Are all Audi dealers unhelpful?

[Gad-Westy]

Mexman said:

I'm always ready, if I have a handover at 4pm, I will do the paperwork in the morning, and make sure the car is ready by 1pm latest.
That's just the way i work, so no last minute panics in case I do get sidetracked before 4pm.
Some sales people are dreadful with time organisation though, but sometimes like in the above example I have given, things just concertina into a ststorm that is unavoidable.
I dare say it has happened to every sales person more than once, just a combination of an incredibly busy day, or things just go wrong.
There are so many variables, cars misfuelled by other people on the day of handover,(has happened to me several times over the years), so I now do it myself instead, EML/Airbag lights mysteriously illuminating 15 mins before handover, punctures, cars being bashed accidentally, I've even had a valeter snag a cloth driver's seat with the end of the vacuum hose and pulled the thread horribly.
So many things can go wrong that completely screw your day up.
You then either have to reschedule the handover which causes problems of its own, insurance already swopped over etc and the customer getting 'itchy' or try and cover up the error/mistake or be totally honest and tell the customer the truth which sometimes results in them cocking on the deal.
It's all a balancing act, trying to juggle 6 balls at once.
But this is the side of the fence that you don't see or probably even imagine happening, so when a salesman does try to reschedule you or it's seems that he hasn't got the time to deal with your thousand and one requests, please just think for a minute as to what else we sometimes(not always) have to deal with and go through.
We are not being rude or trying to get rid of you, it's just sometimes time is against us, and buying or considering buying a car is invariably not a 5 minutes transaction, it can be hours, sometimes, hours we just have not got at that particular time.

Edited by Mexman on Tuesday 12th February 21:17

Customers are humans. Some of them might even have jobs too so they know things don't always run smoothly. Being busy is not unique to car sales. A very quick but polite, "I'm really sorry, I'm having one of those days, any chance of making an appointment?" rather than the pretend they're not there routine might see them returning.

[unrepentant]

The one thing I will say is that the UK guys have it fairly easy with their scheduled deliveries. Here in the US everything is now if not sooner. About 60% of our business is "spot delivery". You walk in for a test drive and drive off in your new car 2-3 hours later depending on the speed of everything. So we have to get you on a car you like, appraise your trade, get your pay off, work numbers, get you credit approved, detail your new car, set up the telematics, get you through finance, give you a full handover, take a photo and wave you goodbye. Sometimes we do that 2 or 3 times a day.

I much prefer scheduled deliveries and ordered cars but they are the minority.

[Fish]

I bought an Audi over the phone form Oldham... did the deal over the phone, caught the trian up and drove off later that afternoon.

I'm guessing quite unusual in the UK..

[vikingaero]

duckers26 said:

And this the beauty of leasing/using a broker. Can compare all the prices to see who does the best deal and no-one trying to sell add ons etc. All nice and transparent and no bargaining, everyone just puts their best price up.

I guess once the dealers close down if they don’t compete the question is where to test a cars before ordering, perhaps manufacturers will move to a few central hubs where you can test the cars but not buy, or maybe just bring them to you at home from a warehouse.

Amen to that. Drive The Deal, Carfile/CarWow etc. Half the time it's the admin assistant taking your order and you just say no to the guff. It's easier saying no over the phone.

[Jag_NE]

there are good and bad salesmen across the brands in my experience, its definitely not brand specific.

in fairness to the premium brands, they must get a load of chancers wasting their time who don't follow through or fail credit checks etc, a premium brand car is in reach of most these days, in theory. facebook is full of stuff at 299 down and 299 a month. Id imagine any 2 income household could afford that if they made it a top priority. Many wont even notice it gone.

I have had mixed experiences in terms of reactivity when arriving to places on spec but I find that when I have rang dealers and made it very clear what I want and when, they are pretty reactive. Its a bit of a joke but to some extent the reality is that you almost need to sell yourself if you want people to be reactive at a busy dealer, unless you have a relationship already.

People should avoid spitting their dummy out though. Its in their interest to get the car they really want, even if it means dealing with a difficult salesman for a few hours. You don't want the 2nd best car for 3 years+ just on principle.

