greenie

Have you been following helpers posts?


greenie

BackToBasics

Can't lie, I am feeling a little nervous, not because I think I'll be disappointed with the car or my dealership, but because of what I'm hearing about how AoA is treating these problems. Admittedly, they bought back BuyBeach's car and traded out Dinan's, and those appear to be the worst two scenarios we've heard about on this forum, but the doubletalk about options being in or out (i.e. adaptive cruise, advance key, V60 MMI integration) is driving me crazy. Have you noticed nothing 'official' has occurred regarding the V60 issue? Two posters here have said Audi Advocates have told them MMI integration is dead for '04, but why in the world has no official bulletin on this come to all prospective owners via dealers from AoA? If I didn't read about it on this forum, I'm quite sure I would be surprised by this info either on delivery day or after I take delivery and discover it on my own.

The dealer GM one person on this forum mentioned who dismissed the problems heard about on this forum as non-representative is not facing reality. If Audi sells about 400 cars this month, we're already hearing from 1% of them with consistent problems. If only 5% (aggressive estimate) of A8 owners are on Audiworld, now the number of people with significant complaints jumps to 20-25%. If Audi knows about problems and wants to build its base of customers who view them as a Tier 1 car, they need to a) recognize and admit problems, not try to keep them quiet; b) bend over backwards to solve those problems (as they did with Dinan and, eventually, with BuyBeach), and c) issue directives on how dealers should deal with the issue with other customers so there is consistency and honesty in message and action (e.g. V60 issue).

All that said, however, my dealer has told me (and I remain hopeful) that most of the problems I'm hearing about on this forum are from what Audi is terming launch cars (not sure how broadly they are defining that), and that mine will not experience similar problems. I take delivery (hopefully) in 8-10 days, so we will see.

I am still VERY excited about this car, and can't wait to drive it. If problems do crop up, I'll give my dealer and AoA ample opportunity to deal with them in a straightforward way, and I trust that they will. If they do not, however, they will be introduced to the sqeakiest wheel they have ever encountered, and I'll give them a big wake-up call about how demanding luxury car buyers are and what standards they need to meet in communication and action to please and retain customers.

Damn I want my new car!!

ChronicTeutonic

Agreed on all items that you have brought up MB.
We'll have to see if in fact the "second wave" of cars have these issues. I really trust my dealer...this being my third car from them and I was told of additional shake downs and tweaking being done at the Port and also at the service dept. before delivery. I'll know more in two hours... when I pickup!

greenie

We must have the same parents! I mirror everything that you say. If you have an established relationship with the dealer, that certainly helps. I am a novice when it comes to Audi so I am a little nervous. My gut tells me that these cars will perform to everyones satisfaction AT SOME POINT and that point may be when Audi realizes that they must do a better job in supporting its dealers and, in turn, the dealers supporting us. I cant figure out if AoA has always had these communication problems or if all of this has arisen out of a car that was released too soon to these shores.


greenie

greenie

Best to you Chronic.


greenie

buybeach

Indeed, best of luck! Please post any "issues."

Audi tells me they will not be picking my car up until around 8/11/03 so will not actually decide what I am doing about replacing it until that time. Want to see it leave for sure first. Will be grateful to hear whether "newly" delivered cars act up like the "launch" cars.

Speaking of "launch" cars, I noticed an interesting pricing item.

Apparently "launch" cars have a "launch" convenience package which has a $2,000 sticker price and post-launch pricing on the car sets the same package at $2,500.

Maybe Audi should have just told everyone to accept the $500 "discount" as the price of "launch" issues? It probably would have quelled a fair amount of annoyance and anxiety.

ChronicTeutonic

I've never had any real issues with Audi launch cars to this point...hoping that my track record stays that way.

BackToBasics

During my last visit to my dealer, he made an offhand comment about my car likely being delivered on time 'because it wasn't one of the ones that needed to have the front bumper replaced'. Apparently there were some problems with the front bumper Parktronic that caused AoA to have some of the cars wait in port for replacement bumpers to be delivered and installed.

Also, regarding the V60, I've decided that I'm going to wait until the price for the cradle/phone combo is lowered, and cross my fingers that the info we're hearing about no '04 MMI integration is wrong. The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it seems that Audi would actually still charge premium price for a phone/cradle that gives you NO way to manually dial out without a) lifting the driver and passenger armrest. b) wrenching your right arm back behind your body, and c) looking down and behind you to dial a number from the phone keypad. Who in the world would pay for that 'privelege'? With everything Audi has pulled from the options list due to concerns about potenital lawsuits from injury,damage or theft (power trunk close, adaptive cruise, advance key, etc), you'd think they'd be nervous as hell about selling customers a phone that requires a yoga class to manually dial an outgoing call....

buybeach

You are very kind. This is a great car, I am sure you will enjoy it. I am still very seriously considering getting another...so far nothing else I've looked at in this category is as comfortable and pleasant to drive. These are real mile-gobblers. One almost hates to arrive.

But I have had as much sympathy and support and indulgence as I can reasonably expect from the internet. If I accept another vehicle and all these weird things that are gong wrong with some of these A8s go wrong with my "new" one, everyone will rightly say, "You went into this with your eyes open so stop whining."

It is a testimony to the general quality and design of the car that I would even consider another despite the trouble I had with A8 #1 as well as some of the design features which I found annoying (such as no CD "pause"...not to mention no cassette).

greenie

This must be a German thing! Remember Mercedes and the "comand " fiasco?


greenie


T minus ?