Let me wrap up this blog with a final entry, as I kind of left the resolution hanging in the air.
My car finally did arrive. I will probably never know the hows and whys of its delayed journey, but I do know that it sat in Germany for more than three weeks before it got put on a ship. Once it arrived in Houston, it got through customs and on a truck in a relatively timely fashion. I think my salesperson got on the phone with Audi and told them "enough is enough" and they got it expedited through customs. It was due to arrive the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and as of that Tuesday, everything was on schedule. Then the trail went cold. Finally, on Monday the car arrived at the dealership without nary an explanation as to what happened between Tuesday and then. But all was well. The car was just the way I left it and I drove it off the lot that day at about 3pm.
Despite the agonizing delay, it was worth the wait. The Q5 is a marvelous vehicle. The European Delivery experience was worth every penny spent. I would definitely do it again. So in a few years, after I sell my first book and buy an Audi TT, I'll be going to Germany to do it all over again.
If you have any questions about the experience, I'd be more than happy to answer them. Just email me at heresy64@gmail.com.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Thursday, November 3, 2011
(Insert crickets chriping here)
I sent the email I alluded to in my previous post on Sunday night. As of today, Wednesday, not a peep from Audi. Not that I was really expecting a response, as there is nothing they can do at this point, but an acknowledgement would be nice. I'll post updates.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Epilogue
Well, I've been back home a few weeks now and I realized I failed to blog about the final portion of the European Delivery process--the drop-off.
It actually went quite smoothly. I had emailed the drop-off agent before we left the States and scheduled the drop-off time. Since my email was sent over a weekend, I did not hear back from them until the Monday we arrived in Ingolstadt. We confirmed a drop-off time of Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 4 p.m. in Sindelfingen, near Stuttgart.
We left Rothenburg Wednesday morning and arrived in Stuttgart later that morning. Given sufficient time, we wanted to visit the Porsche Museum in Ludwigsburg. We had time, so we stopped to tour it. Wow! Has it changed. I visited the museum as a teenager and it was nothing like it is today. If you ever have the chance to see it, it is worth the visit, even if you could care less about cars. It is an architectural masterpiece. They have quite an exquisite collection of very rare cars, many of them either the first of their kind or the only of their kind. Very impressive, indeed.
After a couple of hours at the museum, we headed toward the south side of Stuttgart towards Sindelfingen and our hotel. The plan was to check into the hotel and then take the car to the drop-off agent and then get a cab back to the hotel. We emptied everything out of the car, as was required, and brought everything up the hotel room.
At the appointed time, we took the car over to the drop-off agent's location, just a few minutes from the hotel. The drop-off process was relatively painless. Aside from the stench of cigarettes from the chain-smoking agents, everything was handled professionally and quickly. All the paperwork was in order, both the paperwork given to me by my local Audi dealer and the paperwork from the Audi Forum on deliver day. The agent made copies and entered my information in to the computer. Everything was done in about 20 minutes.
I asked if he had any idea when the car would get up to port in Emden. He said he wasn't sure, but he thought it would probably get on a truck by the weekend and it was only a day's drive to Emden.
After a final inspection both inside and out, we said goodbye to our Q and went back inside to call our cab. Unfortunately, because of some event in Stuttgart that week, cabs were in short supply, and when we were told a cab would be at least an hour wait, our agent decided to drive us over to the hotel himself. He had us back to the hotel in 15 minutes.
The next morning we caught a cab to the Airport to catch our flight home. The cab driver was about two schnitzels this side of a heart attack. He spent the whole cab ride on the phone arguing with his daughter and then someone else over how she was going to get a ride to and from school. At least, that's what my rudimentary German language skills could pick out of the conversation.
The flight home was long, but we made it with no problem. Exhausted, but happy to be home.
I was optimistic that I would be seeing my Q again soon, maybe even by the first week of November. But here's where the bad news begins.
Remember I dropped the car on Oct. 5. It is supposed to be loaded on the ship today, Oct. 30. Why so long? Well, that's a question I would like to have answered. Volkswagen uses a fleet of carriers to transport their vehicles from Emden to various ports throughout the world. There are also ways online to track your vehicle and ship, in a limited way. No information was immediately provided on the web site I used to track the shipping progress. Right now, a rotation of four ships make the trip from Emden to Houston, with stops in between. I first hoped my car would get on the Olympian Highway, which left Emden on Oct, 12 and was scheduled to hit Houston on Oct. 28. Shortly after the Olympian Highway left port, I saw they finally updated the shipping information to say my car would be on the next ship, the Mediterranean Highway, which would leave port on Oct. 22, arriving in Houston on Nov. 7.
Okay, I thought, that's not too bad. Allowing for 10 days for the car to get from Houston to Utah, I would still have the car by the middle of November. Then there was more bad news.
A few days after Mediterranean Highway left port, I checked my shipping information again and noticed that it had changed. Now my car was not on Mediterranean Highway, but scheduled to be on the Cougar Ace, which leaves port Oct. 30 or 31, with arrival in Houston on Nov. 17. Are you kidding me! This means my car has been sitting at port waiting to get put on a ship for more than three weeks now. I wouldn't be so upset, except this is not a car that I've ordered and waiting to get to the dealer so I can buy it. NO, I have already paid for this car. It's mine and I have absolutely no control of what is happening to it.
I will send a letter to Audi explaining my displeasure with the circumstances. For the record, this is the only issue I have had with the European Delivery process. Audi says to allow up to eight weeks for delivery, I guess to cover their butts, but come on. Let's get real here. There's no reason the cars can't be delivered in four weeks, six tops. I think it's only fair that cars that have been paid for by customers should have first priority to get on the ships. There is absolutely no reason why a car should sit in port for more than three weeks waiting for its place in line. As far as I'm concerned, my place in line should be reserved for me as soon as I buy the car. I think that making a customer wait two months for a car they've already paid for is ridiculous.
