ToddsXFR - Ditto - A gorgeous car!

Sandy,

Have you considered a pre-owned car? You sure can save a lot of money
on them and they are so well taken care of, usually there are no problems
with them. Of course if you are blessed enough to buy a new one, I understand.
There is nothing like that "new car" feeling!

Good luck to you!

 

Hi Debbie! Nice to see another lady on the forum!!

Actually I lease my cars because it's a company expense (and benefit for me!). Our CPA doesn't like the corporation to own vehicles so leasing it is!

It works well when you're tired of your car and ready for a new one but this time, I'm sad to see the RS4 go. You would love it!

thanks,
Sandy

 

Okay guys - I'm heading down to the dealership now and I've decided to keep my options open.

I just checked the blue book on my Audi and it's pricing out almost $10,000 above my lease payoff amount so I think I have some good negotiation power with that.

I'm still so torn between my knowledge that the XFR will be the more practical choice all around while still being a great performance car and the XK styling that I originally fell in love with. My kids are so great and telling me that I should get what makes me happy since I work hard and deserve it!! (awww!!)

I will be sure to post back here to let everyone know what I decided - I will either try to buy a 2011 XK or XKR coupe tonight or order a 2012 XFR.

Stress!!!

Sandy

 

Well good luck Sandy...Congrats and enjoy the great new ride!!!
In the mean time I'll just post this...



But like everyone says, there is NO backseat in these...I think you made the right choice for all the right reasons!

 

Hey Cigar Guy!!

So, I didn't see your post until just now but I think you must have been sending me XK vibes because....I just leased a new 2011 XKR Cabriolet!! I need to verify but I believe the color is Liquid Silver w/Black soft top, dove grey interior. It's ridiculously gorgeous. (I'll take pictures and post tomorrow.)

We went to the dealership fully intending to keep our options open and most importantly - ready to walk away if the deal didn't make sense. My intention was to order a 2012 XFR but I also wanted to drive the XKR since I hadn't driven it yet and just keep my options open. We had driven my Audi to the dealership so they offered to do an appraisal while we were test-driving both the XFR and the XKR.

We drove the XFR first and although it was a fantastic car (scary fast acceleration), once we sat in the XKR (with the top down, at sunset...) both my husband and I knew that the XKR was just more "me". Don't get me wrong - we loved the XFR and loved the performance but something about the body style was just bigger than what I'm used to and wasn't quite the body style that I was comfortable in (I'm only 5'3"). The XKR just fits me like a glove, and the bonus is that it's also a cabriolet which I had not intended to look at because of the cost.

So, in the end, I was able to negotiate more than a fair price for my Audi, I negotiated the price of the XKR about as low as was possible and I ended up with a lease payment just $200 more than my current Audi payment for much more car. I decided on a four-year lease since I can see myself happily driving the XKR for four years without a problem and it did lower the lease payment just a bit. I'm feeling a bit dazed right now because I had fully intended that I'd be hanging on to my Audi until at least November. I believe that the rarity of my Audi helped for us to negotiate a price well above the lease payoff amount, and it didn't hurt that it's nearly the end of the month and that the 2012 models will be arriving soon.

I think that had I waited for a 2012 XKR, the cost would have been too high and I wouldn't have been able to get it or get the cabriolet model. Oh yeah - I guess my car has upgraded 20" wheels/tires too!! Somehow we didn't get the window sticker for the car so I'll see if I can get that from the dealer tomorrow to verify all of the installed options.

My son just loves the car and we'll make do for as long as we can with the back seat situation. As it is, right now usually one of my daughters has to drive when our family of five goes out together so my son can just as easily ride with his sisters as he can ride with me.

I'm still in shock over the decision to purchase now rather than wait, but I'm very, very happy with the car and I think we got a tremendous deal. The car is gorgeous, elegant and powerful, all at once.

I'll post again tomorrow once I get a chance to snap a picture or two. Thank you to everyone who gave me advice. I really appreciated everyone's thoughtful responses and advice.

Sandy

 

Congratulations on your beautiful new car. You made a great choice, although you really couldn't have gone wrong either way. I hope you love your XKR as much as I do mine.

 

Sandy......Welcome to the Dark Side!!!!!!!!

 

Ha ha!! Thanks!!

Here are a couple of pictures of the new baby!

Can't wait to learn all about it.

Sandy

 

Congratulations! I agree with others that you could not go wrong either way. Although providing an appraisal of your existing car while you test drive/look at new ones is the oldest dealer strategem in the book, your advance research, timing and negotiating skill more than countered it.

The car is beautiful and, being silver, will almost always look good, even when it's not clean. The red calipers look really sharp.

BTW, I probably didn't catch this in a prior post, but what model Audi did you trade in that was so rare?

 

It was a 2008 RS4 Cabriolet. Roughly only 200 of this model were imported to the US and considering tha mine was in perfect shape, had only 30,000 miles on it, made it a very attractive car. Had I waited until the end of my lease, I would have turned it in and gotten nothing for it. By trading it in, I was able to negotiate a price more than $8k over my payoff amount so it was a total win for me. The dealer will probably do well and he may make more on my car than the XKR he sold me and the bonus is that it helped to get the XKR lease within my price range.

During the negotiations they had to call the owner of the dealership to get the deal approved. The finance manager came over to ask me why I was trying to steal their Jag. I think because I was fully prepared to walk if the deal went sour on either side gave us a lot of power.

It just goes to show that it pays to do your research very thoroughly before stepping foot in the dealership.

Sandy

 

Well, that certainly explains why you ended up choosing an XKR cabrio, then! Congrats again on a beautiful car.

 

XKR Droptop