In a conversation an Audi dealer said there are only 10 6 speed ar's left in the US (MYR 04)?
03-23-2004, 04:41 AM
#2
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Re: How can that be
Mine came in not as a special order for me but as part of the dealer inventory. Did the dealer give any thought as to why they are phasing our our car with the 6sp.
03-23-2004, 05:09 AM
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I took delivery of a 6spd with Nav last month and got a look at the locate the dealer did
and in all of the north east there were like 5 cars showing (nav/6spd) on the locate and only 2 were actually available - 1 of which had lot damage that had been repaired. Needless to say I bought the other one. :P
03-23-2004, 06:12 AM
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I ordered mine about two weeks ago
Dealer had one allocated. We were able to change color and options, etc. The original one was a 6 spd, and we kept that "option". Another dealer offered to order one to my specs (inclu 6 spd). Not sure if the second dealer didn't know something, but he sure left me with the impression that MY '04 could still be built per customer order (even a 6 spd). Glad I got the one 6 spd allocated to the first dealer (at least I think that's the case - I still don't have a VIN or other tracking number).
03-23-2004, 06:44 AM
#7
Manuals, get yer red hot manuals. . . .
. . .I have mentioned several times that I have been dealing with one Audi dealer since 1977; and, that this particular Audi dealer WAS (past tense) the end of the line of the [small] family dealerships. My dealer owner was also on the AoA "dealer council" and was President of this body at least once and was one of the "top 25" (later top 50, when they expanded) dealerships in the US.
My wife and I became friends with him and his wife. We spent a lot of time talking about cars, of course, since we all had great passion for Audis (and Porsches, too). I say past tense since this dealer sold to a large, good but impersonal, chain of dealerships. Indeed my dealership no longer has anyone who owns the place on premesis.
One of the salesmen remarked that the place more or less runs on auto pilot now -- there is a sales manager (who seems, to me, to be a purchasing agent rather than a sales manager) a parts manager and a service manager. Outwardly, it appears that there are three managers who run their departments and it is only coincindental that they all work under the same roof.
The point of this preamble is to tell you that I have had the great pleasure over a 25+ year period of feeling a little bit like an insider in the bizness, in that the owner and the managers basically seem to talk with me as if I have been part of the family.
My only regret is that with the big company ownership there no longer is anyone at the dealership who actually represents an owners perspective -- and, frankly, most of the people seem less interested in cars than in the business -- bygones.
Over the years, my wife, friends and co workers have purchased over 50 cars (that I can recall) from this one dealership. I still recommend the dealership to friends and family. I have watched the manual transmission selection decline steadily. The current generation of A6, for example, was brought to market without a stick shift and then a stick was added back into the mix, then withdrawn then returned -- with the 2.7T and the allroad.
Currently, the only NEW A6 based car that can be actually ordered brand new (not on lots already that is) with a stick shift is the allroad 2.7T. The stick is gone from all other A6 flavors. Sure, you might find a 2.7T 6spd manual (2004) leftover. But no S-Line A6 2.7T is offered with the manual.
My "personal" Audi sales person for many years says the reason is the customer. He claims that the Audis that have been in inventory with a stick shift basically sit "unadopted" for weeks and months while the inventory of automatic equipped versions turns and turns and turns.
When the former owner was still around, he shared with me the 90/10 75/25 50/50 25/75 10/90 1/99 progression that happened starting around 1983.
Over the past 20 years, the CUSTOMERS have evolved from 90% stick 10% manual through the numbers noted above until we get to today where the numbers are 1% manual 99% automatic.
Apparently, no matter how hard Audi tries to be in the premium sporty car class, customers seem to buy premium luxury (or near luxury) versions instead. Audi continues to tout that it is a dynamic premium car line with ambitions of being the BMW beater. Moreover, Audi's parent -- VW -- claims it is moving to premium luxury -- to compete with Mercedes "classic" luxury vehicles.
So Audi keeps coming up with more audacious "lord of the rings" type cars -- yet even they (the RS 6 for example) come with automatic only.