Furthermore, I'm starting to wonder if I will ever see my car again. While that statement is in jest, my worry has some root in truth. The Cougar Ace, you see, was involved in one of the most notorious auto shipping accidents in history. Carrying more than 5000 Mazda vehicles from Japan, the Cougar Ace capsized and nearly sank off the coast of Alaska in 2006. The ship was rescued, but the vehicles were later destroyed due to Mazda's liability concerns.
Here is a link to a NY Times story about the incident and the ship's rescue. A fascinating read, if you can get past the coarse language.I'm only hoping history does not repeat itself.
It actually went quite smoothly. I had emailed the drop-off agent before we left the States and scheduled the drop-off time. Since my email was sent over a weekend, I did not hear back from them until the Monday we arrived in Ingolstadt. We confirmed a drop-off time of Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 4 p.m. in Sindelfingen, near Stuttgart.
We left Rothenburg Wednesday morning and arrived in Stuttgart later that morning. Given sufficient time, we wanted to visit the Porsche Museum in Ludwigsburg. We had time, so we stopped to tour it. Wow! Has it changed. I visited the museum as a teenager and it was nothing like it is today. If you ever have the chance to see it, it is worth the visit, even if you could care less about cars. It is an architectural masterpiece. They have quite an exquisite collection of very rare cars, many of them either the first of their kind or the only of their kind. Very impressive, indeed.After a couple of hours at the museum, we headed toward the south side of Stuttgart towards Sindelfingen and our hotel. The plan was to check into the hotel and then take the car to the drop-off agent and then get a cab back to the hotel. We emptied everything out of the car, as was required, and brought everything up the hotel room.
At the appointed time, we took the car over to the drop-off agent's location, just a few minutes from the hotel. The drop-off process was relatively painless. Aside from the stench of cigarettes from the chain-smoking agents, everything was handled professionally and quickly. All the paperwork was in order, both the paperwork given to me by my local Audi dealer and the paperwork from the Audi Forum on deliver day. The agent made copies and entered my information in to the computer. Everything was done in about 20 minutes.
I asked if he had any idea when the car would get up to port in Emden. He said he wasn't sure, but he thought it would probably get on a truck by the weekend and it was only a day's drive to Emden.
After a final inspection both inside and out, we said goodbye to our Q and went back inside to call our cab. Unfortunately, because of some event in Stuttgart that week, cabs were in short supply, and when we were told a cab would be at least an hour wait, our agent decided to drive us over to the hotel himself. He had us back to the hotel in 15 minutes.
The next morning we caught a cab to the Airport to catch our flight home. The cab driver was about two schnitzels this side of a heart attack. He spent the whole cab ride on the phone arguing with his daughter and then someone else over how she was going to get a ride to and from school. At least, that's what my rudimentary German language skills could pick out of the conversation.
The flight home was long, but we made it with no problem. Exhausted, but happy to be home.
I was optimistic that I would be seeing my Q again soon, maybe even by the first week of November. But here's where the bad news begins.
Remember I dropped the car on Oct. 5. It is supposed to be loaded on the ship today, Oct. 30. Why so long? Well, that's a question I would like to have answered. Volkswagen uses a fleet of carriers to transport their vehicles from Emden to various ports throughout the world. There are also ways online to track your vehicle and ship, in a limited way. No information was immediately provided on the web site I used to track the shipping progress. Right now, a rotation of four ships make the trip from Emden to Houston, with stops in between. I first hoped my car would get on the Olympian Highway, which left Emden on Oct, 12 and was scheduled to hit Houston on Oct. 28. Shortly after the Olympian Highway left port, I saw they finally updated the shipping information to say my car would be on the next ship, the Mediterranean Highway, which would leave port on Oct. 22, arriving in Houston on Nov. 7.
Okay, I thought, that's not too bad. Allowing for 10 days for the car to get from Houston to Utah, I would still have the car by the middle of November. Then there was more bad news.
A few days after Mediterranean Highway left port, I checked my shipping information again and noticed that it had changed. Now my car was not on Mediterranean Highway, but scheduled to be on the Cougar Ace, which leaves port Oct. 30 or 31, with arrival in Houston on Nov. 17. Are you kidding me! This means my car has been sitting at port waiting to get put on a ship for more than three weeks now. I wouldn't be so upset, except this is not a car that I've ordered and waiting to get to the dealer so I can buy it. NO, I have already paid for this car. It's mine and I have absolutely no control of what is happening to it.
I will send a letter to Audi explaining my displeasure with the circumstances. For the record, this is the only issue I have had with the European Delivery process. Audi says to allow up to eight weeks for delivery, I guess to cover their butts, but come on. Let's get real here. There's no reason the cars can't be delivered in four weeks, six tops. I think it's only fair that cars that have been paid for by customers should have first priority to get on the ships. There is absolutely no reason why a car should sit in port for more than three weeks waiting for its place in line. As far as I'm concerned, my place in line should be reserved for me as soon as I buy the car. I think that making a customer wait two months for a car they've already paid for is ridiculous.
Furthermore, I'm starting to wonder if I will ever see my car again. While that statement is in jest, my worry has some root in truth. The Cougar Ace, you see, was involved in one of the most notorious auto shipping accidents in history. Carrying more than 5000 Mazda vehicles from Japan, the Cougar Ace capsized and nearly sank off the coast of Alaska in 2006. The ship was rescued, but the vehicles were later destroyed due to Mazda's liability concerns.Here is a link to a NY Times story about the incident and the ship's rescue. A fascinating read, if you can get past the coarse language.I'm only hoping history does not repeat itself.
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