

[PNH80]

In my favour i paid a big chunk of the car then had the rest on finance which worked out at about £12K over 3 years so it's not a massive sum really and hopefully i wouldn't lose out too much.
The finance was through Audi from the Bank Of Scotland if that makes any difference. I'm guessing Audi would have to pay off the finance on my car before letting me trade it in.
Screen price on my car was pretty much £20K and i don't think it's lost too much yet judging by figures on Autotrader.

 

[sat1983]

When I changed to my current Sportback I got a good trade-in price for my existing A3 plus 10% discount of the new one.

Could you potentially get 10% discount on an ex-demo too??

 

[marriedblonde]

If you can live with 2 seats then the Z4 coupe is a brilliant car! Had mine for 14 months now and I love it and it is proving pretty reasonable to run. I had aplnned to swap my car this year but can't find anything that I really want so have decided to keep it for a while longer.

So far the only fault I have had is a the passenger window switch stopped working and a rattle in the same door developed - turned out the window switch connector had come undone, took 30 secs to repair and it cured the rattle as well

The boot is a decent size (big enough for Sam's pushchair, changing bag, food bag, shopping, laptop and Sub box) so it is pretty practical too.

Positives: Fast, comfortable, reasonable economical (I can get high 20's low 30's on my commute to work and thats drivign with a pretty heavy left foot) i'll cover long distances with ease, looks good (in my eyes) the dealers so far have proved to be brilliant. Insurance is reasaonble. You can drive as badly as you like as everyone expects it

Negatives: The ride with the run flats is a little choppy but no worse than an S-line audi and cured changing the tyres to non run flats. The doors are pretty big so narrow parking spaces can be a pain to get out the car. The bonnet seems to go on forever so makes parking and pulling out of junctions a challenge until you get used to it. Road tax is £400...

J.

 

[h5djr]

I've only ever bought one ex-demo A3 and I got a similar discount on that. I normally go for brand new so that I can decide the exact spec. Not many demo cars are to the spec I would want.

 

[PNH80]

Cheers for that marriedblonde, i might go and have a look at one this week.

Just going back to the finance topic am i right on how this will work....The dealer gives me the price they are willing to pay for the car to put against the car i want. They pay off the remaining finance deal and i start up a fresh one for the new car?
I'm sure it's not as confusing as i'm making it out to be!

 

[Issac Hunt]

Sounds right to me. It will be pretty painless, expensive maybe though!

 

[marriedblonde]

Just going back to the finance topic am i right on how this will work....The dealer gives me the price they are willing to pay for the car to put against the car i want. They pay off the remaining finance deal and i start up a fresh one for the new car?
I'm sure it's not as confusing as i'm making it out to be!

Yep nice and simple.

J.

 

[Amchlolor]

Cheers for that marriedblonde, i might go and have a look at one this week.

Just going back to the finance topic am i right on how this will work....The dealer gives me the price they are willing to pay for the car to put against the car i want. They pay off the remaining finance deal and i start up a fresh one for the new car?
I'm sure it's not as confusing as i'm making it out to be!

Yeah, but watch which figure you/they get from the finance company.
There will be your outstanding finance figure, but what you want/need is a settlement figure, which could be thousands less.
Garages used to take advantage of thicko punters this way.
The salesman would say;

"We've called your finance company and the outstanding balance is £11000, which we'll sort out for you"

But they would then send off a cheque for a settlement figure of £8500....

 

[PNH80]

Yeah, but watch which figure you/they get from the finance company.
There will be your outstanding finance figure, but what you want/need is a settlement figure, which could be thousands less.
Garages used to take advantage of thicko punters this way.
The salesman would say;

"We've called your finance company and the outstanding balance is £11000, which we'll sort out for you"

But they would then send off a cheque for a settlement figure of £8500....

I promise you i'm not semi-retarded when it comes to these things but... What is the difference between the outstanding amount and the settlement figure?

As i see it, the deal currently would work out like this...

Say the dealer offers me 18K (unlikely but stick with me). He then takes away the outstanding finance sum from that. Any depreciation is taken away from the sum i originally put down on the car and what is left is basically my downpayment on the new car:

For example £18k - £12K (finance) = £6K (downpayment carried over) + £3K (additional)....Adding up to £9K of my own money which will require a new finance sum of £15K for a £24K car.

I hope i'm not over-simplifying it but i'm guessing thats how it will work.

 

[Amchlolor]

I promise you i'm not semi-retarded when it comes to these things but... What is the difference between the outstanding amount and the settlement figure?

The outstanding balance is just that, the balance you are due assuming you keep the agreement going.
But a settlement figure gets you discount, because you're settling early.
For the sake of example only, the difference between my wife's Clio's outstanding balance and settlement figure is close to £2k.
You need to phone your finance company and obtain a settlement figure asap.
They usually give you a date that figure will be valid until.
That's the figure that's important, not the outstanding balance.

