Damage in Transit
 

I was wondering what everyone's experience is with damage after dropping the car off.

Official Audi Policy is as follows:

"Damage to your vehicle after Drop off: In the rare event your vehicle is damaged in Europe after drop off, Audi reserves the right to return the vehicle to the US in order to repair the vehicle to factory specifications. This may result in a delay of shipment while the vehicle undergoes a required inspection and final approval from a Quality inspector. In this case your dealer will be notified of the updated shipping info for your vehicle. Any damage occurring to the vehicle during overseas shipment or after arrival at the US destination port will be handled by your dealer through the standard shipping insurance procedure."

Policy and action are two different things, and the policy seems to change from year to year. This is my biggest concern when taking ED. I have read some horror stories elsewhere.

Obviously the car is not re-wrapped (could it be?), is in a steel shipping container that could drip rust onto the car, and is driven by dock workers potentially not as carefully as we would (and as I have read potentially into the sides of the containers), and spends a month in salt air.

Should I be concerned?

Stuff happens, but not often. My 2015 A6 TDI was delivered to me in November without a flaw. Had there been a scratch, my dealer said that they would take care of. More serious damage is covered by the shippers Insurance. You risk damage every day the car leaves your garage. Yes the car is NOT re-wrapped which is not that bad. My dealer also told me that the plastic zippered wrap from the factory has been known to cause damage to the paint finish from flapping in the wind while being trucked on occasion.

No issues here either. I asked the dealer to only wash it and not to prep it with whatever inexpensive wax they use. No damage whatsoever.

When I got the car home I was shocked at the amount of embedded dirt the clay bar picked up. Not sure if that was from the ship transit or the rail transit, but I went through an entire clay bar in one use.

Our ED car was shipped in a car transport ship, not in a container, along with non-ED German cars being delivered to the US dealerships. Presumably, the car was driven on and off the ship by drivers that do it as a living.

Thanks.
 

Thanks everyone for the information! Glad to hear that it doesn't seem to be too much of a problem. Just need to remember to set aside some dough for a really good detailer when the car gets home (wish I knew how to clay bar a car but I'm too concerned I'm going to burn the paint).

The other thing I did after dropping off the car in Munich was took pictures of the exterior from all angles. Also used the Go-Pro and filmed the car as well. Didn't want any debate with Audi as to when damage occured if I had any

You can clay bar by hand. I use Griot's garage clay and speed shine as the lubricant

In 2010 my S4 was returned to me with a very small chip on the rear edge of the driver door. The dealer didn't notice as I asked them to return the car to me without washing it. I found it when washing the car and sent an email to Audi ED. They tried to quote me some wording from the ED paperwork that says small imperfections are a part of driving the car on the road and not their responsibility. However I had photos of the area taken when I dropped the car off in Munich that confirmed the car was fine. Also someone with integrity left documentation in the car stating it had been damaged in shipping. The dealer offered to take care of it and would have had the door repainted. All I really wanted was someone more talented than I to use touch up paint on it as it was really small. I finally fixed it myself with Dr. Colorchip and it came out fine. I was a bit disappointed that Audi tried to disavow responsibility, but the dealer did step up when needed.

I use Griots also. They make great products