Nautik355

I'm new to Audi (bmw m3 guy myself) and I was thinking of picking a 2012 Q5 up for my wife. I would definitely want to take ED and hopefully it is as good as BMW's ED experience. I know the Q5 is very popular and the local dealership is already giving me the act about needing to come to discuss price, lease options, etc. I really don't have time for this and just want someone to shoot me a straight quote at a fair price. I'm not interested in negotiating and wasting time having to drive around to 10 different dealerships.

So are there any online dealership sponsors on this forum I can go through and/or does anyone know a dealership that will give me a great price without much crap?

Geese

In February, I called around to all the dealers from NC to Philly. I got a Zag.com quote from FSK Autos in Frederick, MD that beat anything else. I told the dealers on the phone what options I wanted (custom order) and said "can you beat that?". None could. A few laughed, and a couple said "take that deal". Seriously. One came close, but after a quick phone call with Jacob at FSK, I decided I'd place the order with him. Just under 3 months later, I get a call, drive up, pick up my '11 Q5 Deep Sea Blue S-line in less than an hour and a half total, and I was on my way back to VA by lunchtime. Very pleasant experience.

I can't comment on European delivery, but I can't imagine the buying process would be any different.

Tell them Brad G referred you.

Geese

My profile pic is from that pickup day, btw.

Nautik355

Thanks for the info! I will check them out.

diverej

I had a good experience with Criswell in Annapolis, got my PP+ for $500 over invoice after shopping all the other Audi dealers in the area. They were easy to deal with and I had the same experience as Geese did, where another salesman told me that if I could get that price for real, to do it. The sales manager Greg and Brian were great.

Good luck in your hunt!

Stormie

I shopped around at several of the DC area dealers in VA and MD and this was my experience with each (in chronological order):

-Audi of Tysons Corner (Penske): Decent sized lot. Talk a good game in person, but not interested in giving you a deal at all... "I can sell this Q5 at full price tomorrow!" Sales people think they are all that. Stopped by twice, waited a half hour the second time to talk to the same sales guy (why did I even bother). Didn't even follow up with a specific quote when requested. Waste of time. Probably instantly judged me as some stupid kid that couldn't actually afford an Audi so I wasn't worth their time... (see below for result of that)... If you want to pay too much and have a crappy experience, they are for you!

-Audi of Alexandria‎: Stopped by once. Small operation. Not much on the lot. Got a pushy sales guy. Not very professional. Won't let you drive a test car off the lot. Wouldn't listen that I had zero interest in 3.2L model. Tried to take a couple hundred $ of at a time until the deal was so good I was just CRAZY not to take it. Except I told him right off the bat that I wanted a very specific color with a very specific configuration. I guess he didn't hear that. Wife said: "we're leaving and we're never coming back". Recommended? Not even a little bit.

-Criswell Audi of Annapolis: Showed up about six months before I started looking for my audi for a family member... got ignored my sales people. Probably another 'kid who can't actually afford an Audi' situation. Family member ended up getting a benz GLK... you guessed wrong on that one Criswell... Your loss. Did an Internet quote request when I was looking. Response was 'that configuration is pretty much impossible to get'. Guess I'll have to find it somewhere else! (did I... hmmm..) Worth still checking out I guess if you live close.
On a random side-note, I see a ton of audi's in my area (not far from Annapolis) that have Criswell emblems on the back. Seriously Criswell? Is that how you treat a ~30k+ car? No thanks!

-Audi of Frederick: Read good things about them on the forums, but didn't travel that far, so no personal experience.

