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So after many hours of watching videos of it since its launch in Europe and falling in love with it, I patiently waited for the order books to open in the USA so I could order my S5 Sportback thru the Audi European Delivery program.
The advantages of this program for me were two fold:
1. Order the car exactly the way I wanted with a 5% off the MSRP
2. Get to travel to Europe to take delivery of it.
I was in contact with my salesman from who I have bought previous Audis and I was able to place my order on 04.01.2017.
After getting the commission number and waiting for Audi of America welcome package I read a lot of documentation about what to expect and I honestly can say that this has been a fantastic experience so far. The only drawback has been the wait and for many people this would be a deal killer but for me since I knew what to expect I can say it has not bothered me.
So I received confirmation that my car was going to be build on the first week of July and I needed to provide tentative weeks for me to go an pick it up on Ingolstadt. With the summer travel rush in full in Europe I didn't want to be paying an arm and a leg for this so I decided that the end of August as my preferred time window. At this point the only thing AoA needed from me was to make sure that my order was set on stone as far as options were concerned since no changes to my order would be allowed after 05.15.2017 . I initially struggled making my mind with three options: The exterior color, the ventilated seats and the wheels. My initial color of choice was the Daytona Grey but I end choosing Glacier White metallic. Georgia weather is hot in the summer months so the ventilated seats are kind of a necessity, the problem is that you lose the massaging function as well the diamond stitching. I ended up sticking with the ventilated seats and finally the wheels. This turned up to be the most difficult choice. The problem is that the standard 18 inches wheels of the S5 don look as good as the Cavo 19 inches, but they are not my favorite. Unfortunately, AoA didn't provide but two choices for wheels for America for the S5 versus other markets where there are many more choice of wheels. I ended up settling for the Cavo wheels.
With the order now set on stone, the next phase was to wait for confirmation date of delivery at the Audi Forum in Ingolstadt so I could coordinate traveling arrangements. That confirmation arrived the second week of July: My car would be ready for pick up on 08.23.2017. That day I would enjoy not only the delivery of my new car but also included with European delivery, a tour to the factory, the museum and all food I wanted at the forum. With that in mind I wanted to do some driving in the Autobahn and in the process, visit some family in Barcelona and Paris. The problem is that I only had one week and that would be a lot of driving so I decided only to drive the day of the delivery, and fly the rest of the trip. So the itinerary was defined: Flying Atlanta to Stuttgart, drive to Ingolstadt in a rental car, take delivery of the car the next day, drive it to Munich using the "scenic routes", dropping the car at the Airport. Driving back to Stuttgart in the rental (more about this latter), fly to Paris, then Barcelona, back to Stuttgart and then back home. In hindsight wish I would have spent a least another day around Munich since the activities of the delivered hindered my plans to do more driving with my S5 than actually happened.
The excitement buildup of the different confirmation letters from Audi about hotel reservation (since Audi arranges for you a night hotel in Munich or Ingolstadt) and appointments for pickup and tours helped diminish the long wait for August to arrive. I also had to arrange the Drop-off location for my car to continue its trip back to the States when we were done with the driving portion. Audi provided multiple locations around Europe for this activity. My choice was Munich’s Airport.
The day of the trip arrived. When we arrived at Stuttgart, the plan was to visit the Porsche Museum in the morning and drive to Ingolstadt in the afternoon. The Museum is nice and better than the Audi one but from what I have read not as good as Mercedes'. My thinking was that being jet lagged from the trip I wouldn't wanted to spend a lot of time in the museum and the Mercedes Museum is way bigger than Porsche's.
Arriving to Ingolstadt is surreal in the sense that since it is the brand's main factory, you would notice a lot more Audis around town. It is obvious to me how much influence the factory has in the life of the town when almost 12k people work at the factory with represents almost 10% of the population of the city.
