Insane S8 Lease Deals!!
Discussion
O/T but as I asked previously on the insurance thing, admiral multi-car absolutely tore strips off of everything else in the end. The S8 and Mrs 2CV incoming VW Tiguan together are cheaper than the next cheapest quote for S8 alone... it also made no difference that neither of us are owner/keeper of either vehicle, and protected NCD seemed to be 'free' also. Worth mentioning as Admiral seem to be in some way "S8 positive", so this might help someone else on here!
Well, I finally got to see the car:
Not the prettiest look. It's been jacked up for storage (still awaiting PDI). It is mahoosive although maybe that's the SUV ride height making it feel like that. I can't sit inside it yet but the lunar silver seats looks fabulous from the outside.
Delivery has been a bit of a saga. At the beginning of March, there was an outside chance of a pre-Easter collection but by Thursday last week the car had only just arrived in the UK port. It took a week to get on a transporter (!) and finally arrived in Guildford yesterday.
Paperwork was a right faff: I hadn't been sent the hire agreement in advance as requested and never sign anything without reading it. Good thing I did. The registration was wrong so they reprinted it. Then the reprint had somehow introduced an error into the maintenance cost line so got sent back for another reprint. The third copy introduced a different error into the monthly payment so we finally decided to leave it (it was only 25 pence a month more) and they offered to fill the tank instead which I suppose is pretty generous of them. Hope they don't forget on the day. They also offer a five day insurance policy gratis but this seems to be another tortuous mountain of paperwork for them so rather than go through the hell of being their copy editor I think I'll just arrange my own insurance from day one.
I still have to wait another few days due apparently to the backlog of cars currently being prepared by Guildford and given how they make a meal out of some simple paperwork I suppose it was naive of me to think I could get the car available for collection by the next day. Hope they manage to get it done by Tuesday as I will be away for almost two weeks after that...
Oh, one more thing. Oddly they say S models are not eligible for the £350 service plan. On querying this they have advised if I can show evidence that other S8 owners have successfully applied the plan to their cars, Audi may relent. Anyone shed any light on this?
Not the prettiest look. It's been jacked up for storage (still awaiting PDI). It is mahoosive although maybe that's the SUV ride height making it feel like that. I can't sit inside it yet but the lunar silver seats looks fabulous from the outside.
Delivery has been a bit of a saga. At the beginning of March, there was an outside chance of a pre-Easter collection but by Thursday last week the car had only just arrived in the UK port. It took a week to get on a transporter (!) and finally arrived in Guildford yesterday.
Paperwork was a right faff: I hadn't been sent the hire agreement in advance as requested and never sign anything without reading it. Good thing I did. The registration was wrong so they reprinted it. Then the reprint had somehow introduced an error into the maintenance cost line so got sent back for another reprint. The third copy introduced a different error into the monthly payment so we finally decided to leave it (it was only 25 pence a month more) and they offered to fill the tank instead which I suppose is pretty generous of them. Hope they don't forget on the day. They also offer a five day insurance policy gratis but this seems to be another tortuous mountain of paperwork for them so rather than go through the hell of being their copy editor I think I'll just arrange my own insurance from day one.
I still have to wait another few days due apparently to the backlog of cars currently being prepared by Guildford and given how they make a meal out of some simple paperwork I suppose it was naive of me to think I could get the car available for collection by the next day. Hope they manage to get it done by Tuesday as I will be away for almost two weeks after that...
Oh, one more thing. Oddly they say S models are not eligible for the £350 service plan. On querying this they have advised if I can show evidence that other S8 owners have successfully applied the plan to their cars, Audi may relent. Anyone shed any light on this?
Harris_I said:
Oh, one more thing. Oddly they say S models are not eligible for the £350 service plan. On querying this they have advised if I can show evidence that other S8 owners have successfully applied the plan to their cars, Audi may relent. Anyone shed any light on this?
Point them to Audi website:https://www.audi.co.uk/owners-area/audi-insurance-...
It only exclues W12 models: "The plan excludes A8 W12 models."
Someone else from PH forum had similar issue and it was sorted by quoting their website. You have to buy service plan before collection.
Discussion on AudiWorld with PH forum members: http://www.audiworld.com/forums/a8-s8-d4-platform-...
Sorry PP, I have one more question for you. Why did you choose £25k of cover for GAP insurance? The hire agreement requires the payment of all outstanding rentals on early termination (eg due to an insurance event) which would be around £10-15k depending on what particular deal you have negotiated with the finance co.
