A4 Phil

Questions that I should have had clarified before leasing my etron: Can I get warranty work done on my US etron by Audi Middle East or Audi Europe?

I am sure that the work can be done, I already checked on that. But will it be considered at 'cost' work or covered by warranty?

superswiss

Nope. The warranty programs are specific to each country and vary widely. The USA has one of the best warranty programs with 4 yrs/50k miles whichever comes first. The European warranty for example is only 2 years. The USA warranty does not transfer to other countries. The only exception was back when Audi still did European Delivery. In that case while the car was driven in Europe it was covered by the European warranty, but as soon as it was exported, the European warranty expired.

Furthermore, you can't take a leased car overseas. It's not your car. The owner is AFS or whoever you leased it through. They may allow you to drive to Canada, but not Mexico for example and definitely not ship it to Europe or the Middle East. You have to buy it out first.

hanma

I think a bigger question for the e-tron is how much is it going to cost to change the charging system to the European one.

Glisse

There is no European warranty, it is country specific. And Europe is not a country. Or perhaps more correctly, it is distributor specific. Just as it is the US, or Canada, or Mexico. Or is there an American warranty 😂

The German warranty is two years, it is three years in Switzerland - but as they charge an extra 20% for the car, I'm not sure it is great value. Most European countries provide the option of extending the warranty by one or two years, and at a lower or higher mileage rate. I typically buy it - cost just under CHF1500 for an additional two years (total 5 years). Audi just trialled a 5 year warranty in Australia, under the guise of a Covid incentive, so for just the next two months. Once the "cartel" breaks, the others will follow.

Anyway, you nailed the key issues for the OP, he can't actually do this in terms of warranty, a leased vehicle, and the likelihood that the Audi distributor there may just refuse to work on the car. Not to mention the MMI system will not operate correctly, the car may not meet certification requirements. A very bad idea.

If this were possible, everyone in the world, including the Germans, would be buying their Audi from Canada 😁

A4 Phil

Thanks for the information. The car has already been approved for shipment overseas with the lease (That is why the lease was a little tricky). At this point I am just trying to determine the ins and outs of maintenance. There is a very small part of me that feels that I should really just lease another one overseas rather than ship a US spec etron. The issue is that I really do not want to buy one overseas and have to figure out what to do with it in a few years. I'd rather just be able to turn it in and walk away from it. And no, buying any foreign spec Audi and trying to bring it back to the US is simply a recipe for disaster.

WildBTK

Well the upside of buying a non-US eTron would be access to the full matrix LED headlights since US regulators have their head up their *** on headlight regulations.

A4 Phil

The problem is that the Euro or ME etron's do not meet US DOT and would be impossible to get registered in the US. I'd love the full matrix LED Headlights though. I have heard mixed reviews about the side view cameras and I have already heard from the dealer in the ME that cold weather package will be very hard to come by.

superswiss

Actually, there is a European warranty, but you are right. I conflated some things. For folks living in any of the European countries, each country has their own warranty and terms. I had my recent Mercedes European Delivery in mind when I responded, and with that the car is indeed under a European warranty that covers it in any of the European countries before it gets exported. I had some service work done on my C63S at a dealership in Germany and one in Switzerland. In both cases the European warranty applied. The car even has a European chassis number in addition to the US VIN listed in the vehicle papers, and the European chassis number was attached to the European warranty.

superswiss

Yeah, I would probably recommend to get the car over there. Are you moving for good or what's your deal? In order to register the car you will have to get it in compliance. For example in Europe, the red rear indicators are not legal and you'll have to get them changed to amber, among other things. Audi's MMI is also not easy to convert to European maps, and the online services if you plan to use them are tied to AT&T. The Mercedes and BMW Infotainment system are relatively straight forward to convert. When doing European Delivery with Mercedes and BMW, they install the European maps and then install the US maps when the car arrives here. Audi was never able to do that and instead gave customers a portable Garmin for the duration of their trip. That was when Audi still did ED. Now they have even less of an incentive to make it easy. BMW just announced that they are stopping their ED program this year, so moving forward it might not be easy anymore, either. Hoping Mercedes keeps their program.

Glisse

I think you need to listen to that very small part of you, and lease one in whatever country you are going to be living in, for whatever term you feel comfortable committing to. Lease rates are dropping dramatically everywhere, so need need to rush to lock something in.

You also need to have some specific knowledge of exactly where you are going to be living. Not just whether it is in the Middle East vs Europe, but which country. Do not simply expect that you will be able to install a high capacity charging solution where you end up living, nor that a public facility may be just around the corner. Another reason to hold your horses until you are in place.

Please note that buying a "foreign spec" Audi (USA in your case) and trying to bring it into a European country is just as much a recipe for disaster as the inverse you quoted. Have you examined the requirements of the EC certificate of conformity? And will Audi provide you with one? Are you aware of the value added tax situation (length of ownership)? Have you researched the specific country requirements for where the e-tron will be registered? Are you sure you can get insurance cover? That you are not the owner of the e-tron is going to make all these challenges even more difficult.

I hope you can withdraw from your current leasing situation.