 

[PNH80]

The outstanding balance is just that, the balance you are due assuming you keep the agreement going.
But a settlement figure gets you discount, because you're settling early.
For the sake of example only, the difference between my wife's Clio's outstanding balance and settlement figure is close to £2k.
You need to phone your finance company and obtain a settlement figure asap.
They usually give you a date that figure will be valid until.
That's the figure that's important, not the outstanding balance.

Thats a very useful bit of info, thanks for that. Never thought of that to be honest and knowing Audi and BMW dealers they'd shaft me at every turn if i'm not clued up.
I'll give the finance people a call and see what they have to say. Could save me a bomb.

 

[marriedblonde]

It look likes it's quite common for them to quote the outstanding figure when trying to trade in, I've just looked at a quote from Merc and my local dealer did just that!

J.

 

[dipstic]

Some finance companies charge a fee in the first year to settle early
Worth checking
As for selling privately, you might be lucky but it does seem there are few people willing to "hand over £18/20,000 on the doorstep" and most are dealers who will, and then only if its a cheap price.
Sometimes its just not worth the hassle and time.

 

[dsl55]

Due to company car restrictions etc I have gone for an A3, if I had £23K to spend on anything I would defo consider a Z4 coupe, think they look great. You've got a whole world of great cars depending on what your criteria is i suppose. I've always fancied one of the Z3M Coupes but never got round to having it and having pi55ed away many hundreds of £'s making my cars look 'better' but not getting the return (something you mentioned) I won't be buying private for a while. Cars I would also consider: (very personal opinion so sorry if it's wide of the mark for what you're after)

* 03/04 M3 SMG some low mileage one owner examples around for around £20K
* Late '90's 911 Carrera 2 - not massive choice but some nice examples if you look
* Pretty new 350Z? not to everyone's taste I grant you
* Nice Boxster - 03ish with low miles - I had a friends for a week, 2.7S and it was fantastic, forget the sh1t people talk about not being a 911, it's a great car in it's own right (which can be had for aoround £10-£12K if you look so a fricking bargain also)
* Nice 3 series coupe/convertible!!?

or this......

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...model=&min_pr=20000&max_pr=25000&max_mileage=

Just seena BMW 645ci with 80K on it for £20K at my local 'car shop'!!

Am jealous, if I had £23K of my own money to spend I'd take the week off work and drive all of the above and more!

 

[PNH80]

It look likes it's quite common for them to quote the outstanding figure when trying to trade in, I've just looked at a quote from Merc and my local dealer did just that!

J.

Hmm, i'm thinking i better get this in writing from the finance people to take along to the stealers. The difference could be a couple of grand and thats a big chunk out of the loss i'll take on the car.

Wonder how many people have been caught out by that little gem?

 

[Amchlolor]

Hmm, i'm thinking i better get this in writing from the finance people to take along to the stealers. The difference could be a couple of grand and thats a big chunk out of the loss i'll take on the car.

Wonder how many people have been caught out by that little gem?

Hands up, I have, in my younger days. (with motorbikes)
It's no wonder they were always keen to settle the finance for me.


You live and learn.

 

[PNH80]

Due to company car restrictions etc I have gone for an A3, if I had £23K to spend on anything I would defo consider a Z4 coupe, think they look great. You've got a whole world of great cars depending on what your criteria is i suppose. I've always fancied one of the Z3M Coupes but never got round to having it and having pi55ed away many hundreds of £'s making my cars look 'better' but not getting the return (something you mentioned) I won't be buying private for a while. Cars I would also consider: (very personal opinion so sorry if it's wide of the mark for what you're after)

* 03/04 M3 SMG some low mileage one owner examples around for around £20K
* Late '90's 911 Carrera 2 - not massive choice but some nice examples if you look
* Pretty new 350Z? not to everyone's taste I grant you
* Nice Boxster - 03ish with low miles - I had a friends for a week, 2.7S and it was fantastic, forget the sh1t people talk about not being a 911, it's a great car in it's own right (which can be had for aoround £10-£12K if you look so a fricking bargain also)
* Nice 3 series coupe/convertible!!?

or this......

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...model=&min_pr=20000&max_pr=25000&max_mileage=

Just seena BMW 645ci with 80K on it for £20K at my local 'car shop'!!

Am jealous, if I had £23K of my own money to spend I'd take the week off work and drive all of the above and more!

