Hi, guys.
Last weekend, my A8 search for Braunschweig took me.
What I experienced with my buddy there so adventurous, I would like to tell you:
The goal of my desire was a supposedly fully equipped A8 4.2 with 114tkm for 16.900...
Don't misunderstand, it should not come across in any way racist or derogatory, but at first the Turkish name of the seller a little disheartened me - but by the fact that the car dealership titulates itself as Alfa-Romeo "exclusively" dealer, I was then quite good courage – very wrongly, as it would turn out later.
I also assumed that as an Alfa dealer they would like to pay for my Alfa 156 - just as they describe it in the ad text – well, but in turn...
Well, after a phone call, he faxed me at the phone. quite easy-going seller the complete service booklet, as well as the letter:
First previous owner of a company, second previous owner of an honorable gentleman - now retired - who had already left the A8 at a VW/Audi dealer in Braunschweig in Oct. ,04 for 16t€, when he had taken his new Phaeton with him - human, sounds dreamlike!
He was very interested in information on the phone and told me interesting details:
- Brakes only hold 5tkm (shown at the last service in 08/04)
- The upper handlebars were made because they were knocked out.
- Telephone was stolen from the Audi dealer's car before the car was sold to Alfa-Haus and the telephone was defective via the multi steering wheel
- Shot rods were made once, as scratches from smaller garages- "accidents"
- Timing belts must be made at 120 – clear...
Otherwise tiptop! ...
Wonderful, again called the dealer and requested appointment for the weekend, there came the first funny announcement: In principle they could not make fixed appointments, because they can not know if they sell the car before and at the moment an increased demand for the car would be, especially a dealer from Austria would call daily. So I should call you one night before, so I'd be sure the car was still there. ... pffhhh – and that with an A8 waiting for a buyer since October!?!? Haha! Well, here too, I've been looking over it, passing through the details of my Alfa, which I'd like to leave there and he's just saying "no problem, we'll get that right...
After two hours of driving, arrived in a small but well-kept Alfa dealer: Strangely enough, only Alfa new cars and a pair of used Audis and VW's outside the door, the A8 not to be seen. The Turkish salesman was quite well cared for, but very young and somewhat chaotic: It took almost an hour to get to the test drive from the yard:
At first the car was not there (the first statement was that he was standing on a second plot a couple of streets further, where they park their remaining needed ones, later he allegedly came out of the back of the workshop). Then wait a long time, until finally the red plates of another car were there (allegedly also on the other yard), then wait again until he was back from the tank, because too little petrol for the test drive in the tank :-(
Second big disappointment: PDC advertised, but was missing – no wonder that the old previous owner had always been scratching himself into the shock bars (which had not yet been repaired). When the seller's stupid, stupid answer came: "What do they want with a parking aid, the beeping only bothers!
Next Irrigation: the Navi is not (yet) working, because they would get any "codes" to unlock only in a few days. "But the navigator would definitely work." Well, everything sounded very unprofessional...
We then announced to him that we wanted to undergo a dekra check on the A8 during the test drive, where he did not mind: "The car is so good, it has nothing. Go quietly to Dekra. Due to the whole delay we arrived too late at the Dekra, so we decided to go to an Audi partner (but of course not to the one who had sold it to the Alfa-Haus, but to another ;-)
The A8 made a good impression on the stage: No oil, etc.
Only unfortunately did the young assistant pass the car on her own instruction the couple hundred meters from outside the door to the back in the workshop drove a stupid Malheur:
She smashed a rear fender into the workshop gate while bending in. Was super embarrassing, a service manager arrived and apologized, but saw it quite loose. The damage would of course be paid by their insurance and the assistant also called the Alfa House and gave me a written confirmation that the damage was being done by Audi.
The reading of the fault memory resulted in three small errors: dashboard, interior monitoring and multifunction steering wheel/ telephone control (the latter seemed familiar ;-)
The following test drive with a very nice Audi-master confirmed our good other impression about the condition of the A8.
Back at Alfa, another Turkish gentleman suddenly showed up who did not introduce himself, but turned out to be the boss/manager (?) on demand and made his way through the papers (our written confirmation from Audi about the damage acceptance and the error log).
He spoke quite well German, but was nevertheless, from type and appearance, someone you expect less at an Alfa-Romeo "Exclusive".
We showed him the error protocol, which he generally didn't seem to like: "Yes, and, what kind of mistakes are these, did you tell the people at Audi that the battery was stuck off for a long time? There you have to connect the device, then put the ignition on and off again and then make the diagnosis again, then there are no mistakes! What's this supposed to be?Failures in interior surveillance?I only told him that I was not the right person to answer that – he should just do a detailed research, then he would certainly be able to fix the errors if he were even interested in it and that I would be new with the ignition...
