Merdien £40,000 RS4

[Shadow6ix]

They seem now to have sold that £39,995 all black Avant that was mentioned on here with problems not so long ago. How do they do that at such an outrageous price? Do they attract customers with more money than sense? What do we think it really went for?

[victor2vt]

It may not have sold, could have been put up by the owner with Meridien getting a fee if sold or been traded.

[PeteS4]

Obviously there is no way anybody would pay £40K. I would say it sold for £36K ish.

Sometimes it is hard to work out the real price when there is a part-ex involved.

[MB2]

Having bought a car from them & not having more money than sense I would say the following -

The dealer has been around for years and will certainly stand behind the cars they sell They treat you like a customer & nothing is too much trouble, the put a full Audi warranty on the car, they give you a good part exchange & make everything very painless. In addition the cars are very well prepared, and mine came with a full tank of petrol & a years road fund licence.

So yes they are priced at the top of the market but as many have found on here finding a good car and a good dealer experience is getting harder & harder so whilst certainly not the cheapest of cars are better value than they may first appear...

[fletchie55]

What was the spec? Price sounds way too high whatever the spec.

[lengster1]

There seems to have been a glut of pricey avants appear in the last week or so in pistonheads which is nice after a glut of bargains prior to christmas some of which were snapped up by members on here,i think the gap between saloon and avant will grow over the coming years

[Shadow6ix]

I can see the appeal of a nice easy buying experience certainly, but under no circumstances is an extra 6 thousand pounds or so over Audi main dealer list prices worth that. In my opinion obviously.

I don't mean to cause offence, but I was just stunned at the difference in figures. Never seen anything like it, well prepared or not, and let's face it, a bit of polish and a clean does not a good car make.

[andre3k]

So they have an 06 saloon on their books as well for £30,950 (seems pricey to me).

Is that hike proportionately the same as the avants or are they milking the avants a little more?

[fataitch]

Having bought from, and sold to, Meridien, I can say the cars they sell are easily amongst the best examples around; and that's not just their RS4's. You certainly can't compare their stock with main dealer offerings (something's not right with the Stafford Audi car when the same car with 20k miles more is for sale with the same dealer for another 2k).

Whilst I may not have a lot of sense, I certainly don't have a lot of money either, but there are people out here that will pay a premium to get their hands on the best examples of a particular marque. The buying experience is hassle free and is everything you'd expect from a premium reseller. And their cars sell.

I doubt they'd have discounted it by much, there's less than 10% in their margin i.e. they paid a very reasonable price to buy it in aswell.
The RS4 is a marque they actively go looking for and regularly buy their cars from Pistonheads.

At the end of the day, you pay your money and make your choice.

Hayden

[Shadow6ix]

You're right about that Stafford Black Avant. When it first went up it was at 34 odd, but they've since knocked it down to 32. Very strange.

Not sure you're right about the 10% though, the black example that just sold was bought for 34 from another trader before being returned with DRC complications. There was a thread on here about it. I can't imagine they sold it on to Meridien for more than that. I'd just love to know what it sold for, obviously not someone like me who is put off even viewing a car with that price tag.

Still, the company is clearly trading, so they're doing something right.

[neckarsulm]

Not sure you're right about the 10% though,

Margin is what's left after deductions so £1k warranty + £1k over allowance on a px leaves £38k which is a few hundred £ over the 10% and that assumes zero discount.
The more I talk to owners the more I realise there really isn't much to compete with the RS4 especially the Avant (no M3 Touring) so these residuals aren't that surprising.
The fact I never plan to sell mine says a lot as I chop and change regularly with cars.