After some travail with one Audi dealer, I was able to start the ED process for a Q5 2.0t premium plus. First dealer (Miramar Audi in San Diego) wanted 10% down with NO ability to cancel if something came up. Since they said that was dealer policy, I took my business elswehere (Hoehn Audi in Carlsbad) & they wanted only $2500 and I could cancel at just about any time & get my money back. So there it is, we'll see how it works out. Looking for late April delivery with two weeks of driving around Germany, Austria, Italy,& Switzerland. Hope the weather's not too bad at that time. Shouldn't be too many tourists.
First Audi, though I've had 11 VW's over the years, the first being a 68 Fasback which I picked up new in Frankfurt (back when VW had ED).

Good Luck and have fun! I hope you have read some of the posts below, so you might be aware of some of the "Pitfalls". That way you won't be disappointed or surprised and possibly will be able to have a experience that goes smoothly!

OK, received my commission number with car available 21 March. Planning on pick-up on 26 April, so it'll have to sit a while.
Thinking of passing on Audi paid one night hotel since there will three of us (me, my wife, and daughter) & we'd rather spend a few nights in downtown Munich before picking up the car & would rather not drive in downtown Munich. Hopefully, Audi will send the A8L to downtown Munich to pick us up.

OK, received my commission number with car available 21 March. Planning on pick-up on 26 April, so it'll have to sit a while.
Thinking of passing on Audi paid one night hotel since there will three of us (me, my wife, and daughter) & we'd rather spend a few nights in downtown Munich before picking up the car & would rather not drive in downtown Munich. Hopefully, Audi will send the A8L to downtown Munich to pick us up.
Just a reminder, to drive to Munich center you need green pass. Nothing wrong to call AUDI ED and see if they can help you with one more night for Munich hotel.
Personal advice - do not try to pick up car the same day you get to Munich, jet lag will know down all of you in the middle of process.
Audi will send A8L - this is a fact.
Good luck - if this your first ED I recommend spend some time on our WIKI page, and see first two post on this forum.
If you have any question - don't be shy to ask. And remember - there no stupid question here - all question is good.

OK, Thanks.

We'll be stopping in London for several days first, then on to Munich. Will pick up car on last day in Munich & then leave from Ingolstadt and drive around for two weeks - Salzburg, Lake Como, Zurich - & drop off car in Frankfurt. Doubt Audi wants to pay for three nights in Munich for three of us. Just hope they'll pick us up at a Munich hotel other than the Kempinski airport hotel.

So far, I think I've got a decent handle on the idiosyncracies of Audi ED. This forum has helped and the Audi site is reasonbly clear. Althought this will be my second ED, I date myself when I say that my first ED was a VW Type 3 Fastback, back in 1968.


Just a reminder, to drive to Munich center you need green pass. Nothing wrong to call AUDI ED and see if they can help you with one more night for Munich hotel.
Personal advice - do not try to pick up car the same day you get to Munich, jet lag will know down all of you in the middle of process.
Audi will send A8L - this is a fact.
Good luck - if this your first ED I recommend spend some time on our WIKI page, and see first two post on this forum.
If you have any question - don't be shy to ask. And remember - there no stupid question here - all question is good.

Regarding Zurich - read this post (http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=515348)

Understand Zurich's somewhat of a bore, but our daughter's flying out of Zurich so she can go back to work. As my wife & I are retired, we'll take a few more days to get to Frankfurt via Bodensee & Black Forest most likley.

Understand Zurich's somewhat of a bore, but our daughter's flying out of Zurich so she can go back to work. As my wife & I are retired, we'll take a few more days to get to Frankfurt via Bodensee & Black Forest most likley.

YOu did very well of planning your trip. One more time -congrats!

Thanks again. Your signature indicates you're planning ED this year. When's that happening?

YOu did very well of planning your trip. One more time -congrats!

Thanks again. Your signature indicates you're planning ED this year. When's that happening?

Need to change my signature. It will not happen this year for sure do to my financial situation.