We, here on Audiworld's forums rant and bitch regularly and frequently about tip lag, tiptronic performance (less quick and less responsive than the sticks) and the "dangers" and lower Fun Quotient (FQ) of driving tips. Yet, just try finding a good selection of allroads with 6spds (other than "strippies" -- i.e., no or few options). Even when you can find a couple of manual allroads, that is basically it -- a couple (as in 2).
My salesman tells me he may get 2 people annually who want to test drive a stick shift (excluding the TT's and Porsches he also sells). The majority of A4's on the lot are also tips, too. 50% of the S4 inventory is now 6spd tiptronic and all of the 3.2 V6 TTs are DSG manumatics. The FWD Audis are CVTs and the quattros are 5spd tips (excluding the A8L, S4 and TT's as noted).
Those of us who prefer manuals are dinosaurs. . .apparently.
Yet -- and this really pisses me off -- you can mosey on over to the BMW store and find any number of 5 series Bimmers with a choice of full manual, SMG or steptronic (a tip by another name, IMO).
So Audi wants to be a BMW killer, eh?
As much as I am an Audi bigot I find the discontinuing of the manual transmissions (especially when the DSG is apparently not yet ready for prime time -- in an A6) in the A6, a case of "watch what I do, rather than what I say."
Audi, assuming the new A6 is ONLY offered in tiptronic form, is speaking with forketh tongue.
For a new "dynamic" A6 to come to market only equipped with the worst of the three (or 4 in Audis case -- CVT, DSG, TIP and manual) potential transmissions (especially since its rival is offered with three transmissions) is perplexing, disappointing and -- again said as a fan of the brand -- makes Audi a "poser" in the sport sedan world (in the Premium Segment -- especially since it claims ad nauseum that its sights are set on BMW).
Of course, I'll almost certainly acquire either a New A6 or an S4 -- and hopefully they will offer the choice of a manual or at least a DSG by calendar 2005.
However, even after calling Audi a "poser," I can't really fault Audi or AoA -- the paucity of manual versions brought to the US is a self-inflicted wound. We -- the customers -- have inflicted this upon ourselves. Audi is simply being prudent, following the money so to speak. Overwhelmingly, WE must be voting with our dollars that we no longer wish to purchase manual transmission versions.
More is the pity, I say. And, I also say that if the potential customers could be "forced" to test drive these cars with stick shifts that more would be sold.
But, it would be suicide for a salesperson to say, "Mr or Ms Customer, you have to test drive one of these cars with a stick!"
We are reaping what WE sowed.
And now for a moment of silence while we watch the stick shift fade from the landcape (in Audis, at least).
My wife and I became friends with him and his wife. We spent a lot of time talking about cars, of course, since we all had great passion for Audis (and Porsches, too). I say past tense since this dealer sold to a large, good but impersonal, chain of dealerships. Indeed my dealership no longer has anyone who owns the place on premesis.
One of the salesmen remarked that the place more or less runs on auto pilot now -- there is a sales manager (who seems, to me, to be a purchasing agent rather than a sales manager) a parts manager and a service manager. Outwardly, it appears that there are three managers who run their departments and it is only coincindental that they all work under the same roof.
The point of this preamble is to tell you that I have had the great pleasure over a 25+ year period of feeling a little bit like an insider in the bizness, in that the owner and the managers basically seem to talk with me as if I have been part of the family.
My only regret is that with the big company ownership there no longer is anyone at the dealership who actually represents an owners perspective -- and, frankly, most of the people seem less interested in cars than in the business -- bygones.
Over the years, my wife, friends and co workers have purchased over 50 cars (that I can recall) from this one dealership. I still recommend the dealership to friends and family. I have watched the manual transmission selection decline steadily. The current generation of A6, for example, was brought to market without a stick shift and then a stick was added back into the mix, then withdrawn then returned -- with the 2.7T and the allroad.
Currently, the only NEW A6 based car that can be actually ordered brand new (not on lots already that is) with a stick shift is the allroad 2.7T. The stick is gone from all other A6 flavors. Sure, you might find a 2.7T 6spd manual (2004) leftover. But no S-Line A6 2.7T is offered with the manual.
My "personal" Audi sales person for many years says the reason is the customer. He claims that the Audis that have been in inventory with a stick shift basically sit "unadopted" for weeks and months while the inventory of automatic equipped versions turns and turns and turns.
