Audi loses a sale to BMW

[ejfluhr@austin.ibm.com (Fluhr)]

I am saddened by the attitude that Audi dealers apparently have these
days.  The success of the A4 seems to have gone to their head.

A good friend of mine recently decided to buy a new car to replace his
1987 Volvo 240DL.  He is mechanically inept, and so wanted a car that
provided complete service with a loaner car for a few year.  Having
known me for 8 years, the Audi A4 was high on his list.  After having
looked at and test driven an A4 and an Infinity G20, he decided that
he wanted an A4.  He found a Santorin Blue 1998 1.8t quattro with
tiptronic tranny, convenience package, and Bose stereo on the North
Atlanta Audi lot that he liked.  It had 254 miles and a number of
noticeable scratches on it, and the salesperson claimed that they were
trying to get rid of the 1998 models to make room for the 1999 cars.
So, armed with the invoice I had given him, my friend offered first
3% and then 5% over invoice price for the car.  The salesperson would
not take anything less than 7% however, so my friend walked out.
Why would he pay 7% over invoice for a previous model year car with
254 miles on it and scratches in its paint, when he could order a
brand new '99 for the same price??

Two days later he walked into Jim Ellis Audi and found another A4 
he liked.  He liked it so much he was willing to pay LIST PRICE
for it, but Jim Ellis Audi wouldn't go that low.  Now, my friend
is a sales representative for Nortel, and knows how the game is
played.  He was completely put off by the sales rep's attitude
and the run-around that he was being given, and he stayed at the
dealership for a couple of hours trying to work something out.  
He left in frustration, and went to a local BMW dealer that his
boss at work had recommended.  3 hours later he walked out with
a 1998 BMW 318, satisfied that he had gotten a fair deal.

The big downside is that now he trashes Audi whenever he talks
about his experience with his friends, family, and coworkers.  He
feels the Audi sales personnel have no sense of customer relations,
they just give you a price, say "take it or leave it", and aren't
interested in discussing the situation at all.  Since they snubbed
him, he will now recommend to anyone that asks that they forget
Audi and get a BMW instead.

I am rather disappointed, and will email Audi with the story to
let them know why they lost a customer.

Later,
Eric
'85 CGT, '82 urq
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Eric J. Fluhr                                Email:  ejfluhr@austin.ibm.com
630FP Logic/Circuit Design                   Phone:  (512) 838-7589
IBM Server Group                             Austin, TX