[sykone]

I have mix experience. I got a warm welcome from a local office. And I have also faced a don't care situation from a city office.

[Sheepshanks]

unrepentant said:

The one thing I will say is that the UK guys have it fairly easy with their scheduled deliveries. Here in the US everything is now if not sooner. About 60% of our business is "spot delivery". You walk in for a test drive and drive off in your new car 2-3 hours later depending on the speed of everything. So we have to get you on a car you like, appraise your trade, get your pay off, work numbers, get you credit approved, detail your new car, set up the telematics, get you through finance, give you a full handover, take a photo and wave you goodbye. Sometimes we do that 2 or 3 times a day.

I much prefer scheduled deliveries and ordered cars but they are the minority.

I guess you have fewer powertrain combinations - they're all going to be petrol/auto, and, from what I've seen, options tend to be grouped into a few packs - but this business in the UK of people cheerfully waiting 6 mths for cars is an absolute nonsense.

SEAT have a thing called "easymove" where they've done away with options, and even metallic is standard. We bought one a few mths ago at the height of the WLTP drama and it came in 3 weeks. Audi weren't even taking orders on many models. And their options list is now immense.

[S1KRR]

AllyBassman said:

Now I know it really is a wind up! A lottery winner using PCP? :-s

eh?

I know of a well known football manager who bought a luxury 4 door on PCP.

Do you

a) Drop £150K into a car, pay for the upkeep of it. (servicing etc) then trade it in after 2 years for 70-80K
or
b) Put down £30K deposit and £1K a month for 2 years during which you'll get servicing chucked in for free

[Lucas Ayde]

S1KRR said:

eh?

I know of a well known football manager who bought a luxury 4 door on PCP.

Do you

a) Drop £150K into a car, pay for the upkeep of it. (servicing etc) then trade it in after 2 years for 70-80K
or
b) Put down £30K deposit and £1K a month for 2 years during which you'll get servicing chucked in for free

Also, PCP will often attract an extra vendor/ dealer contribution (ie discount) as they get a cut on the finance deal - but you can settle it in full after your first monthly payment, thus saving you more money vs buying.

[Shakermaker]

In my limited experience of visiting one Audi dealer - no.

I went in on a rainy Sunday afternoon last summer, with my brother.

Receptionist asked if we needed any help, I explained I was there on behalf of my cousin - who lives 300 miles away - who had spotted one of their A6s and liked the look of it and wanted me to check it over that it was all good.

Salesman came over, had the keys, some paperwork and all sorts. No drama, he wasn't on the hard sell but was happy for me to look around the car and check it all out.

My cousin then arranged to buy the car over the phone and picked it up the next weekend.

[edd344]

S1KRR said:

eh?

I know of a well known football manager who bought a luxury 4 door on PCP.

Do you

a) Drop £150K into a car, pay for the upkeep of it. (servicing etc) then trade it in after 2 years for 70-80K
or
b) Put down £30K deposit and £1K a month for 2 years during which you'll get servicing chucked in for free

Friend of mine came over on loan from Spain last season had his G-wagon on a HP, terminated his loan half way through the season and moved hom so left it with us until the balloon payment came and we just gave it back - alternatively he could of bought one cash then when he realised he didn't want to stay in England would of been left with a £150k car to shift...

[rayyan171]

Inchcape Stockport seem to be good for service, rather pricey however. They do inform me of urgent work, which was helpful. Salesmen seemed interested enough to have a chat about new cars, the Q8 etc.

Williams BMW are very good however, all have a genuine interest in the cars they sell and enjoy working there. Chance that they will be struggling soon, with one of the biggest Merc dealers opening directly opposite them, split only by a motorway.

[Sheepshanks]

Lucas Ayde said:

Also, PCP will often attract an extra vendor/ dealer contribution (ie discount) as they get a cut on the finance deal - but you can settle it in full after your first monthly payment, thus saving you more money vs buying.

Instead of settling, if you withdraw a few days after taking delivery you'll save hundreds of pounds more.

