[pharding]

One of my biggest complaints about Audi is that as a company they are grossly inferior to BMW and Mercedes Benz in terms of managing their dealers to insure that the Audi Client has a quality experience with the purchase and delivery of their expensive German automobile. With BMW and Mercedes after you take delivery of the car, you automatically get a survey about your experience. On a ten point scale anything less than a ten the dealer is penalized. It all accumulates from all deliveries. If the BMW or MB dealership is not getting a perfect marks for the delivery experience from its customers, dealer kickbacks for sales are dramatically reduced or eliminated. It is an extremely effective tool to insure that wealthy upscale clientele have a very positive experience and know that they are valued by the company and the dealership. Brand loyalty by their clientele for BMW and MB is much stronger than Audi. Those two companies want to turn the client into an enthusiastic, repeat customer. They don’t want to sell you one car. They want to sell you many cars over your lifetime. And that strategy works quite well. It is mind boggling to me that Audi is so grossly indifferent to their clientele and does not do client surveys about the purchase and delivery.

My 2023 Audi Q4 is a quality car and I am quite happy with it. However in a few years when it is time to replace it, as long as BMW or Mercedes has a competitive BEV to an Audi BEV in my price range I’ll return to them. Even though Audi USA had an exceptionally profitable year in 2022, they chose not invest in addressing software issues, software improvement, and the Audi client experience. Audi is cheap and shortsighted in those critical areas.

 

[steve-g]

The Audi dealer I got my e-tron from (Harrogate Audi, part of the Sytner group) was very good... until they had my money and I picked the car up. Then they couldn't care less. After sales service was non-existent. I posted negative reviews on Trust Pilot and Google reviews, both got a response from a Sales Manager saying they apologised for my experience and that they'd be in touch. Of course, nobody ever did get in touch, it was just for show. It was my first experience of a premium brand, and very disappointing. My previous car, a Hyundai, was a far superior buying experience. So yes, Audi need to start caring about dealers that ruin their brand.

 

[pharding]

Even though I had a check to essentially pay cash for my $70,000 Audi Q4, I was forced to meet with the Finance Manager. First he explained all of the awful problems that could go wrong with my new Audi that I was so excited about buying. Depressing. Then he offered me $5,000 worth of extra insurance and services so that I would be protected against those problems that my new Audi might have. More depressing. I rejected all of that. Then he puts a three page purchase agreement in front of me for me to sign. To his surprise I insisted on reading all of it. I was then told it was the dealership standard sales agreement and that changes were not possible if I wanted to buy the Audi after waiting months for it. The agreement had a paragraph in there that I would not sell the car for a year. When I questioned that he said that the clause was required by Audi and couldn’t be changed. Internal laughter. I explained that I could not agree to that, especially because I was paying cash for the car, and that it was a deal breaker for me. He just looks at me and restated it was required by Audi. I suggested that he speak to the general manager otherwise I would buy a different car from another dealership. So he picks up the phone, dials a number and does this fake call thing like he was talking to the general manager. So he puts the phone down and says “This is a first. The general manager agreed to sell you the car without that that clause, but you cannot tell Audi that we took out that clause or else we would be in big trouble. So that is how I bought my first Audi!