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550x vs Audi S6

7K views 45 replies 19 participants last post by  ish 
#1 ·
Before pulling the trigger on her new 550, my wife and I stopped by our local Audi dealer to check out the S6. While the car was very nice, she didn't immediately love it. The salesman was eager for us to test drive. I wanted to talk numbers.

Soooooo guess how much they wanted for the car...........sticker ! And not a dime less !

I was like WTF??
 
#2 · (Edited)
A lot of dealers wanted sticker when the 550 when was first released. A8s have huge discounts right now, so if the A6/S6 sales soften up down the road the discounts will follow.
 
#4 ·
At some point the penny will drop and Audi USA will realize that its dealers are its achilles heel... BMW dealers (and to a lesser extent MB dealers) are far more motivated to move product. Audi may be the fastest growing brand of the three, but it's well behind in the US in terms of actual units and for me the dealer network is largely responsible for that. Good product let down by what in my experience are sub-par dealers.
 
#5 ·
I've never seen an Audi dealer discount more than $2k. Even on cars that have been around a year and are plentiful on the ground.
 
#7 ·
A fellow Fester Travel4Surf is considering $13k off deal he worked for an A8L over in the F01 forum. I don't remember the details, but I got a pretty sweet deal on my A6 a number of years ago, so I know it's possible.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Audi has corporate rates with some larger companies ( like my wife's ). It's 6% off before any negotiation. It's Audi who has the agreement and gives the discount and it doesn't cost the dealer anything. They also have ED discounts like BMW. When I looked at an S4 before getting my M3 they also had a discount for pouching current BMW owners. If you think Audi is arrogant and play hardball, try Porsche and you'll find Audi dealers pleasant and eager to please... Seriously I will always look at BMWs before any of the others and select them if their product is close to being competitive. While ordering the Cayenne the dealer acted like they made us a huge favour by allowing us to pay for one of their cars. If the cars weren't so damn good I would have walked out and never returned.
 
#9 ·
Interesting. At my local dealer in MA (carries both Porsche and Audi), the Porsche sales team is friendly, helpful, and professional. The Audi sales team is arrogant, uninformed, and inexperienced. This has been my experience at this dealer over the course of several years.
 
#12 ·
Actually, this is why I was a little pissed, because I wasn't going to take the S6 they had in the showroom. I was planning on ordering my ride.

Listen they can move a unit, or they can be greedy........ It's up to them!
 
#14 ·
They CAN move a unit - probably EVERY unit in their allocation - without discounting a dime. So why would they want to sell one to you for less???

Sent from my HTC Inspire using BimmerApp
I think the point is that their allocations themselves are low as sales remain (relatively) low. Two of the primary reasons for these lower sales are the poor dealers and their unwillingness to deal, in contrast to BMW and Mercedes dealers who are motivated to move product. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I genuinely had a far more pleasant dealer experience negotiating the purchase price on my 911 (a car with an MSRP of over $110K) than the last time I talked to my local Audi dealer when testing cars for my wife. The opening gambit on a Q7 was MSRP, and there wasn't much of an indication that there would be much movement from there. The car I tested ended up staying in their inventory for ages afterwards.
 
#15 ·
I think the point is that their allocations themselves are low as sales remain (relatively) low. Two of the primary reasons for these lower sales are the poor dealers and their unwillingness to deal, in contrast to BMW and Mercedes dealers who are motivated to move product. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I genuinely had a far more pleasant dealer experience negotiating the purchase price on my 911 (a car with an MSRP of over $110K) than the last time I talked to my local Audi dealer when testing cars for my wife. The opening gambit on a Q7 was MSRP, and there wasn't much of an indication that there would be much movement from there. The car I tested ended up staying in their inventory for ages afterwards.
Good to know, sounds like I will be buying my next P-car out of state. Silicon valley is not much of a drive.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Two years ago when I was out test driving different cars, I had just finished driving the Panny and was walking through the Audi dealer next door to get to the MB dealer on the otherside. I saw a C6 S6 which caught my eye. I wasn't too interested, but the CA immediately offered 10k off. I told the CA I wasn't that iterested in the S6, but after I walked over to the R8 he re-engaged me and said he could take $25k off the R8. My eyes lit up, but Mrs Dunderhi immediately blurted out NO!!! Afterall, I was shopping for a sedan, thus we continued on to the MB dealer. :rolleyes:
 
#17 ·
Good to know they are willing to deal....Was that at Silver Spring autopark - great place for comparison shopping. BMWs are awesome but my current one is falling apart at 56K miles so I will have to find another brand. The S6 sure looks awesome.
 
