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For Audi dealers on the West Coast of the US, it is my understanding that Audi's now go to the Port of Benicia. I have heard that they travel to the PDI facility at that port both by rail and by vehicle carrier vessel from the factory. The latest information on my SQ5 is that "Ship Departure" was on December 28th and the ETA to the Port of Benicia is January 25th. If it is on a car carrier vessel that departs from the nearest port on the west coast of Mexico (Port of Lázaro Cárdenas most likely) it would take approximately 10 days to reach the Port of Benicia assuming it makes a couple stops in Southern California along the way. If "Ship Departure" actually means "Rail Departure", it seems to me that it would not take almost a month. I am hopeful that the ETA gets updated to reflect an earlier date.

Does anyone have any solid information regarding the transit method and transit time from the factory? Do some Audi's travel by ship while others travel by rail to Benicia? I have had the pleasure of tracking the shipment of a number of vehicles from Germany and I have always been given the name of the ship which allows it to be tracked through a number of websites, Marinetraffic.com being my favorite. While having this information is not going to get me my SQ5 any faster, it is both fun and interesting to see the progress from the factory to the PDI facility.

cornelt

I would like to find out this information also. It seems that it's much easier to track a BMW from Germany than an Audi from Mexico.

Tysandrew

I'm in the same boat (no pun intended).

What I've learned is there has been a backup/delay on the carrier side (truck and rail). I don't know if it was the holidays and there were a lack of drivers, but there was a 1-3 week delay. Mine was released to the carrier on 12/22 but is just now (today or tomorrow) supposed to arrive at the dealer. It's unclear to me if all dealers on the west coast are rail first - then truck to dealer. My dealer told me it was truck all the way - but my comm report said the former (rail then truck).
Not sure if this info is helpful but this is what I was told.

Rob O

Would love to be able to track route progress as well. Our SQ5 departed same day -- December 28 -- but with an ETA into my Portland dealer of "01/31 to 02/20".

I'm hoping it's on the front end of that window or, like my S5 SB, a week sooner even. We'd originally placed a deposit on a Daytona Gray unit in production and scheduled to arrive around Christmas. Based on that, I set an appointment with my shop PPF and Ceramic Pro at their next available window ... which was the first week of Feb. Not a problem if we'd taken delivery of said Daytona Gray. Instead, my sales guy notified me of a Matador Red Prestige that had just hit the books. That was our prefered color, since we love the Volcano Red of our 2014 so much. So we moved our deposit to that unit, even with a month delay. The PPF/CPG installer is on a 5 week lead time, so I'm really hoping we can squeeze the new SQ in ... not to mention it would be ideal taking it straight off the truck (after PDI) to the detailer.