charlesw325

Not sure if this is a right place to discuss , but here is my questions:

I took delivery of my 18 Q7 last month , I have been mostly happy with purchase process with the dealership until recently as I recalled the contract signing process with the finance manager and also found our more false information I received from him:

1.He included a fee of ~$1500 in the final quote and tried so hard to hide the details of it. He initially stated that was the license and registration fee , I questioned that the amount is way over a normal registration fee and asked for a break down, he wouldn't give me the details said this is an estimated amount and I will be refunded based on actual charge from DMV.
2.He added the key fob replacement insurance and told me it's included in the vehicle price they offered me.
3.When I reviewed the final contract , I specifically asked what's the fee for license and registration and finally found out it's less than $700 , I asked him what's rest of the charge which is $1500-700 = $800 , then he said it's key fob replacement insurance.
4. When I read further, I noticed that the key fob insurance is only $400 and asked him to explain, then he showed me something else (I don't remember what it is , some anti theft stuff)
5. He wouldn't tell me what the APR from Audi FS is , he gave me 6.7% at the beginning but stated it's an estimate and I will get a better once he processed the documents since I have 800+ score. then of course 6.7% was the final APR I received.
6. I asked if I can refinance with my own credit union or pay it off since the APR is too high, he told me that since I received the Audi rebate , I will have to make at lease 3 payments to be eligible for refinance or pay off . which I found out to be a lie too after calling Audi FS.
7. He tried to sell Audi care for $1500

What do you guys think? Is this still considered normal? I caught most of them during the contract signing process though. I know the finance guy would always do something like this but this seemed to be too much for me . I’ve purchased Toyota / Infiniti /BMW/Mercedes before , there were some tricks , but not as bad as this one . would you guys recommend to file a complaint against the dealership?

I'm really happy with my new Q7 though . planning to apply ceramic coating next week.

rjabend

Unfortunately, it is normal. I went through the same process, but denied payment before i would sign the contract. The problem may vary in degree by location. It is simply a legal rip-off IMHO.

iconoclast

Florida dealership?

rjabend

It was a Florida dealer in my case.

jetsfan101

I went through similar issues too. Nowhere nearly as bad as this though....dealer marked up base AoA rate by 1%. Other than that he added $500 fee for random bs like rims scratch repair and some paint coating so i asked about it but didnt question it too much. The DMV fee was marked up slightly but maybe like $100 over, tops. Of course i haven't gotten any refunds, LOL.

I still f*&*ed with my dealer though, since they talk a big game about making sure the customer is 100% happy. Told him i was pissed off the rate was marked up and that the whole process was done in vagueness. I had asked to get the AoA rate BEFORE sitting down with the finance manager which of course they wouldnt do. As a result i had my dealer agree to tint my windows. LOL. Small thing but it's something to show they were willing to play ball...

It comes down to dealer though. Another audi dealer i worked with in the past is less willing to budge on the price but they did not mark up rates or include any bs "fees". Just the standard inventory fee which is a plug in % number, and that's it. One way or another they only look at their bottom line and then adjust other #s as needed

ConservativeConsumer

I won't work with the dealer if they'd be acting in a non-transparent fashion. But I am in the Midwest where an old-school respect for a customer is not completely evaporated yet... In your case you've done the deal already and I am not sure how much can be reversed.

Paul Collurafici

I doubt corporate will do anything. I love re-posting what Hoffman Estates Audi of Illinois did to me. The owner didn't care and corporate said they are independent dealers who only sell their cars and have no authority over them Or, in other words, too bad..

BigKutta

Although its unfortunate that his happened to you, almost all dealers try to mark up and hide costs. So, having said that, I would not have signed ANY deal based on future outcomes and vague answers. As buyers we tend to overlook and bypass details that cost us big money and then complain after the fact. Get the facts, make sure it's on paper and only then sign. For the little money you got fleeced for, its not worth your time and money to go after the dealer...you signed the dotted line. But you learned a big lesson for next time

SCarGuy

This is absolutely not normal, or at least should not be.

Marking up the rate - yes, this is done, and yes Audi allows for it (as do other banks). A car purchase has 2 columns, front end profit and back end profit. If a trade is involved, there are 2 columns (under/par, or overallowance on trade) In order to stay in business, money has to be made on one, or all of those columns. Just like in any other business, whether a doctor, lawyer, engineer, what have you. I see posts all the time bragging about "x" discount and "y" discount, far beyond invoice pricing (in some cases, even without incentives factored in). It's a 2 way street. If a car is going be given away on the front end, whether it's MSRP reduction, trade over allowance, etc., then it has to, in some form, be made up on the back end. Simple capitalism states that any price the buyer pays is too much, and any price I charge is not enough. This is true in the car business, just like it's the same in whatever business the members here are in. Somewhere in the middle, the goal is simply to make a fair deal for both parties, and, to NOT have it be contentious. There is absolutely no reason for it to be a fight or a battle. Not before a deal is finalized, and certainly not during or after. It is supposed to be fun getting the new car, and the experience from start to finish is in the dealers hand to make it such. If it's not, walk away. There are plenty of dealers who will value the business and not take it for granted like this one apparently did. If I were the OP would I reach out to Audi Corporate? Yes, I would.

With that said, everything should be disclosed, and I can't imagine a state that doesn't require everything a customer pays to be a separate line item. Some states do allow dealers to charge what they want for various "fees"...and many dealers unfairly use this as a profit center (and yet still claim to be "the lowest priced". Where I am, the fees we charge as far as registration, etc etc are all pass throughs - whatever the state charges, we charge. The car is the car, I'm not going to use the costs of registering it, etc. as a profit center, it is disingenuous to do so.

As far as prepayment on an AFS deal, it's been discussed many times, but here is the reality of it. Can you prepay it? yes, absolutely -whenver you want, without penalty. The catch? Audi will charge back any incentives the dealer provided on their behalf (loyalty, season of audi bonus money, etc) back to the dealer. If you are looking to screw the dealer, this is a good way to do it. If you're looking to maintain a good working relationship with them, then waiting the period of time a dealer requests is suggested. Audi does provide the dealer a grace period - after which if a prepayment is made, incentives are not charged back to the dealer. To the best of my knowledge, the timeframes vary from 3 or 6 months depending on the sheer volume the dealer does. I know in our case, I always discuss this with a client before hand, so they fully understand...before we even agree to the deal being finalized, and certainly before they are signing paperwork. It's the right thing to do. I've yet to have a single instance where a client gave any pushback on it, and they understand that yes, it might cost them a few hundred in interest over those few months, but, the incentive being given far outweighs that.

RJC 1

Which dealership in FL?