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09-11-2011, 11:27 PM | #1 |
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Avoid Barrier Audi Sales
I know some of you don't troll over at the main E90Post PNW section, so I decided to post it up here too for my ex-M3 brothers.
I had a recent negative experience that I want to share with you guys: I thought I wanted to order an S4 to replace my E55 late last year (Dec 2010), so I started asking around for the best price. Diane M. at Barrier Audi was the only one who accepted my offer for a MY2010 S4 custom ordered for invoice + 500. We went over the options multiple times before we confirmed the order (Phantom Black Pearl exterior, Black / Silver two-toned NAPPA leather interior, and every packages + options). She confirmed that my order was in and the car will be in bound in late March, early April. We remained in contact over the next couple months and I was informed that my car has finally finished production and it was in-bound on a boat. Expected delivery is about 2 weeks at that point. She gave me the order sheet of the car and I immediately noticed that the NAPPA LEATHER option was missing on my order. I contacted her immediately and she was not sure whether it was ordered. Later, after a few phone calls, she confirmed that the car indeed did not have the nappa leather. Instead, it came with Alcantara inserts. Normally, I would be ok with that, but given my wife's strange qualms about Alcantara, I was not allowed to buy a car with Alcantara interior. I told her that I won't be accepting the delivery since it wasn't the car that I ordered. To her credit, she asked the service department if there is a way to retrofit the leather (of course not!). She pushed me a couple times saying that the car has so many options, it won't sell for a long time. However, I stood firm and the car eventually sold QUICKLY. There was some half-hearted apologies, but there was no offers to re-order the car or any form of compensation (e.g. early MY2011 delivery) for wasting my time. Fast forward to August, I was once again looking for a replacement vehicle for my E55 AMG. I decided to give Barrier Audi another chance. So I got in touch with Diane again telling her that I am interested in re-ordering an MY2011 S4. I also reminded her that since they screwed up my order earlier in the year that I would like to order the car at invoice as a way of compensation. However, what I got in the email was nothing but attitude. She stated that she wants invoice + 800 (WTF!? now you want more money than what we previously agreed upon!?) because the demand for this car is so high (she said she delivered 3 that weekend). To compensate for the higher price, she said she MIGHT be able to find me an earlier build spot. I politely told her to go fly a kite. It's a shame that Barrier Audi and its sales team would not own up to their own mistakes.
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kev { divinum est sedate dolorem }
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09-12-2011, 08:27 AM | #2 |
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Sounds like a sale's pitch to me. If I'm buying another car in the future, i'm out sourcing my business to another state. I'm sorry to hear about your experience Kev. How are you btw? Getting rid of the AMG now?
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09-13-2011, 12:32 AM | #3 |
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I'm doing well. Just started a new project (see sig). This will probably keep me busy for a couple years until the 991.2 comes out and I finally have a real job.
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09-13-2011, 12:47 AM | #4 |
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Hey Kev,
I'm realy sorry to hear about your not so good experience. I know I'm not a Bimmer owner (well at least not yet, gf is buying a M3 convert), but I have been with Barrier for over 6 years and I've love to have more forum members buying cars. I usually deal with Audi or European car enthusiasts than just a "regular" customer walking in the door. If you are done with Barrier I totally understand, but take if from me, you will have a very different experience from me if you give me a chance. PM me if you want to talk. |
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09-13-2011, 11:05 AM | #5 |
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09-14-2011, 07:00 PM | #6 | |
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You got PM. We should try to meet up
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09-14-2011, 11:17 PM | #7 |
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09-22-2011, 01:57 AM | #8 |
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I've had similar bad experiences with Barrier Audi and Barrier Porsche in Bellevue, WA. I dont want to go in to the gory details here but lets just say after buying 8 or 9 cars combined from Barrier Motors, I'm DONE!
As another member mentioned here... I look out of state to buy my cars. My recent M3 was bought in Oregon. Great prices, great experience. Trust me, I've gone through A LOT of cars in my time and one thing I learned through my extensive car buying experience... buying cars in WA state sucks. Disappointing really that I have to drive a couple hrs south to buy cars.
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10-01-2011, 06:55 PM | #10 |
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I concur with the THEROK, Dave is a nice guy and easy to talk to. Went on a few test drives with him, but bought elsewhere. Barrier was only giving me a $1k discount on the managers Cayenne Turbo that he drove for 3k miles. Not a great deal.
Oh and the Porsche service department...no loaners. They'll rent you a car from Enterprise if you bought from them, otherwise, $40/day. Worse service anywhere. Oh and btw, they don't even give shuttle rides to downtown Seattle. Can you believe that! I guess they expected me to take the bus home after taking my $100k+ Panamera in for service. Audi sales is another joke. I went in looking for an S4 at the time. Steve Tate, took me for a test drive and was a total joke. He pulled over with the right side wheels on gravel and left side wheels on the pavement. He asked me if I know much about the quattro system and without warned, burned out kicking gravel everywhere onto the road. Not only did I feel bad for the new S4's paint, but now there was a bunch of gravel pebbles on the road. Talk about making the road unsafe for other drivers. I skipped Barrier and went to Roger Jobs. While it's a far drive away, the service is much better and it gives me a reason to go to Vancouver. |
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12-22-2011, 07:56 PM | #13 | |
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They screwed up my order once already. I waited for a car for months to find that it wasn't the car that I wanted. There was no offer to make things right from the dealership side at that time. Later, I wanted to give them a second chance to make things right. Instead of at least matching their initial offer, they wanted more money for round 2. Is that really how you think fair business should be conducted? I, for one, don't agree with that.
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12-22-2011, 08:39 PM | #14 |
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I did read your thread and all the replies. You offered them almost zero profit on the first deal; they screwed up the order.
I think it is bogus that they didn't honor the same deal a second time - my boss would (and yes I do sell BMW's, but I don't pay my bills at $500 over invoice). I don't think your offer of invoice was reasonable; the dealer isn't in this business for charity. Let me ask - are you one of the best Anesthesiologists or the least expensive in Seattle? If I needed you to put me to sleep for surgery; can I negotiate you down to your cost to provide the service? I'm just curious? |
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12-22-2011, 09:38 PM | #15 | |
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What you just said up there is why I would not buy another car in PNW. I would rather ship a car up from Cali and pay for shipping or drive it back up myself so that I don't have to deal with that "I'm doing you a favor by selling you a car" attitude. It's fine that you don't want to sell the car at invoice. There are multiple ones that would want to just move a car to increase their turnover along the Californian coast.
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12-22-2011, 10:06 PM | #16 |
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I'm in agreement with you that raising the price has no place here.
I think they should've done the deal for $500 over. In all likelihood it will cost you more than $500 to get a new car home from California. Were they not receptive to honoring the previous deal? |
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