Jason Teller

Well done - fellow ED's will appreciate it no doubt. I had hoped to go through the program with our long term Q7 but our timing got messed up. Hopefully next year!

ARAD

jmkjjk, very nice and useful posting! One thing though: all the cars are driven to Munich, no matter where you dropp it off. In Munich they load them on the truck and get them to Bremerhaven or the other smaller port (I forgot its name)that VW uses for shipments to US.So, it's always better to drop your car either in Munich or in Bremerhaven (although there's no direct flight to US from there...)

montolio

Thanks for the info Im picking up my new tt on october 28 has anybody seen the s line? my dealer haven have one yet so I only seen it on the net.

mikeb SF

This FAQ states "DONT LET YOUR DEALER CHARGE YOU A "DESTINATION CHARGE" but the language at http://www.audiusa.com/audi/us/en2/experience/european_delivery/program_benefits.html says "Destination charges apply."

Anyone knows for sure?

TIME89

This is a quote from Audi ED Customer service e-mail:

Audi-X2

I'm set to pick up my S5 on November 23. I'm told that's winter driving season, and cars driven in Germany that time of year are supposed to be equipped with snow tires. That's not what my S5 will be wearing, and all-season tires are not available. What to do?

TIME89

Here is what you need - http://www.edwintertires.com/

Congrats on your S5!

CFGTTS

There are a few drawbacks of Euro Deliver. This after doing it with Porsche, Volvo and latest Audi.

Negatives:

1. Extends the relationship with the sales department, never a good thing since the majority dealership sales departments are terrible.

2. You are actually buying the car, by paying in full, before you have inspected it, if there is a problem; it is now your problem.

Recently, September 2009, I picked up my Audi in Ingolstadt and the car had a scratched wheel/rim and a brake caliper that should have never made it through quality control! 3 hours to replace the wheel, but they gave a fix sheet in German to bring back to my dealership in the USA within 5 weeks. The caliper was another problem, they pushed it off on Warranty, however you can't just change out one caliper somewhere down the road. Not good. I would never have accepted this car as it was delivered to me at a dealership in the USA.

3. The obvious, you will be waiting for the car for 8-10 weeks.

4. Marine insurance. Audi uses an independent shipper as does MB and BMW does. On there disclaimer they have you initial a very troubling statement.

"Chips on glass and paint, minor nicks and scratches on paint, bumpers and wheels on cars which have been driven on own wheels fall into an area referenced as normal wear and tear and are excluded from any transport insurance coverage". Therefore if they are trucking along the Autobahn up to shipping and it receives a rock in the windshield, not cover?!?!

5. There may be more miles on your car than if it were shipped to the USA. My friends car had 3 miles on it, my car had 28 miles. Unusual. There is a lot for export cars that Audi has out in farm country, literally they have paved over parts of farm fields where they store cars till they are ready to ship. They might have driven my car there and back as my car was built a good 3 weeks before I picked it up. No idea???!

Positives:

1. Experience of driving your car in Europe.

2. Seeing the impressive Audi Forum.

3. Access to "Gary" the USA rep for Euro delivery for Audi. This is key as dealerships just don't have there act together.

Recommendations:

1. Hotel choice. Stay away from Hotel Rappensberger, there is not a quiet room in the hotel and with a bad nights sleep you will be exhausted for your full day at Audi. The Kempinski Hotel located in Munich airport is fantastic, for its location and airport amenities.

2. Spend some time at Audi. The factory tour is "Average" compared to other companies, walking is required. You are given all day access to Audi cafeteria which is fantastic. Have a little breakfast before the tour, a little lunch after tour and a snack before you go, all on Audi.

3. Make sure when it is time for your delivery that you request a veteran delivery person. We were given a new delivery person which happened at Volvo and it can definitely leave you with a less than positive experience. It becomes a waste of time and can be a problem down the road (see below).

4. Make sure your car has 3 items that the delivery person must personally put in the car. Our new person forgot two of the items which could of cost us if we were pulled over by the police, which does happen in Germany as you have motorcycle temp plates on your car and bored or curious police can pull you over just to check you out. (2 mins out of the Ingolstadt factory this happened, this also occurred with the Porsche at a rest area by undercover police). 3 items required: First aid kit, safety vest and warning triangle. Also, have your car documents(insurance card/registration) in order.

5. On your first day try to make it a short day as you will be tired from your delivery day and if you can take back roads to your next destination.

6. Try to find a decent dealership that you have a good feeling about. Don’t accept anything less than the published discounts that Audi mentions. Example: “Up to 5 %” , don’t accept 3 %.

7. It seems that currency exchange is harder to come by, you should change over some cash and the airport is not the best place to do it. Smaller towns are becoming harder if not impossible to change money over for the whole trip even if you are planning on using credit cards.

8. Bring a general map as the Nav in the cars will not be working and the Garmin they provide is good, but never good for planning!

9. Austria and Switzerland require paid stickers for their Highways. “Autobahn/Autoroute Vignette” which is sold at gas stations.


Enjoy, there is no better place to run your car through the paces. Back roads and Autobahn.

