I knew I wanted an Audi A3 (see sig) and test drove one at Boardwalk Audi in Plano, TX (North of Dallas). We couldn't agree on a price so when I returned to SA I made an online request. Got a call back from Mark at Cavender the online sales manager and he gave me info on the inventory and what was in-transit. After a month I decided to order becasue I need the cold weather pkg since I am returning to VA. I called ahead and told Mark exactly what I wanted and that I would come to the dealership to talk #'s in an hour. When I arrived he had the #'s ready, in writing, he covered everything in detail, and gave me an outstanding price with the first offer (they did better than my bank who negotiates for free). Mark is outstanding, my A3 has not arrived but he provides updates as he gets them, to include; production week, ship date, and estimated delivery to port and the dealership. So far I highly recommend Cavender, my A3 is due the week of 15 Jan and I will update this thread as necessary. Mark also took an extra 30 minutes to show my wife a Q7 after we did the A3 paperwork knowing we were not going to buy it anytime soon.

 

So far so good, Mark called to let me know my A3 is 100mi from port and has a good chance of arriving by the end of year, one month earlier than projected.

 

Do not go to Cavender Audi in San Antonio. When I ordered my A3 I told them that I needed to register the vehicle in VA since I am only in S/A temporarily. The called me yesterday to tell me that the car arrived and I could pick it up today. The sales manager called me back and told me I had to register the car in TX because it would take a week to register it in VA and they have to sell it by the end of the year. I worked it out with my bank to get it titled in VA with no help from the dealer. So I go into day and notice that my name is spelled wrong on the purchase order...quick fix. Then I notice that the jacked up the price $2000 from our agreed upon price. They make two counter offers and I say no. The sales manager starts whining about how they are only going to make $735 if they sale it to me at the agreed uponprice. I told him about this forum and they have the opportunity to get a good review and have more customers or get this review and lose money and customers. The choose not to honor thier word. BUYER BEWARE!!!

 

I've been researching and checking out dealerships and cars, consumer reports pricing etc, and have been trying to work with Cavender since they are local. I finally decided what I wanted and gave Cavender the first chance to close the deal. Sitting with the salesman, he gave me a price that was pretty much straight MSRP. Ok, he's got to do better than that I say. He pulls up Edmonds and shows me the MSRP again. I show him the other column that has the dealer invoice and he's getting a 6% profit from the invoice. He (or his manager) is willing to come down, but not much. Finally I pull out the fact that he gives USAA members a price that gives them 3%. I ask him if he can beat that. He says no. Here's where it gets interesting for me. He wants to know if I want him to go ask his manager if they can come down a bit more. He insists the manager is going to say no, but has a little story about why it is good to ask:

The salesman proceeds to tell me about how one of his long-time repeat customers has recently purchased a car from him. The latest car they purchase was bought by the husband alone. After the car is home, the wife discovers that the husband bought the car but didn't get any kind of breaks or deals and calls the salesman angry. The salesman's reply was that the husband didn't ask for anything and the salesman is not obligated to tell the buyer about any deals. The moral of his little story is that if you don't ask, you won't receive. To me the moral of the story is, no matter how loyal you are to Cavender, they're still going to screw you if they can.

Based on that little story, I called up the dealership in Austin, negotiated a price $500 cheaper and ordered the car yesterday. I think I'll even drive up there for service rather than go to Cavender.

 

While I cannot speak specifically about Cavender Audi, the Cavender name does command honesty and reliability.

I have had tons of experience (over the past 20 years) with Cavender Cadillac, Cavender Buick, and Cavender Toyota. Never any problems. On the other hand, I always find them to be honest, accommodating, helpful, etc.

Family owned dealerships (a la Cavender) tend to take superbe care of customers. (Check out the Cadillac, Buick, and Toyota forums.) (And I do not work for Cavender, nor have I ever worked for them.) Just a very happy customer.