Audi Silver Spring (Mile One): Started contact with an Internet sales quote from Jason. Got a quick response with some currently available configs with prices. More than I had been getting at least. Decided to stop by. Guy I had emailed was out, so someone else helped me get a test drive going quickly. Got as far as finding a couple cars of my config in the national inventory, but they wanted for me to pay for shipping from the west coast ($1200!), and the other which hadn't been build yet, was scheduled to show up at another east coast dealer in several months. After a week of emailing J back and forth, the final word was that the other dealer was "unresponsive" to requests to swap cars. Do these guys want to sell a car or not? geez... Thought I was gonna have to find another avenue since I didn't want to settle for what was readily available on the lot (though they tried to push that). Showed up again in person right before closing and broke it down... I want this config, from this dealer when they get it, and you have sold a car. Don't worry about the price negotiations. Just tell me you can get it. Used car sales manager (forget his name) made it happen! Got a call the next morning at 9am saying the car had been traded for one of theirs and it would arrive in four months at no extra cost to me (score). When they asked if I was ready to talk about price I mentioned the Audi Supplier Discount Program (MSRP - 6%, not the best but simple) and said "I will pay this price". They agreed on the spot. Got the car as spec'ed (meteor grey, black interior, no sunroof) a week earlier than they originally had scheduled. Worked with Steve S. on all of the details. He made it happen. I brought my own CU financing, though they they offered me a competitive rate. I've had the car now for about seven months. Everything is going well. First service went well. Verdict: Not perfect, but some sales guys that are actually willing to make an effort and come through to make a sale.
Now for their next challenge, get me a 2012 A6 avant from europe please.

S4forDC

Interesting that I had some of the same experiences with DC area dealers as Stormie. Overall, I think local BMW dealers were more interested in getting my business than Audi even though I was returning to the brand and had the Supplier Discount (which actually nets the dealer more $). Had I not decided that the Q5 was the right vehicle for me, I might have gone with the new '11 X3 because of the sales experience with Audi. When I bought mine, here's what I found:

-FSK Audi in Frederick. This is where my Q5 came from. Their internet sales process was quick and professional, they located and obtained the right Q5 from another dealer quickly, and the finance piece was efficient. It was my impression that as a smaller dealer they were more interested in getting my business and had the willingness to do dealer trades. Unfortunately the actual delivery wasn't handled as well - they passed me off to another sales guy who did it on the quick and they prepped the car for delivery poorly.

-Rockville Audi. This was my first introduction to the Q5; had a test drive of the 3.2 early on. The sales woman seemed professional but she never responded to emails when I was ready to buy. It was too bad because she's the one who sold me on the Q5.

-Audi of Tysons Corner. I had a good experience when I leased my '03 A4 there but a sales manager passed me off to a sales guy who talked a good game yet wouldn't provide specifics. They offered a test drive only in a 2.0 even though I was clear that I wanted a 3.2. I could never could get a straight answer regarding incoming cars, nor was there any effort to order what I wanted. However, he seemed surprised when I told him I bought elsewhere and he was a bit disparaging.

-Audi of Alexandria‎. They gave it a good effort - but on two Q5s that I didn't want. They only wanted to sell me what was on their lot, they didn't listen to the specs of what I wanted, and they weren't interested in locating a car from another dealer. I did drive both the 2.0 and the 3.2. At the time they showed a large stock of Q5s on their website, though they never seemed to have available what was online.

-Criswell Audi in Annapolis. I bought my '05 S4 there and had a lousy sales experience but a good service experience which is why I gave them the benefit of the doubt and went back. My guess is some things don't change there - they never responded to emails or internet inquiries. They also had a large inventory online, including one that seemed to be what I was looking for.

- Audi Silver Spring. Seemed like decent people, especially Tom the Internet guy, and they had the Q5 that I wanted sitting on their lot but they couldn't put the deal together.

Fortunately my Q5 has surpassed my expectations. Good luck with your purchase....hopefully you'll be as pleased with your Q5 as I am with mine.

Stillgoing

My experience was that none of the dealers in the DC metro area (didn't try Fredrick)n/ were interested in selling a Q5 2.0 with the Supplier discount. Their attitude was that they could sell all they could get at list, so too bad.

I finally located the Q I wanted at Audi of Cary (NC). Did it all over the phone, salesman even picked me up at the airport and the delivery was exceptional. Makes me wish I could go there for service too. Had a nice five hours alone with the Q5 on the way home to really acquaint myself with it. That was April 1st - still loving it.

S4forDC

Great that you found the right Q5 for you, but I'm not surprised that you had to travel outside the market to do it. You may already know that while the Supplier Discount is 6% to the consumer it ends up only being a 3% discount from dealer profit because Audi kicks 3% back to them from what I understand of the program. Still, you may be right about it especially with the demand for the 2.0. I really hope that people haven't been lining up to pay MSRP for it though.

Sasmf

Chantilly Audi in VA. Very very good service. Gave me 3000k off 2011 Q5.

Ask for Danny.