While on vacation in South Lake Tahoe the week before Christmas, 2009, our Audi Allroad "Audry" needed a new right windshield wiper. For a normal car, a trip to Napa Auto Parts, or equivalent, would have sufficed, but not for Audry. She needed dealer assistance, and being from Chico, CA where there is no such dealer, I turned to the nearest Audi Dealer in Reno. No go, they were out of stock, and not getting any for a day or two. Really? No windshield wipers for an AWD adjustable ride height monster winter station wagon in snow country in December? Oh well, I guess I'll try Niello, right? Wrong. Yelp panned them so badly I couldn't call them, so I turned to Elk Grove Audi. How bad could they be, right? I mean, my sister lives in Elk Grove, and it has a sort of small town feel still, so I thought I'd give them a try. Here's what happened:
I call the parts department, and the woman there says "Yes, I have that part windshield wiper in stock. It's $21 (it's an Audi, right?)." "So, uh, it's Tuesday, and Friday is Christmas, and that's when we're driving home from South Lake Tahoe. Can you send it 2nd Day to us at our hotel?" I said. The woman at Lasher Audi then asks me to hold on, and returns to tell me that rather than shipping it UPS, they'll have their driver drop it off to the hotel where we're staying. It turns out that they're trying to build up their Audi parts biz in the Tahoe Area, and that they run a truck up their twice a week. I was stunned. How did it play out?
Well, I bought the part over the phone, and the next afternoon received a call from the valet downstairs saying that they received the wiper, and would I like it simply placed in my car. To their credit, the valets guys at Marriot's Grand Residence in South Lake Tahoe are also awesome, so the experience was really a flawless, seamless event, which rarely seems to happen.
Based on this experience, I'm having our mechanic in Chico buy parts from Lasher instead of Niello. How can I not? These guys rock, and they clearly want to earn your business. read more