It was back in May of 2010 when I first started seriously considering purchasing an R8! With the help of the Golden Gate Chapter of the Audi Club whom I met at an ALMS race at Laguna Seca, I was able to attend the 'Audi Driving Experience' at Sears Point (Infineon) in Sonoma and drive R8's all day long! I started doing my R8 research by reading EVERY thread ever posted on the Audi R8Talk, the most active internet forum dedicated to just the R8! Eventually I decided that I did NOT have a good grasp of the R8 market and put my purchase on hold. I went on to purchase a MY2007 997S Coupe in PTS 'Signal Green' and also custom ordered a MY2012 Boxster Spyder in 'Aqua Blue Metallic/Carrera Red'! However, two of the threads that I personally started back on R8Talk become part of the sticky 'FAQ: Audi R8 Introduction and Road Map to R8Talk.com' on that forum. Although the data points are now out of date, they give you a snapshot of what I was trying to analyze & wrestle with in my mind re: the US R8 market back in 2010!

Why I may still buy an R8...(long)

Discounts on R8

Fast forward to early January, 2013. I have just purchased a MY2011 R8 v8 Spyder. Used, with 3800 miles. In service date of Sept. 29th, 2011. Balance of warranty until Sept. 28th, 2015. Minimal options - 'Lava Grey', Nav with AMI & Illuminated Door Sills. Total MSRP $135,675. I will post more photos of this particular vehicle when InterCity delivers it to me early in February. Right now it's still at the dealer on the East Coast!

Shortly after I closed my deal on Jan. 7th, I recorded most of the comparable R8's Spyders v8 that were for sale at Cars.com and Autotrader.com in the US. This is not the totality of the market (e.g. eBay listings were not included), but it gives you an idea of what was being asked for in used Spyders as of early January of this year! I selected only MY2011 & MY2012 R8 Spyders since that was the target of my acquisition!

Source Cars.com & Autotrader.com / The 13 least expensive 'used' MY 2011 & MY2012 r8 V8 Spyders for Sale in US on Jan. 11, 2013.

WUASUAFG2BN002266 - Nashua - $109K - Daytona - 18K miles- 6 sp - #1
WUAUUAFG8BN001759 - Momentum - $110K - 11K miles - R-tronic - #2 (sold)
WUAUUAFG0BN002324 - MB of Annapolis - $119k - 4K miles - 6 sp - #3 (sold)
WUASUAFGXBN002435 - MB of Pembroke- $123K - Black - 9K miles - R-tronic - #4
WUASUAFG0BN002279 - Sonnen - Black - $126K - R-tronic - 10K miles #5
WUASUAFG8BN002739 - Texas Import - $127K - Black - 3K miles - R-tronic - #6
WUASUAFG4BN002835 - Twin Cities Lux - $130K - Black - 6K miles- R-tronic- #7
WUASUAFG3BN002650 - Gaudin - Black - $130K - 6K miles - R-tronic - #8
WUASUAFG3BN002583 - Texas Direct - Black - $130K - 4K miles - R-tronic - #9
WUAUUAFG0CN002485 - Desert European - Daytona - $133K - 1.4K miles - MY '12 - 6sp #10
WUAUUAFG8BN001471 - Domani Motors - Ibis - $133K - 3K miles - 6sp - #11
WUASUAFG6CN000926 - Century - Black - $140K - 1.4K miles - MY '12 - R-tronic - #12
WUAUUAFG3BN002611 - Silverline - Jet Blue - $140K - 8K miles - 6sp- #13

That same day these were also the lowest priced MY2011 v10 Spyders for sale in Cars & Autotrader:

WUAVNAFGXBN000291 - Private sale - Black - $128K - 20K miles - R-Tronic - v10 #1
WUAVNAFG0BN002048 - AutoMall - Red - $130K - 21K miles - R-tronic - v10 #2
WUAVNAFG4BN002327 - Private sale - Ibis - $135K - 11K miles - R-tronic - v10 #3
WUATNAFG2BN002219 - Carbiz - Black - $138K - 11K miles - 6sp - v10 #4
WUAVNAFG8BN002377 - Santa Monica - Red- $138K - 17K - R-tronic - v10 #5
WUATNAFG2BN000177 - Valenti - Brown - $139K - 11K miles - 6sp - v10 #6
WUATNAFG1BN001367 - Georgia - Daytona - $140K - 12K - 6sp - v10 #7
WUAVNAFG5BN001266 - Interstate - Silver - $140K -10K miles - R-tronic - v10 #8
WUAVNAFG4BN000979 - Fischer - Teak - $145K - 1K miles - R-tronic - v10 #9

The least expensive left-over, new & unsold MY2012 v8 Spyders were these five:

WUAUUAFG3CN002920 - Momentum - Silver - $147K - new - MY'12 (sold)

WUAUUAFG2CN003055 - Princeton - Suzuka - $149K - new - MY'12 (sold)

2012 Audi R8 4.2 MSRP $149,175, 6-Speed Manual,
Dealer: Audi North Shore (Milwaukee, WI)

2012 Audi R8 4.2 MSRP $149,175, Ibis White, 6-Speed Manual,
Dealer: Byers Imports (Columbus, OH)

2012 Audi R8 4.2 MSRP $149,175, 6-Speed Manual,
Dealer: Cherry Hill Imports (Cherry Hill, NJ)

The least expensive left-over, new & unsold MY2012 v10 Spyder was this one and it went up in price from there!