I am 100% decided on a car of the same age as my A3 (2007) and similar mileage. I want a manufacturers warranty and generally a mint condition, low maintenance car.
As i haven't won the lottery i still want something relatively 'economical' and not too steep on the insurance. Like i said above, i like the A3 a lot so an S3 is an obvious choice and i like the Z4 coupe a lot as well.
You mention Boxsters...I've seen a few new shape models at really good prices. My only concern is the car nearly being out of warranty, fuel bills, road tax and monster insurance....so probably a no-go!

 

[Amchlolor]

Funny someone should mention the Nissan 350Z, as I was looking at a nice metallic blue in in a sunny carpark yesterday.
Lovely, but way too impractical for me ( 1 kid + 1 on the way)
Funny you should mention the 645 BMW too, as my neighbour (also my solicitor) just traded in his 3 year old one for a Range Rover sport (which he now regrets...).
He told me what he got for it as a trade-in, and it was close to your budget.
Low mileage, FSH etc.etc.etc.

 

[dsl55]

can't see that the boxster is any different to run/insure than the Z4? my brother in law has a 911 that is cheaper than his wife's 330ci to service etc at main dealers

 

[dsl55]

Honda S2000? V Tec is fun if you've never had one!

I know I'll get shot down for this but .... Alfa Brera or even the new Spider!

 

[phantom]

S3 does seem to have all what you need , 3.2 Q maybe? less on the coffers if thats a issue.

I couldn't afford to upgrade from the S3 so it would have be a downgrade or sideways step.

E46 M3 with around 20k on the clock , or a R26 for a downgrade fun car, could get a good used one for 14k, have you seen Autocar this week? it's a drivers cars issue , heres the track times.

Milbrook test circuit..

caterham 1.43.2
lambo 640 1.51.9
evo x 1.52.8
m3 1.52.9
rs6 avant 1.53.2
elise sc 1.53.6
r26 1.53.8
ducati 1100 s 1.55.0
impreza sti 1.55.95
jag xf v8 1.57.1

p

 

[marriedblonde]

can't see that the boxster is any different to run/insure than the Z4? my brother in law has a 911 that is cheaper than his wife's 330ci to service etc at main dealers

The boxter is more expensive for me to insure compared to my coupe even though they are in the same group. I'm mid 30's 9points for speeding, unlimited mileage and 10k business miles and I only pay £500 for my insurance which I dont think is too bad. It was about half as much again to insure the boxster or cayman. (not the S' either)

Running costs are a lot higher on the porsche, even though BMW's servicing isn't that cheap, god only knows how your brother in law gets it serviced so cheap.

The boxster would retain it's value better I would guess so long as you only put a few miles on it, as soon as you start putting on big miles the value pluments.

J.

 

[Amchlolor]

Milbrook test circuit..

caterham 1.43.2
lambo 640 1.51.9
evo x 1.52.8
m3 1.52.9
rs6 avant 1.53.2
elise sc 1.53.6
r26 1.53.8
ducati 1100 s 1.55.0
impreza sti 1.55.95
jag xf v8 1.57.1

p

Crikey, they've not only managed to get a non-existent Ducati ,but they've managed to get Larry Grayson to ride it too!

 

[PNH80]

To answer a few questions.... To be honest i'm only considering a 56/07 plate S3 or Z4 coupe (i don't like TT's at all). I want to stick to a prestige marque so don't really want anything Japanese.
I'd rather keep the 2.0TFSI Q than go for a 3.2 V6 or any golf. Like i say i have no complaints about the A3 at all. I love the car but all of a sudden it's not ticking all the boxes anymore. Options which weren't originally spec'd on the car which i didn't think i'd miss are becoming an issue and annoying me.... and i'm not prepared to waste money retro fitting anything.

My queries were mainly aimed at the finance/part ex side of things. Picking the car is easy, it's avoiding getting shafted at the dealers which is the concern!

 

[dipstic]

To answer a few questions.... To be honest i'm only considering a 56/07 plate S3 or Z4 coupe (i don't like TT's at all). I want to stick to a prestige marque so don't really want anything Japanese.
I'd rather keep the 2.0TFSI Q than go for a 3.2 V6 or any golf. Like i say i have no complaints about the A3 at all. I love the car but all of a sudden it's not ticking all the boxes anymore. Options which weren't originally spec'd on the car which i didn't think i'd miss are becoming an issue and annoying me.... and i'm not prepared to waste money retro fitting anything.

My queries were mainly aimed at the finance/part ex side of things. Picking the car is easy, it's avoiding getting shafted at the dealers which is the concern!

I basically have done what you are looking at doing sold my 06 2.0T quattro after 6 months cost ex demo £20.450(just under £25,000 new) bought a new S3 (should have got a demo but couln,t wait,demos with the spec I wanted was nearly the same as new, got £17.400 for the 06 as a trade in for the S3
Loss of £3000 in 6months (on dealer forecourt for £19,995 sold quickly)
So expect about a £3000 loss overall.

