A3 Cabriolet

[Andy G A6]

Finally gone and done it ordered a 2010 A3 Cabriolet for wife and daughter, although should be the other way around, 7 yr old daughter is convertible mad been trying to get me to buy one for ages ( or as she calls it a hat car ) doesnt matter where you go if she sees one she just shouts out.

Placed order this week just waiting now.

Any current owner experience to share ?

Andy

[tlionhart]

i had this car for a short while. It's a brilliant car! I would have got this last year, but the job I do requires putting luggage in the boot and there isn't enough room. (well there is, but I don't want to keep putting the rear seats down!)

Few things that could have been better on this car;
-the boot doesn't use hydraulic struts to open/close boot. Most cars have this. Whereas the A3 cab you gotta pull it ALL the way up and down.
-Surely they could have made this boot deeper? The TT roadster has and its a smaller car
-You gotta slow all the way down to 30mph to get the roof up or down. Hopefully the next one will be as quick or quicker than the a5 cabs
-in my opinion I didn't like the rear 45oC angle to your left shoulder. (UK car parks are badly designed.) So you gotta be extremely cautious when reversing out of a space because that 45oC angle is a terrible blind spot. Not just the A3 cab, but other cabs of similar size to the A3 cab have it. Reverse sensors are a must have. Would have helped if audi put side assist on this car, because its not easy on checking the left hand side blind spot when moving from the fast lane to the middle lane, etc. Something you will get use to though and figure new ways to compromise this. Like the adjustment of the left side mirror would be different.

The A3 cab was the first cabriolet I drove. Then I have driven my ex-girlfriends Pegeot which was also a cabriolet and realised it was probably me. Its a bit like switching from a mobile handset with buttons to the iphone, got to get use to it.

Its a wonderful car to own and drive. It is certainly a head turner when that roof is down.

What spec did you go for and congratulations on your new order! Don't forget to join the A3 owners club!!

[Andy G A6]

Ordered the Tecnic due to the current special offer on the solutions package, only costing £60.00 month more than wifes current Touran also on solutions, and i suspect it will be more than 60 quids worth of extra fun.

Couldnt say no really to good an offer.

[tlionhart]

i noticed that too! Very good offer at the moment. Did you put any other options on or are you going to just purchase the car as set out by the offer?

Also, how accurate is that offer? Does it go up or down in price? I presuming if you purchase the with a standard paint with no extras the solutions doesn't go up in price?

[Andy G A6]

The scheme is very flexible you can even vary the deposit but that puts the monthly payments up, but as I get paid monthly no probs, better on the cash flow. But you can go as the example solid colours though and it will be as described.

I only added metallic paint and front arm rest does put the price up but only by the amount you add stuff. Refused superguard but the dealer then offered it back again for only £2.50 a month, and with the grey interior it might be useful.

My dealer was completely flexible, I told him what I wanted to pay a month and then they adjusted deposit etc around that, perfect.

I used the same dealer and salesman as for my own A6 in 2008 that seemed to help a bit.

I paid £1000.00 less deposit added £600.00 extras with interest about £ 1800.00 divided by 36 = £ 50.00 iam paying £ 47.50 a month more than the offer example so it works out the same relatively.

[tlionhart]

thats not bad. Good to know adding a paint you pay for didn't shoot the price, just added a few pounds to the monthly pay. I think those PCP's are the way forward, owning a car outright is a waste of money. Unless you buy a car worth £7000 then you may as well pay up front for it.
Cars like Audi, BMW, Lexus where cars are worth at least £14000+.
Its just worth going for a car and making the cars value (with options) to the value of £25000 etc. Sure those PCP have interest but you'll be happy driving around in a car your happy with.

for example my car is worth £25000 when I brought it new. I intend to swap the car for a new one, love cars! So I took the PCP agreement out over 4yrs but I'll swap it for a new in in 2yrs or 3yrs or whenever I like. Thus keeps the monthly pay back down and initial deposit down. Also the final residual will be lower. So you could save £7k and keep the car if I want or use that deposit towards a new car. I also know there will be another A3 in 2012 and i'll most likely want it or the next 'big car'.

Also those PCP agreements take a hit on the depreciation, hence the low deposit you give.
Only disadvantages are;
-huge interest...don't care really. You pay interest on everything these days, credit cards, mortgages, etc!
-The balloon figure can be a sting. For example an A5 S-line with a lot of toys would be £14000. However you can walk away from audi or trade it for another model...either way it means saving or hunting for more money to get you in another car. Not necessarily audi. For example a VW polo you may just want to keep and run into the ground. Looking at £8000 minimum. (thats if you want to escape the PCP cycle.)
-Can be huge penalties if you decide to terminate the contract early, go over the 10000k mile cap or damages to the car. Even severe wheel scuffing will go against you! (minor scuffing not a prob)

Is your A6 on a PCP agreement?

[Andy G A6]

No A6 is in contract hire as a company car. But the principal is the same, you only pay for the depreciation and some interest why buy the whole car when you can buy just the bit your using ie the depreciation whilst owned.

Thats why fleet cars are generally contract hire, but it does work best with cars that have good residual value.

The Touran has depreciated by £1800 pounds in 18 months based on the part ex offer they gave me, that provided £1500.00 quid deposit because of the settlement figure being what it was.

Yes you pay interest but on this current offer only 9 point something per cent.