SECOND DEALER ISSUE!!!

[richardn]

Just got a call to let me know that my BRAND NEW S3 has been damaged in transit and is now going to the panel beaters to get repaired!!! They can't tell me what the damage is either...

WTF!!!

I feel like just telling them to go shove it!

 

[alnes]

Sorry to hear that mate, i would tell them to stuff it to, i used to work for a Vauxhall main dealer & have seen some transportation damage,I think you will always be looking for the repair,It would do my head in !!!!!

 

[boggysv]

That sucks. Unless they come up with a major discount, I'd walk away from the deal right now.

 

[S3 LTN]

Just got a call to let me know that my BRAND NEW S3 has been damaged in transit and is now going to the panel beaters to get repaired!!! They can't tell me what the damage is either...

WTF!!!

I feel like just telling them to go shove it!

Bad news mate.
My father use to work at ALD automotives in Bletchley.. last year they got delieverd a brand new Sprint Blue S3 with two massive holes in the bonnet. Looked as if some sharp metal bars dropped on it and went straight though the bonnet. God knows what damage it had done to the engine. I had photos of it too should've kept them.

Nevertheless Richard get on their case find out where the car is now and go see damage for yourself if possible.
Best to see yourself mate don't know what they've done.

 

[Amchlolor]

To be honest, you're actually lucky they told you.
You'd be amazed how often this goes on, with the owners having no clue.
I know a bodywork guy, his yard often has spanking new motors in it.
Recent one was an X-trail, with damage to the A pillar and door.
The PDI guy was putting it up on a hydraulic ramp, but forgot to close the door!
The owner will just have been told there was a delay in delivery....

 

[Kontraband]

damn it mate... sorry to hear that...

 

[phantom]

My first question would of been " can't or won't tell me what the damage is? "

Second question would be " where is it i want to view it ? " then take it from there, if it's panel damage you want brand new panels put on it , if it's something major reject the car mate!

It goes without saying there should be a decent discount!

Gutted for you mate!

p

 

[tiger727272]

Something similiar happened in America when a whole ship load of brand new m3s was damaged some had to be scrapped and the rest BMW announced would be repaired. I would be irate if i found out that i was paying that sort of money for a new car for it to be damage repaired. I would probably refuse the car under the sales of good act, as it wasnt the car you paid your money for i.e brand new as opposed to brand new being damaged and then repaired.

 

[cdb2]

I don't believe the dealer doesn't know what the damage is. I suspect they are not telling you what the damage is so you don't ask to see it, go mad over it or know what to look for when you are given it. I think I'd be exploring ways to get out of the deal, workshop paint is never as good as factory finish.

Speak to trading standards, you have paid for a brand new car not an accident damaged vehicle.

 

[grebowski]

I'm sorry to hear about the damage in transit, my company does a lot of work for the major approved audi repair centre in the northwest(I won't give the name), but everytime I'm onsite, there are at least 10-15 unregistered new audis with transportation damage, they also repair Land Rovers and a month ago a train load of freelanders (150 cars) left birmingham and was left in a siding overnight on route to the south coast for export, everyone of them was attacked with bricks by kids, damage ranged from broken windows to replacement doors!

 

[h5djr]

Something similiar happened in America when a whole ship load of brand new m3s was damaged some had to be scrapped and the rest BMW announced would be repaired. I would be irate if i found out that i was paying that sort of money for a new car for it to be damage repaired. I would probably refuse the car under the sales of good act, as it wasnt the car you paid your money for i.e brand new as opposed to brand new being damaged and then repaired.

You're forgetting one small part of that story. BMW said they would repair them and use them themselves as demonstrators. None would go to their original customers.

 

[richardn]

Thanks for all the support guys...

I have since called Audi and ask exactly what the damage was and after getting told they can't tell me i told them to cancel the order and that i'd be writing Audi a nice little letter... My salesman, who was GREAT, agreed with me and couldn't appologise enough. He also told me that he has sent my info to the Director of Audi SA and he hopes the director will call me to appologise himself. He then called around and found a STONKING good deal at Bentley, where one of his friends works. They have a Black Audi S3 with delivery milage on it. (I think they bought it as an investment) It's nicely kitted out and they are willing to through in the bucket seats for free!!! So i raced over there had a look, checked everything out and am collecting it early next week!!!

I'm really looking forward to those beautiful seats!

 

[phantom]

Beautiful end to a all to common story!

