MLWings19

I am about to order a 2014 A4 because my dealer can't find the specific car I want (6MT and S Line). They are telling me it will take 3 months to custom order a car which got me interested in the European Delivery program. The issue is that I need to target April 14th for pickup since that is the only week that we could travel to Europe. I am concerned about getting that specific date since we would have to fly home on the 17th or 18th so there isn't a whole lot of wiggle room. With four and a half months away I would think that is enough time but I am still concerned about getting the date we need. For those who have done the ED program, how likely am I to get my requested date? Also, my wife isn't completely sold on the idea so I still have some work to do there.

MLWings19

I am also worried about the possibility of damage to the car as well since I will own the car as soon as I take the keys at the factory. I have heard horror stories about cars showing up in the States with damage. I did read that Audi now uses a different shipping company so maybe they will be more reliable.

TIME89

Your car will be delivered to you in the same condition as you will see this car during delivery day. Many times cars get damaged and fixed in VDC you can 't even see what was damaged. One of the best body shops in the ports. For example - to fixed body of BMW M6 - they will do this in port Hueneme, CA

Make sure you get a sales person who done ED before and understand hole process. A lot of your headache and question will go away immediately.
And remember this - you not doing ED to save money - you doing this for experience.

For April delivery you should start your negotiation now.

alatsacto

In my opinion, ED is the way to go. If you have the time and you enjoy driving, it's an experience worth making. My wife and I just got back from doing ED on our new 2014 SQ5 in October. Unfortunately the hardest part is the timing and the planning involved. It sounds like you are new to the forum. To give you some background information, I tried doing ED last year with our European Honeymoon. Unfortunately since the Q5 was in the middle of a mini-update to the 2013 model, there were delays in production on this car. Since they could never promise me when the car would start production, we passed on the car and I continued with my planning for our honeymoon without ED. This time around, we ran into some new wrinkles. Production of the 2014 Q5 would have no issues, however the new SQ5 was rolling out for the 2014 model year. We had to make some last minute decisions, but in the end production was not an issue and it all worked out.

For me, I had planned this months before I had placed my order for our car. I purchased my airfare in March and didn't place my order until June. I had always told them I wanted Friday October 4th to be my delivery date. I was always told no problem on the date. We all knew Thursday October 3rd was a national holiday, however nobody brought up any issues or concerns with my October 4th delivery date. I was also told by placing my order 3-4 months in advance, that would be plenty of time to lock in my date. Of course they gave me the company line that the delivery date could not be guaranteed this far in advance, however they told me it should not be a problem.

However after I placed my order, within one week I was told October 4th was already full booked. In addition to that, the factory was closed on October 4th, so no factory tours would be made on this date. I was a little pissed that I was never informed about the closure of the Factory on 10/4. That would have been helpful to have known that from the start. I was in constant contact with a my local dealership and a representative from Audi of America. They couldn't change the fact that the factory was going to be closed on October 4th, however they were willing to fit me in on that delivery date if that is what we wanted. In the end, we wanted to go through the factory tour, so we decided on Monday October 7th instead. I had already booked my airfare by that point, however I was fortunately able to shift my plans around a little to accommodate the change in delivery date.

If you are locked in on exactly what you want and when you want it, then it should be much easier for you. They tell you not to book any flights or make any reservations until they give you the OK, which is less than 60 days from your delivery date, however I couldn't follow that timeline since I was planning a trip for 6 people and the cost of airfare nearly doubled if I would have followed their timeline. Just make sure your date doesn't hit a holiday. Both the ED program and AoA were very helpful and understanding throughout the process. So if you are in contact with them, they should be able to make it all work out. Let me know if you have more questions or need more details. Like I said, the planning part of it can be stressful, but otherwise I have no regrets.

alatsacto

As TIME89 said, this isn't something to worry about. This is no different than you ordering a custom brand new car. At some point, it would be transported and go through this same process. ED is basically cutting out the middle man who delivers your car from the factory to the port. From your point of view, everything would be the same. When you hand it off at the port, take all the pics you want to prove that your car was in perfect condition when you handed it off. So if anything occurs within that process, then Audi should take care of it. Now whether the transporters or Audi are responsible for those costs, that shouldn't concern you.

Q5forWife

I think the April date is feasible, but as others have mentioned, you need to order real soon.

My wife and I ordered her Q5 on Feb. 10 and was able to select June 25 as the ED date.

If you live in the SF Bay Area, I can recommend a great Audi sales person that specializes in ED.

EurocarAdventure

It was my understanding that the Audi EDP insurance is 1000 euro deductible so it may not in fact look like it did at delivery. Has something changed? (BMW's EDP is in fact zero deductible I believe.)

Q5forWife

My understanding is that the 1000 euro insurance deductible is for damages incurred while driving in Europe. Any damage to the car while in route from Europe to the US should be covered by insurance from Audi or shipping company.

alatsacto

That's correct if the damage was incurred under your watch. But if you dropped off the car in perfect condition and have the sign off from the port delivery company on the condition of the car before drop off, then I would like to think anything that happens to the car after that point would no longer be your responsibility.

I know it was a dumb question, but I asked Audi, once I drop off my car and it's signed off, what if customs finds drugs on my car? I wouldn't be held responsible for what someone else may have done to my car at that point, right? He confirmed this fact. So if the car is dropped into the bottom of the ocean, I'm pretty sure either the delivery company or whoever was responsible for it would incur whatever cost associated with fixing or replacing my car to give me the car back in the same condition I dropped it off.

EurocarAdventure

Based on my experience with 3 EDs this is correct. Between drop off and redelivery it is the carriers responsibility. Just be sure to document dropoff condition.