The day of the delivery finally is here. We were pick up at the Hotel the next day to be taken to the Forum by an Audi representative in a beautiful A8L. When we arrived at the forum we were greeted by the AED coordinator who introduced us to another American taking delivery of his Audi. Audi has three deliveries for American drivers per day and this day we were only two. Coincidentally this other driver had also bought an S5 Sportback. His color of choice.... Daytona Gray. I must say I can't decide which one looks better. At that point the AED coordinator, made us sign delivery documents, gave us the car registration and insurance documents valid for the period of our trip (Insurance is also included with AED for the initial two weeks) and gave us a gift bag with Audi goodies.
At this point, all that was left to do was to actually take possession of the car. The excitement is at its most when the door of the storage building opens and you see your baby being coming down and being parked for you. Your name is called and at that point you are greeted by an Audi specialist who goes around the car with you and gives you the walkthrough of the car’s features and help you configure the portable navigation unit that is given as a loan to you while the duration of the trip in Europe (this is because the hardware of navigation unit installed in the car is for the satellite systems of America, which is different than then one used in Europe). After that you are given the keys and you can leave. Because we had the factory tour and the visit to the museum scheduled for later we just took the car out to the main plaza at the forum with other just delivered cars are.
The Factory tour was very impressive. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take any video recording or cameras inside. It was a two-hour tour and we were able to see the welding and assembly of the chassis for the A3/S3 as well as the assembly of the body and engine and final and interior assembly and inspection area.
The museum is cool but not as impressive as Porsche’s. Having lunch at the Forum and leaving the factory in our new Audi was a memorable moment. We took the car back to the hotel where we had left the rental. My wife drove the car from there to the Airport and I just followed her. There are some sections between the hotel and the airport with no speed limit but I was not expecting my wife to drive very fast. She only drove at 140 km (~87 miles… enough for a super speeder ticket here in Georgia). At the airport we left the rental while we went for my turn to drive the car. Two hours later we were back at the drop-off center with a smile in our face. My top speed was 221 km (137 miles) and still there were cars passing me by!. The car felt solid and fast while making sure we didn’t overrev the car per the Audi’s specialist instructions. Dropping the car for transport was without issues. Now the car was to be transported by car-transport truck to Emden port, where it’s been sitting since. Last week I received confirmation that it has been booked in the Adriatic Highway vessel departing Emden on 09.18.2017 and arriving to Jacksonville on 10.02.2017. My expectation is that the car will be here in Atlanta the second week of October at the earliest since BCP must inspect the car before is released back to Audi of America. For all intent and customs purposes, BCP treats this car as a used one so they will perform a more detailed inspection for compliance with the law and for contraband.
All in all, this experience has left me with two main conclusions. AoA European Delivery program is a nice way for the brand to build loyalty. It affords you the opportunity to drive the car the way it was is designed and meant to without the concerns of the speeding ticket that here in America you are accustomed. The last one is that next time I do it I would take more time to drive around. The German roads and scenery are beautiful.
This after taking delivery and parked at the plaza The two America bound S5 Sporbacks. Notice the sequential licenses Which is more beautiful? Coffee and cheesecake Audi style. Getting ready to leave for Munich Following the missus to Munich My speed!!. Per recommendation from the Audi specialist to going above 3500 rpm.
What an awesome experience that sounds like. Thank you for taking the time to describe your trip.
I still remember when I ordered my 2005 Corvette and flew out to the plant when it was being built. Words cannot describe the feeling watching it be built and starting it up on the line for the very first time. Back then they would even let you drive it off the line at the end over to the alignment area, but like Audi, no photos or videos and you did not actually take delivery of it at that time.
+1!
I was picked up at the end of my vacation in central Munich. I drove from Ingolstadt to Stuttgart and did the Porsche tour and museum the next morning. The following day did the Mercedes museum and drop off near Stuttgart. I fully agree, it's a wonderful experience.
09-18-2017, 08:01 AM
2018 S5 Sporback European Delivery experience
