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Importing the Audi RS4 Avant into North America

audi obsession | on the spot

In this edition, we go over @therealrojo’s journey of importing the iconic B5 Audi RS4 Avant into North America.

Check it out!

Audi RS4 Details

2001 Nogaro Blue Audi RS4 Avant

When did you fall in love with Audi?

It all started with my step-mom’s 2005 Subaru Outback, back in 2010. I bought it off her as I needed a car to commute to my new job as I had just graduated and was now diving into the adult world. It was my first wagon and I loved it. My family owns a cottage north of Toronto and I have frequented there my whole life, so the wagon life came naturally. Furthermore, I love going up in the winter and without AWD this would be impossible as the road in from the highway is 30 minutes of swooping turns and steep hills.

I then became quite fond of wagons, and especially AWD ones, which led me to the sleek-looking Audis – at least the ones readily available in North America. The B5 RS4 was quickly labelled a pipe dream, a screen-saver type image, as I soon discovered they’re non-existence in North America along with other beautiful models like the C7 RS6 Avant, B8.5 RS4 Avant, and the RS2.

Working with what was readily available, I looked at some B8.5 Allroads and ruled out the V8 B6/B7 S4 Avants due to the gas mileage. In the end I ended up replacing the Subey with a Glacier White 2012 Audi A4 Avant S-Line/Prestige back in 2015. I had searched for over a year for one that was both S-Line AND had the Bang & Olufsen system – side note: I’m an audiophile. When this one came up on AutoTrader the ad didn’t even have pictures it but the specs I wanted were listed and I left work at that instant and drove straight to the Pfaff Newmarket Audi dealership. Test drove it, tested the sounds system and I was sold immediately. Now in June of 2019, the car is still my daily driver - it’s too good of an all-around vehicle for Canada’s 4 seasons, and the only car I could see being a replacement is a B9 Allroad (eventually). Furthermore, it’s been very reliable – I’ve had to replace one wheel bearing under warranty only, otherwise just regular wear & tear maintenance.

From this point on, I was a wagon fanatic, and the next one on my hitlist was a BMW E30 Touring. Such a beautiful, timeless design in my opinion – the boxier the better. I looked high and low for a few years and couldn’t find anything. Eventually, a friend of mine who already owned one (still owns and I still want it) wouldn’t sell me his but he was able to find me another one on Kijiji out in Grimsby, ON in 2017. I bought it right away and it has been a great addition to the wagon fleet. So much fun to drive.

Fast forward to 2018 and I was hunting for a BMW E34 Touring to add to the fleet – gotta catch ‘em all. I found a surprisingly clean, all original, rust-free one in Sudbury, ON. I spent most of this past winter upgrading parts on it (coilovers, interior swap, control arms/bushings, the elusive euro tail lights etc) and she’s just about ready for some summer cruising now.

Three wagons later, and I was still yearning for the forbidden B5 RS4 Avant. The more I saw photos & videos of them the more I wanted one and the more effort and thought I put into actually owning one someday. Fortunately, within the last 12 months my financial position had developed to a point that warranted me potentially affording one due to a new job. With that notion, I actually listed my 2012 A4 Avant for sale to put the wheels in motion to buy the coveted B5 RS4. I would use the proceeds of that sale to help finance the RS4 purchase. Of course, I knew that there were only a handful of B5 RS4’s kicking around in North America and was immediately looking at importing one from Europe.

Why the RS4 Avant?

I fell in love with the curves of its chassis from the moment I laid eyes on it. The wide-body really distinguishes it in a category of its own and the beautiful, vibrant colour options from the factory make it really pop.

As for it’s powertrain, I’ve spent countless hours browsing the web, Instagram and YouTube videos over the course of ~5 years and all legitimate sources pointed to the B5 RS4 being a very special car. With it’s Cosworth-inspired V6 Bi-Turbo paired to a 6-speed AWD transmission, I failed to find another long roof that could hold a candle to it.

Where did you find it?

