Got a call today that my A8 was done. See prior posts below if you care.

1) Asked them to make sure the car was spotless inside and out because it was sitting on their lot for 6 days. Was told: Can do!

2) Went to pick up the car and looked at it first. The exterior was clean but the interior looked like the fix-it monkeys has climbed all over it inside. I told the service manager that it needed to be cleaned inside. He said the detailers already did it. I said "Look again." He did and returned it to the detail shop.

3) Upon his return, I got the bill. They had listed the cowl cover as a billable item. I told the cashier to explain what the "cover" line item was for and was told "uh, I don't know." I said, "Then you better find someone who does if you want this bill paid." He took the bill to the service manager who said, "Oh, he shouldn't have been billed for that." Then proceeded to take the next twenty minutes correcting the bill.

4) So I get the bill and pay it just to find out that the cashier can't find my keys. Grand! Another 10 minutes of zany entertainment ensues until the cashier discovers that the service manager had given him the wrong invoice number which indicates the key slot.

I was fuming and made some probably uncalled for comments as follows:

I refused to get the mileage off of the rental and told the cashier to "walk your butt out yourself if you need it."

While waiting for my car to be cleaned, I perused the VW showroom and was asked by a salesman if he could sell me a car. I told him point blank that I would NEVER buy another car from this crappy dealership. He asked me if I was unhappy with the sales or service department. I said "yes" and walked away.

When the the service manager asked me where my car was parked so that he could look at the interior, I tossed my extra keys to him and said "you figure it out."

When the service manager said that the bill was wrong, I said "that's hardly surprising given the fiasco of this service visit."

I'm completely and utterly pissed if you haven't already noticed. Just thinking about the dealership makes my blood boil. I'm seriously considering an immediate trade-in on a Lexus GS 350 AWD just so I never have to deal with Audi again. Yes, the Lexus has no soul but at least I get treated like a VALUED CUSTOMER.

I hope you IDIOTS at AOA are listening!

they WERE called for! Im taking my car in for its last inspection tomorrow morning and Im getting pissed off already anticipating what Ill run into. I am insisting that THEY pay for the inspecyion and when they say ni, youll be able to hear my response from Willow Grove. I never though that I would say that I am happily walking away from Audi into the waiting arms of BMW and a competent dealership. For what its worth, I have joined the BMW forum and there are quite a few Audi drivers "jumping ship" for the same reasons that I have stated before.

Sorry, that is unacceptable.

Reminds me of the time I had a 750iL, M5, and Z8 @ dealer. Took Cooper S in for service, was to drive whichever one was done home.

They couldn't find any of them. NONE. I knew the GM and service manager, and I had to walk the lot to find them. 5 Z8's sold by that dealer, mine only black/black, and only one in service.

Dealer's son moved my M5 out of the way so his ****box could get washed before mine, while I waited. I went out, told him I hadn't authorized him to touch my car, and made him move his back. "Don't you know who I am?" he said. "Don't you know what I've spent?"

Good riddance. Great cars, but dealers kill the entire experience. I interview service departments before I even consider a car.

Get a GS and enjoy it. Total drop off and pick up time for my 1st service on our LS430 was 15 min. 12 drop off, 3 pick up. Clean, service done, nice loaner, and courtesy. Not a great looking car, but we're sold just because of the service.

AoA needs to clean up dealer network, fix lease residuals and rates, and listen to good dealers.

You and Greenie have gone above and beyond. Glad I'm a lucky one.

Best.
L

over a swap to summer wheels and tires.

Even though they tried to recover from their stupidity (long story omitted), I slammed them on the QC call from AoA which hurts their profit and also forces them to explain to their own management why they got such a bad review. This is the hammer that they understand.

The next time I went in for service, they were tripping over themselves to make sure I was happy. Luckily for me, they have managed to deliver good service since then.

No vehicle is perfect. Even worse is that the majority of dealers are incompetent (Audi and BMW). If I must rate them, though, I've only had one incompetent Audi dealer (Don Rosen) and two incompetent BMW dealers (Stevens Creek and My BMW). Good luck with your choice.

...and care more about their employee "family" than the customers.

