o'BlueTouring

Hi.. I'm in the process of ordering an 09 S5 right now, and the dealer is asking me to sign an "Intent of Use" form that says I cannot export this car within a year. On there, it asks for my SSN. Did you guys have to do this when ordering? I'm ok with filling the form and sign it, but I don't really want to leave my SSN with them. But they told me it's mandatory. It has something to do with homeland security and money laundry for car purchase after 911.

Just wondering if this seems normal.

Thanks,

dK

MARKNMTT

Not normal at all. That's a new one to me and no i did not have to do that in ordering my S5.

CNVRTfromBMW

...credit report or something maybe? I didn't complete any such form.

sashko

911 and money laundering with cars? Are you kidding me??? They use 911 for everything nowadays and people believe everything!

mbA6

if they have reason to believe you are looking to export the car. As far as the reason, as you know these cars are much more expensive in other countries, so it's not uncommon that people buy a German car here and export it immediately which results in some sort of penalty or charge back to the dealer. Last year I helped a friend from DC purchase an s550 from a dealer here in Florida because all the dealers in his region wanted him to sign that form (probably mentioned he intended to export it), so obviously it is not mandatory since he was able to buy it from an MB dealer without such form.

Same car he purchased here is $230K+, while he paid $101K here and 34% tax upon when the car arrived. You can see the benefits.

Blownaway

the form is legit. Audi also has a non Export policy as do all German brands and with the dollar, exports have increased substantially. As with all customer information it is protected by that States privacy act....The dealer cannot sell the information.

o'BlueTouring

Glad to hear from Blownaway that the form is legit. I faxed back the form earlier this morning but left the SSN section blank. I guess they'll contact me again for that info.

mbA6

mandatory or is it at the dealer's discretion? I signed it for a BMW in 2003, wasn't asked for the A6 in 2006. And my last exposure to this was last year as I mentioned earlier, where all MB dealers I spoke with wanted it signed except for one here that was willing to sell, knowing the car was going to be exported after a few weeks.

Why the inconsistency?

Quattrings

You don't have anything to worry about. It's just to keep people from buying the S5 here and then turning around and selling it for profit in a different country where the same car goes for over 100k (in US Dollars). There are cases of some people doing such a thing. It protects Audi, the dealership, and our ability to buy their cars at much less than customers in other countries.

antiSUV

Some wealthy friends from Asia bought an E-Class from a Philly dealer back in the mid 90s and sent it back to their home (model not available there). When MB found out the car had been exported privately, the dealer lost a bunch of allocations. Most of the German brands have done it for many years.

I don't know about the 9/11 justification though. That sounds a little too glib.