My car dealer experience...very long read
10-29-2006, 07:22 PM
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My car dealer experience...very long read
For those of you who were familiar with a post I made a few weeks ago I thought you might be interested in the end of the story so here is the the complete un-abridged version. Sorry for being so long; I'm not the best at journalism.
I went in to order the S4 in June and the dealer mentioned that the car was going to be 3 -6% more because it was a 2007 so we agreed on $1000 below the 2006 MSRP which I took to be a good deal. Of course I was basing this on the dealer's information of the price increase which will be relevant later. The dealer and I agreed that it was going to be a $2000 deposit before I went in. But when I was writing out the check for $2000 the dealer leaves his office and comes back to inform me that they really needed $10,000 to order such a car. Since I had not done this before I just assumed that was normal and subsequently wrote a check for $10K. Then we shake hands and he says he'll send me the build order as soon as he gets confirmation from Audi and that the car will arrive at the dealership around September 6 - 10. Since it was very clear that this was a fully refundable deposit I wasn't terribly worried about the fact that we didn't have anything in writing on the agreed upon price.
So then a month goes by and I had heard nothing from the dealer. So I decided to find out where we were in the production and delivery of the vehicle. When I got ahold of him he apologized for forgetting and sent me the build order via email. However, he mentioned in the email that the car had not gone into production and that there was no delivery date. At this point I was starting to get irritated about the fact that the process, which appeared to be so standard before I ordered, was now riddled with problems. But at that point there was nothing I could do. So at the beginning of September I called again to find out what the status was. At least then when I called I found out that the car was officially in production but still no delivery date. I waited for another month and then I wrote a little blurb about my frustration to the forum here just before I called the dealer again to find out what was going on. When I called the dealership to talk to him I came to find out that he was no longer employed there. At this point I became very nervous and they got me to a new dealer who said he'd find out exactly what was going on with my car. He called be back shortly and said that the car was on a boat and due to hit port on October 16. He also verified the $10,000 deposit. At this point I had gotten a barrage of feedback about how ludicrous it was for me to put $10K down on the car. I also noticed that the MSRP of this car had actually gone down, not up 3 to 6% like the dealer had initially said. So I was very pissed off and feeling like they had taken advantage of me.
The new dealer called me a few days after the car had reached the port and said that they would have possession of it on October 23. I had decided at this point there was no way I was going to pay what we had initially agreed upon and I was going to offer them $500 over invoice. I knew that they probably wouldn't go for it so I set my cap at $1,000 over invoice. By this point I had reached a frustration level that I was ready to walk away from the car. So last Monday I was all set to go in and figure out if I was going to drive home with the car or not and I came to find out that the car still wasn't at the dealership. At this point this was the norm for this whole process. Fortunately the next morning the dealer called me to let me know that 'my' car was there and ready to be picked up. I had been going crazy for this thing for the last four months and now I was going to get it. When I got there I didn't even look at the car. I knew I would be less tempted to walk away from it if I saw it so I sat down and told the new dealer my whole story with how frustrated I was and that I was willing to give them $500 over invoice. Of course he pulls the 'I need to go talk to my manager and see if he'll do it but I don't think he will' comment. So I responded politely with the fact the this was feeling very much like the opening scene in Fargo. He pretended not to understand what I was talking about but it was clear he knew. Anyway he came back from the manager's office and said that they would go down only as low as $1000 over invoice. Inside I was thinking 'Yes!! - I can actually leave with the car and feel somewhat OK about the whole deal'. So then we went to look at the car and I tried to offer them $750 over invoice but they wouldn't budge. So when it came to pay for it I noticed that the invoice price really was nothing like the invoice price that's published on Kelly Blue Book. I guess this is a number that the dealer pulls out of thin air. It was about $500 more than what I had in my printout from kbb.com. Once again I was highly annoyed but decided to just do it anyway. In the end it was still a decent price for the car and I knew that I would never be going back to the dealer for anything. So I ended up driving the car home after two hours of hanging out in the piranha tank and the whole drive home I was so drained from the experience that I was having a hard time enjoying the new ride.
Thankfully, I have had a few days now to enjoy the car and my experience at the dealer was a learning experience but at the same time I didn't get screwed so it all worked in the end. Unfortunately for them I will never recommend them and that will be more costly than the few bucks they made off me from the car. But yeah, I can now say I'm part of the club. Life is goooood.
Now that I've given the details of buying the thing, how about some photos...
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/grill.jpg">
Gotta Love the grill. At least I do.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/mileage_33.jpg">
It had 20 on it when I picked it up but of course this was the first shot I could get of the Odometer.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/s4_7214.jpg">
And I love these airvents. It reminds me of the Porsche Carrera 4S airvents.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/s4_7217.jpg">
Little details like the split spoke wheels with calipers that say 'S4' just make me happy.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/s4_7219.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/s4_7222.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/s4_7223.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/s4_7232.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/s4_7227.jpg">
And finally the full view...