Ok, I've paid for the car, including California tax & license (I'm helping to reduce the state deficit, I think) plus a separate check in escrow for the VAT. Dealer said they wouldn't cash the VAT check, unless I didn't bring the car back. Delivery on 27 April. So far, so good.

Ok, I've paid for the car, including California tax & license (I'm helping to reduce the state deficit, I think) plus a separate check in escrow for the VAT. Dealer said they wouldn't cash the VAT check, unless I didn't bring the car back. Delivery on 27 April. So far, so good.

Congrats - nice dealer - KrazyIvan get his check cashed next day. :(

Ok, I've paid for the car, including California tax & license (I'm helping to reduce the state deficit, I think) plus a separate check in escrow for the VAT. Dealer said they wouldn't cash the VAT check, unless I didn't bring the car back. Delivery on 27 April. So far, so good.

Were you able to negotiate up from European Delivery invoice or just the standard 5% off of US MSRP? I am still looking for a mid-Atlantic dealer that will negotiate similar to BMW, i.e. $XXX over European invoice, amounts to about a 11-12% discount off of US MSRP.

Have a great time. My 3 BMW EDs were fantastic.

Were you able to negotiate up from European Delivery invoice or just the standard 5% off of US MSRP? I am still looking for a mid-Atlantic dealer that will negotiate similar to BMW, i.e. $XXX over European invoice, amounts to about a 11-12% discount off of US MSRP.

Have a great time. My 3 BMW EDs were fantastic.

Thanks. No, I paid the standard 5% under list. Neither dealer I worked with would consider negotiation below that, although I did ask. Not sure the dealers have any motivation to negotiate especially with Q5s. As I recall, Audi's ED plan doesn't mention possiblility of negotiating lower price, whereas BMW's does. Good luck finding an Audi dealer willing to negotiate.

Are there any Audi dealers that will negotiate an ED deal starting at European invoice like some BMW dealers? Typically you can order a BMW at ED invoice plus about $1000. This amounts to a discount of about 11-12% off of US MSRP. To me, a 5% discount is a lame deal unless you really want to go to Europe anyway.

Are there any Audi dealers that will negotiate an ED deal starting at European invoice like some BMW dealers? Typically you can order a BMW at ED invoice plus about $1000. This amounts to a discount of about 11-12% off of US MSRP. To me, a 5% discount is a lame deal unless you really want to go to Europe anyway.

From my own research and calculations, it seems that MSRP-5% leaves the dealer with ~$800 over invoice price. I think that's the main reason they don't want to negotiate ;)

From my own research and calculations, it seems that MSRP-5% leaves the dealer with ~$800 over invoice price. I think that's the main reason they don't want to negotiate ;)

Thanks so much for that information. I am just starting my ED journey (went to the dealer for the first time yesterday) and it is helpful to know their wiggle room. I got a blank look when I asked about European Delivery... I think they've never done one before and I'm considering finding a dealer that has been through it before. The drawbacks that I've read in this forum about Audi's ED had caused me to lower it in my rankings; that is... until I drove it. :D

Congrats - nice dealer - KrazyIvan get his check cashed next day. :(

True, but I also got it back fast, before my car even made it here.

True, but I also got it back fast, before my car even made it here.

it's not the point - point is that before you even leave for Germany you have to have 'extra' cash on your account in amount of 19% of your car cost. Witch is for $50K car - $9,500.

Thanks so much for that information. I am just starting my ED journey (went to the dealer for the first time yesterday) and it is helpful to know their wiggle room. I got a blank look when I asked about European Delivery... I think they've never done one before and I'm considering finding a dealer that has been through it before. The drawbacks that I've read in this forum about Audi's ED had caused me to lower it in my rankings; that is... until I drove it. :D
I'm also just starting my quest for ED. I've done this before with BMW (extremely easy and great program), but I'm not having a lot of success finding a dealer in New England who has experience doing European Delivery. Does anyone have any recommendations for a dealer?

Thanks.

I'm also just starting my quest for ED. I've done this before with BMW (extremely easy and great program), but I'm not having a lot of success finding a dealer in New England who has experience doing European Delivery. Does anyone have any recommendations for a dealer?

