Question: How was VAT handled for those of you have done Audi ED?

I'm being told 19% cashier's check on order and I get it refunded when I pick up my car in the US.

Is this consistent with everybody's experience?

As a reference point, when we did ED for Volvo, they didn't ask for a VAT deposit. Floating a check for a few months for that much somewhat offset's the 5% advantage in pricing.

I was told (as consistent with the Audi ED document), that you pay the VAT when you pay for the car, and it becomes refundable when you drop off the car for shipment to the US.

I plan to give my dealer a separate cashier's check for VAT (to eliminate any possible confusion), and ask for the refund or the check back when I get back home.

My dealer doesn't seem to care too much when I pay for the car as long as it's before I leave to pick it up.

I plan to pay them in a couple weeks to allow the paperwork to get done before I leave (10/15) without any problems.

Will advise as things happen.

and then refund it once I return from the trip and it's been verified that I dropped off the car. They say it is against their parent company's corporate policy to do a hold check, even though that how Audi recommends dealers to handle it.

So, basically what the dealer is asking me to do is to float them a $9-10k interest-free loan for about 6 weeks, something which obviously wouldn't even be considered if the situation was reversed.