Took my M3 to an Audi Dealership

[Naz24]

Let's back up maybe 4 months when i ordered my M3. My friend tells me, "you really should consider an RS5 because its AWD". I said ok lets test drive it.

Enter Audi and salesman Tony. They had a Nagaro Blue RS5 with 17k miles sitting on their showroom floor. I told Tony that I ordered an M3, but if the RS5 is amazing, i'll cancel my order and drive off with it today. I ask for a test drive. He says "no, i dont believe you have the money for such an elite car, and the RS5 is Far superior and expensive than the M3, and if you need to test drive it, well youre obviously not buying it". Obviously, I argued, referenced a few comparison videos on Youtube, and showed him my $76k build sheet for the M3.

Still wouldn't lte me drive the car. Told me I would need to come back tomorrow, and i can only drive it 1 mile down the road, no highways, no faster than 55 mph, because it was such an elite car. ( mind you this was a CPO with 17k miles on it already). My response, "well, thats funny, my salesguy at BMW let me take a brand new M6 convertible for the afternoon, it had a $140k sticker" -- I then walked out pissed off.

Fast forward to last week. I was passing the dealership and wanted to see if Tony was around. I park my M3 up front, (all the salesmen and service guys are staring at it in awe)

"hey tony, want to check out the M3 i bought because you wouldn't let me test drive the RS5?"

Well, Tony thought the roof was glass, and that BMW copied Audi with the interior....Another sales guy then defended the fact that the RS5 is a "better car" and that He wouldnt have let me test drive it either.

I give up. I refuse to buy an Audi. (Besides the fact that my V1 went bonkers as soon as i entered the parking lot).

Just thought i'd share.

Happy friday everyone!

[hanszilla]

Originally Posted by Naz24

Let's back up maybe 4 months when i ordered my M3. My friend tells me, "you really should consider an RS5 because its AWD". I said ok lets test drive it.

Enter Audi and salesman Tony. They had a Nagaro Blue RS5 with 17k miles sitting on their showroom floor. I told Tony that I ordered an M3, but if the RS5 is amazing, i'll cancel my order and drive off with it today. I ask for a test drive. He says "no, i dont believe you have the money for such an elite car, and the RS5 is Far superior and expensive than the M3, and if you need to test drive it, well youre obviously not buying it". Obviously, I argued, referenced a few comparison videos on Youtube, and showed him my $76k build sheet for the M3.

Still wouldn't lte me drive the car. Told me I would need to come back tomorrow, and i can only drive it 1 mile down the road, no highways, no faster than 55 mph, because it was such an elite car. ( mind you this was a CPO with 17k miles on it already). My response, "well, thats funny, my salesguy at BMW let me take a brand new M6 convertible for the afternoon, it had a $140k sticker" -- I then walked out pissed off.

Fast forward to last week. I was passing the dealership and wanted to see if Tony was around. I park my M3 up front, (all the salesmen and service guys are staring at it in awe)

"hey tony, want to check out the M3 i bought because you wouldn't let me test drive the RS5?"

Well, Tony thought the roof was glass, and that BMW copied Audi with the interior....Another sales guy then defended the fact that the RS5 is a "better car" and that He wouldnt have let me test drive it either.

I give up. I refuse to buy an Audi. (Besides the fact that my V1 went bonkers as soon as i entered the parking lot).

Just thought i'd share.

Happy friday everyone!

Someone has too much ego with their "elite" cars. Happens everywhere though, I remember a few BMW dealership wouldn't even let me breathe next to the F80 because I guess I wasn't "elite" enough to purchase the car.

he probably lost a (possible) easy sale.

[Kief]

I wouldn't refuse to buy an Audi...just sounds like a db sales guy and/or dealership

[volkl23]

I don't understand why some sales guys are such elitist pricks. I actually had a similar experience at a BMW dealership so it's just not Audi. I was there wanting to buy an M3.

This was a slow day and all the salespeople were just chilling walking around. I was the only customer in the showroom. I wanted to see how long it would take for someone to actually approach me to see if I needed assistance. I gave up after 20 minutes and asked for the receptionist to get a salesperon to assist me.

Finally someone shows up. We talk about the M3 and I asked about doing a European Delivery. She then proceeded to tell me that they will not sell me an ED allocation and am reserving it for customers who are buying it the vanilla way. I thanked her for her time and left.

yep.

[CanAutM3]

What a bunch of pretentious a$$holes

It gives Audi a bad rep.

Fun read though, thanks for sharing

[Naz24]

Originally Posted by Kief

I wouldn't refuse to buy an Audi...just sounds like a db sales guy and/or dealership

I probably should say "i refuse to buy an Audi from that dealership!"

[64-bit]

I have a Kawasaki / Suzuki dealer close to my house, twice I went there with cash in hands to buy a bike and both times they did not treat me well...

Long story short, since then I have owned 4 BRAND NEW very expensive motorcycles and I make sure that I go to their store to do the state inspection, not only me, now my friends also do the same.

Well done! I would do the same, and I don't believe that a RS (soon to be replaced) is a better car than your M3

You should be glad that the deal with Audi never went thru.

[S65V8]

Originally Posted by Naz24

Happy friday everyone!

Wow, good story though...there's certainly a professional way to handle commenting on a competitor's product from the sales end, but they chose to be DB about it.

The one guy at that dealership though who would probably have a problem with their response would be the GM. If he didn't, then Audi NA probably would.

Which dealership? I want to meet Tony too lol.

[trey100]

I'm in NY and BMW has same rep. The Manhattan BMW dealership laughed when I asked if they had any M3s to see. Ok. Thanks.

[forza1976]

Wow, what an absolute shit dealership... Bummer man but you got the better car! And I love that RS5.

