Build Your Own Car: Audi – The Audi Exclusive Guide

For Audi enthusiasts, the ideal ownership experience begins when you build your own car tailored precisely to your vision. Special ordering through Audi exclusive allows you to craft a car or SUV that embodies your personal style, specified down to the finest detail with German precision and sophisticated design.

This comprehensive guide explores everything you need to know about Audi’s exclusive customization program: the extensive paint finish options, bespoke interior possibilities, model availability, and the complete ordering process. At Cartelligent, our car buying service specializes in guiding clients through the special orders process, streamlining it while ensuring your final vehicle exceeds expectations. Whether you’re considering custom paint, a fully personalized interior, or wondering how the process works, we’ll show you how to transform your vision into reality.

The Case for Building Your Own Audi

When you build your own car, you gain advantages that simply aren’t possible when purchasing from existing dealer inventory:

• Complete Control: Specify every aspect of your vehicle’s appearance and features, ensuring perfect alignment with your preferences.
• Financial Benefits: When you build your own car, you can save money compared to stock models — avoid dealer markups on in-demand configurations and eliminate unwanted option packages.
• Meaningful Ownership: Create a deeper relationship with your vehicle that begins with your initial design choices and continues through production updates to final delivery.

For Audi clients who appreciate precision and individuality, special ordering is the superior path.

Audi Exclusive: Precision Through Personalization

Managed by Audi Sport (formerly quattro GmbH), the Audi exclusive program has offered customization services since 1995. Available across the entire Audi lineup — from the A3 and Q5 to the flagship A8 and S8 — the program enables extensive personalization for clients who want to build their own vehicle as unique as themselves.

Audi exclusive embodies the principle that personal freedom and individuality define the Audi ownership experience. The program’s extensive range — from subtle refinements to dramatic transformations — enables each client to create an Audi that reflects their personality and preferences.

This philosophy of individual expression manifests in every aspect of the program, beginning with exterior color selection.

Five Distinctive Paint Finishes

Audi exclusive offers over 50 pre-approved exterior colors across five distinct finish types, each creating a different visual effect:

Uni Finish: Simply bold. A flat finish that speaks for itself with confident, no-nonsense color saturation. Perfect for drivers who appreciate clarity and directness. (e.g., Amalfi White).

Metallic Finish: Greater light reflections created by metallic flakes that add shine and dimension to your chosen color. The flakes refract light to create dynamic appearance changes as the vehicle moves (e.g., Java Green Metallic).

Pearl Effect Finish: Radiance from every angle. Rounded metal flakes create an iridescent glow that shifts and shimmers, providing depth and sophistication (e.g., Arrow Gray Pearl Effect).

Matte Finish: Contemporary sophistication with non-reflective surfaces that minimize the appearance of minor imperfections while delivering modern aesthetics (e.g., Daytona Gray Matte).

Crystal Effect Finish: Star power. This finish combines metallic flakes with refined pigments for a color-shifting, radiant appearance that captures attention. The most complex and dynamic of Audi’s finishes (e.g., Panther Black Crystal Effect).

Paint to Sample Capability

Similar to Porsche’s Paint to Sample program, Audi exclusive considers virtually any custom color request, provided it receives approval from Audi representatives. Whether matching a favorite item or selecting a competing manufacturer’s shade, the possibilities extend far beyond the standard palette.

Each unique order must be approved by Audi, but the company has demonstrated flexibility in accommodating creative requests. Colors from other manufacturers, custom shades, and historically significant Audi colors all merit consideration.

Limited edition exclusive colors (typically limited to 25 units each) include options like Viper Green, Vegas Yellow, and Sepang Blue.

Interior Artistry

The Audi exclusive interior program provides extensive customization options:

• Leather Colors: Eight exclusive leather colors available in various combinations, including two-tone options for striking visual contrast.*
• Contrast Stitching: Eleven accent stitching thread options allow precise color coordination or bold contrast. Available colors include striking choices like Alaska Blue, Calendula Yellow, and Iguana Green.*
• Wood Inlays: Five exclusive wood options, including Fine Grain Myrtle, Eucalyptus, Oak, and other carefully selected species. Each inlay features unique grain patterns that add natural elegance.
• Extended Leather Coverage: Depending on the model, extensive surfaces can be wrapped in leather, including door inserts, armrests, center console, steering wheel, dashboard, lower door panels, and kneepads. The A8 offers nearly unlimited leather coverage possibilities.
• Exclusive Touches: Custom embroidery on headrests, personalized floor mats, colored seat belts (in accent colors), and Dinamica microfiber elements complete the bespoke interior.
• Quality Assurance: Audi exclusive maintains rigorous standards — interior leather undergoes 30 separate tests for softness, color consistency, durability, and wear resistance before approval, ensuring long-term satisfaction.

