I placed a deposit with my dealer back in January to order a new A4. Well after being told 6-8 weeks it ended up being 6 months. I asked for some kinda deal. The AoA rep. told him to fly a kite (his words). The dealer told me that the 99.5 are more expensive (invoice) than the 99's and he wasn't passing that on to me. Is this true and has anyone else had similar experiences? What should I expect from the dealer in this situation? AoA told him that if I wanted a car sooner to try a larger dealership next time. I was impressed with the value and performance, but so far customer service sucks! Looking for any thoughts or sympathy.<br>

YES, customer service sucks! I've had to call AoA repeatedly to get the most sinmple information - stuff people seem to be able to get from Audi dealer-only web sites for cars coming into other ports. Last week I called the twice to find out where the hell my car was after being on the dock in Wilmington DE for almost a month (my best guess is that it takes longer for Audi to ship cars from port to smaller dealers because they are waiting to completely fill up a car carrier truck.) They called a day after my last inquiry and told me it arrived at the dealer. I went to the dealer on my last trip home. They said it had arrived, but no papers, so I couldn't pick it up. But it was in the back lot if I wanted to look at it... they gave me a stock number. Went and looked. NO car. So, based on this, I've concluded: AoA (1800foraudi, that is) calls the dealers to get its information, and then parots that information to you, leaving absolutely no check on the dealer's ability to ply you with misinformation.<p>BTW, on the invoice pricing, my best information/guess is that in fact the price went up about $200 for the base 1.8T, and a bit on the tiptronic and maybe some other options I don't know about. I also tried to check that through AoA (good luck!) and finally called some dealers far across the country, getting their asking price and the amount above invoice they claimed it represented to double check the (I now presume accurate) figures my dealer gave me.<p>I ordered 2/28/99, and am still waiting as of 7/21/99. But it should be a week or so at this point.<p>Sorry if this was not ideally coherent, I can't think straight anymore about this maddening process.--Shane<p>p.s. I plan to ask for a warranty extension from the Germans.

Thats bull.<p>Same line I got regarding University Audi in Seattle. Their Audi dept isn't newest, largest, or niceset building but their inventory was decent. <p>Tried Barrier in Bellevue and got a much warmer response. Nicer dealer, better shop, and facilities but smaller inventory.<p>Nice guy at Univ. Audi said it was because they did not do enough new car sales, and Audi was inclined to only help out successful dealerships.<p>Nice guy at Barrier said it had to do with the customer service reputation of the Dealership with Audi, only nice guys get the breaks.<p>I went with a buying service, and will use Barrier for my service. <p>

You can search the archives on my name to find out the entire story, suffice to say I was over 5 months into an ordered car and they didn't know when it could be built. I got my car 190 days from order. Audi Customer service is only capable of sending out pretty flyers about upcoming products, not hard information about deliveries, upcoming options, prices, etc.<p>When I sent a stronly worded letter to the President of AoA, I got back a letter from some secretary, saying they were sorry for my problems, would I accept this leather folio for my trouble, btw hope you have better luck in the future.<p>I am pretty disgusted with "customer relations". Audi builds great cars, but apparently has no idea how to treat customers. In my comparisons to other cars selling in the same market segment, Audi comes in woefully last.<p>Good luck getting anything useful from them, either by phone or letter.<p>>>>>>Bernie<br>Glad my ordeal is over

And how many of those other cars did you say you have purchased? I'm curious about your rating methods, who came in first, second, etc.

In late December '98/early January '99 I ordered an avant and was told it'd be in Aprilish. As of 7/21 it has not arrived. Today, I began calling other dealers and found one that will sell me a '99.5 for $200 over invoice. I've found that sedans for $1000 over are also possible. Armed with that, I intend to TELL my dealer that if they want to sell me the avant they'd better at least match that figure or I'll go get the other. Remember, you have the final say - you can walk.<p>Good luck, you'll enjoy the car :)

I guess there is sympathy in numbers. My wife and I are young professionals buying our first new car. We went with the Audi for styling, performance, and value. Keeping that in mind you would think Audi would want to keep a loyal customer base or at least build one. When we get to be middle aged and are looking for that "full-blown" luxury car I will definitely favor the mercedes. Granted I did go with a smaller volume dealer, because the gave me a "deal". It was 1250 over invoice which I guess now is more like 1000 over since they are not passing the increase along to us. The biggest complaint is the damn car salesman trap. I would have been happier if I was told 6 months rather than 6 weeks! I am sure that once we get the car this weekend the emotions will subside, but thanks for listening and we will chip!

exactly how many other HI-LINE experiences have you had....production occurs in INGOLSTADT, Germany, not INGLEWOOD, CA....production issues occur all the time within the industry<p>get real...<p>p.s....was it worth the wait?