When the former owner was still around, he shared with me the 90/10 75/25 50/50 25/75 10/90 1/99 progression that happened starting around 1983.
Over the past 20 years, the CUSTOMERS have evolved from 90% stick 10% manual through the numbers noted above until we get to today where the numbers are 1% manual 99% automatic.
Apparently, no matter how hard Audi tries to be in the premium sporty car class, customers seem to buy premium luxury (or near luxury) versions instead. Audi continues to tout that it is a dynamic premium car line with ambitions of being the BMW beater. Moreover, Audi's parent -- VW -- claims it is moving to premium luxury -- to compete with Mercedes "classic" luxury vehicles.
So Audi keeps coming up with more audacious "lord of the rings" type cars -- yet even they (the RS 6 for example) come with automatic only.
We, here on Audiworld's forums rant and bitch regularly and frequently about tip lag, tiptronic performance (less quick and less responsive than the sticks) and the "dangers" and lower Fun Quotient (FQ) of driving tips. Yet, just try finding a good selection of allroads with 6spds (other than "strippies" -- i.e., no or few options). Even when you can find a couple of manual allroads, that is basically it -- a couple (as in 2).
My salesman tells me he may get 2 people annually who want to test drive a stick shift (excluding the TT's and Porsches he also sells). The majority of A4's on the lot are also tips, too. 50% of the S4 inventory is now 6spd tiptronic and all of the 3.2 V6 TTs are DSG manumatics. The FWD Audis are CVTs and the quattros are 5spd tips (excluding the A8L, S4 and TT's as noted).
Those of us who prefer manuals are dinosaurs. . .apparently.
Yet -- and this really pisses me off -- you can mosey on over to the BMW store and find any number of 5 series Bimmers with a choice of full manual, SMG or steptronic (a tip by another name, IMO).
So Audi wants to be a BMW killer, eh?
As much as I am an Audi bigot I find the discontinuing of the manual transmissions (especially when the DSG is apparently not yet ready for prime time -- in an A6) in the A6, a case of "watch what I do, rather than what I say."
Audi, assuming the new A6 is ONLY offered in tiptronic form, is speaking with forketh tongue.
For a new "dynamic" A6 to come to market only equipped with the worst of the three (or 4 in Audis case -- CVT, DSG, TIP and manual) potential transmissions (especially since its rival is offered with three transmissions) is perplexing, disappointing and -- again said as a fan of the brand -- makes Audi a "poser" in the sport sedan world (in the Premium Segment -- especially since it claims ad nauseum that its sights are set on BMW).
Of course, I'll almost certainly acquire either a New A6 or an S4 -- and hopefully they will offer the choice of a manual or at least a DSG by calendar 2005.
However, even after calling Audi a "poser," I can't really fault Audi or AoA -- the paucity of manual versions brought to the US is a self-inflicted wound. We -- the customers -- have inflicted this upon ourselves. Audi is simply being prudent, following the money so to speak. Overwhelmingly, WE must be voting with our dollars that we no longer wish to purchase manual transmission versions.
More is the pity, I say. And, I also say that if the potential customers could be "forced" to test drive these cars with stick shifts that more would be sold.
But, it would be suicide for a salesperson to say, "Mr or Ms Customer, you have to test drive one of these cars with a stick!"
We are reaping what WE sowed.
And now for a moment of silence while we watch the stick shift fade from the landcape (in Audis, at least).
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03-23-2004, 07:01 AM
#8
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Thread Starter
I may be wrong... but... doesn't MB, now charge a prem. on some cars with a stick?....
It will probably evolve to this.. a true manual being an extra cost option, while the auto becomes the "standard" tranny. sniff.... :-(
03-23-2004, 07:05 AM
#9
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I'd like to try a manual. Dealer says it's not as good
Salesman that is a 'car guy' and once owned a Cobra from new, says he likes the auto in a car so large, but prefers a stick in an A4. I've yet to find a 6 speed to try out. I'm not trying really hard, and used versions are out there. Used ones seem to be more than 500mi away. Some day my manual will come...
03-23-2004, 07:07 AM
#10
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
If yo are in NY/NJ... come try mine.
Dealer is full of BS... more response and power in the stick... now lag... no slow shifting... no waiting for the torque converter to lock up..