 

[dsl55]

then that renders your thread boring and purely about finance! only joking, sounds like you've made your mind up re the car so good luck (i'm no finance expert, only that i used to have far too much of it)

 

[phantom]

First things last then is ring up the finace company and ask for a settlment figure for the next few months ( it will change every time you make a payment ) at least that way your armed with some info for when you see the dealers!

You won't regret it!

p

 

[Spin140]

To answer a few questions.... To be honest i'm only considering a 56/07 plate S3 or Z4 coupe (i don't like TT's at all). I want to stick to a prestige marque so don't really want anything Japanese.
I'd rather keep the 2.0TFSI Q than go for a 3.2 V6 or any golf. Like i say i have no complaints about the A3 at all. I love the car but all of a sudden it's not ticking all the boxes anymore. Options which weren't originally spec'd on the car which i didn't think i'd miss are becoming an issue and annoying me.... and i'm not prepared to waste money retro fitting anything.

My queries were mainly aimed at the finance/part ex side of things. Picking the car is easy, it's avoiding getting shafted at the dealers which is the concern!

Dependant on where you are located I can vouch for the condition of my previous S3, 8,000 miles, immaculate and up at the dealers at £25,495. I get on great with the sales manager so if interested drop me a PM, I know what he gave me for it so this should help your negotiations.

 

[PNH80]

I basically have done what you are looking at doing sold my 06 2.0T quattro after 6 months cost ex demo £20.450(just under £25,000 new) bought a new S3 (should have got a demo but couln,t wait,demos with the spec I wanted was nearly the same as new, got £17.400 for the 06 as a trade in for the S3
Loss of £3000 in 6months (on dealer forecourt for £19,995 sold quickly)
So expect about a £3000 loss overall.

The figures you're throwing around are very similar to my situation actuall so £3000 is round about what i was expecting although i am going to push as much as possible for a better deal. If i can get as close to a £2000 loss as possible i won't lose too much sleep over it!

then that renders your thread boring and purely about finance! only joking, sounds like you've made your mind up re the car so good luck (i'm no finance expert, only that i used to have far too much of it)

I'm definitely open to other ideas, don't worry about that! The S3 and Z4 coupe are just top of the list currently but if anything else comes into the picture i'll give it a fair crack of the whip.
There are some well priced BMW coupes coming onto the market now....Most are SE spec though so not too keen on the flat sided old man seats!

Dependant on where you are located I can vouch for the condition of my previous S3, 8,000 miles, immaculate and up at the dealers at £25,495. I get on great with the sales manager so if interested drop me a PM, I know what he gave me for it so this should help your negotiations.

I would be interested to know where it is (i notice you're in derbyshire, i'm chesterfield area). Does it still have the remap in place? Feel free to PM me with a bit of info on the car. Appreciated.


Just out of curiosity.... Is an Audi dealer going to give me a better deal on my car than a BMW dealer?....Or will it just be market value?

 

[marriedblonde]

Funny someone should mention the Nissan 350Z, as I was looking at a nice metallic blue in in a sunny carpark yesterday.
Lovely, but way too impractical for me ( 1 kid + 1 on the way)

I love the looks of the 350 but I think the interior lets it down!

 

[marriedblonde]

Just out of curiosity.... Is an Audi dealer going to give me a better deal on my car than a BMW dealer?....Or will it just be market value?

The BM dealer will more than likely just ring up the local Audi dealer for a price.

J.

 

[SteveTDCi]

and they will also try and make money on it, my brother is looking at trading his MX5, Motorpoint offered £4800 ( we nearly got thrwn out after that amount was offered) and a Ford dealer offered £5500, by going direct to a MX5 specialist we are now upto £7000 depending on condition when viewed, BM offered a silly price for my GOlf when I looked at a 1 series.

 

[PNH80]

and they will also try and make money on it, my brother is looking at trading his MX5, Motorpoint offered £4800 ( we nearly got thrwn out after that amount was offered) and a Ford dealer offered £5500, by going direct to a MX5 specialist we are now upto £7000 depending on condition when viewed, BM offered a silly price for my GOlf when I looked at a 1 series.

I know what you're saying.... To be honest though my car is mint, nice spec, good colour, still under warranty etc. Should be an easy car to sell....Infact i'd say it's more desireable car as a realistic every day drive to more people than a Z4 coupe.
So i'm holding out my hopes that if i traded it against a Z4 i should get a very favourable deal. If i was trading it against a 3 searies coupe they'd be more likely to have my pants down...

 

[sat1983]

They'll probably tell you it's a hard car to shift on. Being a petrol 2.0T model, they'll give you all the crap about petrol prices and tax bands. If they were trying to sell it to you it'd be another matter...