Car mis-sold by Audi dealership

LightFlare

prowla said:

DT03 said:

Update. Head office have been in touch and apparently they are still working things out with the dealership so we’re still waiting. 

To try and clear up some comments, the car has the 40 badge on it. With regards to us driving it away despite the paperwork saying it was a 35, we were obviously too trusting and the salesman took full advantage, fobbing us off for months (this is why it took 12 months for the truth to come out). We won’t be that naive again after this. My husband was never interested in a 35, only the 40 (call it midlife crisis or what you will, he never noticed the difference in output so… The point is that we were sold a brand new car under false pretences. The salesman did not make a mistake, he knew exactly what he was doing. It’s interesting to see the differing opinions on here, to which everyone is entitled to. Again thanks for sharing them.

I'm with the OP:

1. They said they wanted a 40.
2. The salesperson sold them a 40.
3. They picked up the car with a 40 badge on it.
4. The paperwork said 35 and the salesperson assured them it was in error and was to be rectified.
5. It's not been rectified.
   

Audi and/or the dealer should put things right by ensuring the OP has a 40 model.

This is the difficult bit - they were actually sold a 35 all the paperwork says so it may depend on the relative and actual pricing. I suspect the OP also paid for a 35

If the Op asked for a 40 and salesperson said oh we've got this 40 for £xx (which was the price for a 35 and was a mis-badged 35) then I can imagine how the rest played out

If however, they have paid for a 40 - then i agree, they should get a 40 (a 1 year old one)or at least the difference in price refunded. Might get a gesture of good will added although as admitted - the OP didnt actually notice the difference in power/acceleration anyway

35 = 150bhp, 270lbft, 135g/km, 139mph, 9.5sec to 60 
40 = 190bhp, 320lbft, 137g/km, 150mph, 7.5sec to 60

that imo is a difference I would notice (I hope)

Tricky one - wait and see.

prowla

LightFlare said:

prowla said:

DT03 said:

Update. Head office have been in touch and apparently they are still working things out with the dealership so we’re still waiting. 

To try and clear up some comments, the car has the 40 badge on it. With regards to us driving it away despite the paperwork saying it was a 35, we were obviously too trusting and the salesman took full advantage, fobbing us off for months (this is why it took 12 months for the truth to come out). We won’t be that naive again after this. My husband was never interested in a 35, only the 40 (call it midlife crisis or what you will, he never noticed the difference in output so… The point is that we were sold a brand new car under false pretences. The salesman did not make a mistake, he knew exactly what he was doing. It’s interesting to see the differing opinions on here, to which everyone is entitled to. Again thanks for sharing them.

I'm with the OP:

1. They said they wanted a 40.
2. The salesperson sold them a 40.
3. They picked up the car with a 40 badge on it.
4. The paperwork said 35 and the salesperson assured them it was in error and was to be rectified.
5. It's not been rectified.
   

Audi and/or the dealer should put things right by ensuring the OP has a 40 model.

This is the difficult bit - they were actually sold a 35 all the paperwork says so it may depend on the relative and actual pricing. I suspect the OP also paid for a 35

If the Op asked for a 40 and salesperson said oh we've got this 40 for £xx (which was the price for a 35 and was a mis-badged 35) then I can imagine how the rest played out

If however, they have paid for a 40 - then i agree, they should get a 40 (a 1 year old one)or at least the difference in price refunded. Might get a gesture of good will added although as admitted - the OP didnt actually notice the difference in power/acceleration anyway

35 = 150bhp, 270lbft, 135g/km, 139mph, 9.5sec to 60 
40 = 190bhp, 320lbft, 137g/km, 150mph, 7.5sec to 60

that imo is a difference I would notice (I hope)

Tricky one - wait and see.

Yes, it's about perspectives.

• I say they were sold a 40, but given a 35.
• I'd suggest that what the OP paid for isn't really relevant; the price is plausible with discounts/offers/promotions in-play for an in-stock vehicle (eg. end of quarter sales targets).
• The OP's error is in trusting the dealership; they say they "noticed that it was registered as a 35 tfsi which he brought to their attention. The salesman came back and assured us that it was an error with the DVLA and took a picture of the car with the badge showing 40".
• Regarding the performance figures, I have to say I've bought new cars and not put my foot down nor had them on a track, so the 0-60 acceleration may not be immediately obvious and the top speed is pretty much an irrelevance with regards to driving on the public roads; I'd even say that 7.5s isn't massively quick and you may have to put the car into "Sport" mode to get the performance.