Thanks.

Welcome to the forum, frudi!
This is my biggest problem here. After amazing experiences with my BMW ED - looks like Audi is way behind BMW in this department.
I went to my local dealership and after look at the car and test drive I ask him if he ever sold car true European Delivery - his answer - what a $%^ is that? Why do you wont to go there and than wait - car is right here - I give you 6% off - just get it today.
Then I spend 20 min explain to this shmak what is ED, how it's work ( all this time he listen to me with his jaw drop to the floor) - he told me - He will get his next car with ED.

Welcome to the forum, frudi!
This is my biggest problem here. After amazing experiences with my BMW ED - looks like Audi is way behind BMW in this department.
I went to my local dealership and after look at the car and test drive I ask him if he ever sold car true European Delivery - his answer - what a $%^ is that? Why do you wont to go there and than wait - car is right here - I give you 6% off - just get it today.
Then I spend 20 min explain to this shmak what is ED, how it's work ( all this time he listen to me with his jaw drop to the floor) - he told me - He will get his next car with ED.

My local Audi dealer wasn't at all interested in helping me... so I ended up going with another manufacturer. Shame.

My local Audi dealer wasn't at all interested in helping me... so I ended up going with another manufacturer. Shame.

It is shame! Great Service! http://forumkiev.com/images/smilies/pleasantry.gif

Good luck with your ED!

OK, I'm going to "hijack" my own thread here with a tale of my cancelled European Delivery.
As my first post indicated, I was going to get my 2011 Q5 delivered in Ingolstadt back in April. All was going great until I came down with a medical condition (not serious) that prevented me from going to Germany at that time to pick it up.
So.....I called my dealer & requested either to cancel, so I could go back later and pick up a different car, or get this one re-delivered over here. Since I'd already paid in full, I don't believe the dealer or Audi seriously considered cancellation, thus I was to expect delivery in San Diego sometime in June probably about the same time as had the planned ED gone through. I was OK with that, even if I might have preferred the cancellation. By the way, my salesman who I worked the ED with, had quit and gone back to Northern California. He had been the dealer’s expert in ED.
Got a call from the dealer saying the car had made the boat on 10 May. I did a bit a snooping & determined that it was probably on the Grand Neptune scheduled to arrive in San Diego around 8 June. 8 June comes around and I contact the dealer & ask where’s my car? After a few days of no response, I get the word that my car really hadn’t made it on that boat due to a mix-up by Audi. I was not too pleased because that meant at least another month wait from then.
Next word is that my car definitely was put on the boat, the Themis Leader, on 10 June. So here’s another 28 days at least. Again I’m tracking the boat & this one is routed to Port Hueneme first (to drop off some BMWs, no doubt), then to Long Beach (for who knows what reason), then to San Diego. On 8 July, the Themis Leader docks in San Diego. After a few days, I again contact the dealer & ask where’s my car? First indication is that the car should be at the dealer by the end of the week. With no further word until later in the week, the dealer then indicates that the car is missing the Monroney sticker (the MSRP, etc. sticker) which AoA has to send out to the Port. They apparently can’t legally deliver the car without it. Whether it was forgotten because it was an unusual case (cancelled ED) or for some other reason, I can’t say. After another failed promise of delivery by the beginning of the next week, I finally get the call from the dealer that I can pick up my car on Friday 22 July, two full weeks after its arrival in port. I noticed that at least one other delivery had been made to Livermore in Northern California a week earlier.
I had been having some discussions with the dealer’s sales manager about my distress at the delay. I had sold my Passat Station wagon in early June in anticipation of the first delivery date, and as it turned out, I would be getting my 2011 Q5 after delivery 2012 models (though why Audi began the 2012 model year in July is beyond me). So, we worked out a deal that I would get a free cargo mat and AudiCare. So that made it a little better and there was an unexpected bonus – California had lowered the sales and registration taxes on 1 July, so I got a refund of almost $700. End result was a fairly good deal on the car, albeit couple months late delivery.
The moral of the story is probably don’t cancel an ED.

Sad, very sad.....