ClemsonAudi

Update--so after taking my 2018 S4 (AudiCare) back to my Audi dealer's service department, they admitted that the incorrect oil was used. This is after the service manager assured me the day before that he's "one million percent sure" the correct oil was used. To add insult to injury, they did not have the correct oil in stock, and had to travel to another Audi dealership an hour away. I waited 3 hours for them to correct this mistake, and was offered nothing in return. Afterwards the service manager bragged about how great the service department is under his leadership. How on earth then, do you put the wrong oil in a brand new $65k vehicle, and not have the foresight to order and stock oil for a new model that your dealership has sold? People amaze me--never make fun of federal government employees--in many ways they do it better. I don't see how Audi's service department is any better than Ford, GM or Dodge--bottom line--Audi Service in this case--just didn't care about the customer. Sad!

markcincinnati

At the very least you should have been offered a "loaner" -- probably an A4 or Q5 and from time-to-time another S4 (although I turn them down). Last week I had a 2018 Q7 3.0T Prestige with DAP -- I had always wanted a day with a car I had always wondered about (even though I had test driven them before). Usually, they only have Q7 2.0Ts.

You may have turned down the use of a loaner car. but it should have been offered.

The Audi dealer network is made of humans -- and although I do agree with your assessment that they should have responded "better" it seems it is possible they could have made a human mistake. The million percent sure comment, tho, was a bit of a giveaway.

numerobis

From personal experience, the only thing that is different from upscale vs mainstream car dealers is the attention put in the "customer lounge" area and, most of the time, the quality of the coffee they serve
What surprises me is not the fact that they used the wrong oil, it's that they do not have the correct oil in stock. This is not acceptable for a dealer that is supposed to be servicing these cars. Oil (as well as filters, brake pads etc) are mainstream maintenance parts that should always be available.

ClemsonAudi

markcincinnati

Since I don't spend any time in the "Quattro Cafe" (the waiting area) of my dealer, I'm really not sure how much I even care about the waiting area. I don't know where your dealership is, Clemson, but I hope someone from Audi monitors these musings (and rants and raves) here on Audiworld. Here's why: The Audi Dealership we use for service (and sales) has always provided service on a scale of 1-10, that has always been a 9 or 10, probably overwhelmingly a "10."

They use a form -- which I'm told is supposed to be used by all Audi service departments -- that has the red, yellow, green "stoplight" graphic that is provided as part of every visit; this "stoplight checklist" provides an overview of all of the critical data-points pertaining to the vehicle: brake pad thickness, tread depth, fluid levels, and so forth. When I pick up the car, the checklist (2 copies) are reviewed with the customer, then the SD keeps a copy and gives the customer a copy. A small thing, I know, but a big deal relatively speaking.

Weather permitting, the car is washed and vacuumed, and in winter, is "delivered" inside so that the customer spends virtually no time in "the elements." Whenever possible, it seems to us, the dealer service advisor (SA) actually advises. They always ask what tire pressure we want (and they use nitrogen) and they must keep our preferences in a profile, but they always check with us to confirm (especially since we had our 2014s for almost four years and we do have different tire pressures for our 2018's.)

We're always offered new Audis as our service loaners for the day, and as I detailed, they loaned us a new A8L for two-weeks while we waited for a part to come from Germany (the cooling fan issue).

The ONE time the wrong oil was put into my S4, the SM apologized profusely and had the car pushed into the service bay, the oil sucked out, the filter changed and the correct oil put in. This was at my "optional" (i.e., I paid for it) 5,000 oil change -- for my "trouble" I was comp'd the oil change (which I did not expect). The entire "screw up" and fix process took about 20 minutes once the SM identified that the computer spit out the wrong "part number." He went to the parts manager and was given the bottles of the correct oil -- even though the computer was not yet updated to recognize the oil. I, politely, noted the sticker under the hood that specified the REQUIRED oil. The service manager was 100% aware of the B-cycle engines' oil requirement. Again, he apologized profusely, made it right while I waited and comp'd the cost. If I could, I'd give this guy and this dealer an 11 (a least for this incident.)

Similarly, my wife was having a problem with her car (a driveability issue) and it was determined there was a screw in one of the tires -- not repairable -- the dealer offered two new replacement tires and an all-wheel alignment when my wife "dropped in" on a weekday afternoon. They gave her a loaner and when she came back, they had -- apparently -- discounted the tires so that the cost was about $12 more than Tirerack would have been and discounted the all-wheel alignment by 15% of their rate-card price. Could we -- elsewhere -- have done better? Perhaps. The price of convenience is hard to come up with -- but I'd say it probably came to $100+. Going elsewhere would possibly have been higher -- but without the loaner car, perhaps without the all-wheel alignment, wash and vacuum. $100 seems like a bargain.

The stories I have that I could tell -- and several times have, here on AW -- are at least 95% positive. I typically evaluate (judge) "vendors" NOT on how they behave when everything is perfect, but how they behave when "Houston, we have a problem!" happens. The dealer's response to issues, is, in many ways, more important than how they behave when there are no issues. One more: On December 22, 2017 (effectively Christmas Eve) a light came on my wife's 2018' SQ5's virtual cockpit saying something to the effect: "Too much oil, go to the dealer." The day was drawing to an end, and I imagine the humans at the dealer were hoping to leave "ON TIME" to spend time with their families, etc.; yet, the service manager said, "bring the car in immediately, if you can, and we'll take care of things." It was already 5:00 PM, but my wife drove to the dealer and they looked at the oil level, found it a bit high (according to the onboard sensors) and they sucked out a small amount.) The warning on the dash-board went away, and she's already over 15,000 miles and has had that (intermediate) oil change without any subsequent error messages.

