visualguy

Not sure about the ACNA discount, but the dealers were compensated only 2% out of the 6% supplier discount that used to be available. I would be surprised if it was any different for the ACNA discount, but maybe it was.

The sales manager at a dealership that I contacted recently told me that Audi doesn't compensate them at all for the ACNA discount, which surprised me. I don't know if it's true or not.

markcincinnati

I assume no one here wants the dealer to lose money. On the other hand, I also assume we all want the best possible deal we can negotiate. On the other, other hand, I have worked, since 1977 when I leased my first Audi 5000 (1978 MY) to build a solid relationship with my dealer. I do NOT shop simply for the best price (maximum discount), although I certainly want "more" in terms of a discount or terms or whatever, rather I shop for a deal that I would call the optimum deal.

All of our Audis have come from the same dealership -- all of our Audis have been sold to us by two sales reps. We dealt with one rep, Ralph, until he retired well into his 80's. We then started dealing with a seasoned rep who was literally half Ralph's age (but had been selling Audis for over a decade). We've dealt with two service managers since 1977 -- the first one was fantastic; when my wife's power seat failed on a Sunday afternoon, he came to our house (brought his very young daughter with him), fixed the seat and apologized for any inconvenience. The second SM is also fantastic, he spends time with either my wife or me every time we come in for service. On New Year's Eve, eve, a warning light came on the SQ5 saying "oil level too high," the SM said -- on New Year's Eve, eve, to come into the dealership and they would check it out, and if needed provide her with a loaner. A bit of oil was sucked out, the OBD readout was checked and we were sent on our way. Took 15 minutes -- on New Year's Eve, eve. Again, fantastic service -- and the department sent us a hand-signed Christmas card with a beautiful Audi Globe ornament for our tree.

OK, so someone here could probably come in and instead of 6.5% off get 7.5% off -- but the level of service excellence and sales excellence we receive makes the possible extra discount not a big enough deal to change the parameters of the relationship. Yeah, we buy a lot of cars and we're probably in some computer somewhere that we're good for a $125,000 (MSRP) worth of new Audis every 30-42 months. We're low maintenance customers, but we're treated royally.

The potential extra $500 or so off of a $60,000+ car is something I wouldn't trade away -- especially since the dealership has bent over backward (loyalty warranty repairs well after 50,000 miles for example) to make our Audi ownership experience non-pareil.

SCarGuy

Which is a great thing. Unfortunately many, many out there treat shopping for the car like shopping for toilet paper. Such is life

markcincinnati

I would argue that shopping for $50,000 and up cars like shopping for toilet paper ends up (get it? I crack myself up, OH, did it again) costing more over the ownership period. If, for some reason, your expectation is 8% off and the dealer won't go above 6% or 6.5%, don't burn any bridges -- LEAVE, go elsewhere. Or, if you get within .5% to 1% of your "I wanna win" price, ask yourself are you just there for one and done or are you there for a potentially long-term relationship.

I bought my first Audi in 1977, a then new to the market Audi 5000 -- my boss' wife had a car (1976, I think) called a Silver Fox. Whenever my car was in for service (my Cordoba), my boss would loan me the Fox (my job required driving all over downtown Cincinnati). I couldn't believe how well the Fox drove (I loved manual transmissions), so when I got tired of my Cordoba's penchant to spend most of its time at the dealer's service department, I went to one of two local Audi dealers and leased a new 1978 5000. I couldn't believe how well the Audi was put together, how it was the opposite of the sloppy, loosey-goosey Chrysler Cordoba.

I then ordered a 1979 Fox GTI for my then girlfriend (now wife) -- she said: "This thing goes like a snake in a rat hole!"

The point is, trying to get that last few hundred dollar discount may not be the optimum deal -- and, over time (assuming you use the purchasing dealer for service), you may find you gained nothing, actually, you may find that you lost something. My experiences are entirely based on the "market" in Cincinnati. We have two Audi dealerships, two BMW dealerships, three (one in N. Ky) Mercedes dealerships and Alfa, Jaguar, and Volvo among others are well-represented, too. Perhaps if we had but one dealership (Audi), the discounts offered wouldn't be as good. As you know the ACNA discount is NOT applicable to the Q5 family, but when we bought our 2018 SQ5, we got 6% off. The Q5's and SQ5's are the "high demand" vehicles and presumably, little discount is required to move them. As "good customers," we got the 6% even though they can't seem to keep Q5's and Q7's in stock very long (of course, we did order our Prestige SQ5, but I can only assume had we decided not to buy it, that it would have languished on the lot for long.)

If your situation is such that these $50,000 to $70,000 cars is like buying toilet paper, you are to be congratulated -- for many of us, however, these purchases are our second most expensive acquisitions, no matter how often or how seldom we buy. For us, Audis are not commodities. Toilet paper, on the other hand, is: We get ours at Costco.

SCarGuy

it's always an interesting situation - many treat them precisely as commodities. I witness it first hand on a daily basis. C'est la vie.

stanj

Yeah. That's how I would be, too. Up to the point where I have bought seven cars from the same dealership since 1998, and had them serviced there exclusively. Not as many as you but still. Then one moment I realized that with my sales guy leaving, the moment I drove off the sales floor I was just another quota fulfillment. Loyalty seems to go only one way, it seems. Hard to argue with that after month after month of record sales of luxury cars. Let's see how they do in another decade or so. Just makes me sad.