Alas, after 6 years, I am no longer part of the Audi family...
12-07-2008, 07:05 PM
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Alas, after 6 years, I am no longer part of the Audi family...
I'm sure everyone is on the edge of their seats to hear, but I've unloaded my B6 and picked up a new loaded Blk/Blk Infiniti G35.
Now before I go running for my flame suit, let me tell you all that I was literally in arm's reach of the keys to a loaded B7 Ibis Avant 2.0TQ (S-Line, Titanium, Nav, side shades, piano trim, etc) until Saturday. It's a long story, so I'll spare you all of the details, but suffice it to say that anyone in the Dallas area should steer far clear of DFW Audi. I had been working with their senior salesman for a week and a half on this car, and ultimately agreed to a deal over the phone for my car and the new one. I was completely up front with him as to my intentions to take the 0.9% that Audi was offering, and take a check for my car. We agreed that I'd come down Friday after Thanksgiving to do the deal. Went down that afternoon, filled out all of the pre-paperwork, and he ends up telling me he can't do the 0.9% on that car because it's "punched", and he didn't know. For those that don't know, "punched" evidently means that the manufacturer wanted the car off its inventory, so they paid the dealer to take the car and hold it as its own used inventory. It's still new, not titled, but the manufacturer divorces itself of the car, leaving the dealer to unload it using the cash as its coverage. Sounds F-in shaky, I know.
The car had been marked down from $41.7K to under $35K. I asked the sales guy how he could not know it was punched when the car was marked down so much. Didn't he ask his boss how it was possible to offer it at that price? Anyway, he said the best he could do was 5.9%, so I told him I had no choice, but to walk the deal to regroup. I told him I hadn't talked to any of my banks because .9% was unmatchable, and that I'd weeded out the other cars I was looking at because this one was the best deal. Classic bait and switch case in my opinion. To make himself look even worse, he proceeds to put the screws to me about how I was going to have a hard time unloading my car because it's got 93K on it. In his words, he wouldn't drive an Audi with 100K on it, and for the money, anyone in the market would rather buy a new Kia. D-bag. I went from being extremely happy to be getting my new car to being rock bottom sad to be leaving in the same car I arrived in, cleaned out with title in hand.
After leaving, I called Infiniti and went down on Saturday morning to drive the car. After driving it, I called a contact I had at another Audi dealer to see if he could get the Avant for me from the other dealer. I wasn't looking for a better deal at this point since my bank investigating yielded a best rate of 5.1%. At that point, the Audi was still cheaper than the Infiniti for a couple of reasons. But, if this dealer could get the car and match the deal, I'd rather buy from him ILO giving the sale to the A-holes. Come to find out, he couldn't get the car because DFW Audi would have to give up the car and the money they got form AoA to match the deal (if DFW would even give up the cash). So, I left defeated again.
I ultimately decided that I'd grit my teeth and follow through with the deal at DFW because it was still about $20 cheaper/mth than the Infiniti. I called the sales guy at about 4p Saturday afternoon to tell him I was en route. All he said was "We sold that car an hour ago, sorry." Bull****! Throughout all of the back and forth in the last two weeks, he never once alerted me to any other interest. You're telling me that in the 11th hour of the month, someone magically appeared and bought the car on the spot?! Only thing I can think of is either they got pissed at me for walking on Friday, or sniffed me out from the other dealer on Saturday and said "F that guy, we're not selling to him." Whatever. I'm sure the car is still there, but if it isn't, someone is driving around Dallas with very nice Ibis/ebony Avant that they got a hell of a deal on.
I ultimately called the Infiniti guy back, showed up at 5 minutes to close, and bought the car. I dropped my pants on my trade, but I got a great deal on the new one, complete with the 0.9% I had expected. The Infiniti dealer here (Sewell) is absolutely wonderful. They treated me like royalty, the facility is amazing, and they even gave me an Escalade for two hours, while they dealer prepped it on Tuesday (they own a bunch of dealers clustered together).
The car is wonderful. Instant power, packed with tech (nav, backup camera, ipod integration, Bluetooth, voice activation, etc, etc, ad naseum). The warranty is better too (4/60K bumper to bumper, 6/70K powertrain). I am sad that I am not part of the Audi family anymore after 4 cars in the family. This site, and all of you, have been wonderful to me over the years. I'll still lurk here now and then (the Infiniti forums can be kind of slow), but I won't bother you all with the progression of the car since it'll be way OT.
Hopefully I'll return to the brand one day, but for now, I am having a hoot in my new land rocket. The aftermarket isn't as widespread for the car, but there are some good items available. I still stand behind the four rings (even with some of the annoying "WTF?" issues I've had).
To those of you who made it through this long ramble, thanks for listening.
Oh, and before I forget, I pulled my Ice-link and pro-clip from the car before I went to the dealer, so it's available if anyone is interested. I'll post in the classifieds in the next couple of days if I don't get any interest. Thanks!
