bailey

I am ready to buy a 02 A4 3.0QT. Before I jump into this, I'd like feedback on experiences in working with dealers in the Northwest. The usual suspects include Barrier, University, Roger Jobs, Appleby & Larson. I can extend my search to Oregon and Idaho if its worthwhile. Any current info on net prices paid and local PNW availability of the 3.0 would also be appreciated. THX!

CE

I personally think that there are no good Audi dealerships in Puget Sound. Moving up from the Bay Area the dealerships here have no idea what of the concept of customer service, technical service, or common curtsey is.

I've been to Barrier on 3 occasions to buy an S4 and a Porsche. Both times I was left standing at the door without any help or assistance. During one visit voiced out loud that I wanted to drop $50K on a car if I could just get some help. The receptionist finally put down her magazine (15 minutes later) to tell me that there were no sale people available. Even though they were all in clear sight just chatting with one another. I've sworn never to return there. Most of my friends have had similar encounters. I have no idea how they stay in business. I can't find anyone who's had a good experience there.

I visited the University Audi dealership shortly after and finally got someone to help me. Unfortunately the sales person was an arrogant and ignorant ***** who refused to sell the an Audi A4 no less then $1K over retail. This was about 3 years ago. I was so disgusted and disheartened by the experience that I walked into Bellevue BMW and bought a BMW instead. I absolutely hated the car and leased it for 2 years but I must admit that their service and support was excellent and top rated.

I've purchased my VW Passat and Audi A4 from the Anderson Beihl in Santa Clara and Sacramento Audi both of which were extremely curtious and catering to their customer (ME).

Since then I've heard that University Audi has completely overhauled their sales staff. So I thought I'd give them another try. For the past several weeks I've been working with a sales person named Dave Wood (Tell him Carlo sent you, maybe he'll be nice to you too). He's been pretty good about helping me find my next car and he seemed like a pretty honest person. I'm still undecided on an S4 or A4 so he's been working with me to find the car I want. We haven't talked price yet but I made it clear that I wasn't going to pay retail. We'll see what happens. The cars are due in any day now.

I called Tacoma Audi twice to look for Audi's and both times my calls were never returned. From my initial phone conversation I wasn't too impressed. But other then that I don't have too much experience with them.

The only other dealership I could find was in Bellingham. From my phone conversation with them it didn't seem like they had much of an inventory.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.
Carlo

summersr

They are not dealing below MSRP on new A4's. Most of the staff drive Audi's. Have bought two A4's from Jerry Hoffman. He has been up front with me and actually suggested that now might not be the best time to buy a new A4. Paid MSRP anyway. Hate there phone system but the people seem to care. Erick in service got the General Manager to approve removing a fan controller from an other A4 on the lot to fix my problem after 5 days had passed and they had not received the part from Audi.

bmwslayer

Stay away from Larsons Audi....not a good experience...they are crap

bmwslayer

i waited 45mins. for service...and i wouldnt call it service....

summersr

Might be paranoid but my experience with Barrier was listening to the sales person talk about all the Seattle sports celebrities he had sold cars to. Since I didn't fit the profile he was less than enthusiastic in selling me a car...

kk13

This is the 3rd car I have bought in the Seattle area and my first good experience. I consider myself quite critical of dealerships and I have no complaints with Barrier. I bought a 02 A4 3.0QMS and was very happy with my treatment all the way from the numerous test drives of many different vehicles, to the negotiation process, to the often dreaded finance discussion. Everyone I talked to was very polite and considerate of my time. They provided me with information without being pushy. They were very fair with pricing. I would recommend you talk to Michael Ruane who was my salesman. He was recommended to me from a friend and I would definately recommend him. I was a bit skeptical since I had heard some bad stories about Barrier, but like all dealerships there are good people and there are bad people.

SeaTacTony

and the only audi dealership in WA that seems to have a clue is Roger Jobs up in Bellingham. I was treated like total crap at Barrier because I wasn't buying a jag and wanted to negociate. The salesperson literally rolled his eyes-what an ***. The Roger Jobs salesman tried the standard salesman BS-very, very strange. I felt like I was buying a chevy. University is hit or miss, but their service dept. has been truly bad during my ownership of two audis. RJ, on the other hand, has been a pleasure. No BS, no screwing around, just very normal human beings. Worth the drive.

summersr

Glad to here Barrier has improved. Probably right on good/bad sales people

Wayne Dohnal

I spent a few hours with Dave and it was a totally positive experience. He's a pleasure to work with, up-front, and knows the cars well.