But yes, a tricky one.

You do have to have your wits about you with the sales people. 

I bailed on buying a new car a couple of years ago; the first salesperson told me I could have it at list price and there were no deals to be had, take it or leave it, so I declined. 

I went back a couple of times to see what they could do and eventually another person came up with a much better deal and I agreed to go ahead with it. 

However, I had stipulated that I wanted a like-for-like specification with my current model and it turned out the tyres were different and the new one's wheels needed upgrading to allow them; I wasn't prepared to pay £2k more and the dealer wasn't prepared to include them, so the deal fell through and I'm still driving my old car.

mills705

This actually nearly happened to me a few years ago so it must happen from time to time. 

I was speaking to a salesman regarding a 99PS Ford Fiesta at an Arnold Clark dealership. Test drove a vehicle and was looking at a vehicle couple years old. The sales manager advised that someone was trading in a vehicle in a couple weeks which was what I was after in the colour and a few non essential optional packs. 

I paid my deposit and the paperwork had the registration on but did not have any note of the PS on it. Note there were 3 versions of the vehicle, a 80 PS, 100PS and a 125 PS vehicle. 

I was looking at the insurance a few days later and using the reg given I was getting the least powerful engine map. I called the dealership immediately. Gave them hell. 

Got a discount off a different car, free transport, full mats and a full tank of petrol for that !!!!!! up. 

eskbanker

prowla said:

I'd suggest that what the OP paid for isn't really relevant; the price is plausible with discounts/offers/promotions in-play for an in-stock vehicle (eg. end of quarter sales targets).

I haven't gone back through the whole thread but recall asking about exactly what it says on the detailed invoice, as it presumably won't have simply stated a single net price but should have shown a base price for the car (that can be reconciled with published price lists) and then all the adjustments for extras, discounts, VAT, road tax, fuel, etc.

It's undoubtedly plausible that the invoice shows the base price for a 40 and then heavy discounts, but conversely if it states a 35, it should be straightforward to validate that the starting point for the pricing was the cheaper model.

It does seem clear that there was some misleading going on, but I'd argue that if OP got what they paid for (even if not what was asked for) then that is a lesser evil....

Hoenir

mills705 said:

 The sales manager advised that someone was trading in a vehicle in a couple weeks which was what I was after in the colour and a few non essential optional packs. 

This is a new vehicle though. Everything in the "system" from the minute it left the factory will have been correctly recorded through to when it arrived on the dealers forecourt. There's no manual reinputting of data. 

MikeJXE

What I don't get other than why is this thread so long

If the order said a 35 but you wanted a 40 why did you sign it ?

If you were told the paperwork was incorrect why did you sign it and expect something different ?

Grumpy_chap

prowla said:

• I say they were sold a 40, but given a 35.

I'd say the OP discussed a 40 but was sold (and given) a 35.  The OP has confirmed that all the paperwork (quote, order form, not just the DVLA V5) said "35".

LightFlare

Grumpy_chap said:

prowla said:

• I say they were sold a 40, but given a 35.

I'd say the OP discussed a 40 but was sold (and given) a 35.  The OP has confirmed that all the paperwork (quote, order form, not just the DVLA V5) said "35".

I agree - the point of contention (in my mind) is whether the dealership/salesperson KNEW it wasn't a 40 and tried to mislead the OP into thinking it was a OR whether they were also "innocent" to the error and basically incompetent 

prowla

Grumpy_chap said:

prowla said:

• I say they were sold a 40, but given a 35.

I'd say the OP discussed a 40 but was sold (and given) a 35.  The OP has confirmed that all the paperwork (quote, order form, not just the DVLA V5) said "35".

Yebbut - the car had a 40 badge on it and they were told the paperwork was wrong.

"The salesman came back and assured us that it was an error with the DVLA and took a picture of the car with the badge showing 40"

Mildly_Miffed

Grumpy_chap said:

prowla said:

• I say they were sold a 40, but given a 35.

I'd say the OP discussed a 40 but was sold (and given) a 35.

The OP hasn't confirmed or denied, but my suspicion is that they viewed and bought *THAT* car parked there, with only a possibly-factory-misfitted 40 badge on the back contradicting all available paperwork.