Well, after that, he went on to his office, which, unlike the sales room, made a messy and unkempt impression.
Guys, if we'd let a hidden camera run along the following conversation, I'd be sure to get some cash for file05 or mirror TV! To repeat everything exactly would blow the frame, but I do not want to withhold the highlights from you:
He put a handwritten note (!) in my hand (not even on Alfa letter paper) on which the defects of my Alfas were summarized, even deficiencies that I am not aware of and unfortunately also with prices that I don't even know about Alfa! Just as an example: the rear bumper, which has a small crack, wants to completely replace this car dealership for a total of 500€ (!) for sage and writing – no wonder that the note was handwritten and did not come directly out of the system. I'm going to have the fun of getting my Alfa dealer's note evaluated on the spot soon... Unfortunately, the discussion with the gentleman led to nothing, since he was neither willing to go into the alleged flaws, nor was he willing to take his purchasing advantage as an Alfa dealer for the material, but rather tried to fool us as if he had ignorant idiots sitting in front of him.
The bottom line was: My Alfa is, of course, super bad (the price he wanted to pay is an incredible 50% below the recommended Schwacke dealer purchase price) whereas the A8 was of course absolutely no air down – a negotiation guide, as you expect it in this form at a gas station dealer with a sparsely fenced yard, cords with wimples on it and office in a small wooden shed ;-)
Neither the electronic problems, nor the missing phone, nor the downrun brakes, the smashed bumpers and the unmade timing belts would allow him to go off the price. He also stayed with the A8 without PDC, sports seats, telephone, heating, etc. could advertise as fully equipped.
The sharpest was the discussion about the timing belt: I meant that one should also like to make the timing belt at Audi with a car that is cared for throughout at Audi. Not because I would not trust his workshop to do so, but also in terms of a mobility guarantee. His offer was to make the timing belt with him for 500€ and I could assume that "his master could do this perfectly, because he used to drive Formula 1 and would have bolted to Formula 3 motos. Look for Maring on the Internet, then you'll see. "Delusion," I replied, "he drove Formula 1 and is now a master in your workshop, yes?"
He would definitely do the scratches in the bumper, but they wouldn't need to be painted completely, because he (O-tone)"tricks" how to polish the paint, so that you don't see the scratches anymore.
In general, the guy said that he was the best A8 seller in the region and the Audi was the absolutely best I would get for the price if he had been able to sell it for VAT. To all the shortcomings to which he was addressed, he always replied quite stupidly with shoulder shrugging "Aha, phone missing? I don't know, so what? Then you just buy a new one..." My buddy said at some point, "Do you even know the car? Have the impression that you have never seen the car, as you tell us here!" ;-)
At some point I had to start laughing and finished the unreal conversation.
On my own initiative, the guy also issued me a confirmation regarding the accident at the Audi partner, under the motto: So that you also have the safety... This time also actually on an Alfa letter sheet, but with plenty of spelling errors.
I was very surprised, because I was just told that the accident would not create a "disadvantage"... Since I found it rather pointless, as it did not hit the core, I wrote in handwritten form that the damage was not caused by me, but by the Audi car dealership.
In general, the gentleman was not really upset about the incident, he already let it through that he would rather do the damage himself and charge the Audi car dealership. I just thought, oh God, that poor Audi house now has to get angry with such a windy and semi-eigend person.
My impression was finally confirmed when two days later the young Turkish salesman called me and was excited and rather confused about me complaining that the Audi car dealership was supposedly not to be reached and that he could not get any further and would now send me the bill for the damage – I should then take care of it myself. I was just left alone and thought that he should please clarify the matter with the very cooperative Audi partner and that I would have nothing to do with the matter. When he got louder and told me something about "lawyer", I just said, "Do what you think is right, I don't care anymore about the incident and I hung up ;-)
A call to the lady at Audi confirmed that the thing is working very well and you absolutely cannot understand where the displeasure of the dealer comes from. Self-reliance will pay Audi and I shouldn't worry about it – I don't do it anyway, I've had my friends with me all the time as witnesses, have a written confirmation from Audi and a good private legal insurance :-)
Furthermore, in conversation with the Audi lady it came out that this ominous car dealership was probably only recently taken over by these Turkish rulers, who had in fact a "hook around the corner". The lady's father-in-law would have bought an Alfa new car there and had big problems with the car dealership, no wonder!
Well, I'm poorer for a given Saturday and richer for some unpleasant experiences. I even play with the idea of passing this story on to Alfa-Romeo's sales management – I can't imagine that such practices, called "Alfa-Romeo Exclusive Dealers", are wanted by the manufacturer – especially at Alfa as a premium brand and flagship of the Fiat Group.
.. and now you ;-)
Greetings, Franco
Edited by Franco
