tjangi

Not sure if I am allowed to post this here, but I need to let off some steam...

I am in the market for an Audi RS4. I have been doing lots of research and know the numbers for the cars and my trade in value.

So I call Holbert Audi/Porsche, 1607 Easton Rd, Warrington, PA 18976. After speaking to the sales person, he convinced me to come down (1.5 hr drive) from me.

when I got there the place was empty, but my sales person had a client. After waiting, I then told him what I wanted to pay on top of my trade in. We agreed that we won't take the car out of the showroom for a test drive until we know that there is a chance that we can come to a an agreement. My sales person disappeared for 30 minutes and then says lets go for a test drive.

After the test drive, I asked are we ready to do a deal, he said, well not sure as the price is still (far) off and that he cannot make a decision and needed to wait for the "used car manager" I walked out of there, and no one even tried to stop me and negotiate a price??? They would rather let a potential buyer leave without trying? Is the economy must be doing well, especially for used car dealers?

WTF, I stayed there for 1.5 hours only to find out that we were never going to reach an agreement? He could have told me this on the phone. I just wasted a Saturday afternoon for nothing.

Lesson learned, stay away from stealerships, especially AUDI. (I have had bad experience with a few)

Sorry for the post but I wanted to warn fellow AudiWorld memebers in PA, in case you want to buy a car from them.

Reggie

Understand your frustration. A lot of the dealerships in the south have exclusive contracts and are a PITA to work with too.

I have learned that I only work from positions of power: - no trade in, I know the numbers, and expect to walk away.

JMSIV

Yup, your best bet is to sell your car yourself and then buy. Particularly in this market. With things being very slow, it's difficult for the dealer to know if they can unload your car. So you are reaming them on the purchase, they are going to try to get you back on the trade in.

Can you be more specific about what you were looking for and looking to trade?

There are definitely good cars out there to buy. Another option for trade in could be someplace like Carmax. You won't get what you would get selling to an individual, but you will probably do better than trading to a dealer.

I remember my salesman (who is great) telling me when I was first swapping from an allroad to an S4: you will definitely do better selling the car yourself. The question you have to ask is, do you want to be a used car dealer?

VTSpeed

I feel the need to defend Holbert in this instance as I recently purchased an Audi RS4 Cabriolet from them and had a great experience then and every interaction since then. I found the Sales people to be helpful, gracious, and fun to interact with. My sales person worked with me to get the appropriate financing and made sure that I got the vehicle I wanted - no small feat considering the amount of interest an RS4 convertible generates when it comes available with only 6k miles on it. Their business manager Eric was also a pleasure to interact with while getting my car registered in VT from a PA dealership.

Since my initial purchase I recently went back to Holbert to have the suspension worked on as directed by Audi of America - service was on time, easy, and they were flexible with my schedule. Also, when I went back to pick up the car I off handedly mentioned interest in the Panmera and was quickly ushered out to one for a test drive even though they knew I was not buying one that day.

I think the guys at Holbert do a great job and while i can't defend the above experience I do feel that this may be an isolated situation.

PARealtor

Mixed reviews on Holberts here. They are about 20 mins from me and Ive used them for service. 1st experience was ok but their loaners sucked. 2nd time I had some work done and they messed it up. Ended up having to go back and have them redo it. Never an appology or a what can we do to make you happy. Just drop off your hertz loaner and see ya.

I agree their sales staff is a little low pressure and always seem overworked. I went up to look at a Q7 and it seemed like they couldnt be bothered. It seems as if they only have 4 or 5 sales people and they dont do a lot of units each month. Plus I think some of the guys split their time between audi and porsche. They do a lot of special ordering but dont know what their prices are like. My friend has purchased 3 audis and 2 vw's from them and he loves them. They are more of an old time family dealership I think. I did hear a rumor they were for sale and that the Thompson organization bought them (they own bmw, toyota in doylestown)

spagolli94

I had a great experience with Holbert's recently. After test driving a CPO RS4 and S4 last Friday, we worked out a price over the phone. I went in today to take it out for a full demo. I had the car practically all day! Ultimately I passed, but only because I didn't like the clear bra on the front (and it's the permanent spray on kind). As I talked a little more to the sales guy, we started talking about possibly a new S4, so I got to take that for a spin as well.

The new S4 is a very nice car, no doubt, but failed to stir my soul the way the RS4 did. In the end, I couldn't ask anything more from a dealership. They didn't keep me waiting, offered a fair price, let me test drive several cars, and let me demo the RS4 for a full day. There was no pressure, no cheesy haggling.

Suffice it to say, my experience was a complete 180 from yours.

ArthurPE

what did they want for the car? (details, mileage, CPO, etc.)
what did they offer for your trade-in? (and what is it, details)
what did you offer for the RS4?

without this info it's hard to tell who was in the 'wrong'...or being unreasonable
I don't consider any of this 'wrong', just business as usual...

if you wanted 50% more than your trade-in is worth, and offered 80% of the RS4's value, no wonder no deal was struck...

obviously the saleman is going to say what you want to hear to get you into the showroom, that's how it works, EVERYBODY knows that...

spagolli94

A trade was not part of the deal. They did take the time to run some numbers on my trade, but it was horrendously low (even the sales guy admitted it was awful), so I passed on the trade and sold my 330 on AutoTrader.

I got them down to $48,300 for the RS4. I had offered Edmunds TMV, which is $47,237. Even though $48,300 is a little high, I agreed to it because I'm self employed and time is money. If I have to blow another day shopping, haggling and negotiating, there is the $1,000 difference in lost billable hours right there.

So as long as I can find one and not get completely hosed, I'm good with that. The only deal breaker on this was the bra - not the money. It sucks because the next closest RS4 to me is like 3 hours away. Ughghg

ArthurPE

should have been clearer, I was asking the OP...

PARealtor

they are now part of the Thompson organization

that can only mean good things I hope