Now before I go running for my flame suit, let me tell you all that I was literally in arm's reach of the keys to a loaded B7 Ibis Avant 2.0TQ (S-Line, Titanium, Nav, side shades, piano trim, etc) until Saturday. It's a long story, so I'll spare you all of the details, but suffice it to say that anyone in the Dallas area should steer far clear of DFW Audi. I had been working with their senior salesman for a week and a half on this car, and ultimately agreed to a deal over the phone for my car and the new one. I was completely up front with him as to my intentions to take the 0.9% that Audi was offering, and take a check for my car. We agreed that I'd come down Friday after Thanksgiving to do the deal. Went down that afternoon, filled out all of the pre-paperwork, and he ends up telling me he can't do the 0.9% on that car because it's "punched", and he didn't know. For those that don't know, "punched" evidently means that the manufacturer wanted the car off its inventory, so they paid the dealer to take the car and hold it as its own used inventory. It's still new, not titled, but the manufacturer divorces itself of the car, leaving the dealer to unload it using the cash as its coverage. Sounds F-in shaky, I know.
The car had been marked down from $41.7K to under $35K. I asked the sales guy how he could not know it was punched when the car was marked down so much. Didn't he ask his boss how it was possible to offer it at that price? Anyway, he said the best he could do was 5.9%, so I told him I had no choice, but to walk the deal to regroup. I told him I hadn't talked to any of my banks because .9% was unmatchable, and that I'd weeded out the other cars I was looking at because this one was the best deal. Classic bait and switch case in my opinion. To make himself look even worse, he proceeds to put the screws to me about how I was going to have a hard time unloading my car because it's got 93K on it. In his words, he wouldn't drive an Audi with 100K on it, and for the money, anyone in the market would rather buy a new Kia. D-bag. I went from being extremely happy to be getting my new car to being rock bottom sad to be leaving in the same car I arrived in, cleaned out with title in hand.
After leaving, I called Infiniti and went down on Saturday morning to drive the car. After driving it, I called a contact I had at another Audi dealer to see if he could get the Avant for me from the other dealer. I wasn't looking for a better deal at this point since my bank investigating yielded a best rate of 5.1%. At that point, the Audi was still cheaper than the Infiniti for a couple of reasons. But, if this dealer could get the car and match the deal, I'd rather buy from him ILO giving the sale to the A-holes. Come to find out, he couldn't get the car because DFW Audi would have to give up the car and the money they got form AoA to match the deal (if DFW would even give up the cash). So, I left defeated again.
I ultimately decided that I'd grit my teeth and follow through with the deal at DFW because it was still about $20 cheaper/mth than the Infiniti. I called the sales guy at about 4p Saturday afternoon to tell him I was en route. All he said was "We sold that car an hour ago, sorry." Bull****! Throughout all of the back and forth in the last two weeks, he never once alerted me to any other interest. You're telling me that in the 11th hour of the month, someone magically appeared and bought the car on the spot?! Only thing I can think of is either they got pissed at me for walking on Friday, or sniffed me out from the other dealer on Saturday and said "F that guy, we're not selling to him." Whatever. I'm sure the car is still there, but if it isn't, someone is driving around Dallas with very nice Ibis/ebony Avant that they got a hell of a deal on.
I ultimately called the Infiniti guy back, showed up at 5 minutes to close, and bought the car. I dropped my pants on my trade, but I got a great deal on the new one, complete with the 0.9% I had expected. The Infiniti dealer here (Sewell) is absolutely wonderful. They treated me like royalty, the facility is amazing, and they even gave me an Escalade for two hours, while they dealer prepped it on Tuesday (they own a bunch of dealers clustered together).
The car is wonderful. Instant power, packed with tech (nav, backup camera, ipod integration, Bluetooth, voice activation, etc, etc, ad naseum). The warranty is better too (4/60K bumper to bumper, 6/70K powertrain). I am sad that I am not part of the Audi family anymore after 4 cars in the family. This site, and all of you, have been wonderful to me over the years. I'll still lurk here now and then (the Infiniti forums can be kind of slow), but I won't bother you all with the progression of the car since it'll be way OT.
Hopefully I'll return to the brand one day, but for now, I am having a hoot in my new land rocket. The aftermarket isn't as widespread for the car, but there are some good items available. I still stand behind the four rings (even with some of the annoying "WTF?" issues I've had).To those of you who made it through this long ramble, thanks for listening.
Oh, and before I forget, I pulled my Ice-link and pro-clip from the car before I went to the dealer, so it's available if anyone is interested. I'll post in the classifieds in the next couple of days if I don't get any interest. Thanks!
12-07-2008, 08:16 PM
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No surprise there, but better for you...
You gave them the best message by not giving them you hard earned cash...
Honestly how the majority of dealers stay in business is beyond me, and AoA are just not stepping up and controlling the brand in the US as they should...As a result enthusiasts such as you and me have to walk away from this brand, even if our heart is pulling it in...