The lease company's interest in the main insurance policy means they take over the negotiation of the claim amount in the event of total loss and accept the insurance company's payout - so why is there a need for the lessee to additionally cover more than the outstanding rentals?
The lease company's interest in the main insurance policy means they take over the negotiation of the claim amount in the event of total loss and accept the insurance company's payout - so why is there a need for the lessee to additionally cover more than the outstanding rentals?
I guess, I was thinking along PCP line instead of PCH, hence the high amount quote. But if the docs say what you quote, lower GAP should be enough. At the moment, my outstanding amount is around £8K, early termination around £5k. I didn't have PCH from VWFS before and it works a bit different than MBFS. Mercedes quotes the outstanding value of the car, VWFS gives the early termination amount which is some percentage of the total outstanding leasing cost, not value of the car.
Gap insurance was only £124, so I won't be crying that I overpaid.
Gap insurance was only £124, so I won't be crying that I overpaid.
Edited by PenelopaPitstop on Sunday 3rd April 19:34
I remember seeing our 2005 Leon Cupra R straight off the transporter, complete with transport blocks in the suspension and the front splitter inside the car! Looked very odd, but at least you know it's not been smashed getting it on and off the transporter (you hope!)
Not sure with the air suspension if you have physical blocks in there, or they just have a 'transport mode' setting that lifts the bags?
Hope they don't keep you waiting too much longer!
Not sure with the air suspension if you have physical blocks in there, or they just have a 'transport mode' setting that lifts the bags?
Hope they don't keep you waiting too much longer!
barrieeld said:
The s8 deals were getting pushed pretty hard in the summer it was hard not to miss them...central leasing done a ton as well as s7's which were around the same price with 21" wheels etc.
I went direct to Audi in Dundee and took 2 S8's at £325 + VAT (they allocated 4 in total) on a 6/23 deal (saying that i must have sent over 20 people to Sytner in London who were offering a similar deal at the time). We ordered one in cuvee silver with brown leather which has been used in a couple of Audi photoshoots because its one of the only cars in the UK in this colour scheme the other car was Argus Brown.
Its an amazing deal but I would say you get them if you keep looking around my car I've just handed back was an SL350 which i leased for £260+VAT and i recall the Maserati Quattroporte being offered for around £320 early 2015 so keep an eye out as when they do come up they go fast!
The push will come from support from the manufacturer and I know Audi are not giving the same £20k support so the prices will be a little higher in Q1 (I've already been asking dealers to notify me should there be any push on the RS7
)
where the hell do you see these deals?! I need to know! pleaseI went direct to Audi in Dundee and took 2 S8's at £325 + VAT (they allocated 4 in total) on a 6/23 deal (saying that i must have sent over 20 people to Sytner in London who were offering a similar deal at the time). We ordered one in cuvee silver with brown leather which has been used in a couple of Audi photoshoots because its one of the only cars in the UK in this colour scheme the other car was Argus Brown.
Its an amazing deal but I would say you get them if you keep looking around my car I've just handed back was an SL350 which i leased for £260+VAT and i recall the Maserati Quattroporte being offered for around £320 early 2015 so keep an eye out as when they do come up they go fast!
The push will come from support from the manufacturer and I know Audi are not giving the same £20k support so the prices will be a little higher in Q1 (I've already been asking dealers to notify me should there be any push on the RS7
)I was told by Guildford Audi that after I ordered the car they had a flood of enquiries (presumably from Pistonheaders reading this thread) and had to close the books on that particular promotion.
It's best to keep a beady eye on things as insane deals do seem to pop up on some interesting cars in the current low interest rate environment.
It's best to keep a beady eye on things as insane deals do seem to pop up on some interesting cars in the current low interest rate environment.
Harris_I said:
I was told by Guildford Audi that after I ordered the car they had a flood of enquiries (presumably from Pistonheaders reading this thread) and had to close the books on that particular promotion.
It's best to keep a beady eye on things as insane deals do seem to pop up on some interesting cars in the current low interest rate environment.
The dealers will not be told until the deals are live, otherwise they splurge info to customers! The January deals aren't weren't as 'insane' as those coming up about 6 months prior. As this thread only started in Jan, it was more likely (on PH at least) the main deals thread which drove a bit of demand. Anyway this the of deal is not a high volume thing. The resale value of a 2 year S8 is a lot less than list minus 2 year lease revenue so I can't imaging Audi have plans to flood the market in order to win the brand wars... But then it could be to bolster Audi numbers with the BMW M7 coming out. It's best to keep a beady eye on things as insane deals do seem to pop up on some interesting cars in the current low interest rate environment.