#22 ·
This thread is a perfect example of how we as buyers are more motivated by the discount than the price. Comparably equiped A6's have a MSRP much less than a 5 series. A nice discount on a 5 brings it down to what an A6 lists for. The other thing that works for Audi is that they have among the best resale value in it's class. Not offering big discounts on new cars is the prime reason.
 
#25 ·
This thread is a perfect example of how we as buyers are more motivated by the discount than the price. Comparably equiped A6's have a MSRP much less than a 5 series. A nice discount on a 5 brings it down to what an A6 lists for. The other thing that works for Audi is that they have among the best resale value in it's class. Not offering big discounts on new cars is the prime reason.
Are you sure :dunno:
 
#29 ·
I looked at cars.com this weekend and it seems that most of the S6s in the country are around $74-$84K. The MSRP for the S6 (which was a lot of standard features) is $72,795 (including delivery). I don't think that the S6 is designed to compete with a lightly optioned 550. I think it is designed to compete with a heavily optioned 550 and to provide 90% of the M5 performance at 90% of the price.
 
#35 · (Edited)
Thanks, I agree that the S6 is not supposed to compete with a lightly optioned 550 on price but I was curious to see if Audi has chosen to build the first dealer allocations to make the car an option for 550 buyers or if they have maxed out the options to try to cash in on the initial rarity. It seems to be the former by the responses here. 81k sounds like a lot of car for the money even if you pay msrp.
 
#36 ·
We have to remember that a "lightly optioned" 550 is just that. When most cars costing $30,000 or more have heated seats standard, they are still an option on a near $70,000 BMW. And ventilated seats in a 5 series cost a small fortune because you have to have both Comfort and Luxury seat options in a 5 series to get ventilated seats. Same with keyless systems - standard in damn near anything over $30k, but optional even on a 5 series.

Option the cars the same and I'd bet the S6 competes very closely in price to a 550.
 
#41 ·
i was @ Audi dealership today with intention to test drive S6......
as we say in NJ- forget about it, you have a better chance to test drive 2013 G63/G550 or S63, than S6. Sales person did not even open a car for me, without 5 min discussion how great is new S6 is and how lucky i am to seat in this car. With regard to price MSRP and according to him again i have to waite 3-4 mo to get one/ very large volume AD in NJ/, overall attitude was less than pleasant and very snobby.
Overall impression- very good looking car, but i still like my F10 more, did not like diamond stiching , pop-up nav and skinny steering wheel
Hopefully will be able to test drive one in a near future.......
 
#42 ·
In march we test drove an a7 at the Tyson's Corner VA dealership. At the time, the car was new and they claimed it was in high demand. I wa upgrading from an A6 and had used the same dealer for service. This was a cash purchase and they said they couldnt discount from sticker. Despite the advertised Audi loyalty credit, they said that they couldnt give it to me due to the demand. A week after our a7 test drive, the sales guy emailed me and said they would apply the loyalty credit. Another week passed and he said they could do $4000 off. Finally, the sales manager sent me an email saying that they could take off $6000 for a cash purchase since they had a model which almost matched the specs I wanted. A bunch of BS if you ask me. We ended up ordering a 550i xdrive which we received in May and I still find excuses to drive whenever I can. I'm sure the s6 is a great car, but the 550 m sport gets looks everywhere I go and blows away most cars on the road.
 
#45 ·
IMO M5 is not in a same category with S6
I think 550 xi M sport goes exactly against S6 from any standpoint
M5 is ultraluxury,uberhigh performance rear wheel drive supersedan that competes with AMG
R versions of XJ and possibly Masserati, but not with Audi S6
 
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