INTENDED Acceleration

In the past, I've been luckier than most on this forum with regards to getting a maintenance service appointment within a reasonable amount of time. Until recently, I could generally get in within 7 to 10 days.

Coming up on the 30K service on the A6, and the rear sunshade stopped working (which is critical for the infant in the rear-facing seat). Called to get a service appointment, and it was going to be more than three weeks until they could get me in!

I balked a little bit, and the tech managed to "squeeze me in" a few days earlier, but still almost three weeks out. In an attempt to assuage me, the tech said, "Hey, you're lucky...I've got customers waiting that long whose cars aren't even running." I'm thinking, "Is that really the message you want to send about the brand?"

In any case, I was disappointed when Audi decreased the service intervals to 10,000 miles, but I thought at least it will be easier to get service (with fewer appointments needed). But the opposite seems to be happening.

What is going on? If they are that swamped, why not hire more techs? This sours my opinion of one of Audi's key differentiators...the included service. If it is that hard to get service, it ceases to be a differentiator. AoA, are you listening?

Forgive my rant.

rally

My dealer started double shifting when the wait hit two weeks.

Chuckie T

When I call to schedule an appointment, it's usually 5-10 business days out. In 4 years, it's never been longer, so it's never a problem. The dealer does provide preference to those with critical problems. They usually get them in that day. In fact, my car sprung a leak about a week after I picked it up. They went out of their way to get it in that day. Pretty cool.

Oddly, the last time I was there dropping my car off, some A4 jackass came in huffing and puffing because he couldn't just drop his car off that day w/o an appointment. His arguement? "Well, I've never made an appointment before". Not sure if he was lying, but I'm curious if they take walk ups.

Also, my dealer is in the Boston area and there are a number of Audi locations within 15-20 miles, so that may be why it isn't so difficult to get things scheduled.

phred

Same thing happening at VW dealerships, the service dept. can't keep up with the sales volume. I found that VW Van Nuys has Saturday service so I drove out there because I just couldn't get an appointment anywhere else; the writer said this is very common.

It's easier to sell a car than to service it. A lot of Audi dealers were caught by surprise, and others didn't have or wouldn't spend the capital to add service bays and equipment and find techs. In their defense, I think AoA forced them to build new showrooms recently and there's only so much capital to go around. IMO, now that Audi is successful we're going to see the big national chains swoop in and buy up family dealerships. Will that be good or bad? Both.

schnellmb

My dealer is Stoddard Audi in Cleveland--which I live about 70mi away. They always ask when I would like to bring it in--either the same day or the next.