Glad your happy mate!

p

 

[S3 Rav]

 

[emzino]

Sorry to hear about that mate. I'm not surprised with the way I see cars strapped on those big trucks nowadays

 

[marriedblonde]

Excellant news on the replacement model

I collected my car last night from the bmw bodyshop (someone hit the front of it at the begining of the year) and the amount of new unregistered cars in to be repaired was quite alarming. As others have said I think your lucky they told you it had been damaged!

J.

 

[steveg9]

I have even had SMART repair done to a door dented (neighbour's son practising golf) who said he had just come from a main dealer to do local repairs to a new car, but wouldn't say which one......

 

[S3 LTN]

Good news mate. Excellent result... Enjoyyyyy the buckets....

 

[N8]

Good news on the buckets! Feel sorry for you pal..

 

[Amchlolor]

Can't fail to be impressed by the dealers honesty and willingness to make amends though.
Top notch.

 

[N8]

Agreed bowfer! They made a mess and cleared it up!

 

[richardn]

Yeah the sales guy was fantastic and I told him i'd write to Audi SA telling them how useless they are but how brilliant my salesman was... I feel bad about him missing his sale but it was a mess up from the start and i'm not accepting it...

 

[Amchlolor]

I wonder if they'll be so forthcoming with the next potential owner though...
I'm guessing it will just be sold as a cancelled order.
Sssssshhh....

 

[markwiggy]

Glad it got sorted for you matey, NO way would I have accepted the car repaired I think you would have had good grounds to refuse it. Heard a story about a guy who bought a Focus ST, after accepting and taking delivery he found it had been damaged and a panel had been painted, after a liable case the dealer was forced to replace the car on the ground it was not a brand new vehicle as came out of the factory.

Mark

 

[New Age Driver]

Which Audi dealership was this?

 

[richardn]

Which Audi dealership was this?

It was Audi The Glen in Johannesburg South Africa...

It's quite far from where i live but was driving past there one day went in to have a look and the sales guy was so good i decided to drive out there just for him... Won't do that again!

 

[Kontraband]

Nice one mate! Look forward to the update!

 

[ADEY]

Glad things worked out for you fella!
Hope the salesman wont get a 'hard time' for his honesty

 

[sakkie69]

What's defined as "delivery mileage"? Has it already been registered, and when?

Look I'm all for freebies, but if they are giving you 40k's worth of extras for free (2500 pounds or whatever our exchange rate it) after haggling with you having to pay half for the leather on the now accidented car, I dunno.

 

[Rafkoo]

Nice one - glad it all got sorted in the end.

 

[sakkie69]

O, and does it have satnav? and if so, does it have a 2008 South African map?
(not for piracy, but I havent seem them around yet for sale)

 

[richardn]

What's defined as "delivery mileage"? Has it already been registered, and when?

Look I'm all for freebies, but if they are giving you 40k's worth of extras for free (2500 pounds or whatever our exchange rate it) after haggling with you having to pay half for the leather on the now accidented car, I dunno.

The clock read 150km which is a little over what i'd define as "delivery mileage" but it looks brand spanking new and hasn't even been registered yet so i'm happy...

Also i'm not getting this car through the same dealer who wanted me to pay half on there mistake... It's from another one...

 

[richardn]

No sat nav... but it has the symphony which is a higher spec to what i ordered on the silver s3 so i'm happy... Will prob do a retrofit a little later anyway...

 

[sakkie69]

Sounds good.

Here's a tip, get a mate to call the dealership (or else call them yourself and just speak to any salespeople you havent dealth with) and ask them about what S3's they have and what condition.

Just to ensure their stories match up on the cars they have....
What are the load of extras they giving you? Are they matching the price of the silver one?

 

[richardn]

Sounds good.

Here's a tip, get a mate to call the dealership (or else call them yourself and just speak to any salespeople you havent dealth with) and ask them about what S3's they have and what condition.

Just to ensure their stories match up on the cars they have....
What are the load of extras they giving you? Are they matching the price of the silver one?

Well it has turned out to be the same price as the silver one but that was just by luck as it was a completely different deal with a different dealership. It was actually bought by the dealership as one of those investment cars that they resell at a profit when there is a high demand but they were asking to much and never bothered to change there advertised price but i called anyway and he quoted me a much lower price which resulted in me speeding off to check it out before anyone else got it.

It's got the symphony, auto lights and wipers, buckets, bose and something something else or two i just can't remember. I worked out the price when i was there though and it came to R415 000 odd and I'm only paying R370 000.

