Custom Order Deposit Amount
 

I am currently in the market for a 2011 A4. The dealer I am negotiating with has told me that a custom order requires a 10% deposit, which seems extremely high based on what I've read so far. IMO, anything above $1000 is unreasonable. Am I correct, or have others given a deposit of significantly more than $1000?

Unless your "custom" order includes any of the Audi "exclusive" colors and/or options (i.e. not simply ordering from Audi's standard colors & options), anything over $1,000 would be unreasonable IMHO.

My 2010 6MT S-Line with ADS topped $46k, and the deposit was $500.

They're trying to take you for a ride.

In a BMW.

Sounds like they want you to buy the car from another dealer...

500 bucks is what I paid...

Is there another dealer in your area?

at my dealer i did 1k the first time and 500 the last time.
shop around

I have never put down more than $500 and it is 100% refundable!

The only time the $500 rule doesn't float is if you order something from the Audi Exclusive collection -- or, for instance, if you ordered a color that is so completely YOUR TASTE (pearl purple?) even tho it may have a $2,500 upcharge.

My dealer typically looks at my order and says, "Mark you don't even need to put a deposit down, if you don't want the car ordered the way you configured it, the sales manager will take it as his personal car" (assuming they don't want to put it on the showroom floor.)

10%, hell if you're gonna do that, put 19% down, pick up the car in Germany, drive it, send it back to the US and collect your 19% VAT tax refund, simple as that!

When I asked my dealer about the German pick-up option I was told that the car had to be paid for in full at the time of pick up. The money would then be refunded at the freight drop-off point and I would then pick up the car at my normal dealership and pay by whatever normal means I would have used had I not taken a German delivery. I heard nothing about a 19% VAT deposit.

I will be ordering from Audi's list of standard options and colors, so the dealer is not at risk of having to sell a Lamborghini Green A4 if I were to back out of the deal. I prefer to work with the local Audi dealer because the second closest dealer is nearly 150 miles away. However, if they refuse to reduce the deposit amount, I will be forced to increase my search radius.