Fithian

My 2016 Audi A6 ($77,000) was reserved for a June 29 delivery in Neckarsulm. Airfare was purchased for four of us in Lufthansa Business for June 27 to land in Frankfurt. Three days ago I was notified that the A6 had been built on June 2, but there were no delivery slots available in Neckarsulm until mid-July. I could take delivery in Ingolstadt, but I would have to change my flights to go to Munich instead of Frankfurt. My airfare for four of us was $12,000 to Frankfurt. If I changed the destination to Munich, the airfare would be $32,000, a difference of $20,000 and a penalty of $1,800 for a total charge of $21,800. This is unacceptable. Audi is trying to resolve the situation, but Germans are pretty stubborn. Resolution is expected tomorrow. We will see.

superswiss

Just curious, did you book your flights before they confirmed your delivery date? This is why they tell you to wait with booking your flights until your delivery date is confirmed. Anyway, it's less than 3 hours by car from Frankfurt to Ingolstadt. Just rent a car or take ICE (Germany's bullet train) or book a connecting flight from Frankfurt to Munich. If you do the latter, flights within Germany are pretty cheap and there is no business class on flights within Europe. Well, there is, but it's the same as Economy except they leave the middle seats empty and you get food.

Fithian

I booked the flights after the delivery date was confirmed. They think I should wait until the A6 is built to book flights. The main reason it is necessary to book flights before the A6 is built is the price. If I booked after the car was built, the cost for Business for 4 on Lufthansa from Newark to Munich is $32,000, which is ludicrous. If Audi pays, I will fly from Frankfurt to Munich. If I have to pay, I would rent Europcar for a day for about $150, and drive to Ingolstadt. Audi may pick us up at FRA and drive us to Ingolstadt. Our flight to FRA arrives at 7:45 am, so there be sufficient time to fly or drive to Munich/Ingolstadt. I could also cancel delivery and have it sent to the US, and rent a car for the trip. I should find out today.

Here is the letter I sent to European Delivery:

I did not receive a call from you yesterday as you had promised. At this point I have no idea how we are going to get from Frankfurt to Munich on June 28 with our two grandchildren in tow. My original request in April was for delivery in Neckarsulm and our travel plans have used that location and date. Our travel itinerary is quite extensive, visiting Germany, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, and Italy.

I have filled out the CIF the best I can, not knowing when or how we will get to Munich Airport. This is not turning out to be the experience I have expected from Audi. Perhaps you can either arrange for delivery in Neckarsulm on June 29, or make arrangements to allow us to get to Munich or Ingolstadt on that date. We will need to drive from Frankfurt or Ingolstadt to Königstein on June 29 after delivery for a booked hotel.

I never had these problems with European Delivery from BMW on our previous six BMW purchases with European Delivery (1984, 1991, 1994, 1996, 2006, and 2010).

Here is the reply from Audi:

Your delivery has been confirmed on June 29th at 10am in Ingolstadt. We have also booked two rooms for you at the Hilton Hotel. I will cover both because of the complications with your delivery. Also, unfortunately there are no factory tours available in Ingolstadt either. If you are to be in Neckarsulm or Ingolstadt on another day, I can have my colleague check whether there are availabilities. Please let me know soon.

Also, once you book your flight to Munich, let me know the arrival information as well as the cost and I can get you reimbursed and have a shuttle arranged to pick you up.

superswiss

Looks like they are taking care of you. Yes, the final delivery date doesn't get locked in until the car is in production. There can be unforeseen production delays that will push back the delivery date. They are very upfront about that from what I remember and explicitly say not to book flights until the delivery date is locked in. They plan everything based on your requested delivery date, but nothing is locked in until the car is in production. When I did ED for my RS5, my delivery date got confirmed a month before delivery and at that time I booked the flights. I understand that airfares go up, but that's the nature of the beast. You may have to shop around for the best fares. I flew business on British Airways, because of frequent flyer benefits and my flight was paid for, so everybody's situation is different, but if you book the flights before the delivery date is locked in you run the risk of ending up in the situation that you are in now.

gforaker

The train ride from Frankfurt to Munich is very nice and fast. Far cheaper than re-booking the air flight. Munich S Bahn trains go constantly up to the airport.

Fithian

Audi has offered two rooms for us at the Hilton at Munich Airport and will pay for airfare for four of us from Frankfurt to Munich ($850). They have also offered a $500 Audi Shop card, but no factory tour is yet scheduled. Moreover, it appears that the invoices have not yet arrived from Europe. My flight is 8 days away and I can't yet pay for the A6. Perhaps it will be gratis :-0

TIME89

Gentlemens!
Don't get me wrong! At least we have a small activity in this forum but it kind off of topic of current forum - Tips for Audi ED.
We can create another thread just for you - you welcome to share your experience. What do you think?

Fithian

Rather than use this forum, I will keep an up to date blog with audio and video of the delivery as well as the preparation and the ensuing trip with drop off at fithians.com it is active now but needs some updating.

tpitsti93

Not sure if I'm doing this right, but here is a post I just made on another thread related to S7 EU Delivery.




https://www.audiworld.com/forums/s7-...ivery-2884264/

TIME89

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