I have a question for all those who have ordered a car being custom built, as this is my first experience not buying a vehicle from existing dealer stock.

What paperwork do you get from the dealer to lock in your price? My current dealer ordering the car does not want to give a final quote until Audi sends the invoice in the next couple days. That seemed reasonable to me since it will now be a.MY2011, but I thought I'd double-check others thoughts, since I don't trust car dealers...

Secondly, once I do contact him (after I get the confirmation email from Audi), what paperwork is typical to get now to lock in the price and not give them room to sneak in any hidden fees (like an "ordering fee") but without actually paying for anything until I see the physical car?

Thanks!
- Josh

I have an '10 A6 on order and the only "paperwork" I have is a series of emails with the sales guy confirming: color, options (including Audi care), price of car (MSRP), less discounts (supplier & owner loyalty), less trade-in value, doc & reg. fees, and sales tax on net amount.

I have an '10 A6 on order and the only "paperwork" I have is a series of emails with the sales guy confirming: color, options (including Audi care), price of car (MSRP), less discounts (supplier & owner loyalty), less trade-in value, doc & reg. fees, and sales tax on net amount.

Thanks. Right now I have only a document indicating my agreed discount from msrp.Dealer is saying he can't give a full document like you have until he can get the msrp off the actual order, since the MY just switched and I think he doesn't know if audi changed any pricing. Sounds like once the Audi order comes through in the next week or so, it is reasonable for me to ask for a full breakdown like you have.

Sounds like once the Audi order comes through in the next week or so, it is reasonable for me to ask for a full breakdown like you have.

I actually summarized the terms in an excel spreadsheet and sent it to the salesman asking him to confirm.

I actually summarized the terms in an excel spreadsheet and sent it to the salesman asking him to confirm.

Oh, I like that idea. Thank you!

Having never purchased a car from inventory, I am amazed you have been able -- ever -- to find what you wanted in stock. Even when I have been willing to change my color preference, I have never been able to find a car that the dealer could acquire that was already on the NA side of the Atlantic (that was configured as I wanted it.)

Wow! I take my hat off to you, having been able to do this, thus far.

OK, to your question: when you order a car you typically get the lowest possible price, lower than on cars that are already in inventory (for the same MSRP car of the same MY.) You've got that going for you.

Unless you signed some sort of binding agreement, you are NOT obligated to actually buy the car you ordered. Ditto the agreement -- you are entitled to your deposit (if any) back should you not proceed. You've got that going for you too.

If the car is a current MY the dealer will typically have either an exact idea or a close enough for jazz idea of his cost and, in my experience, if that is the case, you can negotiate the price at that point, even tho the car is "still on the boat" so to speak.

If the car is an upcoming year (as yours is apparently), the dealer probably does not even know the actual "window sticker" or his cost, until some paperwork is realeased to him. This happened to me when I ordered my 2009 A4 in early 2008 (and waited some 6+ months for it to come in.) I took it on faith that the price would be "about" such and such a number based on what I had read in the auto magazines I subscribe to (of course, they turned out to be a little low, but I checked virtually all the option boxes and was, more or less, expecting AT LEAST $48K as the MSRP.)

All along, too, I knew I was NOT obligated to actually take delivery of the car I ordered, so I just waited for the paperwork to come to the dealer.

In my case, I had a LEASE PAYMENT for a 36 month term in my mind, since I had had a 36 month lease on a $53,286 2005 A6 previously (and I was eligible for any and all owner loyalty credits plus the $500 Audi Club bonus). So, the car finally is ready for me on 10/31/2008 -- my 2005 A6 lease was OVER 6 months ago and I was on the month-to-month program with Audi financial on my '05 A6. I was chomping at the bit for the new A4.

My salesrep, at that moment decided to get cancer and was off work while his prostate seeds were zapping the C cells. So, another rep steps in AT THE VERY LAST SECOND and quotes me $100 MORE per month than the outgoing A6.

At the exact same time, Audi was having a $5,000 off sticker sale on A6's, plus even more off at my dealer. Since I had orered a white A4, I said, "well how much LESS would a new A6, white, with the technology package, etc, be?"

My original salesrep's boss called me on the phone, knowing that my as yet unpurchased A4 was "in the house" and somehow worked some off MSRP magic that dropped the mo pay $100, increased the miles to 16,666/yr and included chrome tips on the tail pipe. This guy knew this was, for me, Audi 29 from the same dealer and also knew that my off-sick rep would not want me to have to "settle" for a new A6, no matter how nice.

All was done as per usual -- ordered cars = lower cost and EXACTLY what you want, if you can wait for the damn thing to be built.

And, my rep is now cancer free, too.

I'm of the mind to suggest that [premium] auto dealers should not carry stock to sell, they should only carry demonstrator models (much much broader and deeper choices for us to test drive) and take orders for cars. At these prices, I just can't imagine taking one off the lot unless there is absolutely ZERO compromise.

Most folks say, "I wanted red, but took silver instead. . .it was my second choice, and I'm not that picky."

OH YEAH?!? Then why even mention the red one in the first place.

Good is the enemy of great.

DOH!

Drive it like you live.

Mark,

Thank you so much for that post. It really helps -- after having dealt with Keyes on Van Nuys in the past, my trust for car dealers is proportional to the number of deadly weapons I have available to me at the time of negotiation.

Although my mind said to me that what the dealer was saying makes sense ("I can't give you an exact quote because I don't know what the car is going to cost yet"), I have been nervous with so little paperwork.

So once the paperwork does arrive, at that point the dealer said he would be able to finalize our agreed-upon price, based on the MSRP reduction that I *do* have in writing. Now at least I feel like he's not trying to pull one over on me. ;)



And yes, I have been extraordinarily lucky to find exactly what I wanted 2x at an Audi dealer. My 2001 A4 I was simply not that picky, and that 2003 Avant Sport with a manual transmission was sitting right in the Beverly Hills Audi dealership lot, IN BLUE!

But I think perhaps I never appreciated how silly it is to compromise on a car until this purchase, after having made huge compromises by getting an Infiniti M35 just because I needed a car fast. I will not spend $50k on a fully-loaded A4 Avant and have to compromise on anything, damnit. :p


Thanks again,
Josh

I also locked in the % off with the salesman by email when I ordered a 2010 S4 in July, right before they released pricing. He sent an order sheet that had all my options listed and I faxed them a form that gave me 'first refusal' on the car. That's to say the car was mine and they couldn't sell it to anyone else until I 'refused' to take delivery. I gave a deposit since I ordered Sprint Blue.