No Valid Licence for Navigation - Message on Screen - Buy Updates on Tech Pack

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Originally Posted by AT.

Just an info: Today, on my car, Audi has just renewed my licence for one more year without any question asked. Maybe they made some changes in their system, so probably the beta site and this can cause some temporary problems.

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Was this for the maps or the online traffic?

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Originally Posted by ChuckMountain

Was this for the maps or the online traffic?

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I'm sorry to forget to mention, of course it was for the traffic online.

Ok thanks, yep renewing online traffic doesn't seem an issue at all. Just the mysterious maps :)

So Audi rang me back to check if I had received the licence ok. Which I had for the online traffic.

I then enquired about the maps again and said I could download them. They went through and asked if I had formatted card correctly which I had and even tried different one. They thought even though I get the message please purchase maps that I should be able to get them for free.

I asked how much it would cost and they went away and checked with parts and rang me back £163.58 + vat, and this appears to be for one version .... :(

I would need to ask my local Audi dealer about whether I can get a free one or in fact if that one will work. Have asked for a part number but wasn't given one.

So next month when the car is in I will check :(

So my car had its check today and I asked.

Initially they said they would send off an email but I said that's for traffic. Clarified if it was an SD version, no it's the HDD with online update. So then they checked with the technician who said yes required SD Card update has to be done and hooked up to the machine in service etc. Price of £269.10 quoted.

This sounds very much like the old school way of updating it and presumably is a one off. I have some new roads round here and they may or may not be on the update but I don't want to pay that much each time to find out.

If you get the option to download the update in the car. Don't waste your time\bandwidth downloading.

I downloaded the two UK (~1GB) updates and after downloading them it said after "completing the journey it would install". When I came back to the car I got a message saying the update was not valid or was outdated.... :(

So, after chasing Audi Customer Service for the best part of three weeks I finally got speaking to somebody who seemed to know what they were talking about.

According to this person, there is no way to update the maps in the car without going to your local dealership. The charge there is £163+VAT for a single map update plus whatever service charge they might add of their own (that doesn't even get you the two updates that are issued in a single year!). This applies to a facelift car with Audi Connect and Tech Pack Advanced (or whatever it's called). I expressed my incredulity but he was adamant that there is no mechanism to pay for or obtain the updates from the Connect portal. He did say that the portal is currently being re-engineered and that map updates might be possible in the new portal.

I shouldn't be surprised. When Audi launched the FL, they said the hardware was software upgradable so that the car would always be up to date and benefit in the future from systems and apps not yet created (an Apple CarPlay upgrade, anyone?). I thought that was too good to be true, and it seems even being able to upgrade the maps after the first three years is also a goal too far.

These cars unfortunately are built and design around fleets/lease. It’s no wonder everything works for 3 years then after that they want an arm and a leg for anything out of the ordinary.
Annoying thing is the tech pack was a pretty expensive option for a big screen and colour dis. The online features were lame at best and now it’s looking like a couple of hundreds for a new map is ridiculous considering everyone can get google maps for free and don’t get me started on the promise of CarPlay as a later dealer fit option. That never happened for early facelifts.
I find the online stuff a bit better on the merc. At least that tells me if I left the doors unlocked and I can lock/unlock with my phone. Check live data about the car from my phone like fuel level, tyre pressures etc but the hardware in the car is pretty bad and looks like it’s from the 90s. Need to find a car that has best of both these.

I borrowed a new A7 for the last 2 days with the new virtual cockpit and centre display to see what that was like whilst my car was in for some work doing.

Did I like it? Yes and no

Pros

Navigation and display is very pretty and well done
Voice control is improved
No (hardly any) loading time at the start to get to Google maps
Apple Car Play integration
Nice driving position
Radar cruise control and speed recognition set it and forget it :)

Cons

Touch screen - I find myself having to look down, although though there is haptic feedback that does not help you locate the button. Zoom which I use no wheel to turn is a two\three step process now
Fingerprints !!!!
Apple Car Play Integration appears to be wired only, what the heck? It has wireless charging but I have to plug it in. BMW offer wireless ...
If you have Car Play running you can't make calls via the MMI either middle or instrument cluster you have to use the Car play bit and voice controlled appears to be limited . Also when using Spotify the now playing track didn't always appear in the instrument cluster
SOS - green light is right in my vision on the centre roof and is sooooo bright at night its ridiculous
Engine - on paper is quick but in reality seemed a bit dull - this is the 340ps Petrol one
I can see the rainbow effect on the LED lighting on certain colours when moving my head
They dropped the 4 zone climate control
Laser lights - good with the matrix option but appeared like the headlights were dirty but weren't as the light had inconsistent brightness level across the lit up area
The car announces very loudly you have left your phone in the car. That's great but when filling up with fuel I then have to plug and unplug it etc.
The car has a "Windows" startup sound - can be disabled

The car was around 65k as specced ....

Don't know if you could check stuff online or not hadn't tried it

Would I get one, probably not .....

Looking at the way prices have moved up with the new A7 and the A6 (first version now on the configurator), I think wait a year and huge discounts will be available.
Really not sure myself about all the screens and no buttons.

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