coloradosclass

Boy aint that the truth, I will never forget when I was doing a full-doc 30 fixed on a 780 fico Non-Purchase money and the dude walked becuase I quoted 5.875 on friday and by tuesday it went up 5.95 and he walked.
Options arms still closing strong but need more 100% Non-OO.
Did you see the pictures of the S8 photographer Tom Salt did? Damn!!!!!
PM me and I will give you the link. It's all German it's all good just Audi got it this time.

TA-9FF

Hmm...........why is that? What makes a car depreciate that bad anyway?

Ferrari's and Porsche's can hold their value pretty well. A freaking 993TT is still like what,.........$70-80k for an immaculate one! And it's 10+ years old!

TA-9FF

Lender1

Cheated can be an understatement. I once had a greedy dentist that didn't lock his loan after I advised him the market was going against him. The rate went against him by .25. Not only did he swear up and down he told me to lock it, he actually started to cry.

I, as I'm sure you do, have lots of customer stories. Some of them think that .125 down is going to elevate their lifestyle and the same in the other direction isn't going to allow them to buy meat anymore.

absent

And that is average price for a '02 996TT also.
Some Ferraris have good resale(not a rule everywhere though),all modern Porsches and MBs drop like keys from a Learjet ,no better then Audis at all.

JizJizJiz

I'd think bad reputation. Audis had awful reputation back in the 80s and 90s. At least that's what I gather.

Also, obviously, supply and demand. Audis simply are not all that popular in the used-car market. This is also why the 993 is so freaking expensive.

JizJizJiz

Unless it's the CLS .

coloradosclass

Your missing Taurian's point here guys. He is LEASING!!!! who cares about depreciation. I leased my Audi A8L and they gave me 70% residual and
0.00125% Money factor on a 24,000 mile lease. That is unreal and nobody in luxury market could even touch that! Nobody. You want to compare MB S550how about this than 56% Residual and 0.00350 (8.4% apr) That is horrible. Black Book on leasing for MB is even worse!

FThornton666

993s hold their value so well because only a small portion of 933 Turbos ever made it to the States, unlike the 996 Turbo which has a pretty crappy resale value.

Getenby

have fun with the worst customer service in the country. Try to get your new A8 fixed... it will take you 2 weeks. I just turned my 9 month old A8L in for the s550. I had warranty problems and they would put me on the schedule 10 days best effort to fix a car. Each dealer only has 1/2 mech. who can work on the car. The sales guy will kiss your butt, but the service guy will put the screws on you. Good Luck..... I will stick with a service department that will take my car anytime anyplace for any reason. Good luck. Hopefully you are not from CAlifornia service for Audi is even worse.....

absent

Your personal bad experience does not mean it's the rule for all Audi services.
I assure you,there are as many dissatisfied Audi owners as there are MB's.
So,lets not generalize....

JizJizJiz

I did miss that :o. My bad.

patrick_y

Also, the 993 Turbo was the last of the air cooled models. Plus, the reason why so few of them are in the states is because nobody bought them. Porsche was about to go kaplunk during that time.

My favorite Porsche turbo so far is the 993. The last true Porsche.

I do like the new ones though.

patrick_y

Ferrari 8 cylinder models usually have good resale value.

The V12s don't. The 2+2s will drop like "a key from a learjet". Learjets are not good jets. If you can, upgrade to a Gulfstream. Trust me, your pilot will thank you.

patrick_y

Glad you like the S8, I haven't seen it yet, but I did like the Volkswagon Phaeton.

Seriously, Mercedes is not providing what the customer wants anymore, and this is the reason why I am probably going to consider other brands. In fact, the only reason why I acquired my most recent Mercedes was because I enjoy the service provided to me by my service advisor.

Move on to new and better things.

After all, they say, "you buy a Mercedes to impress others, you buy an Audi to impress yourself." I don't plan on acquiring an Audi (I am under the impression that they have even more problems than Mercedes), but there are other non-German alternatives that I would entertain when it comes to my next car.

The point is, Taurian, you are the customer. In the US, the saying is "the customer is always right," and this is true, the customer is always right, unfortunately, the customer doesn't always gets what he wants. In Japan, the saying is "the customer is God" and I agree, the customer should get what he wants. If he doesn't get it, he is entitled to throw a fit and to exhibit an adverse attitude. Mercedes needs to learn this and I hope that your exemplary behavior teaches them a lesson.

You are a well educated and respectable man. Very few mortgage brokers (I'm assuming that you are a mortgage broker from what you said earlier) are ethical men, many probably would quote a 6.25% loan and then add on points and increase the rate to 6.35% etc. I would presume persons such as yourself would expect the same out of your local dealership, especially when you're taking two hours to acquire a car.

We all need to be picky. We all need to feel that we have the right to be upset when we are not catered to properly. When ordering a $100k car, you're expecting something bespoke. Mercedes either delivers exactly that, or is in the wrong business.

Mercedes thinks they can get away with acts like these because they think all of their clients are new money and are easy. While this may be true, they forget that there are people who know what they want and will only settle for what they want, when they want it, and how they want it. If they don't deliver, then we as clients will look at the competitor.

Bentley, today, is also the same way. Don't expect too much customization on the new models until they've been out for a while because the factory can't handle it in the first few months of production.

Enjoy the Audi, if you don't like it, you can always bring it back in and pay the lease penalty. If I'm ever in the market for a home in the Hamptons (once again, assuming that you're a mortgage broker), I shall attempt to find this thread again. Goodluck.

