Audi Hawthorne — Local services in Town of Mount Pleasant

I was appalled at the customer service from the Audi Hawthorne dealership, the place where we bought our 2024 Q5. It started in Aug25 when I scheduled an appt to have our drivers side handle looked at as it was constantly falling off. I was told by Tim in service this is a common issue on Q5 and covered by warranty. He said they would order a handle, send to have it painted, and would schedule to have it replaced. A few weeks pass and I decided to call to check the status. I was told that they had it back from the body shop and when was a good time to come in. I was shocked no one had proactively called me. Not to mention other times when I called got the service dept voicemail, left a message and never received a call back. I let this slide as potentially just them being busy (side note in the three hours I sat there the admin on the phones was doing no work just talking to other employee). The day of my scheduled appointment I received an urgent call from Tim saying to call him back before coming in for the appointment. I did so to which I was told they had to replace the whole handle and did not have the parts and would have to order them (was this really just discovered the day of? There’s no checklist or day before review of the appointments that are taking place tomorrow to ensure they have all the right parts?). I begrudgingly complied as I needed the handle fixed as I had been driving around with scotch tape on my handle for over a month (Tim suggested taping it - not quite “luxury” vehicle treatment). Upon being told they only schedule loaner vehicles 4-6 weeks in advance (doesn’t that sound crazy, who plans a repair to their car that far in advance?) I scheduled a Saturday appointment and we’re forced to bring my 16 month old daughter and wife to sit and wait. After waiting for 3 hours to have the handle replaced I saw the car pull up into the front where I thought Tim would call me up to complete the process. He was on his phone (unsure if with a customer) walking around my car. After he hung up I was standing there and he said “let me go check in the back to see when it will be done” obviously unaware the car he had been circling for 5-10 minutes was mine. I let him go on this search to show he had no idea how to manage the service department. After returning he told me the car was out front and it was good to go. Upon walking up to the car I immediately noticed the color of the handle was not even close to the same color as the car (Navarro blue) at this point I reprimanded Tim for his prior failures and asked to speak to the manager as Tim said “I do not run this show and you have to take it up with Donald” who is the service manager. They pointed to his empty office and I said where is he. They replied he was in a meeting so I said please go get him and went and sat waiting for Don in his empty office. After another 5 minutes Don came out to discuss to which he had zero responses for every above item I highlighted to him. Not even an apology! In my line of work, if I do a bad job I have to answer to it. There was no accountability here at which point I left and contacted Audi Corporate to file a formal complaint against Audi Hawthorne. They said to leave it with them but in the meantime they suggested I start a relationship with a new dealership in New Rochelle. Samantha at New Rochelle was 1000x better than Tim and Donald combined and I have received superior service at Audi New Rochelle. Audi New Rochelle was embarrassed for Audi Hawthorne and apologized profusely and was able to fix my handle in less than a week. Funny enough, Tim from Audi Hawthorne reached out to me after Audi New Rochelle had already completed the service asking me when I would like to come in to have them get their 2nd chance. Sadly, they have lost a customer and I would seriously reconsider buying or recommend anyone buy an Audi. I have officially changed my Audi Care to that dealership and will never step foot in Audi Hawthorne again if you are considering buying an Audi I beg you to please reconsider going to...

The sales representative I worked with was Michael Rolls.

This all started when I saw a 2019 Audi S5 listed for $26,400 on your website. I saw the listing sometime last week, but I couldn’t make it out due to scheduling conflicts.

When I got to the dealership, Michael greeted me, and things were fine at first. There was a noticeable dent and a deep scratch on the driver-side rear door. I asked if that could be taken care of as part of the deal, and he said he’d check with his manager.

Since the beginning, I noticed that Michael got really touchy and defensive anytime I asked questions or said something that didn’t totally align with what he was saying. It went from friendly to aggressive quickly. The longer I sat there, the worse it got. He became louder, more defensive, and honestly just flat-out rude.

I tried to brush it off because I liked the car and figured maybe this was just how he was, and I shouldn’t take it personally. But the turning point came when he said that the sales price is $28,100 and they're non-negotiable with used car prices. I mentioned that I had seen the car listed for less just the week before. I said I saw it at $26,400, and he snapped back, saying that was never the case. I want to be clear, I did NOT ask if he could honor the previous price, but rather mentioned it in passing. He claimed the lowest it had ever been was $100 less and asked me to prove otherwise. I told him I couldn’t, since the online listing had changed, but I was willing to take his word for it—tech glitches happen. In this unique scenario, I, the buyer, had to be the one calming him down.