Harris_I got good deal: "Deal worked out as 451.66 incl VAT (9+23 and 10k miles) so if we deduct 825 (towbar), that's around 425pm incl VAT" That's total of £13.6K for basic spec for 2 years lease. So no wonder there was a flood of enquiries. I think it's always best to try dealers in less affluent areas as they might be more keen to do a good deal. Get the numbers you want and start calling, someone might agree to the deal. Last time, I had luck with Glasgow and Shropshire was quite keen too and they were not aware of the deal. Shropshire tried to match the numbers I gave them and Glasgow dealer called me back next day saying he will do the deal.
I recently talked to someone who ordered S8 just before the deals hit the market. He got £25K discount, loaded the car with £10K options and paid for it: £10K upfront and £800pcm. Not sure whether it's 2 or 3 years deal but sounds very expensive comparing to promotional rates. He also had to wait extra 2 months because broker/dealer ordered 25 cars and his got delayed.
I recently talked to someone who ordered S8 just before the deals hit the market. He got £25K discount, loaded the car with £10K options and paid for it: £10K upfront and £800pcm. Not sure whether it's 2 or 3 years deal but sounds very expensive comparing to promotional rates. He also had to wait extra 2 months because broker/dealer ordered 25 cars and his got delayed.
Edited by PenelopaPitstop on Tuesday 5th April 07:31
Blown2CV said:
The resale value of a 2 year S8 is a lot less than list minus 2 year lease revenue so I can't imaging Audi have plans to flood the market in order to win the brand wars... But then it could be to bolster Audi numbers with the BMW M7 coming out.
I have been a serial BMW buyer for the last 20 years and never bought an Audi. If the S8 turns out as good as I'm hoping, that may mean 20 years of loyalty to Audi. I guess there's some method to their madness.Harris_I said:
Blown2CV said:
The resale value of a 2 year S8 is a lot less than list minus 2 year lease revenue so I can't imaging Audi have plans to flood the market in order to win the brand wars... But then it could be to bolster Audi numbers with the BMW M7 coming out.
I have been a serial BMW buyer for the last 20 years and never bought an Audi. If the S8 turns out as good as I'm hoping, that may mean 20 years of loyalty to Audi. I guess there's some method to their madness.Blown2CV said:
kind of throws up the idea that brand loyalty is a bit silly though eh? If you can just be swayed by a cheap deal, then where is the loyalty? It's a bit like saying i've been loyal to my mrs for 20 years.... until i met that slut in a bar. It's kind of just a habit. Besides, what would make you stay with audi? This type of deal every time you renew? Dream on! Also that M7 looks pretty next level stuff. S8 could be left looking a bit old hat and it's not even hit my F'ing drive yet.
LOL, well that's one way of seeing it. Another is that I would never have considered an Audi were it not for the deal. Now that I've collected and driven it a bit, I must say it's pretty damn impressive and I can see myself moving onto other Audis in the future. A similar thing happened to me with Mercedes. Post the '98 merger with Chrysler, the cars were truly awful and I vowed I would never own one. Until one day I got thrown the keys to an SLS for a day and it completely changed my perception of the brand. Anyway enough waffle. Enjoy the pics:
The handover process was very pleasant. Thumbs up for Louise at Guildford who has been commendably patient with me. The only blot on the process today was I spotted a couple of minor chips on the trailing edge of the driver's door where someone has carelessly swung it into a wall or something. A brand new S8 - what is wrong with people?! Anyway they say they will apply a touch up when I next bring it in and I'm not overly precious about these things.
First impressions after approx 30 miles of driving:
- Impressive refinement - that acoustic noise cancellation tech really works.
- Surprisingly good damping - coming from an M5 I was expecting an edge to the ride but even in Dynamic mode it seems to ride the Surrey potholes very well.
- Effing quick, that's a given. But I was surprised how quickly the needle reaches for the redline. I have this weird feeling it might even be quicker in a straight line than the M5 but that might be the traction advantage.
- Drop dead gorgeous interior and I'm glad I chose lunar silver. Genuinely lovely place to be. The leather, alcantara, carbon and brushed alu seem to gel very well even though on paper it sounds like a random mishmash of materials. I never got luxury cars before so I guess this is me firmly entering middle age...
- Flipping complicated MMI. No doubt I will get used to it but meanwhile I will try not to crash.
- Steering is weird. I mostly drove in Dynamic mode and couldn't get used to the non-linear response. Not sure if that is my imagination and maybe I just need to put the hours in to get used to it.
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