Shortly after the official search for a B5 RS4 had begun (I decided to keep my B8 A4 Avant after all), one of my friends who knew I wanted a B5 RS4 sent me a link to an Imola red one that was for sale in Japan at a dealership. I had not thought to look in Japan but the car was in great shape, low km’s, and the price was unbeatable compared to European ones. I spent a few weeks thinking about it and finally sent a wire transfer the broker (Car Vector) for the car. Unfortunately, in the time that the wire transfer took to arrive in Japan the car sold to a local buyer. I suppose it wasn’t meant to be.

At that point, I was all in on finding one and wasn’t going to give up, so I told the broker to keep looking. I left the funds with the broker’s account so that if another one came up they could easily purchase it for me. There were other really cool/rare cars that the broker kept finding for me, trying to keep my business, and some I came close to buying instead – S50 Euro-spec Z3M Coupes, E34 M5’s, C6 RS6 Avant’s and the like - but I stuck to the plan: Find a B5 RS4.

After a few weeks passed I reverted to my European conquest. I was about to book a flight to Germany to see a silver one I found when the Japan broker sent me another Imola red one that was about to go for auction. I couldn’t believe it. I told him to bid on it with the maximum funds I had…and once again, I missed out, this time I was a few thousand dollars short of the highest bidder. The auctions happen so fast the broker didn’t have time to update me on the latest bid – he sent me the video-clip of it happening on his computer after the fact…it was literally over in less than a minute and looked more like a video game where the fastest mouse-clicker would be victorious.

Frustrated, I went to back to looking in Europe once again, yet still leaving my funds with the Japan broker just in case. At this point I was destined to find one in the colour I really wanted - Nogaro Blue. I found one on www.mobile.de located in Namur, Belgium after a bit of searching. The price was reasonable - although still not as good as a Japanese import - and I fell in love. I immediately made the decision to have my money wired back from Japan and give this a shot. I messaged the seller immediately and asked a few questions about the car (maintenance, issues, price flexibility etc). He quickly responded despite the 5-hour time difference. I told him I’m from Canada and wanted to bring it over here – he thought I was crazy at first but was surprised to discover how rare they are over here, and he soon jumped on my ‘bandwagon’.

How was the process?

When I was confident that the seller was in agreement with my ambitious plan after numerous messages and photos & vidoes of the RS4 exchanged on WhatsApp, and confirming his validty by creeping his Facebook page, I began searching for a shipping company. I ended up choosing International Vehicle Shipping Services and they were surprisingly easy to work with. All correspondence was via e-mail and they were very prompt. Among their variety of shipping ports around Europe, they operate out of the port of Zeebrugge, Belgium and I chose this as my port to export the car from. They asked for the car’s VIN & current ownership/title, a copy of my passport, among a few other pieces of info to get the ball rolling. I then notified them of the approximate day & time I would be dropping off the car.

Now the tricky part: making the payment. After learning my lesson the hard way many years ago by buying a car without in fact seeing it first, I decided I had no choice but go and see the car myself before I gave a dollar to the seller. Therefore, I had to book flights, trains, and an AirBnB close to the seller’s home in Namur, Belgium. Not the easiest vehicle purchase I’ve ever made…

Why did I need an AirBnB? After visiting my local bank, I learned that I could not get the bank to wire transfer the money if I was not physically at the branch…this made things challenging as I was not comfortable taking out a large amount of cash, let alone carrying it across the Atlantic on a plane. The bank teller later told me about an app called TransferWise – this app is like a ‘middle-man’ where you can load up as much money on it as you want, and then you can instantly wire someone money anywhere in the world, from anywhere in the world. This was my solution, except there was one caveat: for any amount over $1,000 CAD (if I recall correctly), you will be waiting 1-3 business days for the transfer to arrive in the recipient’s account. Thus, I had to book an AirBnB close by to the seller and literally camp out for a few days to kill time and let the money arrive. I got the app and wired the money from my bank account to my TransferWise account. Now I was locked & loaded.