[henrylloyd-lloydgroup]

Great story!! Love that. That sales guy sounds like an absolute Bell End.

Shouldn't be allowed to face customers if that is his attitude.

Good for you man!! Hope you are enjoying the M3 !!

[Mr. Hankey]

Yeah this is a sales guy/dealership issue. "Car people" like us will know more about the cars than 90% of the sales people just stepping into the showroom and they are unprepared. Then there are 10% of sales people who play dumb about the car to see how much you know about it - if you know a lot then they won't get good margin on you, period. If you don't know a lot then all of a sudden the "elite sports car" gig might work and good margin on a car the expect a good margin on.

[JNoSol]

Did you show up to the Audi dealership with a hoodie and baggy pants?.. Hahah, just kidding.

I test drove a new 991 C4S this week. The sales manager was super awesome, we took the car through back roads and flooring it through the twisties. I would buy from these guys...

I think it depends on the dealer. I never had a good vibe from my local Porsche dealer before so I never bought one from them (I showed up with a new 7 series 2yrs ago, looking for a Panamera and no one greeted me). The new GM at this local Porsche dealer has changed the way they're treating potential customers. They now greet people and very friendly.

I would let their GM knows that they lost a sale because Tony was an asshole.

Unless you walked in telling them how great BMW was, then you asked for it.

[Bmwguy11]

Buddy of mine wanted to buy a Porsche GT3, he had a lot of money from a trust fund (from well off grandparents). But he was not spoiled by money, and he didn't act or "look" the part by any means. It's funny how people judge a book by its cover that way. We were also in our mid 20s at the time.

Walked into the dealership, which sold bmw, mercedes, and porsche. There was a female CA who basically refused to let him even touch the one on the showroom floor that he wanted to look at. She said he couldn't afford it and not to waste their time. He took it in stride and said ok.

Later he called and talked to another salesman instead, and told him he wanted to pay cash and this is what he wanted to pay etc. They worked out the deal over the phone, and the next day he strode in to pay for the car in full. The other sales lady upon seeing the deal tried to weasel in and say that she spoke with him first, and he said really loud in front of her and the sales manager and the other sales person "No I refuse to deal with her because she refused to deal with me and she told me I couldn't afford the car".

That turned her red and shut her up pretty quick and she left the room. Heh.

[JTO24]

Wow much different than the Audi dealerships I've been to lol the one in PA let me take out a brand new RS5 on a backroad trashing. I kept it civil to respect break-in for the potential buyer. I guess it helped I had a B8.5 S4 at the time? The other dealership from where I got my S4 was super accommodating and friendly; even after I gave them money.

[TRZ06]

I hate that attitude. Do they really expect you to buy a performance car (who's sole purpose it about driver interaction and how a car makes you feel) without driving it??

It's across the board though. Before I ordered my M3, I was pretty dead set on the C7 Stingray. Couldn't get a test drive to save my life. I even rolled up in my 2015 Audi S4.

I have had similar experiences at Porshe, BMW, Mercedes too over the years. It's not a brand thing, it's a dealership attitude thing.

I also almost waited in my M3 order for the GT350, but I bet it will be the same with that car.

I can totally understand if you are a kid just looking for a joy ride, but as an established adult , you should not have such a hard time test driving a performance car.

[Brosef]

love these dealership stories. so many bad ones out there that give the whole industry a bad rap.

the Tesla strategy begins to make a lot of sense when you hear a lot of these horror stories.

[Answer80]

NICE,THANKS~

[GhostM4]

Its not just audi. Before i placed the order for my m3 i went to test drive the rs5 and the sales person was great he took me on the free way to a strait road and he said "floor it see what its got". My bad experience was at bmw. The first time i went and asked for a test drive they said i cant that they don't let those out for a test drive because of miles and that who ever is buying the car knows what they are buying so don't need to drive it. On top of that he said that i would be paying 20k over sticker and he might be able to do 10k if I'm ready to buy, i laughed and walked away. Some dealers just don't know how to win a customer.

[Fast4d]

I will never own anything with the engine positioned in front of the front wheels.

R8 I'll take in a heart beat though.

[BwoodBMW]

Not surprising... just about every dealership has at least one uninformed sales person that thinks they know a lot but don't. I remember a similar incident when I was 17 years old purchasing a Jetta at a VW dealer so it happens at every level. This is not an Audi issue this is the reality of car dealers.

[GraphiteBrawler]

Wow, so many stories from folks.

I've never not had a test drive of any car i've ever wanted. Sometimes people don't even copy my license. GT3's and M3's, didn't matter. I'm sorry you had such a junk experience. I work on the Finance side of the real estate world, and i've heard horror stories with Brokers like this befoe. It's completely absurd.

I notice a few of the comments do focus around what a person looks like, or what they drive to the dealership. Certainly if you look a certain way, a BAD sales person will treat you poorly. But anyone with a brain will understand the fallacy there. I walk around in old jeans and dirty polo shirts for at least 30% of my time outside of my office, and I could realistically buy anything (anything reasonable) I wanted.

I always assume that my own clients, regardless of how they look, may or may not have the potential to buy my life and everything in it. It's a good assumption to make every day of your life.

However, if you're going to dress like a homeless person, you better carry yourself well. Speak like you come from a 6th grade education? Well that's going to be a problem. I consider how you handle yourself a marker of your seriousness. Walk into my office and refuse to look me in the eye? Didn't bring anything with you? Mumble? Poor posture? These things will ding you in the real world, and they should.

I was raised to shake a hand a certain way, and to look people in the eye, to treat others like they deserve. I expect the same of others in return. I'll happily overlook whatever the hell you're wearing as long as I feel you mean business.