herold49

I am currently in Germany and I was thinking about bringing my Audi A8 back. What all did you have to do to convert the car to US specs and about how much did it cost?

PaulW

Get a used S8, an 01 can be had for less than 30K.....it will cost you 10K at least to ship and convert your car.

Unless it's a pre facelift S8 that you love for some ungodly reason, just buy a newer one here, they are very cheap.

Cozzie

You guys are some brave souls, ripping out transmissions like that; between you and tozoA8, it looks like there isn't much you guys haven't done...

I have sent the info on the mechanic, and linked him to your pics; I am hoping to hear from him tomorrow. I also put a lawyer on retainer today to go after the importer; enough is enough.

Thanks again -

Cozzie

Well, I can give you the short and dirty of my particular saga, just in case it might help...

To import a vehicle into the US, you have to look at a couple of items: is the model one that was originally imported during that year (A8's are pretty safe - they have been imported since the first year), how much do you have in the vehicle (is it really worth doing the conversion), and can you do without the vehicle for an extended length of time. If you pass all of these questions, now comes the fun part...

You have to find a Registered Importer; they don't have to necessarily be in your area, but it makes it a lot easier the closer they are to you in the US. For example, on the East Coast, I only had 3 choices: New York, Baltimore or Miami. I went with a guy in Baltimore (bad choice) as he was geographically close; I also had household goods being shipped, and it made it a lot easier to have everything come into the same port. RI's don't all do Euro-spec cars; some only convert Canadian vehicles - make sure you look at them as closely as you can before you start talking to them (though I am starting to think it is more of a crap shoot than anything else...).

To ship a vehicle, you have two choices: RO/RO or container. The first is about 800 USD, the second about 1500 USD; this really doesn't matter too much where you are in the world, and the prices have been pretty steady for years. For a decent vehicle, I would go with the container option - shipping insurance does not give you a lot of options, and scratch/dent issues are rarely covered. For your A8, you will have to get export licenses from Germany, and a bill of sale for US Customs; they will charge you a fee based on the value of the vehicle. By the time you get in on the ground here, you are looking at about 2000 to 2500 USD for a newer vehicle...

Now for the conversion and registration process: before the car leaves Germany, you must have identified a RI here, and they have to have a bond in place for the vehicle; otherwise, it doesn't leave the boat. You can't pick it up - the RI has to accept delivery and take the vehicle to their premises directly. You can't even touch the car at this point... I contacted pretty much all of the RI's on the East Coast in 2002/2003; the price for conversion is usually quoted to be about 6500 USD to 7500 USD, but by the time they throw in the "extras", it usually builds to about 10K or higher. The guy I went with, US Specs (not recommended) quoted me originally 7500 USD - by the time I reached the US and he had "physically examined" the vehicle (part of the contract), that had climbed to 12K.

The main parts converted are: the cats, the O2 sensors, the dash, and any lights/glass that aren't DOT stamped (my tail lights were, but my headlights were not). After the physical conversion takes place, you have two tests to pass: DOT and EPA. EPA costs about 3000 USD; both can be done in 30 days, and they usually have to let the car sit in "quarantine" for 30 days. During that time, the RI is supposed to be registering the vehicle locally, and getting you a domestic title; at that point, they should be turning the car over to you when the quarantine finishes.

My experience has not been the "ideal": my car (1998 S8) arrived in the US on 25 May 03; it has been at the RI since then. In fact, I am most likely starting legal action, as I see no other way to protect myself from some sort of massive bill or not seeing the car again. Some people I know have had cars imported in 60 days or less; all depends on the RI and the type of vehicle. Mine is definitely worst case, from what I can see....

I hope this is somewhat instructive - if you have any questions, let me know.

Cozzie

Thanks for the image... I certainly hope they would have enough brain power among them to not do that...

PaulW

In the end, you could of easily sold it and bought a 01 S8 in the states for less money.

Cozzie

You are correct - and don't think it hasn't crossed my mind... I did get the car at a very low price; it was 2 years old when I bought it from the dealer, and was owned by the ruling family of Qatar. It didn't get much use (once they drove it around for 2 months, it was set aside for a new SL55); the guy that had it (whom I worked with at the time) was leaving the country on a 3 year study trip in England, and was going to buy something else on his return. He had no idea what it was worth - in fact, he kept calling it an A8, and until I saw him actually drive it in to work that is what I thought it was. He turned it over to the dealer to sell it, and I contacted them the same day; Audi has a better market there than here, but it still isn't flashy enough for most. As such, they priced it as a used A8; I paid just under $20K for it, with about 28,000 miles on the odo. With the 10K to get the work done, I thought I was still doing good, especially considering I knew the vehicle, had it serviced regularly, and never had a single problem with it. Now, however, I have had second thoughts...

I think the average RI assumes anyone bringing a car into the US from outside is loaded; they have no compunction about throwing charges at you like there is no tomorrow... At least that has been my experience so far; maybe someone else has had better luck...

Thanks again for the help - haven't heard back from the mechanic, but I will call him again in the morning.

Jonnygd

Just a quick question, I am considering importing a 2000 Audi S8 4.2 from Europe,( I work here most of the year) and so far Ive been told that it'll cost me 24 grand.(Thats nuts) This year car has been imported before. Heres my idea to hopefully cut cost. Since I have access here in Europe to a US spec Audi A8, I am thinking of doing some of the conversion before shipping. I was hoping you have a parts list of what you needed. I saw some of them on the DOT requierement web site but what else especially EPA needs to get changed. And do you think this will help in the process. Or does it have to go to US and only registered importers can do the changes. Ok sorry the question was not as quick as I thought. Others opinions on the matter would also be welcome. Thank you. Any help would be appreciate it