Eli McCraig

heisnuts

My guess is that you are about 30 days out before it is delivered to your dealer.

PGrefal

This has to be quite an experience. I've never actually factory ordered a vehicle but with all the information that i've read on this site, it seems to be more of convenience with ordering cause you get exactly what you what. Then there's the waiting game.. that apparently is the killer.. having to wait all that time for car that you've spec'd out and just relishing when it will finally arrive. I'm in the market for an S4 and wanting to place the factory order... just waiting for the right deal...

markcincinnati

I've visited three dealers in Europe, 2 Audi, 1 Mercedes. They don't have "any" (or much) inventory. One of the Audi dealers had NO inventory, other than what was on the showroom floor. So, I asked the salesrep (I assume he was a salesrep) about the way they buy/sell cars. The rep answered that virtually ALL new Audis are ordered -- about a 60 day lead time. The concept of walking into the dealer and buying a car and driving off that same day was not unheard of -- but he said people want their cars their way.

My wife and I believe we've ordered 29 of our 33 Audis -- can't imagine why anyone would buy off the lot, unless, of course, the EXACT car was available. In any case, until the last two cars, we always leased, so about four months sometimes two, we would go to the dealer and order the car. The good thing is, if you're leasing and you have a new Audi on order, you can keep your leased vehicle after your original term expires, up to 6-months.

What I wish is that dealers would have an example of all of the cars they sell. The Munich dealer had one of every Audi made on the showroom floor -- they were all Silver Metallic with some kind of "Camel Tan" interiors. It was striking to see all of the cars all decked out and all with the same color scheme. What I wonder is if this approach works considering some folks probably wouldn't have the color combo on the showroom floor. In any case, it looked cool, to me. I didn't ask if test drives are offered, but I assume they are, even if you can't buy the exact car you test drive. Then I asked my dealer in Cincinnati, and he told me that the minority of customers never drive the car they buy/lease until they pick it up, even if they test drive one "like" it. Seems like times have changed.

Or so I thought.

Then my in-laws wanted a new Chrysler 300 and wanted me to config it for them. I called the dealer and told them the details of the config. They said, "We've got one that's close." I said, "that's OK, just order the one I want, my in-laws can wait." You'd have thought I asked for his first-born. He claimed "we don't do that, we'll try to locate one for you." He located one with the options I spec'd, but he said it wasn't the color we wanted. Again, I said, we'll just order one. He said, they're not going to be placing an order for ONE car, and the showroom, floorplan, inventory, budget or whatever was $2M -- I stopped listening. I again asked if he could locate exactly what I spec'd. He said he could only go 100 miles, but he found one 300 miles away -- and it would cost $1,500 to have it trucked or he could send a driver if we didn't mind that the car would come with an extra 300 miles on it, but that he would extend the warranty by 300 miles.

We took the one that was NOT the color combo but did have the options we wanted.

I guess "the second most expensive purchase we buy" is one you have to "settle" on, if you are not permitted to order.

I urge everyone to do it THEIR way, but if that means buying off the lot, so be it.

Eli McCraig

PGrefal

I'm sure the wait is. I'm still trying get the deal i want before i place my order. I'm sure the wait is going to be worth it though!

dbuxton13

I'm trying to get a handle on this waiting thing. Unless you just totalled a car and need a replacement ASAP, don't we typically know a new car purchase is coming up? Why is it hard to plan ahead 2 to 3 months? I can understand buying a sub 40k car off the lot, should the right variant be available, because that level of car is just not exciting. But for a car in this price range, that is made to be custom ordered, why settle for something other than exactly what you want? This discussion has come up several times before, but remain somewhat baffled over the lack of patience or planning for such an expensive purchase.

PGrefal

I think it's about the excitement that is built up during the waiting period. If one is to order from the factory or special order then one should already be aware there is going to be a waiting period. I don't think it's a lack of patience but a building up of excitement.

Eli McCraig

njspeedfreak

Every kid knows that Christmas falls on Dec 25th. That doesn't stop them from getting excited about is starting around Nov 1st.

I ordered my car almost as soon as the dealer started allowing orders to be placed. For me the wait was just under 3 months and I had a perfectly fine B8 S4 to drive while it went through the build/delivery process. But that didn't stop me from thinking about that new car EVERY SINGLE DAY. The anticipation was almost unbearable

Luckily I could obsess over the car by reading about others experience in these forums, so that helped keep me sane.