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/s4_7212.jpg">
I went in to order the S4 in June and the dealer mentioned that the car was going to be 3 -6% more because it was a 2007 so we agreed on $1000 below the 2006 MSRP which I took to be a good deal. Of course I was basing this on the dealer's information of the price increase which will be relevant later. The dealer and I agreed that it was going to be a $2000 deposit before I went in. But when I was writing out the check for $2000 the dealer leaves his office and comes back to inform me that they really needed $10,000 to order such a car. Since I had not done this before I just assumed that was normal and subsequently wrote a check for $10K. Then we shake hands and he says he'll send me the build order as soon as he gets confirmation from Audi and that the car will arrive at the dealership around September 6 - 10. Since it was very clear that this was a fully refundable deposit I wasn't terribly worried about the fact that we didn't have anything in writing on the agreed upon price.
So then a month goes by and I had heard nothing from the dealer. So I decided to find out where we were in the production and delivery of the vehicle. When I got ahold of him he apologized for forgetting and sent me the build order via email. However, he mentioned in the email that the car had not gone into production and that there was no delivery date. At this point I was starting to get irritated about the fact that the process, which appeared to be so standard before I ordered, was now riddled with problems. But at that point there was nothing I could do. So at the beginning of September I called again to find out what the status was. At least then when I called I found out that the car was officially in production but still no delivery date. I waited for another month and then I wrote a little blurb about my frustration to the forum here just before I called the dealer again to find out what was going on. When I called the dealership to talk to him I came to find out that he was no longer employed there. At this point I became very nervous and they got me to a new dealer who said he'd find out exactly what was going on with my car. He called be back shortly and said that the car was on a boat and due to hit port on October 16. He also verified the $10,000 deposit. At this point I had gotten a barrage of feedback about how ludicrous it was for me to put $10K down on the car. I also noticed that the MSRP of this car had actually gone down, not up 3 to 6% like the dealer had initially said. So I was very pissed off and feeling like they had taken advantage of me.
The new dealer called me a few days after the car had reached the port and said that they would have possession of it on October 23. I had decided at this point there was no way I was going to pay what we had initially agreed upon and I was going to offer them $500 over invoice. I knew that they probably wouldn't go for it so I set my cap at $1,000 over invoice. By this point I had reached a frustration level that I was ready to walk away from the car. So last Monday I was all set to go in and figure out if I was going to drive home with the car or not and I came to find out that the car still wasn't at the dealership. At this point this was the norm for this whole process. Fortunately the next morning the dealer called me to let me know that 'my' car was there and ready to be picked up. I had been going crazy for this thing for the last four months and now I was going to get it. When I got there I didn't even look at the car. I knew I would be less tempted to walk away from it if I saw it so I sat down and told the new dealer my whole story with how frustrated I was and that I was willing to give them $500 over invoice. Of course he pulls the 'I need to go talk to my manager and see if he'll do it but I don't think he will' comment. So I responded politely with the fact the this was feeling very much like the opening scene in Fargo. He pretended not to understand what I was talking about but it was clear he knew. Anyway he came back from the manager's office and said that they would go down only as low as $1000 over invoice. Inside I was thinking 'Yes!! - I can actually leave with the car and feel somewhat OK about the whole deal'. So then we went to look at the car and I tried to offer them $750 over invoice but they wouldn't budge. So when it came to pay for it I noticed that the invoice price really was nothing like the invoice price that's published on Kelly Blue Book. I guess this is a number that the dealer pulls out of thin air. It was about $500 more than what I had in my printout from kbb.com. Once again I was highly annoyed but decided to just do it anyway. In the end it was still a decent price for the car and I knew that I would never be going back to the dealer for anything. So I ended up driving the car home after two hours of hanging out in the piranha tank and the whole drive home I was so drained from the experience that I was having a hard time enjoying the new ride.
Thankfully, I have had a few days now to enjoy the car and my experience at the dealer was a learning experience but at the same time I didn't get screwed so it all worked in the end. Unfortunately for them I will never recommend them and that will be more costly than the few bucks they made off me from the car. But yeah, I can now say I'm part of the club. Life is goooood.
Now that I've given the details of buying the thing, how about some photos...
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/grill.jpg">
Gotta Love the grill. At least I do.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/mileage_33.jpg">
It had 20 on it when I picked it up but of course this was the first shot I could get of the Odometer.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/s4_7214.jpg">
And I love these airvents. It reminds me of the Porsche Carrera 4S airvents.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/s4_7217.jpg">
Little details like the split spoke wheels with calipers that say 'S4' just make me happy.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/s4_7219.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/s4_7222.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/s4_7223.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/s4_7232.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/s4_7227.jpg">
And finally the full view...
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/113064/s4_7212.jpg">
10-29-2006, 08:55 PM
#4
AudiWorld Super User
Congrats and read re: invoice price
The invoice price on kbb and edmunds is not correct. They don't include the port storage fee $195 and advertisment fee $300. Both are non-negotiable. The invoice price the dealer has to pay to Audi includes those two additional fees.
