acer2974

I've become very impressed with the new A4, but there seems to be a major strange issue with availability. It is now extremely difficult to find an A4 Prestige or even an A4 with Nav (any color). I questioned several dealers on this and they said that the A4 is only an entry level model and the prestige model or Nav would make it too expensive. They want to keep the car in the low to mid 30's and the Prestige or Nav would take it to $40K or somewhat over. I said "huh?". Their view, which must be supported by Audi, is that if you want Nav, etc. you should get an A6 for $50K+ or maybe an A5 which is only a coupe (or buy a BMW?). There are a great number of new A4's on the lots (they are not really selling that well and A6's are not selling at all according to recent sales figures, only the Q5 and A5 are selling) but they are all P's with just a very few P+ in the mix. This phenomenon is across most of the Southeast. Why is Audi bothering to develop new technologies and features if the dealers don't order them. I think the other issue is that dealers think they can only compete with the BMW 3 series by having a lower price (BMW has no problem loading up their cars). I guess I can order one and wait 3 months. Anyway, I wonder what the group's take is on this or is this a Southeast issue. (Nav is even hard to find on the Q5's) This is all so sad since the new A4 is fantastic - even just to look at in the garage.

09A4

Its worth the wait if its something you want.. I have nav with prestige and absolutely love every feature

RXBG

i think the 2.0T is just too expensive. they need to go back to leatherette and no sunroof cars. 40K for an average loaded 4 cyl german car is too rich for american blood these days.

dk1

I will second that.

I couldn't find any loaded A4 either around NYC area when I was buying mine. Ordered mine without even trying any of the features. It was mentioned before than Audi sells fewer cars than BMW in US and dealers can't afford for a loaded model to sit on the lot.

Moviela

All Audi vehicles cost less in the US than the rest of the world. I personally think the add on are overpriced, but Audi feels like we in the US are getting an incredible deal to start.

Acer needs to expand his search area. There are plenty of units with the features he seeks on dealer lots in So Cal.

If you need your car a certain way, order it with European Delivery. The discount will pay for your trip.

iflywoe

yes i wish i would have known about european delivery before i order mine , local lot here in town has a black prem-plus with nav! just look else where.

bmw out sells audi , but audi is getting a bigger pice of the pie this days.

Art234

I have a 2010 A4 with Prestige and Driver Assist--I ordered it in April, and took delivery second half of July. I absolutely love all the features, and the 3G MMI with Nav is spectacular. Try driving into NYC and putting the zoom on 110 yds--ALL the buildings come up...

Dealer inventory varies by demographics of the customer area. My dealer stocks fewer fully equipped cars, but one closer to me (who I did not buy from), stocks more Prestige vehicles across all lines.

Regarding sales, I don't know where you're getting your information, but Audi sales (while lower than BMW in total), are up year over year...at least according to Audi USA. I think the A4 is the volume seller, so I would imagine most dealers are going to keep the lower priced ones in stock.

So I would definitely widen your search area.....you should be able to find what you want somewhere.

acer2974

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Some interesting notions in that maybe the 4 cyl engine is hurting their perceived value regarding of performance and MPG. I would say, however, that the A4 looks like a better value than Lexus and MB, for sure. Lexus has gone option happy and the base price is a joke. The best value is the Infiniti, especially right now where Infiniti has $4K incentives on the EX which brings the EX down to about $35k, a good $5K below anything else like it. Anyway, the dealers are trying to search for a car for us (they are not super happy given that they have 20-30 A4 sitting on their lot), but we may land up ordering or looking into the Euro delivery thing which might be an adventure (wife and I are retired - hopefully not too "old" for an A4)


Here is the sales info:

AUDI US SNAPSHOT -----YEAR TO DATE-----
Model Line Aug-09 Aug-08 Yr/Yr % Aug-09 Aug-08 Yr/Yr %
Actual Actual Change YTD YTD Change
Actual Actual
A3 479 432 10.9% 2,295 3,447 -33.4%
A4 3,823 2,136 79.0% 25,022 28,906 -13.4%
A5 877 718 22.1% 5,206 3,472 49.9%
A5 Cabriolet 44 -- -- 44 -- --
A6 561 1,520 -63.1% 4,171 8,173 -49.0%
A8 109 274 -60.2% 859 1,907 -55.0%
Audi Q5 1,496 -- -- 8,220 -- --
Audi Q7 394 902 -56.3% 4,709 8,714 -46.0%
R8 85 83 2.4% 469 448 4.7%
TT 189 341 -44.65 1,314 3,166 -58.55
Total Audi Sales 8,057 6,406 25.8% 52,309 58,233 -10.2%

I believe this Aug was a very good month for Audi A4 and Q7, (relative to previous months that is). All the others are worrysome even with a bad economy. On the other hand, China and India are coming on strong. One issue is lack of any marketing in the US and so it remains sort of a cult car.

buckthorn

I'm not sure about the sedan, and you may have to go beyond the NY met area. I just turned down an offer (in the midwest) on a Premium Plus Avant with nav (I didn't want to pay that much extra for a gadget that I don't really need). So they are around. A good dealer should be able to find you one. (update: I quickly found a couple of A4 sedans with nav by doing a quick search on cars.com).

Barrels41

The EX has no usable back seat and uses gas like an SUV. The G37 or G37X is a sweet ride.

My suggestion is to special order the A4 built to suit. You will love it. Expensive but worth every penny. Condsider the sports package P+. The nav is a luxury. I have it for my business car. The 2009 nav is a dinosaur compared to the 2010. I really can get by with the nav on my Iphone. Worked for me on a recent vacation in NM & AZ using rented cars.

The Premium is a great value if you can stand the Mickey Mouse no-fi radio and 17" base tires. No LEDs either.

The LEDs are a great safety feature. They are so eyecatching no one cuts me off.

Are you buying a Quattro for the southeast?