I flew to Belgium and met the seller at the train station by his home in Namur. Him and his father picked me up (not in the RS4) and they were extremely nice. Turned out the seller only really understood the English language by reading it in texts – he needed his father to translate & communicate with me in person. Immediately we hit it off, talking about cars we’d owned, hobbies, travelling, etc. We got to the seller’s home in the country-side (he owned 3 goats and a mini-horse which was a bonus) and low & behold, the RS4 I had invested so much time, money, and effort JUST to see in person was finally in front of me and it did not disappoint. It looked just like the photos, only cleaner. The seller babied this thing – it smelt and looked like a new car even on the inside. I drooled over it for a while and eventually they asked if I wanted to go for a ride in it. We went to multiple bars at scenic look-out points around Namur, enjoying a Belgian beer at every one. They refused to let me pay for anything, including dinner. This part of the trip I had not anticipated but was very grateful to have this ‘extra’ experience.

We arrived back at the seller’s home and filled out the paperwork and I initiated the TransferWise payment. At that point it was a waiting game – the app was indicating approximate arrival to be 2 days from then. The seller dropped me off at my AirBnB and I made myself at home – one of the coolest AirBnB’s I’ve ever stayed at, nestled in the country-side just outside Namur. The owners had pet rabbits, chickens, , dogs, and cats – another bonus! I had brought my work laptop with me and managed to work from ‘home’ for the next 2 days, conveniently enough – I didn’t even have to book vacation time for this trip. Fortunately, my boss is also very ‘chill’.

Sure enough, the TransferWise app came through in the clutch and the seller was paid 2 days later. They picked me and up and were kind enough to temporarily put me on their insurance policy for the RS4 – they let me drive it solo to the port of Zeebrugge while they led the way in another vehicle (a wagon of course). 2 hours later we arrived at the port and it was almost too easy – we walked into the main office, left the keys, they gave me a letter of receipt and said “have a good day”. The Belgians drove me back to Ghent, Belgium where I had booked another hotel for the night. I then flew home the next day…

10 days later, the ship with my RS4 arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I had booked a one-way ticket there a few days before and planned to stay at my cousin’s for the night. I spent an entire day running around doing all the import leg-work myself: paying the import fees/taxes/duties, acquiring temporary driving permits to get it back to Toronto, and finally getting to the port where the car was parked and picking up the keys to begin my road trip back home.

1,600 km’s later I made back to Toronto, in the span of about 20 hours – I only slept for 2 hours and was too determined to get the RS4 to her new home. Along the way there was a major detour through Northern New Brunswick which resulted in a bent from rim – I had to limit the rest of my trip to 100 km/h due to the vibration (Side Note: Nova Scotia & New Brunswick potholes make Toronto look like a silk road).

Any plans with the Audi RS4 Avant? (mods, tuning, etc)

Lowering the coilovers currently installed (came with the car) and getting a new set of wheels – I just picked up a nice set of OEM RS5 19x9 ET24 wheels that will fill out those giant, curvy wheel wells #BerlinKlassikPrep.

Possibly a tune – it’s already neck-breaking fast but there’s a lot of un-tapped potential lying under the hood. Otherwise, I like her the way she is.

What’s next?

A break from buying cars, at least for a little while. 4 wagons is enough…but when that’s no longer enough I wouldn’t mind owning a BMW with an ‘M’ badge on it, a real one at that. I’d love a clown shoe – I mean Z3M Coupe with either the S50 Euro-spec or S54 under the bonnet.

Also, a fellow wagoneer I met on Instagram has a Mitsubishi Legnum VR-4 Wagon that I’m absolutely in love with – it reminds me of a Storm Trooper + the Lambda-class T-4a Darth Vader Shuttle and it’s immediately become a must-have.

A 6-speed Cadillac CTS-V Wagon - uber rare, naturally - would be nice also. I’ve never owned a V8 before.

Any other passions?

Drumming – I play drums for Emily Clair, Visiting my family’s cottage North of Toronto, Scandanavia + Norwegian Dwarf Goats (visiting them at farms, since the City of Toronto doesn’t allow owning livestock sadly), Travelling when I have the time (have backpacked South America and Europe, and currently itching to go back to both), rock-climbing/hiking, golfing, to name a few.

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There you have it! Thanks to @therealrojo for sharing :)

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Cheers!

Mitchell

IG: https://www.instagram.com/audi_obsession/

#audi rs4 #rs4 #audirs4 #audi #audib5 #audiobsession #audi_obsession #north america

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