Re: "the secondary market" (mild rant, again...)

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

>     If you'll recall some of my earlier rants on the list, it doesn't seem
>that we matter much.  When you consider how poorly stocked most Audi
>dealership parts departments are, plus the prices they ask for the goods, the
>parts market seems to be treated as a necesary evil, not something they do
>because they want to.  The U.S government mandates that parts be available for
>a certain amount of time, so they MUST have some parts.

I believe this legally mandated period is a whopping 10 years and I'm not
sure just how many parts it covers ... it also says nothing about parts prices.

>     I just stopped by the dealership again Friday afternoon.  Out of a list
>of about a dozen items (10v turbo engine stuff) they had exactly none.  Zero.
>Zip.  Nada.  The big goose egg.  No timing belt, no head gasket, no head
>bolts, no etc., etc.  They did tell them could order the parts for me.  Well,
>great move ExLax.  I can do that from here in beautiful downtown Bucksnort
>without having to drive 73 miles one way to get to their place -- expecting to
>find parts for my car.  Come to think of it, we've only been able to buy one
>Audi part from their stock-on-hand.  They did make a key for us once.  Out of
>more than a dozen trips.

I've given up dealing with my one-and-only local Audi dealer (in a
metropolitan area that has a population of nearly 2 million!!!) because they
have never, ever -- NOT EVEN ONCE! -- had a part I needed in stock.  To pay
10-20% over MSRP for a part that isn't on the shelf is ridiculous ...
amazingly, I've found there ARE dealers around the country that maintain a
good stock of parts -- Carlsen Audi, for one -- and will cheerfully give a
substantial discount to good customers.  Over the past three years, I've
purchased an average of $4,000 worth of genuine OEM parts for my and my
families cars ... not a lot compared to a shop but certainly enough to get
somebody's attention.

>     These are my opinions in the matter.  I don't think we get considered
>into the equation at all.  We might later, but not now.  Getting cars off the
>assembly lines and into the hands of as many willing owners as possible,
>that's the locomotive these days.

I share your opinions ... of course, I'm just an engineer/tax guy so what do
I know about marketing?  There's bound to be another side to this story but
for the life of me, I can't see how Audi's approach makes sense in the long
run.  Alienating existing/potential customers just doesn't strike me as a
particularly smart move...
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