From my experience when I purchased my car, it was a certified used one. The sales guy was awesome, the dealership in general was great. I was strongly considering trading my wifes car in for an Audi. Then I had to have service done, that is when things changed. First when I purchased the car they said I would have a loaner if one was available when I had to have work done. They just wanted a few days notice. I had taken it in for service 3 times, each giving 3 days, 4 days and 10 days notice and they said they didnt have any available at any time. So now I am stuck with a rental that I have to arrange and pay for. There is more that I do not want to get into but that is the main thing, I feel like I was lied to. I truly was not happy with the service I received from Audi after purchasing my car. I feel like they got their money from me now they dont want anything to do with me since I am under warrenty, basically I am not happy with the service manager. I tried two different dealers and not happy with either of them. It is definately one of the best cars I have ever owned but I will have a hard time going back to another Audi dealer. You mentioned you saw some posts the bash dealers this is the only reason I would do so.

Like I said my sales guy was awesome and he would be the only reason I would purchase another Audi from a dealer.
He was very knowledgeable and answered every question about the car I had. He didnt try to sell me something I didnt want. The cruise control didnt work when I first test drove the car. When I picked it up for purchase he took me for another test drive to make sure I was happy with everything and show me the cruise was fixed. Most sales people would say the cruise is fixed sign here. Basically I didnt feel like he was trying to sell me a car, he just wanted me to be happy

 

Thanks for your post, dwala. I find it refreshing to hear from a sales PROFESSIONAL that is truly interested in serving their clientele. I've only had my '00 A6 Avant for a few months now, and I didn't find it at an Audi dealer, so I do not have any sales experience with them. But I've purchased probably 40 cars in my 37 years of driving, so I know a little about car sales.

I'm a car nut, so most of the time when I've gone to shop a vehicle, I know more about it than the salesman. I am NOT impressed when I get some obviously incorrect information. I am impressed when the salesperson knows the product backwards and forwards. This would be critical on an enthusiast product like Audi. It may not be too important on Joe Schmo's Chevy used car lot.

I've got another suggestion to make.
Find out what kind (yr., make, model) of vehicles your customer owns - all of them. Even if you replace one with an Audi, why stop there? When a new model comes out, call up a customer with say a 3 yr old something or other, and offer a free test drive - no pressure - "just for fun". If I had a salesman call me up and offer me a drive in a new S4, I'd be all over that.

Ideal - You want a "customer for life"
COMMUNICATION is the key.

 

recently I have benn looking at other A4's since my is all smashed up I might want to see mine to some sucker and get a different one since the car will never be the same after its fixed but anay way going to the used lots to check out there crap and just for fun I want to check there knowedge one juy i asked if the car had esp traction control he turned on the key and pointed to the dash and said yes do u see that light come up epc that mean traction control it was pretty hard not to laugh

 

That would be a good idea. i would rather spend an extra 2 or 3 large and get a car that hasnt been wrecked. you know what i mean

 

yep I think we have a nice one coming in to with the 17" rs4 rims black interior same silver extior and a sunroof woohoo mine doesn't have a sunroof kinda sucks but it has 120k on it and I not sure what kind of maintance has been done on it I just paid to have my timing belt done not long ago and I hate to have to have to pay for that again

 

I know this post has been on awile, but thought I would put my 2cents in anyway. Like others I have been ignored and shrugged off by all types of dealers. I am 28 and bought 2 A8's last year, 01 A8l & 98 A8. I live in Oregon and only have 2 Audi dealerships in the state, 60 miles and 140 miles away. When I went to the closer one and told them that I was interested in a S8 the sales woman was very helpful. They didn't have an S8 on the lot but spent a good hour with us anyways showing my wife and I the differences in the S line and the A line. I ended up buying the cars off eBay but still go to the dealer for my service work and parts. She did follow up with a couple off calls over the next couple months and was happy for us finding our cars. When I first went to the dealer I was driving a 91 Acura Integra. You don't usually get much respect driving up in something like that. She helped us anyway and never once made us feel aout of place. I only wish she had the cars I wanted for the price I wanted to pay. The best advice I can give you is treat everyone like you would treat yourself. And if you need to be reminded of how it feels to be shrouged off, go down to the Ferrari or Bently dealer in your first car you ever owned and ask to test drive something.

 

It's good to hear some one interested in improving on their profession. I just bought my A4 last week. It took me over a month to get it but that's separate story. Dwala, if you really want to make your customers' experience a better one, talk to them as if you truely, really wanting to help them get the car they want and not try to sell them some other car. In my search for my Audi, I've been to 5 dealerships talking to at least 2 different sales person, spoke/emailed 5 other dealers, spoke to 3 people at Audi Corp.'s Customer Care and spoke/emailed 4 car brokers. Out of all that, I ended up going through a broker. The best experience was through the brokers I spoke to over the phone. They were extremely helpful and very patience. I knew exactly what car I wanted and with what options/package and color and all the brokers did was find it for me and not try to sell me a car with other added options. This was the very first time I bought a car with my own hard earned money and it was extremely nerve wrecking having to give up all that money but the brokers were very understanding and very helpful. Some of the dealers I spoke to came off very sleazy and untrustworthy, some were inexperienced, some joked around too much, some try to foul me about the invoice and some didn't even paid attention because of my age. Remember, with the internet people are extremely informed about the TRUE invoice of a car.

 

Oh yeah... forgot to mention. Every dealer always tried to sell me something they already have on the lot and were reluctant to perform a search for the car I wanted. It's not hard to do a search through a database. Also, some dealers wanted me to give them my SSN for a credit check, my credit card for a deposit, and/or my driver's license just to either do a search for the car or to test drive a car. That's completely bogus. You don't need any of those imformation for a test drive.

 

If you want to be an exceptional saleperson, you need to care about the customer and not the commission. And remember that you are really selling dreams, not cars. Those highest ranking in sales do that. The worst only care about making a sale. If you don't believe me, just try it for a week.

"He who cares least about the end result, has the most control in a relationship."

 

Great Post. I'm new to the forums here but am also a Sales Consultant for Audi. Hearing what you guys like and need more of is a definite plus! Never too old to learn!