 

[newbiecrg]

I don't want to be nasty but they just sold you a demo car with probably not so many miles...... there is no such thing as "investment cars".... But if you are happy that is what matters...

Pedro

 

[richardn]

I don't want to be nasty but they just sold you a demo car with probably not so many miles...... there is no such thing as "investment cars".... But if you are happy that is what matters...

Pedro

Well in south africa it's very common for a car dealer to order a car which they think will be a big hit and then sell it to people that can't be bothered to be wait listed for 6months and then wait for build and delivery for another 6+ months. There is even a company here called Investment Cars that make most of there money by doing this.

 

[newbiecrg]

strange country then.... to make a profit on a 6 month old car... Are you saying that a 6 month old car will be more expensive than a brand new one? in this particular case....

in here you can get 6 month old cars as well but will always be cheaper than ordering a new one...

if they buy stock because the demand will be high I understand but even so isn't there an allocated number of cars Audi can order of a particular model? But stock cars are not driven unless they are demonstrators or salesman cars...

It does not really matter and if you think you got a great deal, perfect...but 150 miles is definitly not delivery miles... even if dealership is far there are trucks to transport it.

My car had 20 miles and this was because they had to take it to an SVA inspection close by. My car had to be in storage for a month before registering because dealership was having a refurbishment. storage facility was 50 mile away... it was transported there not driven...

Pedro

 

[sakkie69]

Most Audi dealerships in SA have at least one S3 available for immediate purchase, all of varying spec level (bucket seats are hard to come by on these floor models as they hardly fit other options to offset cost). As for buying as investment, Investment Cars makes its money selling new M's etc for a premium and also trading 2nd cars like Mustangs and the like. S3 wasn't and wont be a car that demands a premium. No Audi is.

My only concern that I mentioned earlier was just related to why they are so willing to give discount. Your first dealer wanted you to go halfies on their mistake, and these guys want to give you most extras for free (around 12% in total it looks like it). When I called around for mine, discounts were hard to come by, most was willing to give 1 to 3% off.

Maybe times have changed or maybe they made a mistake by quoting you the cheaper price. Not to take anything away from the car, it is an awesome spec (especially the seats) and I'm sure it will be a joy to drive (well, I own an S3 so yes, it will be a joy )

Like I said, I am just very skeptical of car dealers in all shapes and forms. One of my friends only managed 10k discount on his fully spec'd S3 (has every single option available) only because he bought almost 2mill worth of Audi cars in the last year from the dealership (other dealerships offered no discount). I battled the same, dealing with 7 dealerships nationwide.

The one dealership had a red demo model which I took for a drive, was the salesman's car to use to work and back and for demos, two weeks later I drive by and the car was standing outside all polished with a "BRAND NEW" sale board on it.

I just dont trust car salespeoplein Africa

 

[TheWusMan]

Most Audi dealerships in SA have at least one S3 available for immediate purchase, all of varying spec level (bucket seats are hard to come by on these floor models as they hardly fit other options to offset cost). As for buying as investment, Investment Cars makes its money selling new M's etc for a premium and also trading 2nd cars like Mustangs and the like. S3 wasn't and wont be a car that demands a premium. No Audi is.

My only concern that I mentioned earlier was just related to why they are so willing to give discount. Your first dealer wanted you to go halfies on their mistake, and these guys want to give you most extras for free (around 12% in total it looks like it). When I called around for mine, discounts were hard to come by, most was willing to give 1 to 3% off.

Maybe times have changed or maybe they made a mistake by quoting you the cheaper price. Not to take anything away from the car, it is an awesome spec (especially the seats) and I'm sure it will be a joy to drive (well, I own an S3 so yes, it will be a joy )

Like I said, I am just very skeptical of car dealers in all shapes and forms. One of my friends only managed 10k discount on his fully spec'd S3 (has every single option available) only because he bought almost 2mill worth of Audi cars in the last year from the dealership (other dealerships offered no discount). I battled the same, dealing with 7 dealerships nationwide.

The one dealership had a red demo model which I took for a drive, was the salesman's car to use to work and back and for demos, two weeks later I drive by and the car was standing outside all polished with a "BRAND NEW" sale board on it.

I just dont trust car salespeoplein Africa

Correction there bud - the R8 is ....

All 50 allocated to SA for the next 12 months have been sold out a year in advance. You'd be able to find someone willing to take it off your hands for a premium. It's super popular. And the V10 is around the corner with dealers taking R100 000 cash deposits to secure one.