td

Has anyone used the european buying option for a new car? ie bought an Audi in Germany from the factory, drove it around and had it shipped back to the states. I remember hearing something about it from a friend of a friend type story. Maybe not Audi but BMW, not sure. Do these companies really do this? If you are familiar with the program I am curious to hear your feedback regarding:

Do you save money? (after plane ticket, travel, taxes etc)
Can you get the options you want?
Would it make sense for someone with the time to take a vacation and wanting an entry level A4 car or is it only available for the higher priced automobiles?

Thanks.

April

Those were the bad old days at Audi here in the US. At this point all AoA resources are going to improving the dealerships and supply chains ( parts and cars ). Diverting considerable energies for a program relatively few people will use, does not make sense just yet. They are looking fo people though. If you want to live in Mighigan, are multilingual, have customs experience in the US or Germany, and are good at customer relations, there may be an opening for you;-)

If you look at what BMW and Mercedes offer, they offer only US spec/options for cars coming back to the US. To do otherwise, might cause problems with certification when the car tries to enter the US.

Pricing and manufacturer offers depends on the difference of the exchange rates ( Euro to dollar ).

JeffPGH

So no chance of getting those euro cloth seats into the States?

Ice Cream Pimp

(I know this sounds crazy)

just got back from korea and saw some very nice Hyundais... They actually have some very nice luxury sedans there.

i was wondering how much it would cost to ship one over.

April

Not unless you order them from Germany and install them yourself.

April

If the bumpers or body is different than US cars, you must crash test. Same goes for interior. If driveline is different, you must pass epa requirments. Cost about 100K in all, or about 10K per person if you can sign a few other loonies up. Sun International in LA, can do the documentation for you.

audifirst

bought cars there, but there were US-spec versions, of course you can add sport seats... and other option that will not require any makeover of the car... dealers will do that... and then when it is time to came back the car is shipped back to states, and it goes once through transportation check-up makesure everything is to US-Spec....

Otis A4

in Germany under the old program. It was very simple - you went to a U.S. dealer and ordered the car and paid for it or made financing arrangements. You coordinated the delivery date with your trip as much as possible. If I remember correctly, there were three or more delivery locations available in Germany, but the preferred location was Wolfsburg - VW's world headquarters. That's where I went.

The car had to be a U.S. spec model; there was no way to order options, trim or especially drivetrains not available here. In my case, the only unique feature was that it was delivered without a catalytic converter because gas in Europe back then was leaded. The converter was subsequently installed at the port before shipping to America.

Overall it was a fun experience, and I'd go way off topic to go into all the details here, and I don't know if anyone cares. The bottom line is that we saved $2K, and I was travelling alone (with a backpack), and had gotten the airline ticket through some sort of charter for $1K round trip from L.A. I had reasons to visit Europe anyway that year, and had lived there for the prior two years, so it worked out well. These days airfares are really cheap, and if the program comes back, it would be worthwhile, I'm sure.

motorwaffen

wow...better idea to buy an S8!

April

Yeah, with all those cool Alfas in Europe, we've been trying to find a way for years now.