[RChoudry]

Well, for those of us who think BMW customer service is not exactly up to par, I found out yesterday that Audi ain't far behind.

My friend Jeff and I picked up his new shiny Laser Red/Onyx Leather S4 with tiptronic from a local dealer. Needless to say, they screwed up the paperwork and logistics of the pickup. We were there for hours on the hottest day of the year, not to mention our only day off.

Once, ready to go, the radio would not work....they had to take it out and replace a fuse. Then, I noticed a bunch of scratches on the aluminum gear selector console that were incurred during the radio fix. that part had to be ordered for future replacement.

They got the car with pre-drilled holes in the front bumper for the license plate holder which could not be undone without a paint-matched trim piece. The dealer would not even throw in a "customized" license plate frame or insert for the trouble. At least BMW will supply the replacement bump strip!

On top of that, the driver's side floormat was missing and had to be ordered as well.

We had to fight hand over fist for a set of wheel locks. ($89 Audi retail)

Well, for a car just a hair under MSRP, I think they could have done a lot more. I felt better, albeit it's not right, about BMW because I think they try a little harder than this dealer was yesterday.

The car was one of the few he could get a hold of and for that reason he put up with all this. Otherwise, he's quite happy with his purchase.

Will post pics eventually!

 

[genaplex]

He didn't get the six speed ... what an ass!

 

[RChoudry]

I think ass is a good description! It was his preference to try the tiptronic this time. He's had an M3 in the past with a manual. Just wanted a change.

 

[ALEX325i]

I think ass is a good description! It was his preference to try the tiptronic this time. He's had an M3 in the past with a manual. Just wanted a change.

Here's my take on the subject...

I too once dumped a manual for a Tip (98 A4 1.8T w/quattro and aforementioned Tip gearbox). I thought I could "live" with it since I could always drive it in "manual" mode... Yeah, right...

To me, the bottom line is: if you "think" you "may" miss the manual tranny, you WILL miss it...

 

[rwg]

My recently disowned brother just bought a Cadillac CTS - with an automatic. It's not even a tip. *sigh* I mean, he used to be my brother! You think you know someone after being associated with them for your whole life . . .

 

[gundamzaku]

transmission

i agree on the transmission preference, once you drive manual, you never wanna go back...except my father. he's been an auto mechanic for decades and he just bought a new suburban...what the heck is that man?!

however, there is always a good side and a bad side to both. manual won't allow you to use your free hand(which is not since it's manual) while driving to do other stuff to distract you. at the same time, automatic allow you to attend to other emergencies like waving the the good looking girl/guy driving next to you on the freeway.

 

[bmwsfca]

He had to have it?

Thanks for sharing the experience.
He must really want the car badly to put up with all that stuff from the dealership.

A common theme..... car manufacturers build a quality product only to let the dealers screw them up.

Anyone out here have any experience with factory delivery at the South Carolina BMW factory?

 

[blackdawg]

two questions about the S4:

1. does it not feel like a leaden piglet at 3600+ pounds in stop and go traffic?

2. does it suffer from heat soak pretty badly on severely hot days such as 100+ F weather?

just curious about both issues. my attitude about audis is that they're engineering is faultless, but they're R&D budget can only go so far, so they're even more despicable than BMW or Mercedes because they put less money into engineering out weight from their S and RS cars.

 

[RChoudry]

it does feel on the heavier side, but we're still waiting to run some performance numbers. Will keep you posted!

 

[DougDogs]

I think ass is a good description! It was his preference to try the tiptronic this time. He's had an M3 in the past with a manual. Just wanted a change.

I hope he doesn't have the same problems I had with the Tip in my "99 A6 2.8 That transmission had a mind of it's own until the oil temp was up (can take 10-15 minutes or longer, in winter time)
Even in full auto mode, it would hold gears too long. In Tip mode sometimes it would not upshift when told to, if I was giving too much gas. (I was told it was for emmision reasons, but, who knows for sure.)