[S1KRR]

rayyan171 said:

Williams BMW are very good however, all have a genuine interest in the cars they sell and enjoy working there. Chance that they will be struggling soon, with one of the biggest Merc dealers opening directly opposite them, split only by a motorway.

Do you think BMW and Mercedes customers are completely interchangeable?

I aspire to a F30 M3 in a way I simply don't aspire to a C63 saloon?

A S class customer probably doesn't want a 7 series


No one wants a B Class

[rayyan171]

S1KRR said:

rayyan171 said:

Williams BMW are very good however, all have a genuine interest in the cars they sell and enjoy working there. Chance that they will be struggling soon, with one of the biggest Merc dealers opening directly opposite them, split only by a motorway.

Do you think BMW and Mercedes customers are completely interchangeable?

I aspire to a F30 M3 in a way I simply don't aspire to a C63 saloon?

A S class customer probably doesn't want a 7 series


No one wants a B Class

Most of the public however want some of the cheapest cars these manufactures sell. A-Class/C-Class competes with BMW 1/3 series, which competes with Audi A3/A4. Yes, there are customers with their brand loyalty, me personally am a BMW fan and really like all of the offerings they have. But, in the case of most people who drive cars (and as such are less interested in how the car is and more interested in which gives the best MPG and offers the best lease deals), it will be certain that the local Mercedes will poach customers. Even for the supposed more interesting cars this is the case, I remember a conversation I had with someone in my local co-op. He had recently got a C43 AMG on lease, and was saying how he's always owned BMW's in his life and really wanted a 340i, but Mercedes were offering a C43 for only slightly more over a 340i at the time, and so he got one.

The fact is, with todays market of car buying, these companies make cars that are for those who keep their cars for a long time, but overall the majority of their sales comes from the cars mentioned above. As nice as an X5 is, not everyone would like to deal with running costs for a car worth £60k. For the people that can, its great, the cars are there and they will get them. But for most, the small hatchbacks/saloons, of which the hatchbacks themselves are priced against the Golf (for a reason), is the cars that these companies attract the most customers with. There is a reason why the local big trio to me post their best finance offers through the letter box, and invites to finance events with the best interest rates etc. The days are now in the past where they would send something that highlights the features of the 3 series or the A6 through the post.

[lord trumpton]

Mexman said:

Ok, picture this (and it does happen)
It's 2.30pm and you have 3 handovers this afternoon.
Your first handover is in 10 mins time, and you are frantically running around making sure paperwork is all ready, car fuelled, cleaned and all the other bits you promised to do have been done.
Valeter comes running in saying that he has just scraped the bumper on a fence post around the back or the EML light has just come on whilst he was giving it a final reclean.
Service manager is busy on the phone, techies are all busy on the clock on other jobs.
Your customer is arriving from 2 hours away and is due anytime now and this person buying this 30k, 40k car is known to be a fussy, abrupt person, like he was at the original point of sale.

Edited by Mexman on Tuesday 12th February 19:40

Easier said than done I'm sure but from the above description of the buyer and distance I wouldn't be leaving it until the last 10 mins for it to be ready for the handover. I'd try to ensure it was done the day before or at least the morning before.

Just a general point to make with regard to people not being available - it seems there is a lack of communication from the dealers part in many scenarios described here.

Again, easier said than done but what would it take for a sales person to go out to the customer and explain that they have a full afternoon and fear they wouldn't have any quality time to offer them. Apologise, see if someone else is free for them and if not offer to either make an appointment at a convenient time for them, or provide your contact details to hook up with a call later to see if you can help?

Surely if the situation was explained they may not feel ignored, perhaps even impressed and less likely to leave a bad review?

[Cooper2]

tezzer said:

They MAY indeed have been talking about something important, or that needed immediate attention, but body language suggested otherwise, it was 4 chaps shooting the breeze, and apart from a cursory glance across, when first asked by the receptionist, they made no effort to finish their conversation, and attend to two potential customers.
As you say, maybe they have hit their targets, and have little interest in signing at least one of the two up for a new car.

I do know in my business if I offered the same level of interest and commitment to potential customers, my tenure would be short lived.

Which audi group was it?