How to save thousands on a prestige new car

All the stars have aligned for buyers to bag a bargain in dealers this January.

The housing market downturn has rippled towards the premium end of the new vehicle market and soaked up some of the formerly strong demand Aussies had for performance vehicles.

The figures don’t lie – in 2018, sports car sales were down by almost a third and $70K-plus large car sales fell by a quarter. Yet with stock coming towards dealers at the levels of previous demand, where do you think value lies in 2019?

Here we survey Alfa Romeo, Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz, and find some stunning sticker slashing going on.

All models below have to be last-year build, or 2017 so long as the kilometres are low. Brace yourselves, bargains are coming…

Check out a ‘demonstrator’ 2018 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, the epic 375kW 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 rear-driver retailing from $143,900 plus on-road costs – but after 3000km an example we spotted in New South Wales was on-sale at $109,850 for a $30K-plus save.

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A demo 2018 Audi S3 sedan, the 210kW 2.0-litre turbo all-wheel driver typically $64,500 plus on-roads, was spotted with 3000km for $54,990 driveaway. Another $10K-plus cost-cut can be found with a demo 2018 Audi A4 2.0 TFSI quattro, using a 185kW version of the above engine and usually retailing for $70,300 plus on-roads – but with 1810km, and confirming you’ll be the first owner, one example is now $58,880 driveaway. Even a demo S4, its 260kW 3.0-litre sibling, falls from $99,611 plus on-roads to $89,880 with 1251km.

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There are even more sizeable price cuts in a fellow German brand’s dealership, however.

Check out a demo 2017 BMW M4 CS: $189,900 plus on-roads retail for the 338kW 3.0-litre six high-point of compact M-car ownership, down to $169,900 driveaway after just 3500km. There’s a demo 2018 BMW 740i, a 5.5sec 0-100km/h 3.0-litre twin-turbo limousine with a $228,100 plus on-roads retail, slashed by $75K (!) to $153,990 driveaway after 4692km.

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And it doesn’t get much better for its smaller sibling, with one demo 2018 BMW 530d, a 620Nm 3.0-litre turbo oiler slashed by $30K-plus from $119,900 plus on-roads to $89,750 driveaway after 10,000km; and a demo 2018 540i, with a 250kW 3.0-litre turbo petrol falling by $20K-plus from $139,990 plus on-roads retail to $119,900 driveaway after 4800km.

Jaguar’s likeable XF 25t R-Sport is typically $84,900 plus on-roads for the 184kW 2.0-litre turbo rear-driver, but one 2018 example with 1550km has been slashed by $20K to $64,990 driveaway. One size up, and there’s the 2018 Lexus LS500 F Sport in all its 310kW 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 glory, usually $190,129 plus on-roads but after just 2500km slashed by $20K-plus to $169,888 driveway.

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Similar in size, but without a roof and with only two doors, there’s a ‘used’ 2018 Mercedes-Benz SL400 bringing the cost of entry to this 500Nm 3.0-litre twin-turbo roadster down by $45K-plus from $220,900 plus on-roads to $174,888 driveaway, with only 2300km showing.

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Or if you want more power and more roof, a superlative 2018 Mercedes-AMG C63 S coupe costs $149,900 driveaway – down $15K on retail for the 375kW 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 unit.

What’s clear is that from about $50K to $150K you can now expect 10 to 20 per cent-plus off the purchase price with an example that’s hardly a year old, with four-digit odometers.