2016 Audi Q5 TDI

I just bought one a week ago today.

I was surprised to get it home and learn that it has a very thin clear plastic sheet covering the paintwork on the nose and about a foot up the hood. It's precision cut with a perfect factory edge and invisible without close inspection.

Is this a factory installed clear protective film on all new Audis or dealer installed?

The F&I Manager at the dealership had a page full of items to increase dealer profits by several thousand dollars. Zurich extended warranty, dealer scheduled maintenance plan, "lifetime" paint protection, tire warranty, and I think the list included adding a clear protective film. I politely rejected all add-ons as I always do.

My car was a service loaner with 2800 miles. I'm wondering if the dealer added the protective tint film when they put it in service to avoid paint chips that might occur during the time it was a loaner.

Does anyone know?

I have seen 3M film on fronts of cars before. We used to sell them on Subarus when I worked in Montana. They also make pre-cut stick on films for headlamps and fog lamps. My guess is they install that on the cars and F&I tries to get it sold? We used to do mud flaps and Nitrogen in the tires. With customers demanding cost and below retail sales comes up with "creative" ways to make a profit on the sale.

BTW - where did you find a dealer selling a '16 TDI? We have been keeping an eye open for a Q5.

Jason

Jason,

I previously wrote about where I found the car. I was looking on cars.com for a low mileage used Q5 TDI using the criteria white exterior as my only color choice. I found three 2016 Q5 TDIs in white.

All were leased by dealers to themselves to use as service loaners for three or four months then taken off lease for sale. Apparently that's a standard practice at Audi dealers.

The one I bought was at Audi of St Paul, MN. It had 2800 miles. There were and probably still are two more at Audi of Bozeman, MT. Those two had around 5,000 miles and if memory serves, 7000. I wanted white. You may prefer other colors.

All three were priced about the same. Other dealers have nearly identical cars. I found Audi of St Paul was willing to negotiate. My guess is other dealers will be flexible also. If you wait until VW and Audi start handing out checks I think they'll be gone.

Thanks for your comment about the clear plastic film. I think it was exactly as you described. The film was dealer installed and F&I tried to sell it to me.

I would bet that the 3M film you are describing is exactly what you suspected, a way to preserve commonly chipped areas of paint while in use as a service loaner. I think it is a neat little add on, especially if it is invisible until you get a close look.

Those dealer add ons can get pretty ridiculous. I get that tires for a Q5 aren't the cheapest in the world, but what in the heck is a tire warranty? I'm assuming it is a calculated bet that you won't get a flat based on historic trends to allow them a profit there. Seems silly to me.