S4tuart

After a 2 month wait, I drove home in an S4 on Saturday. Not the one I ordered, and not from the dealer I ordered it from. Before I go any further, I have two statements:

1. I will NEVER darken the door of Prestige Imports again.

2. Ken Kanazu at McDonald Audi is one helluva guy. Go see him if you're in the market for an S4.

Two months ago I placed an order for a silver/ onyx S4 at Prestige. Getting information from them about delivery status was like squeezing blood from a stone. It finally arrived on Saturday, WITH THE WRONG INTERIOR. Silver, not onyx. On a custom order, after 2 months wait, this was a big freaking deal to me. The dealer could not explain why, and was unable to provide me with a satisfactory outcome. In fact they were downright arrogant. "We can sell this car tomorrow" was the quote I remember. My options were to take the car as delivered, buy the demo 6 speed silver/onyx w/ 1500 hard miles, wait for 3 more months, or get a refund. Thanks for wasting my time. I chose the latter option. Yes, I'm still livid. How dare they treat someone who was referred to them by a 3 time customer. That's bad business.

Three hours later, Ken Kanazu @ McDonald fixed me up with my 2nd choice color (Nogaro Blue), at a highly agreeable price. OK, it's a tip. Not the 6 speed I wanted. But I was not willing to start the process over again, or give Prestige my hard-earned $$$. And the whole buying experience from a guy who owns an S4 himself was a refreshing change from the arrogance at Prestige.

Yes, I'm grinning at my S4. But not as hard as I should be, thanks to Saturday's experience.

Final word: Don't give Prestige Imports of Lakewood, CO your money. They don't deserve it.

winder

i had ordered an A from Prestige. while i was shopping, they were very cordial, and responsive. i would get a call back in 15 min to any call.
once i had a deposit down, i couldn't get a call back the same day, and it took several calls to get my delivery date straight. (NOTE: the date i was told when i put the deposit down, and the one i was told three days later were a month apart!)
in pushing me to commit with a deposit, i was also told "we can seel the car you orderd. it is a very nice package!" seems that must be in a training book they use.

i WILL say this.... the service Mgr at Prestige, Carl Bier, is EXCELLENT. the whole service dept is highly regarded.
they are fixing a problem that i had to talk the reps at McD into looking at. then the guy that drove my car (a 6 speed) could barely drive it smooth. like mine was the first stick S4 he drove. like he'll be able to agree that it was not right.
Carl drove it and had it diagnosed in two miles.
sorry you didn't get what you ordered. BUT glad your in an S4!!!

Tom Barber

Did you have a purchase contract, and did it stipulate the interior color that you were expecting?

I was staying close to find out when the car arrived back in the fall. I had visited McD several times, and had called Prestige once and left my name and number. I got a call that said they were in and that I should come by and drive one. I didn't pay attention and I thought it was McD, so I went there after work one day. Because I thought that they had called me, I was expecting to get to test drive the car. At that time they were trying to sell them for $4000 over MSRP, and apparently did sell at least one for that while I was there. I acted very enthusiastic and polite and said that I would like to drive the car. The salesperson pretended that he didn't hear me and hinted around that I would not be permitted to drive the car unless I committed to paying $4000 over before I got to drive the car. What bull crap. This little game went on for a little while and I finally just asked the guy whether or not he was going to let me drive the car. Again he acted as though he had not heard the question. I turned and headed for my car. He ran after me and had the audacity to ask me what I would pay for the car. I responded in a very polite tone that I would not buy the car from them at that point even if they offered to sell it for $10,000 below MSRP. I also explained, while walking, that I had made a mistake because I had received an invitation to drive the car and thought it was from them. When I got to my car, this jerk actually tried to run between me and my car, and I had to run to keep him from doing so, and then even as I tried to open my car door he stood next to my car to try to keep me from stepping in. I opened it as rapidly and with as much conviction as I could and he then literally jumped out of the way. This behavior might have been specific to that one salesman, but I know that the business of trying to get $4000 over MSRP, and the tactic of trying to establish this as an understanding prior to the test drive, was the policy that was set by the dealership. That guy McDonald was standing there right next to the car in the showroom as I overheard the other fellow being given this treatment, and then again as I was getting it. He was monitoring the salespeople to make sure that they were doing it just the way that he wanted it done. Curiously, I went back there around early January just to see if they were still doing this, and found that they were selling them for MSRP, and they seemed to have a totally different tone about things.