2012 Audi R8 5.2 MSRP $172,000, Daytona Gray, 6-Speed Manual, WUATNAFG6CN002760
Dealer: Blue Grass Audi (Louisville, KY)

The data above tells the story. Mileage is a larger factor than most would have expected. Some v10's are getting pretty darn attractive in price, if you don't mind some mileage! It is all there for you to analyze and form your own conclusions as to what those asking prices were telling us that day!

************************************************** ***

These statistics formed the matrix which I used to decide what & how I should negotiate my purchase. I had one large handicap which limited my range of options - I needed to trade-in my 36K mile MY2007 Mercedes CL600! Although the most wonderful touring car I have ever owned (a v12 bi-turbo with over 630 ft. pound of torque & 4 levels of seat massage!), there is a very limited demand for these v12 vehicles in the second-hand market! I had been actively tracking R8 sales since I sold my '12 Porsche Boxster Spyder last summer. On Dec. 28th, I looked at my daily 'alerts' from Autotrader.com and found a MY2011 R8 v8 Spyder listed that had been recently traded-in to the same MB dealer where I had purchased new my CL600 five years earlier! The MB dealer is located in Annapolis, MD and I am in the West Coast - so everything was done via email & phone. I contacted them that day but didn't received a reply until January 2nd. Apparently the R8 had already a deposit, so they were slow in responding! But that deal fell apart later that week and we started seriously negotiating a trade & cash deal on Jan 4th, which was finalized on Jan 7th! The car I purchased is #3 on the used v8 Spyder list above. I benefited from a generous trade-in allowance for my CL600 which would NOT have been matched by any Audi dealer! On the other hand, these folks were not that familiar with R8's and marketing this car was really outside their 'comfort' zone! For example, their ad listed the vehicle as having a B & O sound system, which was not true. So it worked for both of us. They got a CL600 they are fully conversant & got rid of an Audi they didn't know what to do with! It's also winter (not Spyder weather in most of US) & January is a traditional slow sales month! Bottom line - I got a good deal on the R8! I have calculated that my actual acquisition cost for the R8 Spyder is around $110K. The paperwork says $114K. The asking was $119K!

The market has changed significantly since when I last considered an R8 purchase in 2010! The 3,800 mile MY2011 R8 v8 Spyder I bought for $110K looks to me like a smart purchase! It is a 6 speed (a most-have for me), which will tend to depreciate at a lesser rate than the R-Tronic, especially now that the new S-Tronics have been announced for MY2014! The manual also has a greater appeal to the 'traditional' sport car enthusiasts in this market! Personally I like 'Lava Grey' - Audi does a fantastic job on all of their 'Pearl Effect' paints! It is a also relatively rare color since not many were ordered - so that is also a plus! I wish it would have had an 'Amulet Red' interior, but I can live with the 'Black & Alcantara'! Even with a considerable discount of $20K+ on a left-over, new & unsold '12 Spyder (that it's doable on a Coupe & perhaps on Spyders too!), it couldn't match the savings I realized by letting the first buyer take the initial depreciation hit on this low mileage MY2011! The revised MY2014 US v8 models are expected to go up in price, yet the 'revisions' are minimal especially for the manual transmission buyer! Any price increase on the US '14 v8 Spyder will work to my advantage since the expected future depreciation for a well-kept, low mileage v8 Spyders will be less in relative terms! And this '11 Spyder, if any of you agree with me that it was bought well, does position me nicely - low acquisition cost & low mileage - for a future trade or sell private sale should I decide to order the next generation R8 (the new platform) expected out in 4 years or so!

Saludos,
Eduardo

 

Wow that is some in depth analysis... can i ask a question, do you like the car?

 

Congrats and thank you for that detailed analysis. But you traded in your V12 biturbo Benz for a V8 - why didn't you go for a V10 especially because the price difference between the V8 and the V10 Spyder isn't really that big.

 

I will let you know when I get it. Because of the Scottsdale car auctions (which I attended as an aside), just about every carrier from InterCity was there! Some of them are heading back East now and should be available to pick up the R8 later this week or next!

The real answer to that question is that MB of Annapolis had this v8 R8 and not a v10 for sale! The only chance I had of getting a 'fair' deal on the '07 CL600 trade-in was at a Mercedes dealer. Everyone else either would have low balled me with a value $5K to $10K lower than I got from this particular MB dealer...or would not have taken that kind of a trade at all!

Without question, the best sort of negotiating for any car purchase is a 100% cash deal. That is where you get your best shot at the absolute best price. And I normally do this very effectively. That is the way I bought the John Cooper Works, the CL600, the Boxster Spyder, the BMW Z8, etc. But at this particular time & place, I was having a difficult time placing the '07 CL600 with a buyer and I had been trying to do this for over 6 months!