Taurian

Patrick,

Yes, I am a Mortgage Broker (i own www.blackstonemortgagecorp.com). In fact, the hamptons is one of our core markets. As you stated, being an ethical person causes one to think the rest of us are. Problem is...most aren't. MB has really had a lousy launch of the S550 in terms of packaging and supply of listed options.

BTW...I have 5 friends that all leased A8's after their S500 leases were up. Every one of them likes the car over the S500.

Baloo588

I have to also say that I owned a 2004 S500 4 matic and traded it in for a beautiful black 2006 Audi A8L, and I love it!! Its a great piece of machinery and very elegant. Hopefully in the future the new S550 will return to my garage, but not anytime soon.

jangy

First off, good ridance to all of you Audi fools. The fact that you even make these comparisons shows where your heart lies.

Fact is, they (Audis) drop in value so much because high miles on Audis COST money!! Electrical gremlins are extremely expensive, too. All cars drop in value faster when they are new, but some level out and others (Audi, Ford, etc.) continue to drop from the get go.

Some funny things that Audi people say:

Heck the Audi comes LOADED for $97,000, so it is better than the Mercedes that is $107,000 loaded!! Ok, well a Toyota Avalon is MUCH cheaper loaded....

I'm spending $100K on a car, I should get a custom car. LOL, try adding a few zeros before you talk like that. $100K on that car? Take a look at the model line ups and tell me which ones you think carry the highest margins. You really think the CURRENT S550 is less value than a reworked VW?

I like the "yet to be released" Audi over the been out for 10 years AND been replaced S500 Mercedes. And what do your 8 friends have to do with the discussion at hand?

Baloo588

Jangy,

Please try not to be so arogant and accept what we choose to drive, as it in fact does not seem to be your problem. Audis are currently outstanding and very reliable cars and i know they were plagued by problem in the 90s, but that has changed. Mercedes is currently plagued with thier problematic models including the previous generation S class and E class which I have owned and been agitated by worthless problems. I dont care if we are audi lovers or merecedes lovers, both are good companies, and accept that. Sorry thats the way it is. BTW, we audi fools as u call us are also mercedes owners!

jangy

I will try to be less "arogant" as your decisions are not my problems indeed. Or did you mean arrogant?

I am also glad that Audi's problems have changed, but can you tell me if it is for the better or worse?

Hmmm, so you have been plagued with the Mercedes Problems, too? That is too bad. I guess one good thing is that you were simply agitated by the "worthless problems". The worth while problems are a completely different story.

I accept your apology and yes, it is odd that an Audi fool would buy a Mercedes is it not? I can see why Mercedes Benz would sell to you, since they make money and you will be so easily satisfied after an Audi, but I just can't figure out why you would have a Mercedes?

hmmmm, the confusion continues. Please exit through the rear doors and be off with you. More english lessons on another day!!

TA-9FF

All I can say is, thank god Porsche got Michael Mauer as their new Design Chief to "fix" all of Haam Lagaay's "crummy" designs (ie: Boxster, 996, etc) back in the late 90's-early 2000's. Mauer made the 997TT exactly how I wanted the 996TT to be; alas the 996TT always seemed to have an identity crisis, and although I did like it, I had an issue with its looks from different angles. And god I hated the headlamp design........

All current Boxster and 911 designs look so much better to me versus the previous versions. The new Boxster and 911 just looks so much cleaner to me......now all they gotta do is "Mauer-ize" the Cayenne.....

I'm all but too happy that the 997TT has redeemed itself in being the benchmark-setting car it has always been. And what gorgeous lines.....and at every angle too! I wished Porsche would've given the 997TT the 993-style signature "whale tail" spoiler, but a quick visit to TechArt can fix that.

Sorry for hijacking the thread! Just wanted to give my $0.02.

patrick_y

Seriously, the quality of people who drive Mercedes vehicles have plummeted to a new low. The Mercedes car is so accessible to a multitude of wealthy but poorly educated and poorly mannered people that it is nothing short of sad that we live among so many wealthy but poorly educated people.

This is what happens when people have too much equity.

Although I believe Jaguar is a lesser car, I've never seen an ill mannered Jaguar owner before. Neither a rude Audi A8 owner. While both of these cars do depreciate in value tremendously, I don't know why anyone would care, especially if they were leasing it since they owned a business.

I shall have to bid adieu to Mercedes, the car of choice for poorly educated people who have money. Unfortunately, BMW is even worse.

patrick_y

Hey Jangy, just to let you know, in your post #43, you had spelling error(s) as well.

While I agree with you that Audi is not a particularly impressive car in my opinion, I think that you look like you come off looking like you're getting a little upset.

Please remember that there is no need to be upset.

jangy

Never fear for me, my silly little adiou.
Oddly enough, i tried to buy an Audi and a Jaguar before the Mercedes Benz, but I could not fill out the application correctly. Hmmm, makes me think about your post above. I just thought I got cold feet, but I see now that I was not allowed to buy one of them. I do agree with you that there are far too many normal people driving around in MBs and BMWs these days. What happenned to the good old days when just a few could enjoy life while the rest slaved??

Baloo588

Jangy,

You have some good arguments. I had 2 Mercedes but now I own a 2006 Audi A8L which I love. I think sometimes its good to try new products. I have done 16,000 miles on my A8L since last november, and not a single problem like the Benz S500. The Audi reliablity has changed for the good and its improving every year. Their interior quality and parts are Lexus like. I really like the new S550 and that is definetily up to Mercedes standards just like the past.