Thinking of leaving Audi

[RS6chris!]

Agreed

Never come across a dealer/salesmen/service guy that was a 100% diamond....in numerous VAG and private garages over years.

However....from (personal experience)..Porsche have been superb so far.....

[kent_andy]

Crawley audi were always good for me. If you had an RS they treated you differently. The receptionists would make coffee then go and get the service person. Someone came in behind in an a3 and were told to sit and wait.

But like Chris. My Porsche dealer is a league above, so helpful and precise and a choice of a dozen different coffees! Lol. The receptionist also look after my son for me and show him the cars and let him sit in them etc. But to be fair I think Porsche dealers see much less foot traffic than audi so like above that's the reason.

[Bit_evl]

Many years ago I bought a beautiful little 968CS from the Porsche showroom in Guildford. On collection the (optional ha ha) rear screen wiper did not work. I asked them to sort it. The salesrep said "if you don't mind we will leave it a couple of weeks as then we can claim it on the warranty instead of doing it ourselves". I had been in many times before and he had always been there so he was not new to the game. I sent a note to Porsche advising them of this little game and had them do it before I accepted the car. Told him to read his own used car warranty and come back to me.

There are people who game everything in every industry. Just don't let them.

[V8RS6]

Perhaps a better way to look at it is these are normal sales guys used to selling to joe public, mums and dads for their kids cars, 10-30k spends. Not 100k+ supercars. If you want to feel special, you are in the wrong showroom.

Doesn't make it right, but it is how it is in my experience. The money has gone on the showroom and coffee machine, not the sales teams incentives.

You don't get it do you S4WON, for me its not about wanting to 'feel special'.....I really don't expect to be treated any differently in a dealership whether I'm buying a £30K car or a £100K car. Whats important to me is that I have to trust the brand that I'm spending my money on...trust them to give me the best advice and trust them not to sell me a useless insurance policy thats not worth the paper its written on.

[wildbore]

Many years ago I bought a beautiful little 968CS from the Porsche showroom in Guildford. On collection the (optional ha ha) rear screen wiper did not work. I asked them to sort it. The salesrep said "if you don't mind we will leave it a couple of weeks as then we can claim it on the warranty instead of doing it ourselves". I had been in many times before and he had always been there so he was not new to the game. I sent a note to Porsche advising them of this little game and had them do it before I accepted the car. Told him to read his own used car warranty and come back to me.

There are people who game everything in every industry. Just don't let them.

Yes, Guildford Porsche are terrible - both Sales and Service. I have had nothing but bad service from them for over twenty years, trouble is there aren't enough Porsche dealers around so going elsewhere is like making a rod for your own back.

[anth8910]

Perhaps a better way to look at it is these are normal sales guys used to selling to joe public, mums and dads for their kids cars, 10-30k spends. Not 100k+ supercars. If you want to feel special, you are in the wrong showroom.

Doesn't make it right, but it is how it is in my experience. The money has gone on the showroom and coffee machine, not the sales teams incentives.

You don't get it do you S4WON, for me its not about wanting to 'feel special'.....I really don't expect to be treated any differently in a dealership whether I'm buying a £30K car or a £100K car. Whats important to me is that I have to trust the brand that I'm spending my money on...trust them to give me the best advice and trust them not to sell me a useless insurance policy thats not worth the paper its written on.

I hear you, but when I bought my RS6 the supplying dealer didn't have wheel and tyre insurance so is it not a dealer issue rather than the brand itself?

[Geoff A]

V8RS6 I get your frustration completely, having been in a similar boat with Basingstoke last year. They struggled to even follow their own AUC standards when prepping my S4. I had odd tread patterns on one axle (after they replaced a tyre) and terms state you must not mix treads, and front discs were way below the minimum thickness after it had been through the 145-point check, workshops and MoT. They will do the bare minimum unless you stand up to them. The annoying thing is, you trust them to get it right and work to the required standards. They put it right after I complained, but I shouldn't have to check what they do.... Won't be going back by choice, but I'm running out of dealers lol. You should treat people the way you want to be treated and in reality, its just not good enough.

[W8PMC]

The other problem is most Audi Dealers are part of bigger chains. Basingstoke i'm sure is run by the same company that run Camberley & i guess a couple of others. Preston is run by a group that also own Blackburn & Carlisle & i'm sure this must be rife across the Country. Thus if your local dealers a bit difficult to deal with it's likely your next nearest is owned but he same people. Obviously not the case throughout the whole of the UK.

[drgav2005]

Crawley audi were always good for me. If you had an RS they treated you differently. The receptionists would make coffee then go and get the service person. Someone came in behind in an a3 and were told to sit and wait...

Phew, that's good to hear! I'm picking up my RS6 from them this Saturday

[kent_andy]

Yep superb. My mapped c6 was looked after really well there. The head mechanic was the on,y guy who road tested it after any work and would always come and see me in the car park and talk about how good it was mapped and how rare it was to see a loon. Great bunch from receptionist to mechanic in my eyes.

[RS6chris!]

V8RS6 I get your frustration completely, having been in a similar boat with Basingstoke last year. They struggled to even follow their own AUC standards when prepping my S4. I had odd tread patterns on one axle (after they replaced a tyre) and terms state you must not mix treads, and front discs were way below the minimum thickness after it had been through the 145-point check, workshops and MoT. They will do the bare minimum unless you stand up to them. The annoying thing is, you trust them to get it right and work to the required standards. They put it right after I complained, but I shouldn't have to check what they do.... Won't be going back by choice, but I'm running out of dealers lol. You should treat people the way you want to be treated and in reality, its just not good enough.

Audi,s 145 point check isn't worth a light.....sales garbage for the masses

My first RS4 was similar.....unbalanced wheels, number plate bulb out etc etc

Best service I've EVER received is from TOP 555 in Rutland.....awesome presentation of car and sales service, and awesome at sorting a couple of warranty issues...true car guys and know the high end market and how to treat folk......I'd deffo use these guys again.

[koruki]

I'm quite certain its a people problem not a brand problem. We have two official dealerships that does the whole VAG group. I went to Porsche A and they treated me like a begger begging them to sell me a car. No car to see, no car to test, don't know when they will have one. Sat at their desk without even standing when greeting a customer. Drove 5 minutes to Porsche B and they instantly brought out a demo car and asked if we would like to keep it over the entire weekend. To make matters worse for dealer A, I said oh its good you have a demo car, the other one doesn't have one and dont even know when they would get one, to which they replied ".. thats strange, the demo cars are provided by Porsche HQ and we share them, when they need it we have to let them take it."

Oh Dealership B is owned by Colin Giltrap and if a customer wanted to test a high end model, he hands over the keys to his own car when Porsche HQ hasn't provided a demo car.

[doodlebug]

I can speak widely of Audi I've used five different dealerships up and down the country. Only one of those cut the mustard. My local OPC however couldn't have been better. The whole dealership experience from car park to sale is several notches above any Audi dealership.

Porsche don't supply all of the demo cars, at least not to all of the dealerships. My local specs their own.