Audi Exclusive RS Interior Design Packages

For RS models, Audi exclusive offers bi-color interior design packages that combine Black with striking accent colors:

• Black with Crimson Red 
• Black with Iguana Green
• Black with Calendula Yellow
• Black with Alaska Blue

These packages extend the accent color throughout the interior for a cohesive, dramatic effect that emphasizes the performance character of RS models.

The 12 O’Clock Marker

One subtle but meaningful touch: the Audi exclusive program allows accent color application to the 12 o’clock marker on the steering wheel, along with piping and floor mat edging. These details demonstrate the program’s attention to elements that enhance the driving experience.

Model Availability

These extensive color and customization options are available across the Audi range, with the depth of personalization varying by model:

• Entry Models (A3, Q3): Substantial color customization options with good interior choices.
• Mid-Size Models (A4, A5, A6, A7, Q5, Q7, Q8): Expanded options across exterior and interior elements.
• Electric Models (Q4 e-tron, Q6 e-tron, e-tron GT): Available exclusive options including custom paint finishes and interior personalization.
• Flagship Models (A8 L, S8): The most extensive customization possibilities, with options for two-tone interiors, headliner customization, custom tray tables with engraving, personalized door sills with custom text, and virtually limitless leather coverage.
• Performance Models (All RS and select S models): All the above plus exclusive RS interior design packages with bi-color schemes.

The Audi Exclusive Ordering Process with Cartelligent

At Cartelligent, we make the Audi exclusive ordering process seamless from initial consultation through final delivery. Here’s how we guide you through building your perfect Audi:

Building a custom Audi exclusive vehicle involves navigating countless options and decisions — over 50 paint colors, multiple finish types, interior leather combinations, stitching choices, and model-specific limitations. At Cartelligent, our process is designed to help you navigate the complexity of options and guide you to a final order that delivers precisely what you want.

Step 1: Discovery Consultation

We begin with a comprehensive consultation to understand your vision and parameters:

• Define Your Vision: What do you want to build and why? We explore your aesthetic preferences, functional needs, and the overall character you want your Audi to express.
• Establish Your Budget: Understanding your customization budget helps us guide you toward options that deliver maximum impact and satisfaction for your investment.
• Select the Right Model: Not all Audi models offer every exclusive option. We help you choose the model that supports your specific customization goals, avoiding frustration before you begin.

This consultation is especially valuable for first-time custom orders, where the sheer number of choices can quickly become overwhelming.

Step 2: Guided Configuration

Once we understand your goals, we guide you through the build process strategically:

• Start with Foundation: We begin with audiusa.com’s online configurator, establishing your base model and standard options first.
• Layer in Customization: Then, we systematically move into Audi exclusive customizations, helping you understand which paint finishes, leather colors, and interior details will achieve your vision.
• Navigate Limitations: Different models have different exclusive option availability. We guide you around these constraints so you don’t encounter unexpected limitations.

Step 3: Expert Review & Refinement

For clients who’ve worked with us previously, the process becomes more streamlined:

• Build Link Review: Send us your configuration link, and we will review it carefully, checking for options that might detract from the overall aesthetic or create visual conflicts.
• Catch Mistakes Early: We spot accidental selections that could compromise your vision—details like wheel finishes, trim colors, or option packages that don’t complement your exclusive customizations.
• Value Engineering: We identify opportunities where alternative approaches might achieve your desired look more cost-effectively, drawing on our knowledge of different manufacturers’ custom paint programs and pricing structures.

Step 4: Order Placement & Production

With your configuration finalized, we manage the complete process through delivery:

• Precise Order Submission: We ensure your Audi exclusive order captures every desired customization accurately and handle all communication with Audi and your dealer.
• Transparent Pricing: We provide clear pricing for all customization choices, including the $1,200 Audi exclusive order fee for interior options.
• Production Tracking: We monitor your vehicle’s progress through Audi’s manufacturing process and provide updates.
• Delivery Coordination: Once complete, we arrange final delivery details to ensure a seamless handover experience.

Our expertise removes complexity from custom ordering, letting you focus on the excitement of creating your ideal Audi while we prevent costly mistakes and ensure your final vehicle exceeds expectations.

Begin Your Audi Exclusive Journey

Audi exclusive transforms vehicle specification into personal expression. With over 50 paint colors in five distinctive finishes, eight leather colors with eleven stitching options, five wood inlays, and countless other details, your ideal Audi awaits creation.

Your perfect Audi exists not in current inventory but in your vision and Audi exclusive’s precision in bringing it to life.

Ready to build your own Audi? Contact Cartelligent today — our car buying service specializes in Audi exclusive orders, guiding you through every step of creating your own masterpiece that reflects German engineering excellence and your individual style.

All pricing, options, and program details are subject to change by Audi and may vary by market. Cartelligent recommends confirming current availability and specifications with your dedicated advisor before placing a special order.