Congrats on your new car, enjoy the reliability - the better warranty - the better dealership experience. Wait on the wings for a few years and see is AoA get their act together...
Honestly how the majority of dealers stay in business is beyond me, and AoA are just not stepping up and controlling the brand in the US as they should...As a result enthusiasts such as you and me have to walk away from this brand, even if our heart is pulling it in...
Congrats on your new car, enjoy the reliability - the better warranty - the better dealership experience. Wait on the wings for a few years and see is AoA get their act together...
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12-08-2008, 07:01 AM
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I agree car dealers are very awful to deal with
That does sound like a classic bait and switch, I would have walked as well. It isn't too uncommon for dealers to offer killer deals at the very end of a month to pad the books for that month, so Im betting that the car is indeed sold. I would complain to AoA about the bait and switch tactic.
12-08-2008, 07:47 AM
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I've had my Sewell bought G35 for a year now and...
...I have changed my mind completely both about the car and the dealership.
I wasn't a huge fan of the car to begin with, but the wife was enamored with it and the deal was very good. The car was good enough that the deal was just too hard to pass up.
You may think that going to a Japanese brand from Audi will let you stay out of the service department a whole lot more but that is far from my experience. Our car has had a slew of problems that we're having a difficult time getting them to fix.
The service writers unfortunately have no problem with lying directly to your face.
For example: Replacing the cabin filter requires removal of the glove box. When we picked the car up after this service had been performed, the glove box would open completely undampened with a crash and dump all the contents on the floor of the car. When taking the car back in to have that fixed, the service writer told us that there is no problem because the glove boxes on Infinitis have no dampeners. Two days later we get a call saying that we can't pick the car up yet because they are waiting for a part, a dampener, for the glove box lid.
We have also had an ongoing problem with vibrations in the steering wheel. In the beginning we wrote it off to new tires that had not yet worn in or not been properly balanced. And later possibly that now the tires had worn in it was time to re-balance them. However, balancing the tires and redoing alignment on the car could not solve the problem and it turns out that the front tires are cupping after less than 10,000 miles. Again, the service writer told us that this is completely normal behavior and not a problem. When pressed on normal to what he couldn't quite define it. First it was "sports sedans", then G35s, then the sport package, then it was because we didn't have the "better" tires until he realized that we did have the "better" tires.
Come to find out that abnormal tire wear is a common problem on these cars. Of course common doesn't make it neither normal nor acceptable. There is even a class action suit going for the same problem on the 350Z.
When "fixing" a door that catches on the latch every time you close it the dealer adjusted the entire door down about 1/4 inch causing it to be completely out of alignment. When we complain about that the service writer basically accuses us of "hanging on the door" causing it to droop.
Also the noise that the clutch makes when you put the transmission in neutral and release the clutch is "completely normal" an not a sign of a problem.
At least the service department at DFW Audi never called me a liar when coming in there complaining about a problem.
I wasn't a huge fan of the car to begin with, but the wife was enamored with it and the deal was very good. The car was good enough that the deal was just too hard to pass up.
You may think that going to a Japanese brand from Audi will let you stay out of the service department a whole lot more but that is far from my experience. Our car has had a slew of problems that we're having a difficult time getting them to fix.
The service writers unfortunately have no problem with lying directly to your face.
For example: Replacing the cabin filter requires removal of the glove box. When we picked the car up after this service had been performed, the glove box would open completely undampened with a crash and dump all the contents on the floor of the car. When taking the car back in to have that fixed, the service writer told us that there is no problem because the glove boxes on Infinitis have no dampeners. Two days later we get a call saying that we can't pick the car up yet because they are waiting for a part, a dampener, for the glove box lid.
We have also had an ongoing problem with vibrations in the steering wheel. In the beginning we wrote it off to new tires that had not yet worn in or not been properly balanced. And later possibly that now the tires had worn in it was time to re-balance them. However, balancing the tires and redoing alignment on the car could not solve the problem and it turns out that the front tires are cupping after less than 10,000 miles. Again, the service writer told us that this is completely normal behavior and not a problem. When pressed on normal to what he couldn't quite define it. First it was "sports sedans", then G35s, then the sport package, then it was because we didn't have the "better" tires until he realized that we did have the "better" tires.
Come to find out that abnormal tire wear is a common problem on these cars. Of course common doesn't make it neither normal nor acceptable. There is even a class action suit going for the same problem on the 350Z.
When "fixing" a door that catches on the latch every time you close it the dealer adjusted the entire door down about 1/4 inch causing it to be completely out of alignment. When we complain about that the service writer basically accuses us of "hanging on the door" causing it to droop.
Also the noise that the clutch makes when you put the transmission in neutral and release the clutch is "completely normal" an not a sign of a problem.
At least the service department at DFW Audi never called me a liar when coming in there complaining about a problem.