Re: Catering to used-car buyers?

[audidudi@mindspring.com (Jeffrey J. Goggin)]

>Sorry to hear that the part you needed was not available, but unless a part
>actually moves in inventory from time to time, we cannot have all the
>tidbits.  We try to have all the usual (and some unusual) parts necessary in
>case of car-down situations.  Trim/body/upholstery etc are certainly not
>these types of parts, but timing belts, idler pulleys, brake parts etc are.

The local Audi dealer -- and ONLY Audi dealer I might add, this despite the
fact that the greater Phoenix area has a population of almost TWO MILLION!
-- keeps very few parts for cars that are older than five model years. The
parts manager admitted to me that he has a limited parts budget to work with
and because they sell several different makes of car there (Porsche, Jaguar,
Lotus, Lamborghini, Saab and who knows what else), his focus is on making
sure they have parts in stock to cover warranty work ... he also admitted
that they very rarely work on cars that more than five years old, since most
of them are on their second owner by then and they prefer to have an
independent shop work on their cars instead.

Well, duh ... anyone who can afford to pay for their labor rate ($72/hr!)
and overpriced parts (MSRP + 10-20%, even if they don't have it in stock and
have to order it!) can probably afford to buy a new car, too.  I can't
recall EVER being able to buy a part from them off the shelf -- including
even the oil filter for the turbo on my Ur-Q, fer chrissakes! -- and now
that I'm able to buy from Linda and others at a discount, the only parts I
purchase from them are those that might be damaged in shipment ... I figure
it's worth paying a premium to let them assume the risk instead of me.

All in all, I'm amazed that people in Phoenix still buy new Audis ...
personally, should I ever find myself in the mood to do so -- and a
twin-turbo S4 might just be enough to convince me! -- I will buy elsewhere,
even if this means I then have to pay to have it shipped to Phoenix.

(One last anecdote: When I tried [unsuccessfully] to buy the turbo filter
for my Ur-Q, the parts guy expressed great surprise upon learning that the
shiny red car parked outside the window was in fact an Audi!)

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  /__| | | / | | __ |  | | | / | |   audidudi@mindspring.com
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