When I went in to Prestige, Sergio took me for a test drive with no hassle or pitch whatsoever. He never even tried to sell me the car. When we got back he gave me his card and said that he would be glad to help me if I wanted to give him a call. I asked him how much, and then he told me that they sell them for $250 over, and that the waiting list was quite long. He said that it would be several weeks before mine would be placed on order with Audi, and that any time up until then I could get my deposit back. After a few weeks I was wanting to drive it again just to be sure, so I called him and he said sure, come on in. I did and he and I went for a pretty decent drive, out I-70 to the Lookout Mtn exit and then back via the steep, twisty section of Lookout Mtn road down into Golden. I called him to inquire as to the status several times and he was always very accomodating.

I had a rattle, so I scheduled an appointment. They don't have many loaners, so they rented a car for me. It was whatever Enterprise had. They thought they had fixed it but it wasn't, and when I pointed that out to the service manager he was extremely apologetic and he handed me the keys to a fairly new A6, which I drove off in. I went back the next day after work the rattle was fixed.

I don't yet have enough experience with Prestige to give them a glowing recommendation, but so far so good. I do know that they have been there for a long time and that much of their business appears to be repeat business from loyal customers.

I have heard more than one person complain passionately about McD service department never being able to fix even simple problems.

Ron O

I have suggested to AOL that they initiate a regional service facility run by the factory and impose much higher standards for their sale
Compare to Lexus -Acura -BMW -Mec agents. Not all of course but a great many.
The following will probably never happen but unless the AOL starts policeing their dealers and squeezing out the rotten and apathetic apples they will never achieve what the Japanese up scale auto divisions have. Recently the Acura dealer was made to divest themselves
of the Jag line and represent only Acura.
A situation could exist with the VW + Audi with the service becoming Factory supervised.
Will it happen probably not! and Audi will never be a 1 st line provider in the USA . --- Guess I'm in a bad mood today but that's my 3 Cents worth

Ron O

I have suggested to AOL that they initiate a regional service facility run by the factory and impose much higher standards for their sales agents
Compare them to Lexus -Acura -BMW -Mec stores. Not all dealers are bad or marginal of course but a great many are.
The following will probably never happen, but unless the AOL starts policeing their dealers and squeezing out the rotten and apathetic apples they will never achieve what the Japanese up scale auto divisions have. Recently the Acura dealer was made to divest themselves
of the Jag line and represent only Acura. We have the only dealer selling Audi in this area that also sells Chrysler, Plymouth, Jeep, VW as well -- all in a 1960's setting.
A situation could exist with the VW + Audi franchise with the service becoming Factory supervised.
Will it happen? probably not! and Audi will never be a 1 st line provider in the USA . --- Guess I'm in a bad mood today but that's my 3 Cents worth

artyQ7A4

I have had the EXACT same experience at Prestige. All positive. McDonald on the other hand was as bad as I have ever experienced given the upscale nature of their products.

mbh

I have been treated like crap or like "an honored guest" at dealerships representing marques ranging from Acura to Volvo. Occasionally, I have been treated both ways at the same dealership at different times. The bottom line is that it is difficult to retain good people with a sense of customer service at most dealerships. The car manufacturers know i and the dealership management knows it, but the car manufacturers can't afford to clamp down as much as they would like for fear of cutting themselves out of various regional markets or risking legal hassles.

This forum is about the best we can do to avoid problem dealers. Unfortunately, today's great dealer can be tomorrow's problem.

Mitch
'99.5 A6
'00 A4 2.8 Avant (T minus three days)

Biturbo Smurf

more to do with individual sales people than dealerships as a whole.

Things were fine until I put my deposit down. After that point, Donna stopped returning my phone calls when I asked for news on the delivery status. The sales manager was more helpful, but why did I have to make calls to 2 people?

The S4 was already in production when I place my order, but I was shown the codes & told this was the exact spec I had asked for. I had a contract with Prestige to supply a particular spec. I don't know who made the mistake - Audi AG, AoA or Prestige. However, throughout the order lifecycle, no-one at Prestige double-checked the spec. Upon delivery, it took me 1/2 second to see that the interior was wrong.

Donna handled the situation horribly. She treated me as a pest, and was not interested in solving the problem amicably. Each of the alternatives she offered was sub-optimal, and breached - or modified - the contract we had. Not once was I offered any compensation. This turned a bad situation worse, and prompted me to walk away. I don’t want anyone else to go through this. This should be an eye-opener for all prospective buyers.