The service manager sent us an "Ingolstadt" snow-globe Christmas Tree ornament with a card signed by the SM, the SA, and the shop foreman.

It's the dozens -- perhaps hundreds -- of little things these guys do that blows us away. In as much as I was NOT pleased that my electric cooling fan communications module failed (and the replacement part took two weeks to arrive), I was very pleased to have been given a new A8L over the Christmas and New Year's holidays whilst my 92-year old mother-in-law was staying with us. She loved the "limo" -- the HUUUGE back seat, made her "feel like a queen." Lemons into lemonade is the net of that one. I was NOT inconvenienced at all, despite the issue of a bum fan.

Now, if your dealer is the devil and ours is an angel, well perhaps that balances out -- and neither may be an accurate picture of "what is normal" -- but it certainly would seem that Audi (the company) EXPECTS its dealers to act more like mine than yours. It is almost funny to read about the SM's hubris about being a Magna dealership (as if he singlehandedly made that happen); my dealer is also a Magna dealership and there is a plaque on the wall noting all of the dealers who have attained that status, and it is not a huge number, so perhaps your dealership (somehow, sales?) has done something right, after all.

I don't know if I'd go so far as to say the folks at our dealership have become our friends, but I actually can't think of a term that would be more accurate. "Vendor" is certainly somewhat correct, but our sales rep, the General Manager, Finance Manager, Service Manager, Service Advisor, and Shop Foreman have altered the relationship from Customer/Vendor, moving it so that we have a rapport and a connection that I would call a "very good relationship." Considering how important immediate, unfettered access to transportation is (in a city that has a paucity of "public" transportation), I can't imagine a more "luxurious" experience.

Well, the Lexus dealer has a fireplace and a chandelier . . . maybe . . . nah!

stanj

I want to do business with your dealership.

alex6speed

@markcincinnati - The fact that you got an A8L as a loaner has me jealous! The dealership I use for service in Los Angeles has a fleet of Q3s and Q5s as their loaners. I have no problem with the Q5s (can't say the same about the Q3s), thought I'd love to try something a little higher than an A4 platform and not always an SUV. That being said, each loaner I've had only had mileage in the hundreds, so that's always awesome.

markcincinnati

Well, Alex, the A8L had the "executive" package on it -- I guess that must be something like "Prestige" -- the car was sublime. I would not buy one (especially not for $90K). Under the circumstances, it was EXACTLY what the doctor ordered, however. My aforementioned mother-in-law lives 100 minutes away from our house (she's in Columbus, we're in Cincinnati.) Although she is in great health (considering being 92), she gets cold a lot. This A8L had heated and ventilated rear reclining seats and a 2' x 4' "table-like fold-down thingy/armrest" with cup holders in it (I'm exaggerating about the 2'x4' dimensions, of course, it only SEEMED that big). My M-i-L could effectively turn on the heated seats and also, simultaneously, turn on the seat ventilation apparently providing "hot air" on her backside (she loved it). Of course, the thing had separate heating controls back there too. The massaging seats go the S4 about 2 better -- incorporating a shoulder massage function that was pretty darn nice. This A8 had an air suspension (maybe they all do, I didn't look) and I kept every possible parameter in DYNAMIC (which, frankly, didn't seem to make the "limo" any more nimble). The car was equipped with a slightly less smart version of the S4's DAP (no automatic go for example). But it would cruise all the way to Columbus at 90+MPH in serenity.

I can, sort of, see the attraction. But, damn, the thing is big. Decent, not great, BOSE sound system and we left it out in our driveway when we had a couple of -14 F temp events. It never didn't instantly start in the morning. But, damn, the thing is big.

I don't know if this A8L represents how "the other half lives" or not, but even if I had 1%-er money, I'd pass. All luxury, zero sportiness -- although it was quite responsive to the accelerator. But, damn . . . you know the rest.

BTW, when I returned the car to them, I filled it up and washed it, so that it was returned to them bright, shiny, and clean (inside and out). They had given me the car with a full tank and bright, shiny, and clean -- seemed only an appropriate quid pro quo.

I'm at a point where the upcoming (new) S6 (or the rumored RS5 SB) with the "sport or performance" package seems like my sweet spot -- of course, if they would simply goose the power in an A6 to close to 400 (up from 340 to perhaps 380 or so with a commensurate bump in torque), well that'd probably be as fine as wine -- assuming a performance package was available (oh yeah, and with RED seats) and that would Audi return to the 7-speed DSG across the A6/S6 line.

You know, though, the new A6 will have a heated windshield and heater wiper blades -- thus ending one of my pet peeves (frozen wiper blades, stuck to a window encrusted with non-see-through ice.)

millersntx

I don't know if the A4 uses the same oil or not, but I guess dealers just don't know how to forecast demand for such a low volume car. Really no excuse for not having the correct oil. It's not like it has a 2-3 week shelf life. It's not just oil - I had to wait nearly a week for a replacement tire because they didn't have the Conti's in stock at my dealership - which is one of the larger ones, if you take their ads at face value.

alex6speed

Mark, I totally agree with you on the S6 being right in the sweet spot. My gripe was more about dealerships and what they offer as loaners. You're quite fortunate to have a dealer that can loan out a car that's not a Q series or an A3.

I still would love an S6 ... did I mention that already?