MMI Navigation Plus / Online Services / Mobile Phones

**Timothy Nathan** · 05-02-2012,07:13 PM

Maybe I'm being stupid, but why use the iPod?

Once the SIM is out of the iPhone it can still pick up eMails, it effectively becomes an iPod Touch, so why burden yourself with another box?

**kennyh** · 05-02-2012,08:26 PM

If it works like that, then great!

I'll give it a try on Wednesday.

**Timothy Nathan** · 05-02-2012,08:36 PM

It will simply report "No SIM Installed" and then behave like a WiFi iPad or (I assume, I have never really played with one) an iPod Touch. It will definitely pick up eMails on WiFi as that is exactly how I had it configured while I was assessing the Nokia as an alternative.

**kennyh** · 06-02-2012,12:05 AM

Yep, done a quick test and as you say I can then use it for emails etc via wifi. Excellent.

That leaves one problem, that of SMS messages (sending and receiving). What are we going to do about then?

Cheers
Kenny

**Timothy Nathan** · 06-02-2012,08:05 AM

I don't get the car till next week, so cannot be sure but the way I look on this is that this whole issue is only such a low priority in the UK because we do not have duplicate SIMs.

If it were an issue in Germany or USA, Audi would have jumped.

Given that they are not getting floods of complaints in the markets they care about, we must assume that it works there, and that means it works on dual SIMs. If it works on dual SIMs, they must have dealt with the SMS issue.

Or is there a flaw in that argument?

Anyway, I'll report back when I get the car.

**smsabc** · 06-02-2012,10:15 AM

Absolutely correct Timothy. By Audi's own admission (on numerous occasions now from various people at Milton Keynes) they've said they were unaware that the phone/car systems worked differently in the UK to the rest of the world. It was only after it was released here that this became an issue. Up until very recently their sales people were still promoting the fact that both phone and online services worked together at the same time regardless of which phone was being used. In fairness the A7's brochure did make a very vague referrence to the possibilty of this occurring, but it was so vague, all it referred to was that some phones may not be compatable.

When buyers test drove the cars and linked up their iPhones to the cars Bluetooth connection, like me they were assured by Audi sales staff that iPhones worked fine with the car, unaware that this wouldn't be the case when they bought their car and tried to use the full system with a sim card in the dashboard as well. One of the problems was that UK car showrooms didn't usially demonstrate the online services as it meant using a data card that they would have to pay for seperately. I understand that in the USA, the cars came with a free data card from the start and that dual sim cards are also available there, so it wasn't an issue.

After this problem came to light, Audi changed their brochures, highlighting slightly clearer that iphones won't work fully, but it was still very vague and many customers had already bought their cars by then, believing that it was OK. Like me we found that Audi sales staff were STILL selling the system as fully functional with iPhones (that has now changed and they've stopped saying that thankfully).

Yes it does feel that the UK is too small a market for Audi to be bothered about sorting out this issue. However it does feel that many of us have been missold and poorly treated. Perhaps as nobody has tried to push this through some legal action, they haven't pushed it to the top of their agenda yet.

**Timothy Nathan** · 06-02-2012,10:24 AM

Everybody knows that threats of "legal action" are so much tub thumping. Who in their right mind is going to get up in front of a judge and plead that they can't see Google Maps and make a phone call at the same time while driving, and risk legal costs?

No, let's keep this sensible. Audi care about their reputation. They care most about those of us who buy expensive cars with expensive options. Let's face it, the most likely people to buy an A8 in three years time are those who buy a fully loaded A6 today.

So, if we are going to tackle Audi, let it not be with hollow threats of "legal action". Let it be with "hmmm....I see that it works in the BMW 7 Series."

**smsabc** · 08-02-2012,11:01 AM

Been there and done that I'm afraid. Audi tech support said it's a completely different type of system in BMW's so cannot be compared. I agree, it may appear petty, but my point here is that we (certainly in my case and a number of other Audi owners) were sold something that we were told would work in a particular way, paid for it and then discovered that it didn't work that way when the car arrived. This was just as much a surprise to many staff at Audi as it was to us. When we asked for it to be corrected/repaired/refunded, more than six months down the line, nothing appears to have happened. I agree we don't really want to go the legal route, but if the tables were turned and we had bought something from Audi and didn't pay for it because it didn't work, we would probably be in a legal situation instigated Audi straight away. In this case its more a point of misselling/misrepresentation that is the issue here and the consumer losing out and feeling cheated. A real shame as it is otherwise such a fantastic car.

**Timothy Nathan** · 08-02-2012,11:36 AM

I spend a fair bit of my time in a courtroom. I also know many people who are litigation crazy, including a close relative.

My almost universal experience is that almost no-one comes out of court pleased with the overall outcome (especially when you consider how many Civil Judgments are not enforced.). It does happen, of course, but it's rare.

Audi must know that any of us who seriously talks of litigation will either:

Talk to a good lawyer who will talk them out of it
Talk to a less good lawyer who will just see an opportunity for some fee earning, regardless of outcome.

The best measure of a lawyer's confidence is whether he'll enter a CFA, including Counsel's fees. I'll bet my bottom dollar that you'd never find that for a case such as this.

Nah. One article in a Motoring Section will trump anything the legal system has to offer!