The same people continue to be in the same jobs year after year. In fact, they crow about the "longevity" of their employees in their customer news letters. The result is that they continue to make the same mistakes over and over for years on end. In a lengthy letter sent to the GM, Larry Holbert, three years ago, I detailed my problems with the dealership on an incident-by-incident basis, I cited dates and named names, and suggested corrective actions based upon my own executive experience developing quality software and serving the consumers of that software. I have never gotten a call or reply of any kind from these clowns. I did hear from my sales guy that my letter circulated amongst the staff and is now a "classic" disgruntled customer screed. Apparently, Larry's response was to talk to the various people and to say "fix it." Of course, no appropriate management follow-up happened and the issues were put to rest -- just to be repeated again.

Mr. Holbert, refuses to rock the boat over a sense of loyaly to these long-time slackers. Their former Audi service manager who I respected, retired a few years back and I ran into him in town. I asked him what really gives with Holberts and he shook his head and confirmed my suspicion that Larry Holbert has no management backbone and refuses to fix the fundamental personnel issues that cause the problems. For example, in my case, the service rep neither reviewed the bill nor made sure the car was actually cleaned properly. Instead, he assumed that everyone did their jobs competently.

Larry will never realize the truth of the old chinese addage: "Sometimes you have to kill a monkey to scare the chickens." Our COO puts it figuratively like this: "Sometimes you have to publically execute the incompetent and throw the carcasses into the parking lot."

...and set it on fire.

Yes indeedee, I was not happy!

3.0 CS, 83 533, 85 635, 87 M6, 95 M3, 98 M3/4, 98 M Roadster, 98 540i/6, 00 M5, 01 Z8, 01 750iL, Cooper S, Cooper S Works.

Bungle has ruined the looks, and Ick-drive has ruined the nice dash. Don't get Nav in 3'er, avoid Ick-drive at all costs.

Guys still do great motors and suspension though. Maybe a permanent car cover?

I've had mixed experience with MY BMW. Sometimes they are great, and sometimes remarkably slipshod. However, they are unfailingly polite and it seemed like they wanted to make things right. My most frustrating experience with them was when they still serviced Porsches as well. After several laps, my 996 would smoke from the right side at Laguna Seca at full throttle on uphill left turns (especially turn 5). It would never smoke on public roads. I took it in five or six times and they never found the problem.

I've had great experiences at Stahl.

I've ordered an A8 from Cardinale. I am hoping for OK service while they build their dealership, and maybe better than that afterwards, but I realize it's a crap shoot. Have you any experience with them?

Monty

I'm going to have to order an A8 due to my option choices. I'm willing to order from any number of places since I live the life of a gypsy. I have family in Monterey, so that is an option.
My step-brother might not approve since he has partial interest in the local Lexus dealer.

Oh well.
Joe

It used to be that if you wanted an Audi in Monterey, you went to Butts Acura/Audi. They seemed to sell just the lower-end cars. I asked about an RS6 a few years ago and they told me to go to San Jose. You can't buy an Audi there any more.

Now Cardinale, the people that sell GMC, Volkswagen and Mitsubishi have opened an Audi dealership. It's just a lot and a small building on Fremont, but they say they're breaking ground for a dealership in the next couple of months. Service is presently at Cardinale GMC, where they have four trained Audi techs.

Dennis, the general manager, seems like an OK guy.

Monty

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/90282/claudiacardinale.jpg"></center><p>Mmmmmm. Service probably quite good.

the local dealer here in Stavanger, Norway is horrible as well.

I stood at the sales reception for ten minutes without getting any help, then spent ten minutes wandering among the cars on display, one salesman saw me but was busy handling another customer. Perhaps he could have called for someone to service me?

Service department is no better. Had exhaust system replaced, when they said it was ready they hadn't put the frontmost pipe on, so it was ear-splitting loud. Had a brake replaced, they put a big dent in the wing above it and then insisted that the dent was there when they got it in.

Fortunately a VW dealer nearby is far better and are authorized to repair Audis, so I buy my cars privately and have the VW dealer take care of repairs. Recently some senior staff has transferred from the VW dealer to the Audi dealer to fix the organization.