The vorsprung spec technique
 

At last.

Eureka

Now, I’ve never made it much of a secret that poverty spec cars are ,well, undesirable really, compared to their better specced brothers and sisters.

And being from the A8 community we are expect the best of the best, period.

But, of recent times cars out there, despite having more option opportunities than ever before, are mostly, bland as .......

I’ve recently got to the bottom of why this is. Leasing. PCP. Finance. Whatever option is taken where you don’t really buy it....

The secret sauce here is that they let you lease the basic car cheapish, but don’t really want to know about options. If you want options, they presume a zero resale value at the end of the lease, and so finance the chosen options in full over the lifetime of the lease so they can’t lose out.

Simple example.

New Audi A8 for round numbers, let’s say 500 per month for 48 months.

But bang and olufsen is 4800 pounds, which they charge 100 a month for over 4 years pushing the rental to 600. A 20% increase. Wow. That’s not worth having.

Nor is nice paint, radar cruise, sunroof, bose, in fact. Anything really as it’s disproportionally expensive given the the base car cost....

So we now have in the Audi approved used market a gazillion poverty spec, ex lease motors that all look absolutely identical bar the 1 of 4 basic cheap paint colours, mileage on the dash, tyre wear and the current position of the drivers seat. It’s sad, very sad.

Anyway, back on point..... ;-)

Out of the blue late last year, we now have a Q7 and SQ7 vorsprung edition. Or for short, my spec.

Think cdx , ghia, ghia x, lux, diplomat and then some and above.

The optional extras left to select on a Q7 vorsprung edition are, well, verging on irrelevant. (Ok, bang and olufsen and tow bar if you insist on pushing me)

But it has:

Monster 22 inch wheels
Alcantara roof
Bose
Interior light pack
Adaptive cruise
Bose
Lane assist
Side assist
Extended leather dahshbaird
Phone box
Heated from and rear seats
Panoramic sunroof
Side steps
Advanced key
Black edition
Reversing camera
360 degree cameras
Matrix Led headlights
Park assist

And more, much much more.

But crucially, it has everything I want. On a base model. This has never, ever happened before. Yes, it adds (cough) 15k to the base model, but we’re all leasing now anyway so who cares ? It’s finally guaranteed in 3 or 4 years time, there will actually be a car for me. Yee har. And, in the short term, there is a cost effective way to lease a decent spec Q7. Double Yee har.

But, way more importantly.

Is this a one off, or will we start to see other such special editions, making Audis genuinely beautiful and functional again ?

God I hope so...... +++

So the bad news is that in 15 years time, there will be no decent specc'ed A8s worth buying, and the good news is that these Q7 and SQ7 vorsprung editions really tickle your fancy, based on the amount of typos you made. :ROFL:

I had a bottle of wine. Past tense. Hic.

As long as you got the sentiment, the grammar can take a night off lol +++

A good point that was well made. No one wants to pay more than the headline figure for extra toys anymore but does Audi really want to either? Better to make volume bog standard models and shift them in quantity to fleets and leasing companies?

I have leased a number of cars but only gone for a run out models so they tend to come with the beans as 'standard'. I have a Jaguar XF RS Black Edition which ends in July and had all the toys I wanted as standard and before that I had a E320 CDi Sport that had sunroof and all manner of extra bits to get rid. Both were run out models and I was happy.

You are right of course, the future is about picking up these 'special editions' but isn't that just a different level of bog standard?!

Anyway, I'm fed up of anaemic, nice looking cars with no depth to them and once the Jag has gone the 2002 S8 is entering daily service! Looking from the MOTs for about the first time since 2010!

Definitely picked up the vibe.

Hmm, however, no matter what spec it is, any version of the Q7 is an abomination.... IMHO of course+++

I think the problem stems from a lack of marketing, combined with very poor take up in the field.

adaptive radar cruise, my pet love, is the single best option ever available on any Audi. Ever. Full stop.

it has been available on the A8 since October 2002.

That is not a typo. Audi cars have been following the speed of, the car in front based on radar technology, very reliably, for over 15 years.

It’s been on the A6 and Q7 since 2006 and the A4 since 2008. You can get it on the A3, Q2, Q3, Q5. Oh wait, and volvos, and fords, and basically everything with wheels.

Given the horrifically bad state of Britain’s motorways it is the best invention ever (ok, sliced bread was good, and colour TV, but really, top 3 for sure)

But, it has taken until the launch of the A8 D5 in late summer 2018 to add it as standard to any model, despite its relatively trivial cost.

And now, it’s standard on a range topping Q7 line up.

Which means, when the fossil fuel has run out and Tesla rules the world (due to Audis poor marketing if nothing else) Audi will offer adaptive cruise on maybe the A6 and A4 as standard, but let’s not hold our breath.

So what is bog standard? It’s sub standard. It’s the crumbs, the remains, the bits you settled for, because through the fault of the marketing teams, you really have no clue what you car could have done for you.......


P.s. if you’re on jersey or something, from memory, then you’re probably like the only A8 owner that radar cruise wouldn’t help much at all, but work with me here ok ? :D

I dare you to say that my much-Q7-loving wife at the annual meet... ;)

+++

Brian's right Ian, and it's up to you to tell your wife she is wrong.

Which means that in future any "enthusiasts" (like us) looking for a special car will probably be limited to those few high-spec models initially bought
regardless of cost for "celebrities".

I recall the ex-Madonna D3 that turned up at AITP a couple of years ago, can't recall who exactly had that and if they are still around on here. :cool: