Warning: The following message is rated PG-13. If you are under 13, stop reading.

Well after a trip to europe for a month, I knew that my car should have arrived here in Chicago by the time I got back. It is a 99.5 1.8TQM (Trip, Sunroof, Sport Steering Wheel). Santorin Blue with Onyx Leatherette. It would be beautiful too. I found out today it came in as an AVANT.

So, to say the least, I am pissed. How could such a thing happen? I checked my order codes and I know it wasn't supposed to be a god damn stationwagon (no offense to you avant owners). I've been looking at cars for a year now and put in my order for this car in june and now it's a ****ing avant? What the hell do I do with an avant? My car is next to impossible to find with my color combination and the fact that it doesn't have the sports package, that's why after 2 months of looking for an A4 I decided to just order one. Now look, what a fine ****ing job Audi has done. How can such an error occur? My dealer says this is the 2nd time this has happened to him, as he had mentioned a similar mishap before I ordered a car with him, and that it happened to HIS WIFE.

So now what do I do? I took my girlfriend out to lunch today and she helped me feel a lot better (god bless her), I can't call my salesman back and yell at him because he had nothing to do with it. Man what kind of operation could let such a thing happen? Getting an option wrong is one thing, but making it an AVANT over a SEDAN? How the hell does that go unnoticed for so long? What the hell audi?

So now, my original plan to go see it today has been CANCELLED of course, I don't even want to see another A4 at all today because of this mishap. Is there anyone out there who this has happened to who lived through it without killing someone? If so, please offer your words of support. Anyone else who has a similar experience and wishes to show some comforting words please do so, it really is appreciated. Is there anything I can get for having to deal with this bull**** from anyone who has had something similar happen to them?

As a side note, if you are looking for a 99.5 1.8TQM Avant (Sunroof, Trip CPU, Sport Steering Wheel) that is Santorin Blue with Onyx Leatherette, you can give a call over to the Audi Exchange in Highland Park IL, talk to Chick. Hope something good will come out of this situation.

AoA will here about this... where is their number...
Marcus Frost
99.5 1.8TQM (I wish I knew where it stood.)

Okay, I'll probably get flamed for even being here, as I drive a 2000 328i, but I appreciate all fine automobiles, Audi deservingly included, so I try to keep up on what's going on in places other than Bimmerland. Long story short, I ordered my car in May, and after waiting nine weeks for it to arrive...it didn't. The tracking VIN that BMW had given my dealer was for an incorrect vehicle, and my dealer didn't realize it until the delivery truck unloaded the last car. So, I had to start over. Bottom line: it happens with all makes, even the upper echelon of Audi and BMW. You ought to at least hit the dealer up for a free loaner until "your" car arrives. Sorry about the situation, but hopefully they'll bust their butt's getting you another.

He ordered a 98 1.8TQTip...and it came in with a 5-speed....and with the wrong interior. He ended up finally settling on a car found about 5 hours away in SoCal....Seven months had passed before he finally got his A4. They originally re-ordered with a priority status (whatever that means)...and he was still waiting...he wife got pissed and then they found something close to what they wanted. You are not alone.

Steve S.
97 2.8QM

..there is a 99.5 Santorin Blue 1.8TQMS (sport seats, trip, sun roof) at Barrier Motors in Bellevue. At least it was there last Friday. It doesn't have the leatherette interior, but it's close to what you ordered. And since you live in Chicago you don't have to live with Barrier Motors POOR service people.

Thanks for all the support. I am getting the idea I'm going to have to look for a car with different options, but ****** that. I ordered a car because I was picky and therefore I am NOT going to compromise on ANY of my options. This dealer and audi are going to get me the car I want and I'm not paying anything more than what I was going to originally. Why the hell should I PAY MORE for AUDI'S MISTAKE, especially for a CAR THAT I DIDN'T EVEN ORDER? I'm not going to. My options are MY options. My colors are MY colors. I waited for my car for a long time, and god help me I can wait longer. This is un-be-****ing-leavable. Ok I better stop typing before I get any more upset. Going to see a movie tonight. That should take my mind off of it right?

