Motorists who buy or lease a 2019 Audi will get two cars for the price of one — for a week, anyways. The German company launched a program called Always Audi that rewards buyers with seven complimentary rental days through SilverCar.
Teaming up with SilverCar makes perfect sense; the company’s fleet consists exclusively of Audi models, and it has been owned by the automaker since 2017. Always Audi lets motorists spend time in the car of their choice free for up to seven days. For example, someone who buys a Q3 can request a seven-day stint behind the wheel of a Q7 if they need a bigger car for a family road trip. Or, conversely, someone in a Q7 might want an A5 Cabriolet for a weekend trip to the beach.
Buyers have four models to choose from: the A4 (pictured), the A5 Cabriolet, the Q5, and the Q7. You’re out of luck if you want to step into an R8, unfortunately, but the good news is that every car in the company’s fleet is from the current or previous model year, and fully loaded with useful tech features like on-board Wi-Fi, navigation, and SiriusXM satellite radio. This structure eliminates much of the guesswork associated with renting a car, because there’s no such thing as “or similar.”
Once they’ve selected what they want to drive, renters need to open the SilverCar app and tap their phone’s screen a few times to complete their booking. Forget waiting in line at a counter for what seems like an eternity; the app tells users precisely where to find the car, and lets them unlock it. There are no mileage restrictions, so you can theoretically drive across the country and back during the seven-day period if you’re up for a Cannonball-style run.
SilverCar is present in 20 major airports across the United States, including Boston, Denver, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and Seattle. It also has six in-town locations: four in New York City, one in Miami, and the sixth in San Francisco. Cars rented through the company — even the complimentary ones — need to be picked up and returned from one of these 26 locations.
