Schneider+Nelson Audi Customer Testimonials

Message: Dear FRANK,

As you will recall, my father (of 83 years,) and I visited your beautiful showroom in West Long Branch back in April of this year, shopping for an Audi A4. Your knowledge of Audi Products and the car industry as a whole represented Audi impeccably, and you impressed my Dad and I (both Audi enthusiasts,) as a fellow-enthusiast yourself. You found the perfect car for us, providing more than one opportunity for us both to test drive the car at our leisure. We never felt the slightest pressure.

I also wish to thank your manager; who spent no small amount of time endeavoring to find us a buyer for our trade-in; a 2003 Infinity G35. Unfortunately, we ended up buying an A4 from another dealer in NJ.

I said "unfortunately" because after the price was paid, the experience took a sad turn for the worse. If the price alone were viewed with an eye toward "all-importance," we might have remained satisfied. Alas, that old quote comes to mind, the author of which now evades me...

"there is nothing of exemplary quality that exists, that cannot be made a little cheaper, or a little less enduring, by the purveyor of lessor integrity and the man that considers price alone, is that purveyor's fair game."

In this case, it was not the product's quality or excellence, but the dealers' that folded like a cheap lawn chair! Before the sale, the salesman failed to apprise us that the Bluetooth feature had a specific list of cellphones that were compatible, and at a $500.00 premium, this was a detail worth addressing. I had, at the time, 6 months left on my cellphone contract, and my phone was NOT on the list! Also, the sticker notation; "Pre-wired for satellite Radio" does NOT MEAN: "feel free to hook-up your own if you have a degree in electronics" (as I do.) I also had an XM RADIO contract with 10 months left to go, so we had discussed my intention to do so before the sale! We may have opted to pay for the Bose Radio Upgrade (with Sirius) had I known this was not an option.

After the sale, the salesman failed miserably at attempting to demonstrate the Audi's features...we drove home at 10:30 pm with the dash readouts in degrees centigrade, and the MPH readout in Kilometers per hour, unable to change them till we read the manual. Upon rising the next morning, it became evident that the car had not been detailed properly, and the delivery inspection was not stamped as "performed" in the manual. We found a faded spot on the hood that was apparent in overcast conditions, which required that the hood be repainted. After repainting, the shade did not match. Another trip to the dealership, some 45 minutes north of Brick, and the nightmare was just beginning! After replacing the hood from another A4 in stock (KUDOS..., we thought!,) we found that the tire rotation promised had not been done...AND the hood was not placed properly..., it stuck out about 1/2 " from the front of the bumper facia. While we waited (now in our 5th hour,) the service dept. rep came back red in the face to explain that the tech had "chipped" the hood while re-aligning it! There were no more A4's in our color in stock, so we drove home in a loaner (at least it was a nice shiny A6!) As I write this, we still await the call from the dealer to apprise us as to their solution for the hood. We are awaiting, I think, the receipt of a new shipment of A4's in the hope that one in our color will be in it. Oh yea, after their tech moved our car from the side of the building to the front, a 30-second trip; the in-dash drawer, where we keep the registration, was jammed shut (requiring another trip back to the dealer, at a later date,) and our radio pre-sets were deleted... nosey fingers I guess.
I have not mentioned that due to the area of town that they are located in, with new construction there, we have received wrong directions from their staff three times ( the dealer showroom is not co-located with the service dept, and we have gotten lost three times,) making a trip to the dealer an all-day affair each and every visit!

Last but not least, we never received a phone call, or a letter asking us how we would rate the dealer after the sale! This industry-standard practice of surveying the customer after the sale, has NEVER BEEN MISSED in all the car buying events in our family's history..., some 30 combined purchases! A call to AUDI showed that one was indeed received by SOMEONE WITH OUR NAME, but it wasn't me or Dad! Reading between the lines, we suspect that the salesman's phone number was inserted where ours should have been, and HE took the satisfaction-survey.

All that to say this; regardless of the savings (in PRICE,) we feel like we have been robbed of the best part of buying an AUDI, and that is the enjoyment of the WHOLE CONSUMER EXPERIENCE! The DEALER does MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

You'll get our service business at least until I shop for an A3 this fall.

Brick, NJ

P.S. The infinity doesn't hold a candle to the A4, even the new one is seriously rough and un-refined in camparison. If you know how to drive a performance car; paying for 14 miles-to-the-gallon to get beat-up pales in comparison to being thrilled with
perfection AND getting 18+ miles-to-the-gallon (in "S" MODE to boot!)