Thanks again for the words of support. I'm going to find it hard to recommend Audi to someone else after this kind of ordeal. Thank god they make wonderful cars, and I can recommend that.

Marcus Frost - Calling AoA right now.
99.5 1.8TQM (Someday.)

I do find it objectionable in this forum. We all suffer losses in our life, but in scale of things this does not require profanity in public.

Many thanks

Reggie

98.5 30vQMS

get a print out of the options on how the car was built. Sounds like they did not cross check everything in both cases. Do you know what kind of info the dealers get back from Audi?

get expressed here in that maner. You are a better person than that. Believe me - my Air Force days taught me how to swear alot and I still do - and I sure felt like it when I had paid for my wheels last week and it took over a week to get all the right items in that were suppose to have already been there.

I would go back to the dealer and ask him to show you all the paper work that he had been sent over time on your order. Let him prove that the mistake was Audi not his. (Frankly if he would sell you the car for the same price as you were quoted on the sedan - that would be quite a feat). AOA or the dealer both need to build your confidence that they wont let this happen again.
And please stay calm with them - getting rude - even if it is deserved won't get result. (Advice from a very old and experienced person who has made that mistake in the past himself)

This was probably not an Audi issue, but a dealer screw up. WHen dealers change existing orders, in order to get earlier delivery, as opposed to order new, stuff falls thru the cracks alot, and requires follow up. Dealers, if they follow their paperwork know exactly the car based on VIN #'s and such as soon as it has a production date. What happend to me, was they changed an existing order for me, as opposed to ordering new what I wanted. Someone overlooked the #'s and I got an Avant with sport package, seats the whole works. The dealer, did go out of their way to find me another car from another dealer that matched what I wanted. The car was on the boat from Germany already and was diverted from Arizona to Calif, and I got a car 3 weeks later. Should be able to do the same for you.

...and everyone who has a 1997 1.8TQMS knows how hard it was to get one back in the spring of 1997. The dealer said they couldn't pull another one with the same options that i wanted for at least another 2-3 months, as manuals were in very short supply at the time, so they offered me a killer deal on a 1998 30V with every option that i wanted. How killer? Well, the MSRP was $34,400...i got the car for $30,153 before fees. Do i regret it? Well, not really, the 30V is a pleasing motor, especially after it breaks in, and the price is good, but waiting about 5 months total for the car wasn't the best experience.

If i was in your situation now, i'd probably call around to a couple other dealers and check out your allotments....after all, i know a dealer in Palm Springs that has that exact same car you want, less the trip computer and with the bose. Check around, see what you can find. Good luck.

Edmund Louie
98 A4Q 30V - 35,300 miles and kickin!<ul><li><a href="http://members.xoom.com/Eddy450">My waste of an A4 page</a></li></ul>

I understand you're standpoint, YOUR options, YOUR colors, YOUR car, and that's it, no BS, you want what you want. I ordered my 99.5 1.8T sedan qms, sunroof, santorin with opal leatherette. Tough combo, no dealer had one on the lot in the 4 states I looked in. So I had it ordered, my dealer got all the options and colors I wanted but screwed up on the code for the car... it was for an Avant.

So he scrambled like mad to find me the car I wanted. I told him before I gave him the deposit, my options and color choices are IT, no substitutes, that's why I'm ordering it and I want it exactly like that. He said no problem....

So he finally calls me after my 3 month wait, and tells me he screwed up the order, but had good news, he found the exact same car I wanted but with the Bose system, and being the kind-hearted gent that he is, he's willing to sell it to me at cost (~$1000), and if I wanted, he'd remove the CD changer and that'll reduce the cost to about $700. I said, yeah right, I don't want it, I don't want to spend another $1000 for an option I didn't want. He said he'd try looking for another car and I thought to myself, fat chance. So he called me the next day and told me that they won't charge me for the Bose.

So it's a happy ending for me, but I'm sorry to hear about yours. Maybe the dealer can get lucky and find a car with the options/colors you wanted. Good luck and I hope your or your dealer finds one real soon! And as Reggie said, keep cool when you deal with your dealer, exploding at him won't do any good and it certainly won't make him work harder for you.

Good luck!
Mark