I go to dealer , they have no cars available. Not a single car. I have to call another dealer, go there, wait for the demo car to arrive after 25 minutes. It's black. Go to another dealer, same color. Still don't know what other leathers or inlays look like. I can't go by the 3" picture on the web that shows me the inlay. It's not right for someone to dump that much money, not knowing what the heck it's gonna look like in person. It's not over yet, the dealers don't even know about Automatic. How stupid is that? We're not talking convertible S5 here, we're talking automatic transmission. I can't even get a straight answer from dealer, hey if they don't know, nobody else here will know.

Ask them about lowering the car and warranty, they have no clue. Haven't they in the last 10 yrs seen any car with that symptom to give me a straight answer?
I say, can i lower the car with springs -> he says I think if you lower the car, it's considered frame work and hence voids your warranty.
I say Can i get automatic->He says, well, i believe we can get autos in 2009
I say, 19" are really nice -> He says, Well, you could also get other rims online.

Not to mention I can't even see any S5 with different options to see what different things look like on the car.

I think if they keep this up, they just have more stressed out first timers that probably end up changing their mind.

the buying experience of any car can vary from brand to brand and from dealer to dealer. most people on this board are enthusiasts and tend to know a lot more about these cars than 99.9% of salespeople at a dealer. most salespeople are not as passionate (and hence less knowledgeable) about the audis they sell. Thus the best resource for information on these cars is likely to be found from the people on these boards.

I can understand your frustration but just getting one to drive is a treat. You can not expect to order things that are not yet available even in Germany, like the auto trany. If you have been following the S5 since early 2007, you would realize that this is the very early release stage and even the base A5 is not here yet. Patience is the key as delivery would be months away.
In a year from now, there will be more options and stock to look at. The car is worth getting as Audi has some of the best interior color designers working for them and the chassis is way better than before.

I was originally looking for a 2008 6-speed Cayenne, and 3-local dealers I went to didn't even know they offered a stick despite the fact they've been making them since 2005 (or won't admit they make it since their dealership is not allocated for one)... This was after the fact, it's written all over their Cayenne brochure even with pics of the gearbox...

At the end of the day, car salespeople want to sell you what they have in their inventory, not what is available to the general public... They want your business and they'll do anything to steer you away from something they don't have or difficult to get..

Had I ordered a 6-speed Cayenne and backed out of it, I would imagine it would be hard for them to move it once it arrived...

If you want to see in person what the different options and colors look like, wait until dealers have an inventory. If you want the car right now, you may have to do some research yourself or just wing it. Unfortunatley you can't have your cake and eat it too. Audi is selling plenty of these cars sight unseen.


If you want an auto, it's kind of a moot point, as only certain dealers are just starting to take orders for them, without specific build dates or even time periods. Get your order in for an auto now, and you will have plenty of time to change it if you so desire.

Every manufacturer wants to make sure that dealers sell through their mandatory inventories first, so the dealer is typically the last to know, definitively, when a specific model is coming, so they don't say "just wait for the new model/spec/etc." The issue with not knowing when the automatic is coming, however, is pretty stupid. I think that the automatic S5 will absolutely be here in early to mid 2008.

As for the different trims, remember that this car has a wait list several months long at most dealers. There's no way they're going to stock multiple demo cars when everything that runs through the factory in the next six months is already sold.

And per your questions about warranties and lowering, bear in mind a few things:

- per the Magnsson-Moss Act, your warranty cannot be voided/invalidated due to the installation of aftermarket parts, unless a failure was <i>directly caused by</i> the aftermarket parts, whether these parts be OEM replacement or performance upgrades. The point of the M-M Act was to prevent automotive OEMs from having a monopoly on repair parts, but its language is broad enough that performance mods are protected.

- proving that aftermarket parts caused damage is difficult, and certainly a "grey area" with respect to interpreting the warranty terms. It would be pretty difficult for the dealer to prove that simple lowering springs caused other problems, but I'd expect them to refuse warranty coverage on certain suspension components (such as dampers, ball joints, strut bearings, etc.) I think that this is entirely reasonable. It wouldn't be reasonable for the dealer to suggest that lowering springs would cause, say, engine malfunction, or electronics bugs.

- "frame work" is a phrase that I've never heard of with Audi warranties. To be honest, I think it's nonsense - I don't think that phrase exists in the warranty language.

- ultimately, how you fare on warranty issues comes down to your relationship with your dealer. If you are courteous and develop a strong relationship with the service advisors and managers, they will be far more likely to let grey area issues fall in your favor. I have an outstanding relationship with my dealer and I think they've been more than fair with me on warranty issues and my modified TT. They have actually covered more things than I expected them to, but there are some things I haven't even bothered to ask about since I clearly caused the problems with mods.

Product knowledge seems to vary between dealers and between the people within a dealer.

If you can't get an answer at one dealer, best to check out another. You can also call AoA directly. Or even better yet, ask us.