hi everyone -<p> just got back from my first test drive of an a4 at barrier audi in bellevue, wa. all in all, the experience left me with very mixed feelings. i am 99% sure that the a4 is the car for me (went in with a list of options i like, colors, etc - talked about the feasibility / necessity of ordering my car, etc.) - and the drive itself was nice. however, the sales guy i dealt with was either tired after a long day, or bored, or under the impression that i was already so sold on the car that he didn't have to appear interested. he spoke very little, didn't ask me many questions, answered my questions with curt, mostly-correct answers, and was all in all a bit standoffish. his attitude succeeded in making me uncomfortable, and thus detracted significantly from my enjoyment of the test drive. i'll be off to the other seattle area dealer (university) soon, and see how they fare. anyone else have this experience? comments? thanks.<p>--<br>cyrus.

<p>When you go to University, ask for Ivan Velkov. He is a fan of Audis, A4s in particular, and he is very pleasant to deal with. You might give him a call. <p>David Clymer<br>

I hope that Ivan also does service, 'cause many of us have had bad service experiences at U Audi in Seattle..you may want to search the archives.<br>Actually, I think Barrier had fared better between the two in the experiences described. FWIW, the U people did try to help me out after they screwed up twice, but I probably wouldn't go back if I lived in the area, which I don't.<p>Rich<br>'98 2.8Q sport<br>completely impartial, don't usually go to either place.

Sounds about right. Was Bill Lawton your salesman too?<br>Yeah, I got the distict impression that since they have no problems selling their allotment, anyone who wants to do anything else besides lay down full sticker price is just wasting their time. <br>Their best offer was $1,000 under retail, which is still $3,000 over invoice. For that much money I could fly first class to any dealership in the country, stay overnight in a luxury hotel, drive home in a new A4, and still come out ahead. <br>Anyone know a dealer that would be willing to make $1,000 profit for ordering a car for me?<p>-al

I had the same experience with Bill Lawton. He seemed rather dissinterested in my money, so I took it somewhere else.<p>Will Crane at University was who I delt with. He's an alright guy, but very much the salesman. (i.e. "What do we have to do to get you drive this car away today?" type, the opposite of Bill at Barrier) Other than that, he gave a fair deal.<p>I hope that all of the rumors about the service department at UW Audi aren't true though...