Momentum Audi Houston

[911TT]

Hi Guys!

I have been lurking but this is my first post.

I just wanted to sound off for a bit!

Here's the story:

I WAS interested in the silver 2008 Audi R8 6-speed with 4,900 miles on it at Momentum Audi. It's been on ebay and autotrader now for a couple of months and not moving. They dropped the price from 104.9k to 99.9k to now 98.9k. As such, I thought it would be good time to go in and check out the car in person, get a trade value for my car, and then to make an offer.

Initially, I was corresponding with Tabitha via email. Tabitha is very cordial and wants me to set up a VIP appointment with them. She also tells me to call Josh (the "sales manager") to get the lowest price over the phone. I call Josh a few days later and I tell him that Tabitha told me to call him to get his lowest price. He then tells me that this is the lowest price and that they will not reduce the price any further. Moreover, he tells me that they already have two ("2") deposits on the car but that if I was ready to buy that I should just come in and get it.

I am thinking it's pretty much sold but that the potential buyers probably have refundable deposits and i should at least go and check out the car.

I get to Momentum Audi on Monday afternoon and I walk into the showroom to take a look at the car. I walk around and examine the car for about 15 minutes but no one walks over to see if i need any help or any sort. I am okay with this since this is a high end car and this car probably gets a lot of attention from everyone that walks in.

After being interested in the car, I go to the receptionist to see if i could get any help. They soon call over Frank Pecka, the Internet Director for the dealership, and he looks busy filing but eventually gets up to greet me. We discuss about the car and he opens the door and the hood and we examine it closely. I ask him how many owners have owned this car. I already know that it's a two owner car based on their ebay/Autotrader listing but then he responds that the car was bought here and that it's a one owner car. The car does have scratches on the right front side of the bumper and on the right rear bumper. He tells me that they can go ahead and just sand this out and will not need a repaint. Also, the driver's seat bolster is worn and there is some scuffing at the bottom of the seat.

He also tells me a couple of things about the car. The car does not have an alcantara headliner because it wasn't offered as an option on a 2008 model and that this R8 has the upgraded leather because the suede leather was the standard. Further, he points out that the R8 does not have the engine compartment in carbon fiber because it was not a factory option. I am thinking to myself either he's not the smartest guy or he's a very slick salesperson.

Needless to say, I am still interested in the car. I tell him that I have a Porsche 911 Turbo that I want to trade in and he tells me that he would love to take a look at it.

He tells me to call him ahead of time to make sure that he's in the office. I get a business card from him and i am working in the numbers in my head thinking that even if he lowballs me on my car, I am willing to stretch myself to get this car.

On Wednesday, as I am driving home from lunch to get my Turbo to take to the dealership for a trade in value, I call Frank Pecka just to make sure that he's available. I call him and I ask him if the R8 is still available for sale. He tells me no that it was sold. I then ask him when was the car sold. He tells me that it was sold yesterday morning (Tuesday). I was disappointed but I knew that other people were interested.

It's Thursday now and looking at ebay again to find another R8.

What do you know! Momentum Audi relisted their R8 again this morning!

Oh well!

BTW: I left a message for Steven Lutz from the ebay listing and haven't heard back from him!

[Bodhii]

And?......

I must have missed something. All sounds normal. Car salesmen are famously disorganized. And sales fall thru all of the time. Especially on Ebay.

I am surprised that "Frank Pecka" didn't call you. But I honestly don't think there is a conspiracy against you in any way, if that is the gist of the story.

Anyway,.. welcome to the forum and good luck on finding your right R8.

[desperado]

BTW, I believe it is true that there were no North American 2008 MY customer cars delivered with Carbon Fiber. Even though CF Blades were shown in the 2008 USA brochure, the notes say it is "Limited Availability" and they did not appear on the 2008 Order Guide (see attachment). At the time there was reputed to be a shortage of carbon fiber parts. I'm sure you can find plenty of discussion about it from that time period elsewhere on R8Talk. The interior and engine compartment carbon fiber is not shown at all on any of the 2008 sales materials.

The Carbon parts first appeared here with the 4/14/2008 revision of the 2009 USA Order Guide, see the last page of the attachment. The first time these options actually showed up on North American production cars was on the early 2009 model year automobiles. Audi told my dealer that mine was only the second car in the country with full CF.

The Alcantara headliner was an option in 2008 and 2009.

[911TT]

The car wasn't listed on ebay for awhile.

If the car was actually sold on Tuesday morning as Frank Pecka had mentioned, then I believe Frank Pecka was been honest and forthright Wednesday afternoon.

I am pretty confident that noboby walked in there on Tuesday morning, gave Frank Pecka a deposit and then he assumed that the car was sold.

The fact is that there were already two deposits on the car before and he never assumed in those cases that the car was sold. He in fact stated that unless he gets paid for the entirety of the car, the car is not sold.

That being the reasoning, he did lie to me on Wednesday afternoon when he stated that the car was already sold.

My issue is why would any (dealer or salesperson) be dismissive of a real and serious potential buyer. Maybe I don't the look the part of an "Audi Buyer" but that doesn't mean that they should be dismissive of me.

Audi dealers were alot friendlier and easier to deal with when my father bought his Audi 200 Turbo (after the entire brake fiasco with the 5000).

[drifting]

Some dealerships are like that.

I've had some really bad experiences because of my age. At the end of the day the day they lost your business if they want to keep the car let them. There must be other dealers you could go to?

With a car only done 5000 has scratches and worn seats doubt I would look at it twice unless it was a really good deal.

Don't let it put you off. You just know that they are not very helpful.

Good luck with your search and just take your time to get what you want.

[BlueSander]

If I were you, I would just go and find another car. For:
1. the dealer isn't cooperative enough. From my view, the guy named Josh was the one tried to leave no room for you to negotiate. I would have been hey, this is what I think the car is worth, if you'd like, I can come in and pay.
2. You have tried a couple times with no success, this car isn't the car for you. There are many out there either available now/soon to be for you to purchase.

[Herbert]

Take your business elsewhere. Simple as that.

[ptaylor_9849]

For three months I tried to buy an Aston Martin. I was lied to, brushed off and hung up on. They made it seem like they were doing me a favor selling me their car! Sound familiar? I really love cars but I must admit that the buying experience is the worst part for me. Dealing with sales people who know very little about their product and even less about customer satisfaction, makes me wonder if I shouldn't find another hobby. I was telling this same story to a friend at work who made the following statement which I thought applied perfectly. "Sometimes people make it very difficult to spend your money"

[M3R8]

It has to be a pretty stupid dealership to keep a car on the floor with scratches that they can sand. I've seen pictures (although haven't verified in reality) of pretty bad leather wear/scratches being taken care of quite nicely.

If its so easy, then get it done and put the car in top shape on the floor...

[Greg P]

I nearly bought a new R8 just over 2 years ago. However, my local Audi dealers attitude really stank (real arrogance) - perhaps they thought I was a tyre kicker. Anyway ended up in my 3rd 911.