Spoke with my salesman today and he gave me an update on my 2009 2.0T S-line Avant order. It was bad news, and then more bad news. He confirmed the S-line order hold and noted that production delays were due to 19" wheel availability (and he read the same information to me that we've seen posted elsewhere on this forum). He could not confirm whether paint color selection had anything to do with the delays.

Here is the info he provided to me a few weeks ago (before the delays were announced:

- Ordered 5/26
- Released to factory 6/23
- Assigned production date 7/28

That information changed today to:

- "Requested Production Date" 9/29
- "Assigned Production Date" 12/15
- Loaded on ship 12/31
- Arrive at port 1/14
- Picked up by carrier 1/18
- Delivery week of 1/26 (yes, 8 months after ordering!!!!!!!!!!!)

I asked him about "requested production date" vs. the assigned date and he said those dates are usually the same in the computer system and he couldn't tell me Audi's track record for meeting the requested date when it varied from the assigned date. Can anybody else weigh in here?

I wonder if the 19" wheels are causing the delay to September, and if my paint selection (Misano Red) is what's possibly bumping it further to December? (When does Audi typically wrap up production for a model year anyway?)

Well, all around, this is not pleasant news, and combined with the poorer-than-expected EPA MPG ratings and higher-than-anticipated pricing, I am going to sleep on this and seriously considered all of my options (which may include walking away with my deposit and buying something else altogether). I'm honestly shocked and haven't yet had time to digest all of this news, but want to share my production delay info with you all since I know some of you are in the same boat.

I'm still trying to get my head around a possible 8-month wait, if I told people my story they'd think I was ordering a Ferrari, not an A4.

The Bavarians are!
or It can get worse, if these "S" wheels are coming from Italy...

those RS4 rims look amazing on that TT.

But what's likely the trouble is that the wheels are just trickling in. They wouldn't have nothing and then be able to meet all the backlog right away. Late September was probably when the supplier said that they could start shipping X wheels/week. Audi probably took all the S-line orders and spaced them out to build at the same rate at which they get the wheels.

<img src="http://www.potn.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/teddywheels.jpg">

I know you had an assigned production date of 7/28, but did your dealer confirm they are making avants at the same time as sedans? I had thought avants were already delayed introduction (meaning a couple months after sedans start arriving in September), and the S-Line/paint issue just adds to the delay.

Again... this sucks.

and that should have been the end of story. :( *shrugs*

If your estimated delivery date is 5 months from now what do they do with all orders given today which should typically only take 3 months. Do they tell people it might take a year? I'd like to think they will not put someone elses order ahead of yours already in the system.

Perhaps more to the point. What if you ask for your deposit back cancel the order and place a new order 2 months from now. Will you still get it in January, or will they say March or later?

did your sales guy mention whether the 18" sport packages were affected by the delay as well?

my sales guy keeps claiming that my order is on target for september (avant premium plus/sport package) is still on schedule, but i'm getting pretty suspicious with all the information floating around on the forum.

i really don't want to, but given the fairly steep price i may have to order a bmw 535xi wagon. AARGGHH

accepted yet - the ones where people have put money down on MTs. The day the orders will actually be accepted, I guess there will be a flurry of dealers trying to key the orders in before all of the other dealers try to key all of the orders in in order to get their customers to the front of the pack... so if my dealer doesn't get around to entering my May 'ordered' car, it may well be far behind another dealer who had someone walk in today to order that car... drives me crazy!

After it slips to a 2010 model.

A suggested course of action:

1. Get Audi's fax number.
2. Photocopy your middle finger.
3. Fax it
4. Redial and repeat.

There are some folks on the A5 board that have slipped clear into the next model year apparently. Audi's supplier relations have, astonishingly enough, become even more horrid since the golden days of the coilpack fiasco seven years ago.

...but I'm afraid making a decision based on such short term reasons will make me less happy with the car in the long term. Sure the bumpers and side skirts are much more aggressive and better looking, but that S Line interior is money!

Preferably someone who doesn't use Ronal to make their wheels.

Your order for a car they've been making for a year at this point is going to take eight months... it's not outside the realm of possibility that this could spill over to A4s as well. For a glimpse of what may be just look for the posts where people are getting their commission numbers checked for status updates.

I think the delays in launching the 2.0T and 2.0T 6MT models and now the delays due to 19" wheel availability shows that Audi is not yet ready to occupy Tier 1 status in the luxury market in the U.S. You don't see any other luxury maker launch a new model in such disastrous fashion.

The other day I was at the Mazda dealership taking my wife's car for 30K mile service. They had 4- and 6-cylinder version of the 2009 Mazda 6 in a variety of trim levels all ready for delivery. This was a car which was first revealed months after the B8 A4. The problem with the wheels may be a subcontractor issue, but it reflects very poorly on Audi.

This isn't the first EPIC FAILURE that Audi AG has experienced and it won't be the last.

If you don't mind me asking, what did your entire package cost? Looks like you've got the exact ride ordered that I'm looking at.

Delays on the new to the world Avant would be one thing... but wheels? Paint? Come on Audi.

available for sale from dealer stock.

In other words... the AW crowd.

This thread has existed, in one way or another, in EVERY forum during the pre-NA launch of EVERY platform.

It's just the nature of a car enthusiast forum.

Read the OP's actual post again.

The 19" wheels, exclusive to S-Line, are causing a delay.

Now, this may not be the only cause of his delay, but the wheel availability is the only STATED cause of the delay.

Paint color was only his personal speculation.

So, assuming that wheel availability is just one of several possible other factors, WORST CASE, he get's his custom ordered car 3-4 months after the first car goes on sale here from dealer stock.

I understand that folks want their sold order A4s ASAP. I don't blame them for wanting that.

But look at the big picture. In under 6 months from NOW, you can have any version of the A4 that Audi has promised and in 6 months, everyone will have forgotten this thread and all the others like it....

Until the B9,C7 or D4 get close anyway.

If I recall correctly.

But I don't know if those orders are suffering the same length delays, or if Audi will be able to fill those orders quicker than the 19" wheel orders.

So 18"s on the premium plus and 19"s on the Prestige and S-Line configurations. Those options are, according to our dealers in the group, not currently available, so it's affecting anyone who wants those options, pre-orders or not.