Audi Chantilly

This might a slightly long review for some, but I thought I should write this and share my experience with Audi Chantilly. My wife and I went to test drive a slightly used Q7 on a Saturday afternoon in April. We sort of liked the car and went on to test drive other cars ( Range Rover, BMW X5 ) at other dealerships later that day. A few days later I contacted Audi Chantilly and make an offer via e-mail as I was on a business trip in Europe . We batted this back and forth for a while and about a week later came to a compromise and I said I would take the car. Everything seemed OK! We went back there on another Saturday to do the paperwork (which took 3 hours) and to pick up the car. We took a cursory look at the car and noticed a bunch of scratches on it as well as stains in the interior that we had not seen before. The factory rubber mats were gone and a few other things seemed off. We were told that this was the car we test drove and nothing had changed. Nevertheless, we decided to buy the car – after all we were at an Audi dealership and were buying an Audi Certified car from a dealer that is part of the Penske group (NYSE: PAG ) .My weekends are precious as I travel for work during the week – so I just need to get stuff done on weekends and need to move onto other things in my spare time so I really don’t have a lot of time to see if I’m getting screwed. I assumed that an Audi dealer , who tells me I am buying the care I test drove would be somewhat truthful. We bought the car and went home. I went through the car thoroughly in my driveway and noticed a lot of other things wrong with it. I went to my iPad as we had taken pictures of the car we originally test drove. I was shocked to see that Audi Chantilly had done a “bait and switch” – in other words committed total fraud. I could tell the difference from the original pictures that the tires (Pirelli vs. Bridgestone) , badging on the fenders and a few other small details that they had sold us a different car. The next day I proceeded to e-mail can call the sales person, who did not return my calls or messages ( obviously). This is a Sunday and I’m due to board a trans-Atlantic flight the same day, so I really don’t have a lot time to deal with these [non-permissible content removed]. I then drove the car back to Audi Chantilly , met the salesperson who told me I had taken pictures of a totally different car at another dealership and that the deal was not reversible. I asked to see the sales manager and after showing him the pictures with dates and time and the Audi Chantilly dealership building in the background he asked for the keys but did not admit to the fraud they had carefully executed. I had already called Amex to dispute the down payment on the car and also called my bank to stop the money transfer. Lesson learned: if you buy a car there put the down payment on a credit card which you can then freeze if or when they defraud you . It took two weeks to get them the reverse the Amex transaction after which I got the funds fully credited (after I have left them with the car , keys and paperwork ). Lesson learned: If you buy from a shady private dealer, you are setting yourself up to be conned. If you buy from a publicly listed company that is also a brand dealer they might defraud you . If you are looking at buying a car here, take pictures of it and write down the VIN and go home . Do not stay there to negotiate price but take your time and look at other options as well. Long story short : Yes they an Audi dealer but they operate just like many fly by night “Buy Here Pay Here” scammers. Interestingly enough I mentioned this experience a business colleague who mentioned that he had had a similar experience. He bought a brand new R8 that was used and actually rejected by the original purchaser. He found this out by dialing home on the MMI and spoke to the original buyer who said he had returned the car after a few days of having it…Go figure I’m sure many people have good experiences with Audi Chantilly, however if you are buying a particular car, remember: take down the VIN, take pictures of it etc. go home and then negotiate remotely without the pressure tactics etc. that usually apply to buying a car at the dealership. I originally thought about not posting this but after talking with a lot of my friends and colleagues they urged me to post this. This is a crowd that likes German cars and are all now looking at dealers in the DC area that do not belong to the Penske group.