But even if I would not have had this albatross around my neck, I still think I would have gone for the v8 on this first purchase of an R8. I was trading a v12 bi-turbo rocketship, but that is not the car I was replacing in my 'mind'. The latter was the '12 Boxster Spyder I sold in August. That was a 6 cylinder, 320 hp @ 7,200 rpm motor on the lightest weight chassis in a modern Porsche! I was very happy with the handling and looks of this car. Although the 'Bimini' manual top was not the most practical thing for me, but it was otherwise a very nice package! So this v8 R8 Spyder is even more powerful (but heavier) than the car it replaced in my 'mind'! The other consideration is that I value 'handling' much more than raw horsepower. At the Audi Driving Experience at Sears Point/Infineon, all the R8 driving instructors, without exception, preferred the v8 to the v10 on the track! So that is a memory that stuck with me.

So now two things will happen - I will have a first hand experience with an R8 v8 and an R8 manual. If I find any of these two deficient for my simple needs as an occasional fun driver, I can easily sell this desirable low cost/low mileage '11 v8 Spyder and upgrade to v10 manual or S-Tronic!

Saludos,
Eduardo

 

Eduardo,

intresting read on the values. Car dealing aside, my view that its all about timing. Cash deals do help, but the specific moment with the dealer is what counts.

i picked up a 3,000 mile Porsche Cayene turbo one year old at the time for only £60k, that was in the middle of the big economic crisis, so not alot of these cars shifting etc...

With R8's its still a sought after car. Residule values are holding. audi have maintained the level by not dramatically changing the car, asthetically that is.

the whole R tronic love it or hate argument doesnt need getting into. but i do not think the gear variation will damage the re sales as much as people are making out.

I also have a CL 600, but it is a 2000 year one, which is annoying as literraly 2/ 3 months after buying it Merc went on to release the bi turbo for the same freaking money!!!!!!! B@st4rds!! A true battle ship, excellent in every way.

sorry to hear you traded it, but the V8 is amazing. Also the v8 R8 in my view sounds much better under acceleration than the V10. Im not going to comment on the drive difference. i think most arguments center that the main issue between the R8 V8 and the V10 is that the V8 does 99.9999% of what the V10 does, so with every day driving you wount notice the difference. But i dragged raced a friend with a V8 and well you can notice the difference!

 

Good evaluation, but I had an R8 V8 and now the V10 and I can say the stock V8 sounds awful IMO, but I reminded that with a Stasis .

 

True. When I was last seriously considering an R8, in the middle of 2010, there was few bargains to be had...cash or trade?

The R8 market at this time is totally different. I will give you an example re: these two unsold v8 Spyders on my list. They sold shortly after I compiled my list on Jan 11th, 2013.

WUAUUAFG3CN002920 - Momentum - Silver - $147K - new - MY'12 (since sold)

WUAUUAFG2CN003055 - Princeton - Suzuka - $149K - new - MY'12 (since sold)

The Suzuka had Nav, Convenience Pkg, Leather Pkg, LED headlights, CF interior inlays, CF mirrors, B&O, Leather Perforated sterring wheel, illuminated door sills and the all weather mats. MSRP $149,175. I was negotiated down to $126 two weeks ago and sold.

The Silver one had fewer options. It was too negotiated down to $125K and sold. There are now very few unsold v8 Spyders in inventory. The cheapest v10 Spyder is $172K MSRP.

Both of these purchases were technically better deals than mine - new, MY2012 models, longer warranty & more options. But I would not have obtained the trade in deal I got at the Mercedes dealership on my CL600! So that is why I estimate my acquisition cost at $110K (rather than $114K), which makes my 3800 mile v8 Spyder $15K/$16K less than what these others sold for.

The other interesting fact here is that the '11 v8 Spyder I eventually purchased was first advertised by MB of Annapolis at $129K shortly after it was traded in. By the time I actually saw it on my Autotrader alert email, it had already been reduced to $119K after spending several weeks on their inventory unsold. So timing is an important factor - I totally agree!

The '07 CL600 was a beautiful car. I put a CL63 front bumper and a CL63 sport steering wheel to give it a more aggressive look and take out of it some of the 'old man' car characteristics associated with the 600 series! See attached photos. But I needed the precious garage space it occupied at my Carmel home. I am close to the Pacific Ocean and the salty air is deadly on any metal surfaces that is parked outside all the time! So it needed to go in order to make room for the new! I enjoyed for 5 years and had a blast with it. But I am on a quest to experience all sorts of exciting cars before time catches up with me and the game is over!

Yes, I have been recommended the Stasis by several R8 owners already. I first have to get the R8 Spyder here and start driving it around to evaluate.

Saludos,
Eduardo

 

Yes I took on and off 3 exhausts before the Stasis, and its a huge job to R&R.

 

marc. Do you have any vids or sounds bites on of your car? the only reason id put a new one on would be for static noise, accelerating the noise is magical!

love to see some vids.

 

Hi , that was in 09 the current car V10 I have stock it sounds perfect, but the V8 had no sound at all and it took me 3 tries before the Stasis which I found to be perfection.