comptr

I am also in Phoenix and my dealer is also Audi North Scottsdale, you should let the guy know who checks you in, since they are the ones who place a card in your front window for what type of wash you get. They have No Car Wash Cards I saw them the last time I dropped off my car there.

luder888

You mean this yellow sign? It's obviously working... (ignore the time stamp my dashcam loses the time once in a while)

comptr

Ya that one. I guess they don't read it.

benz240

markcincinnati

I am not affiliated with any dealer, I'm simply a very loyal Audi customer and Audi fan -- all my Audis have come from the same dealership since 1977. My experiences would lead me to say that many of the people who work in the service department are "the cream of the crop" individuals. Most of them have multiple certificates indicating they've been through extensive Audi training. Some of the long rows of qualifications posted on the walls of the service department indicate there are a significant number of folks that have earned an Associate's or Bachelor's Degree from a "name brand" college or university. Many of the service advisors and the service manager are college graduates (not that being a college graduate is necessarily a guarantee of anything).

I would hardly characterize the service department's staff as being comprised of "less educated/skilled/fortunate individuals" -- but in any organization of size, there certainly can be slackers, sloths. and slugs; but at our dealership, our perception is that even the "porters" have aspirations to do more and (to coin a phrase) "be all they can be." So, our experience is that the service department IS staffed with folks who are "meticulous and caring."

To address another comment: "they care about one thing and one thing only - sales"; there is some truth in that statement since Revenue is important to sustain the business. But, it is also important, actually more important, that the dealership generates Income. In the long run, the dealership if it is to survive, grow, and prosper must provide products and services that customers perceive to deliver value. In some ways, it is certainly more difficult to sustain the value proposition at premium car dealerships due to the customer's expectations of premium brands and their dealerships. Moreover, it is likely that customers who shop for a Premium car have the wherewithal to go elsewhere if they're not happy with the products and services at "this" or "that" dealership.

I work with folks who have virtually unshakable loyalty to Acura, BMW, Lexus, and Mini. I also work with a couple of folks who "never get the same brand twice" and have little interest, if any, in building a "relationship" with a dealer. These folks do shop for "features" (options) that are on the cars they purchase, but once they determine what features they want, they are (almost entirely) price shoppers. They pit one dealer against another, shop via the Internet, and don't know the name of the sales rep. Wham, bam, thank-you ma'am. The Acura, BMW, Lexus, and especially Mini aficionados seem, on the other hand, FIERCELY loyal to their chosen brands and it is possible to overhear some "arguments" in defense of "the superiority of the Lexus brand vs. BMW", for example.

My personal experience is with one Audi dealership, one BMW dealership, two Acura dealerships and one Infiniti dealership. The Audi and BMW dealerships seem to have all gone to the same "finishing school" in both the sales and service departments. At the BMW store, the service department's "uniform" is white lab coats with an embroidered BMW logo on the chest -- the whole experience is elevated, from check in to pick up after a hand wash and dry plus vacuuming. And at the BMW store, the person who washes your car will do a walk around with you to ensure you're happy with the wash. At the Audi store, they all wear Audi logo'd black polo shirts and they offer the quattro cafe to those customers who don't want to wait or for those who are having a short service that would hardly justify a loaner. At both German dealerships, it is obvious that the customer is king (or queen). These folks are well trained in the art of customer service -- these people are hardly representative of the "less fortunate, educated or skilled" characterization. These are not some kind of "less than" individuals who staff these (sometimes) $100,000,000+ enterprises. Quite the contrary.

My point, if not obvious, is to argue that the dealer is not necessarily the dumping ground for the unfortunate, unskilled, and/or uneducated -- I would submit that the people at my dealership here in Cincinnati (from the receptionist to the General Manager) are indeed fortunate, skilled, educated, and trained to provide the highest service levels to assure they are helping their company's revenue -- and more importantly, income -- continues to grow. I want my dealership to be successful and I patronize (and support) them to help them help me to have the best ownership experience possible. So yes, they are interested in revenue, but that interest is not above all else; my experience is that they work hard to increase revenue and profit based on working -- above all else -- to exceed their customers' and prospective customers' expectations.

