“I've been casually looking at Audi TT RS's for sale since I paid off my TTS last summer, checking what they are selling for. Most of the cars I had been finding were out of state and being sold by non-Audi dealerships.
The problem with purchasing a car from outside of California is they must past CA Smog Emissions, so any cars with modifications can't be purchased and brought into California. Other issues include having the car inspected, trying to fly out to see the car in person, going for a test drive and then paying over $1K or more to have the car shipped back to California, especially since some areas of the US are having poor weather.
Another issue is agreeing upon a price prior to even flying out of state to test drive the car. I had several misses on cars while waiting for the dealer's insanely high prices to come down to reality! Imagine one dealer is trying to charge $84,000.00 for a non-Heritage Edition 2022 TT RS, when a Heritage Ed. Is selling for $74,000.00 with less than 3,000 miles on it!
Finally, this uniquely colored green 2020 Audi TT RS showed up in California at HGreg Lux for $67,988. Yes, there was a 2021 Turbo Blue TT RS, 11,949K, $66,795.00 at a Mitsubishi dealer and a 2021 Nardo Grey TT RS 9,380K $67,500.00, but the blue one had all these extra add-ons that were jacking the price up needlessly and I'm not a huge fan of the Nardo Grey color.
So, I called HGreg Lux and talked to Luis and asked him about the green car, because the CarFax has it listed twice at out of state DMV's as being blue, and obviously the car is green metallic, and knowing southern California car culture I'm thinking this was a non-OEM custom paint job. Turns out it wasn't.
After my other leads for out of state TT RS's were sold, I decided I got used to the idea of this green car and decided to get serious on purchasing it. I again contacted Luis and asked about bringing the car to an independent repair place for a pre-purchase inspection (PPI), to see if there was any room in the price and if he could please send me a Bill of Sale, so I could clearly see the price and any crazy add-ons if any.
Luis sent me the Bill of Sale, showing just the price plus applicable sales taxes, vehicle title registration and minor fees for Pre-delivery $85.00 and electronic filing fee $33.00. No crazy mandatory Extended warranty, no dealer prep fee for $895.00, no delivery charge $500.00, no processing doc fee of $495.00, no under coating protection fee $595.00, no BS!!!
He had the general manager, Sari Maleh call me to discuss any reservations I might have buying the car. We had a man to man talk and Sari told me he likes to be upfront and point out any defects and problems the car might have and not hide any junk fees that are typically revealed in often tortuous negotiations associate with purchasing any vehicle.
After our discussion I made an appointment for the PPI at Strom German Auto, who a friend recommended and had the car brought over there by HGreg Lux. The PPI revealed a few minor issues of possible leaks and rust corrosion and Sari agreed to cover the cost of these items to make sure the car would meet my approval.
Upon completion of the positive inspection, Sari put the car on hold for me, so I could fly down and do a test drive and in person inspection of my own, and then purchase the car if I liked it.
I flew down and was picked up by Luis at the airport. We went on test drive and I decided to buy the car. In less than two hours I was out of the dealership with signed paperwork including the time to test drive the car, my own thorough inspection of the car's AC, heated seats, lights, oil level etc., taking photos with Luis and Sari by the car, me checking out two of their Aston Martin's and other high-end luxury cars, and making arrangements to pay for the Audi through my credit union.
Never before in my over 30 years' experience of buying nine different vehicles have I been in and out of a dealership so fast and not felt it was an excruciating process!!!
After the sale I had a couple of issues with programming the car's information functions and both Luis and Sari went the extra mile to resolve them for me making sure I was taken care of!
I highly recommend HGreg Lux's Costa Mesa, CA branch and I would definitely consider buying another car from them in the future!!!”
2115 Harbor Blvd, Costa Mesa, CA 92627