He then clicked around on his computer, and must’ve found something, because he went to go talk to the manager again and came back, he said the lowest it was listed at was actually $26,800. Except, they weren’t going to fix the dent or scratch, and that’s why the new price was $28,100, but I could repair it on my own for a couple of hundred dollars. At that point, it just felt like it was being turned into a game. The back-and-forth, the dodging—it really took the excitement out of what should’ve been a fun and straightforward experience.

I asked if he could refer me to any vendors the dealership uses so I could get a quote to fix the damage myself. He said yes and went to grab a pricing breakdown. I asked for the contact info of the PDR vendor—and that’s when I really lost interest. He told me I’d have to buy the car first to get that information. I asked why, and of course, he got upset again.

I told him I’d take the numbers to my bank. He started pushing me to leave a security deposit, but at that point, I was no longer interested. I told him no, it’s okay. He asked why I needed the printout, and that my bank just needed the bottom-line numbers. (Not true.)

Regardless, he snatched the paper from me and said I couldn’t have it unless I put down a deposit. That was it for me. I wasn’t going to be strong-armed or bullied into buying a car just to help him hit a quota.

I told him I no longer wanted the car, and he basically said “Oh, great.” I told him—I’m not going to be disrespected and mistreated, especially when I’m spending $30,000 of my hard-earned money.

In the end, it wasn’t about the price. It was about the principle. When someone takes the fun and excitement out of buying a car with unnecessary games and attitude, there’s no point in moving forward.

In the end, I would've appreciated any transparency from him. I never asked if he could honor the previous price. If I did and he said they cannot honor it I would've understood or if he even said they can only meet me halfway that's fine, but what's not fine is the lack of mutual respect and decency shown towards a client especially one who has shown you decency, courtesy,...

I've been buying and leasing cars for 10 years now and I have seen dealers in many different states, including north and south of the Mason Dixon line. I love cars, but I've never enjoyed a single second I ever spent in a dealership. Walking into Audi Hawthorne was like walking into a spaceship. Everything was clean, a salesperson (Aniello DeVita) saw me within 2 minutes of arrival on a Saturday. I knew what I was looking for, but I had a strict budget and a fiance who was very particular about the car we were getting.

I test drove two vehicles by myself the first Saturday. Aniello and I emailed all week and found cars that fit my profile and scheduled the test drives. I showed up the following Saturday with my test drive and Aniello had three vehicles gassed up and ready for us to drive. We each drove the Audi S5, SQ5, and the S3. After we test drove them all, my fiance decided she wanted to try the S5 again and Aniello gladly obliged. We decided that the S3 was our best option for our budget and performance needs. I also had two months left on my GTI lease, which Audi Hawthorne helped close off and take in early. VW-Audi is a logical upgrade.

Next came the options, and boy was that difficult. One of the main concerns was the sound system. After having custom audio in all my cars, I was a bit spoiled with sound quality. We tested out stock and upgraded audio system on various models, even blasting music on the dealership floor to make sure we liked it. No issues from anyone! They understand that when you're buying a $50k car, every little bit matters. Aniello and the General Manager, Nick Belli, worked hard with me to find vehicles that had the options that I wanted, and we found one.. Unfortunately, that dealership refused to ship the car over. Nick and Aniello knew how much I wanted the S3 on the showroom floor, and they made me an offer on it that I accepted.

All in all, we exchanged a quick phone call and we had a pickup date. The car was in the bay ready for us, license plated and all. We had a quick chat with Paola in finance and purchased the additional AudiCare (you should really do this, highly recommended). Paperwork all signed in less than 20 minutes and we were ready to go.

Chris Gelletich was really nice and helped walk my fiance around all the options of the car. Luckily, I already read the manual before even picking it up! He walked her through bluetooth, camera, GPS, options, etc. He was really nice to work with and will surely end up in sales soon!

All in all, a truly fantastic experience at this dealership. I've been to quite a few and dealt with so many unprofessional sales people. Not once did I receive an unwanted phone call. Not once was anything pushed on to me. Not once did I feel like my request was too much. The coffee is delicious too, so I wouldn't mind waiting there for Service.

Thanks Audi Hawthorne! Aniello, Nick, Paola, and Chris, you...