george

question for you guys (or gals) if i order an s4 now how long will it be before it gets here?

AvramD

Each dealer gets a certain number of allocations per month. Each allocation is scheduled to be built in a specific week - mine was an August allocation, with a build week of 36/37 (mid Sept).

Once the month of the allocation starts, it's generally too late to change the order. You need to find a dealer with an allocation that hasn't been sold yet, that is as soon as possible, *without* already being fixed. IOW, you will be shooting for an October allocation. You'll probably be able to find a Nov. allocation, but maybe not Oct.

Supposedly, the car gets delivered w/in a month after it is built. It's hard to guage this w/ the current cars b/c many were already in the US back in August (June allocations, July builds), but were held in port waiting for the release. But this is the theory. So, if you land an Oct alloc, you should see your car this century. Nov. alloc, you're looking at a millenium-mobile.

HTH

DMoore

This is the explanation I've been given by the dealers I've spoken to.

Audi gives each dealer a monthly allocation of cars. In other words, Dealer A is allotted 5 cars to be built in December, while Dealer B may get only 3. (Or 10 - I'm just making up these numbers.)

To build a car takes about a week or so, I gather, and then it's about 6 weeks from factory to you. So the quickest would be about 2 months. But your dealer's allotment may be booked up beyond that. He might not have an open allotment until January - which means you don't get the car until March. But if he has an open allotment in September - that hasn't been built yet - you might be able to get the car built to your specs, and have it go into production next week.

That's how you get the car the fastest - unless. Apparently, there's also some sort of system by which Audi keeps its eyes open for cars already built to your specs. If there is such a car and it isn't spoken for - it might get diverted to you. In that event, you might get the car very quickly. That seemed to apply for the original group of cars - I don't know if it still exists, now that cars are actually going to dealers.

So - how long it takes - depends on what you want, what's already out there, and when your dealer has an available slot. Getting a car more quickly might entail shopping around for the dealer who has the earliest available allotment date, who's willing to change his order to get what you want.

And I haven't even mentioned the possibility of a dealer swap - if some other dealer happens to have a car on his lot (or on allotment) that has the features you want.

There. Wasn't that simple?

DMoore
'98 A4QTip
'00 S4M (due soon)

Steve S.

Most dealers are getting one to two S4s per month. I know of one dealer that was not
allocated ANY for two months straight. Some of the bigger dealers may be getting more..
like Pray Audi in CT (maybe as high as eight, possibly ten....but IMHO, this is really
rare).

With this allocation, the dealer either orders a car per a client's request, taking a deposit
of $500 - $1,000, or orders it in what they think is a desirable configuration (usually loading
it up with most if not all the options - maybe not the phone). So in any given month the dealer
has some cars on order that are spoken for...and some that are just for the dealership and are ready for sale and will be scheduled to be built. If it is not too far in the ordering process some of the cars purchased for dealer stock can be changed to fit a new incoming customer's needs. If someone changes their mind on a car, the dealer can work with a new customer to change that incoming car to the specs that the new customer wants. After a certain stage in the ordering process, the cars cannot be changed. In some cases, all the cars that are allocated to any dealer may be already spoken for. In that case the dealer needs to wait until his/hers new allocation to order another S4. In my case, I have a car that was ordered in September for October/November build, that should arrive in early January...maybe late December.

Steve S.
97 2.8QM
00 S4 (jan?)

AvramD

There's a lockout period between allocation & build where the dealer can't change the specs. Each Audi goes through a production "process" with it's status being reported to the dealers along the way. "A, B & C" statuses are all strictly paper - your car is just a notion at this point.

D status is "in production." My car went into D status early in August (around week 31), even though it "presumably" didn't start the assembly line until week 36. I asked my dealer to change the color of my car in week 32, and he couldn't. His computer locked him out. He even supposedly made some calls to no avail. So, my car was locked from being changed for 4 weeks before it started getting built.

Every car goes through this process even if it's not a special order. Dealers will have allocations that nobody asks for - especially early in the S4 game, when the rest of the world outside of Audi enthusiasts didn't know what it was yet. It's up to the dealer to spec out a car he thinks will be easy to sell. Whether it's his specs or yours, once it hits D, he can't chagne it.

However, dealers can still *trade* cars that are in D status. So if XYZ motors has a car with the specs you want, in D status, and they haven't taken a deposit on it yet, then ABC cars can call them up (or AoA, not sure), and say - hey, can we swap this order # for that one over at XYZ? And the cars get re-destined in the computer.

HTH.

Steve S.

Are dealers swapping spit (I mean A4s and A6s)? Yes.

Are dealers swapping S4s? I don't think so (too rare/too new)...maybe in a year or so.

The dealers around me do not trade much, or so I am told...it is too competitive in the
SF/San Jose Bay Area.

Steve S.
97 2.8QM
00 S4 (jan?)

William

I noticed a post on the TT Forum this week that mentioned a FL dealer with an unallocated S4, and their phone number. You might look check there if FL and a black S4 is an option for you. Good luck.

Scot kight

Swapping dosent do anything bad for either dealer. They do pat each others backs. I know, my car is a swap from another dealership :>

One of these days I should have my vin...

Steve S.

Say a customer has an option of going to one dealer and paying MSRP for a specific car...OR...arranging through another dealer to get a specific car at MSRP....and they are both local to him....Now, say you are that first dealer. Why would you trade a car you know damn well is in immediate demand...to your local competitor dealership. I wouldn't. I would sit tight and wait for that same customer to call or visit my dealership and then sell the car to that individual.

Let me clarify my statement...no Audi dealers in the SF/Bay Area will be swapping S4s. A4s
may be a different thing altogether. Other parts of the country may be different.
Steve S.
97 2.8QM
00 S4 (jan?)

Also thinking about an S4

There is a red one at Jim Ellis Audi in Atlanta.
I am test driving it this Saturday. Can't wait!!!