gregtay

Hi guys.. my lease is up on my 2008 S-Line roadster. My plan is to purchase the car and hang on to it (replace my Miata down in AZ.. so it will likely only see a few thousand miles a year.) I only leased(vs. a loan) because the money factor was 0.. which seemed like a no brainer.) Anyway... the residual is $23k and the car only has 18K miles.... my other choice would be to turn it in and pick up a pre-owned TT-S roadster... Does 23K for an 08 roadster with 18K miles seem like a good enough deal to pass up swapping it out for a TTS?

I guess i should mention that my TT has Nav, mag ride susp, bi-xeons, heated seats, Bluetooth.

Va_TTer

Is it the 2.0 FWD or the 3.2 AWD? Assuming it's the 3.2 (don't think they made S-line FWD in 2008?), unless the dealer is going to credit you more than that residual against the TT-S, I'd buy it and either keep it or sell it privately and then buy the TT-S. From a quick survey on Autotrader, it looks like your car would list between $25k and $28k. Don't know if there's someone on the forum who can give you the Mannheim value, which is what your dealer would likely give you in a trade. The Edmunds TMV trade-in value is $25k, which seems a bit high, but which still suggests 23k is a good price.

If it's been a reliable car and you like driving it, why chance getting someone else's pre-owned nightmare? Extend the warranty, keep it for another couple years, save the money you'd have put towards car payments, and then in 2013 or 2014 buy a pre-owned TT-RS!!

gregtay

Thanks. It's a FWD 2.0T DSG S-Line roadster. They didn't offer Quattro on the 2.0 back in 08 (which was lame)

i3adSaab

I think the price sounds really good. I paid something like $31k for an '08 3.2 6MT with quattro last Spring, but it didn't have alot of the stuff you have on yours. Mine was certified pre-owned with 22k miles on it.

I'd say buy it and like VA TTr said, if you don't want it long term then try to sell it yourself.

By the way, I will tell you that I was able to negotiate the price on my leased '04 A4 down by about $3k a few years ago. Before you agree to buy, start negotiating with Audi Financial. I called them every week for two months, they kept reducing the price and I didn't agree until the day before it was due to be returned.

good luck!

BMWBig6

I agree, $23k for a car with only 18k miles is a great price. I also think that knowing your own car's history is worth a lot vs. gambling on someone else's car. If you're happy with the car, keep it and enjoy it! If you change your mind, you could always sell it and I bet could still get $23k out of it next year (especially with gas prices inching upward, as the TT is a relative fuel-sipper and will be seen as more attractive alternative).

gregtay

Thanks.. I have been trying to negotiate the price of the residual down but no luck.. not even a dollar.. very frustrating. They said they don't neg the price of the residual.. over. I have called a few times and they gave me the same answer. And then my dealer tried to tell me they wanted $300 just "inspect" my car before they would let me buy it off lease... Are you kidding? Even the Audi financial guys say "they want to charge $300 for what??"

i3adSaab

well that totally sucks. I think I called them back every two weeks for about 2 months. They moved another $500 the day before the lease was up and I accepted, total was about $3k cheaper than the residual. They gave me a visa gift card for the money, so that it showed on their records that they got it back at residual....didn't make a difference to me. I think that was in spring of 2008, before the crash.

good luck!