TIME89

Great post, CFGTTS!
-Sorry about your not a A+ experience and agree with you, this scratches should not pass QA.
-Did not have yet experience with Audi, but done BMW and spend good amount of time on Bimmerfest ED forum. In the past 4 yr I remember few glitches during car delivery and after - and all the time BMW stand up for their product and fixed problem.
-Thanks for Kempinski recommendation - I was thinking get closer to Forum, but after your and another member forum recomendation, decide that first night in Germany we will spend in Kempinski.
-You probably (as my self) leave on West Coast - and delivery to West Coast is take up to 2 month + time at VPC. For East cost it's 3-4 weeks.
-Get car with European Delivery it's a complicated process and owner has to prepare for this trip. When time came to go down to my local dealer and sign up my PO - I knew more about ED, Vignettes/Toll Stickers, Safety Vest then my ED salesperson. Same about First aid kit and warning triangle. And more I talk to my future Audi dealer the more I realize - they know nothing. The person who read this thread at list ones knew more about Audi ED than my local salesperson. Shame to Audi.

Thanks for sharing your experience with AudiWorld members - now time to post few pics from your trip.

Audi-X2

I picked up my 2010 S5 at the Ingolstadt factory on November 23, and would highly recommend the experience. Here's a report on the program.

We arrived in Munich on November 21 and spent the night at a very nice hotel -- the Platzl -- in the heart of town, near the Hofbrau House (if you book this place, be sure to ask for a quiet room; mine was absolutely silent, but if you get a regular room you may front on the street by the Hofbrau House, which can get noisy). The next day, Audi sent a very nice A8 to pick us up at the hour we had chosen (3 pm) for the hour drive up to Ingolstadt. Wish it had been longer -- was a very nice trip in a great car (I've had two A8s in the past, but this one is by far the nicest). Stayed the night at the Rappensberger Hotel in Ingolstadt -- just okay. Rooms are incredibly small, even by European standards, and spartan to a fault. Didn't bother with its restaurant for dinner -- wandered out to check out the town, which is quite small and quaint, and found a nice place about 10-15 minutes' walk away. Simple but great fare at a good price, and a "locals" place rather than a tourist trap establishment. That also means you'll have a language issue unless you speak German, but I know enough that i was able to get through the menu and the pleasantries.

The next morning the Audi driver and shiny black A8 arrived at 9 am to take us to the factory, which is literally about a 5 minute ride from the hotel. The factory is right on the edge of town, and you're brought to the very attractive glass and steel Audi Forum and delivery center. Upon check-in, the luggage is whisked away and reappears later on a cart next to your car in the delivery center. I then completed the paperwork formalities, enjoyed some excellent cappuccino and orange juice (nice pastries were available, too) on the mezzanine above the delivery floor below. There was time to visit the gift shop where you can find some great items at reasonable prices. This is where you need to pick up the cable to attach your iPod to your Audi, so you may want to plan your visit just for that. A short while later I was scheduled to meet my representative – to be escorted across a small bridge and down to the delivery floor where I met my new Audi. A talented photographer snapped a few shots of me with the car, and brought beautiful 8 x 10 prints a few minutes later. A delightful woman spent about a half hour with me to go over the operating features of the S5, and even downloaded my cell phone data into the car’s information system. A Garmin Nuvi nav system was provided for my trip, and Audi even provided a pre-paid FedEx envelope and form to be used to return it after I handed the car to their shipping agent in Paris.

After all that, the luggage was loaded into the car, we jumped inside and turned right, down a row of a variety of Audis awaiting their owners, and then a two- or three-story set of glass doors slid open to allow passage outside, into a large Belgian-block courtyard in front of the Forum and Museum that makes a great setting for more pictures. You’re allowed to park your car in the protected courtyard while you are taking the 2-hour factory tour (the English language tour started at 11:30 am) and then while having lunch at Audi’s excellent buffet restaurant, where a great selection of wonderful entrees are all cooked to order. Everything is terrific, and the ice cream offerings were so good that I wondered if they would install a trailer hitch so I could tow the freezer containing the great stuff on my journey.

I had time prior to the factory tour to visit the exhibit of Audis and their predecessors at the Museum next door. It’s well worth it, and you can spend either a few minutes or more than an hour if you’d like. At 11:30 promptly, our tour guide met us and took us into the factory where we got to see stamping of the bodies, robotic assembly of the bodies, and the mating of the bodies with the chassis. Quality control is emphasized throughout production, which runs at a fairly high speed throughout the day. About every 90 seconds a new A3 rolls off the line – and each one goes immediately to a quality control check point for review.

After the tour there was time for that great lunch, after which I drove out of the courtyard and into the streets of Ingolstadt, in search of the autobahn and the start of several days of driving through Germany and into France. One point of order – I was stopped in France because 1) the gendarmes didn’t like the fact that my car had only a rear plate (it will be shipped to PA, where only a rear plate is required – so the car does not have a front mounting bracket, which meant there was nowhere to attach the front plate) and 2) all that didn’t matter anyway because they said that the plates were illegal in France. But, they didn’t even look at the registration papers I offered, and they never asked to see my license. They did, however, spend a lot of time talking with me about the car. We had a few laughs (their English was very good and got better as time rolled along) and after about a half hour or so they let me drive on – no problem at all.

There may be more to offer than I’ve written here, so if you have any questions feel free to ask. The entire process in Germany was handled very well and went so smoothly that it was truly a joy to pick up the car there. Also, as some have mentioned, Gary at Audi’s European Delivery program in Virginia is absolutely top notch – he made sure everything was in order and would go smoothly, and it certainly did. He’s terrific, and can answer any question or handle any matter in a professional, friendly, and totally unflappable manner. Think of him as one of the world’s top 10 butlers and you’ll have it about right.

Those of you waiting to go and pick up your Audi in Ingolstadt – I’m envious, even though I was just there. I’d like to return again, and am already looking forward to going back in a few years for my next Audi.