Please beware of some potential complications in buying a car out of state.

There has been a short supply of A7s here in Washington State, and it would take months to get one with my preferred options. But as luck would have it, I came across the prefect specimen while on vacation in California -- Prestige, Quartz Gray, Nougat, Sport Package, B&O, etc.

The idea of driving my dream car up the coast from LA to Seattle was too much to resist so I made an offer. While the dealership prepared the paperwork I took my hungry family out for lunch and came back ready to drive.

At that point my sales person alerted me that I could not finance the car using a Washington address and drive it legally in California. After hours of trying to figure out how to make it work, I relented and started on a plan to ship the car to Seattle.

The drive of a lifetime was not in the cards, but at least I would have my dream car in a week.

While I was signing the paperwork, the finance manager assured me that I had all the necessary paperwork to register the car in Washington State.

So after two weeks and a few more unfortunate issues with the dealership, the car was finally on it's way to Seattle. I went to the department of licensing only to find out that I actually needed the title in order to register and drive the car.

I immediately called my sales person who told me he would figure it out and call back me in five minutes. I called him again several hours later and he told me it might take another week or two to receive the paperwork.

I tried in vain to speak with the finance manager, the sales manager, the general manger, or anyone who could give me any information about when the title would arrive and if there was any way to expedite the process. But after leaving multiple messages I realized they were not going to return my calls.

Perhaps my living in another state made it easier for the dealership to ignore a customer who just spent over $70K on a car. But honestly, I expected a lot more from Audi.

To make it even more frustrating, my local Audi dealership called to tell me a customer had just backed out of a Quartz Gray A7 with similar options and it was mine if I wanted it.

I could have been driving right now had I only been patient and remained loyal to my local dealer. Instead, I have no recourse to resolve issues with the CA dealership and a beautiful A7 sitting undrivable in my garage.

 

Man, that sucks, good luck. Which Audi dealership in Seattle were you dealing with ?

 

Crazy!!!

I've only really bought cars out of state for the last 8y due to poor local selection and service without ANY issues. Granted I'm in the southeast where there aren't so many rules and regulations. But thinking about before those 8y I was in DC suburbs where we bought from MD/VA without issue many times also.

I can't imagine WA has a need for emissions or safety that CA doesn't require.

I'll bet it was just a screw-up on the selling dealer's part. Maybe they didn't have experience with out of state sales.

 

I think it was a screw-up on the dealer's part... made worse by terrible communication.

So far Audi of America has been a huge help in putting pressure on the dealership and we're making headway.

My dealership here in Seattle is University Audi. I've been dealing with them for many years and they have always been great. Next time I'll wait for them to get the car I want.