Which Audi A5 trim depreciates the fastest?

By Stuart Johnston

 

Audi’s A5 has been imported to South Africa for over a decade now, and considering it is a specialised style vehicle, sales have been good. Currently it is available in  Coupe, Sportback or Cabriolet form, and in different trim lines. We discuss the various depreciation factors involved here.

The Audi A5 has been with us for just on a decade now. Based on the A4 platform initially, the A5 was launched  as a sleek two-door coupe, arriving here in 2009. This coupe is still with us, but soon after launch two other variants on the A5 theme came into play, these being the Cabriolet and the Sportback, a four-door model with fastback lines.

Currently 24 Audi A5 models listed

Currently there are 24 different Audi A5 models listed for sale in the 2019 new car line-up. A slight change has occurred over the past year in that the petrol A5 models are now  listed as either 40 series or 45 series. In the past, the A5s  were listed according to engine size. For example, todays base model, the Audi A5 Coupe 40 TFSI,  was listed in 2018 as the Audi 2.0TFSI.

The A5 45 TSI models, on the other hand, all refer to the petrol-engined  quattro (all-wheel-drive) models. The difference between these two engines, incidentally, is that the 40 TFSI engines produce 140 kW, while the 45 TSFI engines produce 185 kW.

Diesel models all listed as 40TDI variants

The diesel models in the range are all listed as 40 series models, and a 40 TDI model  has an engine that coincidentally also produces 140 kW. But in the case of diesel engine models, you can get them in either front-wheel-drive or quattro form, and so you have models listed as a 40 TDI or a 40 TDI Quattro.

Different trim lines

In addition to these basic  model differences, there are also various trim line differences, such as standard, sport, and the strangely  configured sport S line sport. All this is confusing enough, and then Audi insists on naming its trim and mechanical inventions with lower-case letters. So if this is difficult to read, apologies!

Which model lines hold their value better?

In the case of the Audi A5 models, the model that is most popular is the original Coupe. Next up in popularity is the Sportback, and then the Cabriolet. A rule of thumb when buying a new car is to be aware that the most popular cars retain their value  better than less-popular models. And this generally applies to the models that you may choose within a car range.

What about trim lines?

As far as trim lines go, however, in some cases a mid-line trim level is more popular than an absolute base trim. And this can particularly apply to stylish cars like the A5. Here a good rule of thumb would be to go for the trim line that is in the middle of the range. Not only are these more exciting on the new car show room floor, but they also stand out better on the used car lot.

Engine, driveline and trim choices?

Interestingly, although the quattro all-wheel-drive system  has made the  Audi nameplate  famous, judging by the cars listed in AutoTrader’s cars-for-sale pages,  in A5 form sales of the quattro models are few and far between, indicating that most A5 take-off has been for the front-wheel-drive models.

As for trim lines, in the new range we would opt for the Sport trim line, which is the middling package. And as far as engine choice goes, it seems that used prices between petrol (TFSI) and diesel (TDI) models are pretty even.

For over 200 listings on used  Audi A5 variants in Coupe, Sportback and Cabriolet form, click here.

What sort of depreciation can you expect on an Audi A5?

 Having done a survey of year-old  Audi A5 models listed in AutoTrader, the Coupe models hold up slightly better than the others, with used prices generally working out at a depreciation rate of between 15 and 17 per cent. The Sportback manages close to this level at around 18 per cent, whereas the few 2018 model-year A5 Cabriolets listed revealed a depreciation in the region of 20 to 22 per cent, over the new price one year ago.

Further reading on the A5 Coupe can be had if you click here. We also published a review on the A5 Coupe Quattro model, which you can see here.