How long does it take AOA to.....

[s4nAri]

Thank you to everyone that is helping to figure out my question (especially PutTogether).

I am not looking for an answer on how long it takes once a car is ordered, or how to track the car, all I want to know from my dealer is when the car might actually go into production.

The dealer is a major US dealer that sells around 120 Audis a month but they were unable to change there allocation for me because they never order manuals for the lot. So I guess they couldn't simply change an allocated auto S4 to my manual.

I figured that after a month Audi should be able to give a build date estimate but when I was at the dealer and we searched my build vehicle no dates were listed on the page. This isn't a huge deal but if I have 3-4 more months to wait I might just wait for the refresh, or find a car I want at another dealer. But I want to give the sales to my local sales rep who has done a great job helping me out (except for this).

Luckily in California a deposit is 100% refundable for any reason so unlike DavidB8 I don't need any special contracts.

[DavidB8]

The dealer is a major US dealer that sells around 120 Audis a month but they were unable to change there allocation for me because they never order manuals for the lot. So I guess they couldn't simply change an allocated auto S4 to my manual.

Actually they can and that's exactly what the dealer did for my car. Since they had one allocated for their lot as an Auto they simply put in a build change and altered it to what I wanted. They specifically told me that their allocations where all Autos as they don't stock 6mt's

[B8_Jim]

Actually they can and that's exactly what the dealer did for my car. Since they had one allocated for their lot as an Auto they simply put in a build change and altered it to what I wanted. They specifically told me that their allocations where all Autos as they don't stock 6mt's

The 6MT may be the issue - I believe the allocation is specific to the transmission type - if the dealer doesn't have a 6mt allocation it will just sit in the IS order bank and no date will be avail, right?

[DavidB8]

The dealer changed theirs to a 6mt. Maybe something has changed in the last year. I don't know why the allocation would be specific to transmission when they all order Auto as a rule. You would have to think there would be allowances to change for customers that like to drive their cars ;)

[B8_Jim]

The dealer changed theirs to a 6mt. Maybe something has changed in the last year. I don't know why the allocation would be specific to transmission when they all order Auto as a rule. You would have to think there would be allowances to change for customers that like to drive their cars ;)

Hmmm, I know they told me they only had allocations for auto trans cars, no 6mt. Maybe it was because when I ordered mine it was in Nov '08 - they had just released pricing/etc for the 6MT here in the states - perhaps Audi hadn't given the OK to order 6MT cars at that point. At any rate, apparently I got one of my dealer's late Nov/Early Dec allocation slots and the car arrived in late Feb.

Good luck s4nAri.

[PutTogether]

The 6MT may be the issue - I believe the allocation is specific to the transmission type - if the dealer doesn't have a 6mt allocation it will just sit in the IS order bank and no date will be avail, right?

You are exactly correct. Allocation is indeed specific to transmission. S-tronic cars and 6MT cars have different model codes associated with them, and so Audi's inventory sees (and allocates) them as different vehicles. You can not turn an S-tronic into a 6MT, nor a 6MT into an S-tronic.

David B8 - what likely happened with your dealer, is that they traded allocated (IS ORDER BANK) cars with another dealer. If I have an available, but unsold, slot for a 6MT, and a dealer offers me the same in S-tronic, I'll generally make the switch. Favors work both ways.

OP - I can't say exactly what the hold up would be with your dealer, but it is likely an allocation issue. If they don't have a car allocated them, they can't do a thing to move the order along. If they don't get an allocation slot, the only thing the can do is try to get one from another dealer in a swap. You say it has been over a month though, which if true, would mean that an allocation cycle got run during your wait. It seems a LITTLE weird they'd make it through an allocation cycle without getting at least ONE 6MT S4 slot, but it could be they had an order or two in front of yours.

[nobbyv]

PutTogether: thank you very much for taking the time to spell out the entire process. I remember being in this boat a few months ago, and having no idea what these terms meant. Hopefully this clarifies it for those waiting on their cars.

[s4nAri]

PutTogether: thank you very much for taking the time to spell out the entire process. I remember being in this boat a few months ago, and having no idea what these terms meant. Hopefully this clarifies it for those waiting on their cars.

I want to second the thank you to PutTogether!!
Now if only my dealer could tell me ANYTHING a month later I could use all this info!!!