Finally, I do agree with the person who commented, this (washing after the request NOT to wash) really is a first-world problem. My life has enough issues and problems that require my attention -- this one (an unwanted car-wash, that is) isn't even on the list.

Tony M

For me, all the fancy uniforms, free coffee and polite deference count for nothing if I can't rely on a simple request like "please don't wash my car" being heeded. I'm not a King and I have no desire to be treated like one (whatever that means).

The substance of what I am purchasing is competent (and ideally, meticulous) service to the vehicle and the rest is strictly in the "nice to have but non-essential" category.

Now, I accept mistakes happen occasionally. However, if they are frequent or recurrent or if no effort is made to "make it good", then I'm not a happy customer.

FWIW, I have several family vehicles serviced by a local mechanic - he's been looking after two of them for over 15 years. The person I drop the car off to and pick it up from is the same person that works on it. He's the one that calls me if something unexpected is found and he's the one that explains and shows me exactly what's been done to the car. The level of comfort, trust, respect and confidence I feel at his workshop is far higher than at the fancy service departments I've been attending since I started buying European cars as my main DD a few years ago. I enjoy a good coffee, but a discussion directly with the person working on the car means much more to me.

Nikon1

Slides

Personally I like swirls on my cars. Adds character and grit. Some of you folks are way too sensitive about your cars.

markcincinnati

None of my remarks were/are intended to suggest that an independent service organization would be "less than" a brand affiliated service department. If anyone has an issue that is unable to be resolved to the customer's satisfaction -- even a car wash -- my suggestion would be to "go elsewhere," rather than put up with some behavior or outcome that causes your expectations to not be met or produces dissatisfaction.<br /><br />

I know my service manager, service writer, shop foreman/Audi guru, and even some of the technicians. I know, by name, most of the sales reps and the finance and general manager by name; I typically make a point to step into the service manager's office at every visit, say hello to the GM and my sales rep and even speak to the receptionist who has the coolest "proper" British accent ever. As you may know, we send Costco's largest fruit, nut, and cheese basket to the service department every Christmas and also sent a smaller tower of treats to our sales rep for the holidays. Last year the dealership sent us a glass globe tree ornament with the floating Audi rings inside. We are always welcomed warmly when we come to the dealership for whatever reason. When the new RS5 came in, my sales rep called to tell me it was in and would be PDI'd and I could come over and take a long test drive (first one). My rep and I went out for a romp in the new RS5 and had a great time getting to know the various settings available.<br /><br />

On the subject of car washes, every Saturday the dealership offers hand car washes and vacuum (done inside the dealership svce dept.) and we often avail ourselves of this benefit -- and on some weekends, they have a grill going and they serve customers hamburgers and hot dogs. The entire dealership seems oriented to making you feel you've just walked next door to your neighbor's house for an afternoon of hospitality. The fact that they sell a great brand and provide usually outstanding service (no one's perfect) just makes the entire experience fun. Of course, the BMW store was pretty much the same way -- and once a month the BMW store offers service department tours which seem to be their chance to show off service bays that are so clean you almost feel you could eat off of them.<br /><br />

I understand that dealerships are independent businesses and my Cincinnati Audi connection store and yours may provide vastly different ownership experiences.<br /><br />

Long time AW participants may recall that I did have an issue (once) with my 2018 S4 -- at the first oil change the Audi computer coughed up the wrong part number for oil. The 2018 S4 is a B-cycle engine and requires different oil than previous S4's -- luckily, I caught it, the SM knew what oil was supposed to be used but the parts department issued a WO for the wrong oil. They corrected the issue -- I didn't even drive the car, they changed the oil (for free, of course) and life went on.<br /><br />

In the scheme of things, car washes may have importance as a metaphor, but, as a practical matter -- for ME, no one else -- is a trivial, perhaps almost a non-event. I have my car detailed annually and I use "commercial" inside/outside car washes regularly. My car is Daytona Gray Pearl -- I, frankly, haven't seen any swirl marks, have had the windows ceramic coated (film applied, of course) and have not had any reason to complain about the way my car (or my wife and I) are treated.<br /><br />

As y'all are wont to say: YMMV.

Nikon1