Audi Connect and Value for our Dollars

[ManyAudis]

I just purchased my 9th Audi, a 2018 A4 Premium Plus with the Technology Package which include the Virtual Cockpit and a 6 month trial of Audi Connect. Since I have only had the car for a few days I am still learning the value of Audi Connect. Out of curiosity I have been looking into the cost of this feature once the 6 month trial expires. I have to say that I am rather disappointed at the high price of the service. While I can afford the cost I am not sure I see the value of $33/month which, over the course of my 3 year lease is $1,200. Based on what I have learned so far the value I would assign to the features offered by Audi Connect is about $15/month. If these features are really worth $33/month I think that Audi needs to do a much better job promoting the benefits to its customers.

Here is my list of what would increase the value of Audi Connect:
1. Free map updates. It appears these might be included but it is not very clear in the manual if this is the case.
2. Access to Pandora, Apple music etc. with no data charges - this would save me from needing SiriusXM
3. Be more clear where traffic data comes from. I have seen claims that it is part of Audi Connect and I have seen other claims that it supplied by SiriusXM's traffic service.
4. Provide a discounted option which aligns with typical lease terms - since you supplied 6 months free it would make sense to offer 30 and 42 month options with significant prepayment discounts.
5. Provide periodic MMI and Virtual Cockpit upgrades with the subscription similar to Tesla. By adding useful features or new display modes customer will feel they are getting value for their money. You can also provide over the air bug fixes saving the customer the trouble and cost of having this done at the dealer.

I am sure other's on the forum can offer additional suggestions.

Audi needs to realize they are competing with Apple and Google, particularly now that they offer Apple Car Play and Android Auto. Those platforms will offer continuing improvements to their software and the number of offerings. At the current pricing I am afraid Audi will price Audi Connect into failure. Although I am not in automobile marketing I suspect that at $15 per month you will end up with much more than 2 times as many subscribers that that you will get at $33/month. At $15/month for a 30 month subscription I would automatically sign up for the rest of my lease term without a second thought. At the current pricing, unless I find a significant benefit which I have missed so far I will probably not renew at the end of the trial period.

[Audi USA]

Good morning, thanks for reaching out. Congratulations on your Audi A4. I appreciate you sharing your feedback and comments on Audi Connect. Your comments will be shared internally.

[wam22]

With Audi connect you get google maps and intrix real time traffic. Plus Audi is working with BMW and Mercedes to develop their own live traffic system.

Audi does offer a Gen II plan for 2017/2018 A4/S4 for 30 months for $750 ($25/mo) for Connect Prime. Connect Plus gives you wifi streaming for $10-$40/mo so you are looking at at least $35/mo. It is priced a little too high and a lot of my customers have no interest in renewing their subscription and I am hesitant as well. I believe our regional trainer said around 80% of customer do not subscribe after the trial.

[Audi USA]

With Audi connect you get google maps and intrix real time traffic. Plus Audi is working with BMW and Mercedes to develop their own live traffic system.

Audi does offer a Gen II plan for 2017/2018 A4/S4 for 30 months for $750 ($25/mo) for Connect Prime. Connect Plus gives you wifi streaming for $10-$40/mo so you are looking at at least $35/mo. It is priced a little too high and a lot of my customers have no interest in renewing their subscription and I am hesitant as well. I believe our regional trainer said around 80% of customer do not subscribe after the trial.

Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate you sharing your comments.

[heisnuts]

I tend to agree as well. The current pricing seems too high given the alternatives available on the cell phone, which almost everyone has these days. If the price was $10 to $15 a month with maybe a discount for buying a year or multi-years at a time I know I would be a buyer for sure.

Another suggestion would be to add a remote start option to Audi Connect. That would really make the system more attractive. A lot of the other car makers have it and it makes it really nice to be able to warm or cool a car off if it's been sitting outside all day/night.

[ManyAudis]

With Audi connect you get google maps and intrix real time traffic. Plus Audi is working with BMW and Mercedes to develop their own live traffic system.

Audi does offer a Gen II plan for 2017/2018 A4/S4 for 30 months for $750 ($25/mo) for Connect Prime. Connect Plus gives you wifi streaming for $10-$40/mo so you are looking at at least $35/mo. It is priced a little too high and a lot of my customers have no interest in renewing their subscription and I am hesitant as well. I believe our regional trainer said around 80% of customer do not subscribe after the trial.

If the retention rate is only 20% then I think that is a problem and Audi should rethink their pricing strategy. And I think that $750/30 mo option has been removed from the site. There is now either a 6 mo for $199 or an 18 month for $499. There is not an option which matches the typical 36 month or 48 month lease.

We also have a VW and did not review VW's CARNET feature. That was even less of a value because it only really offered a few features, the ability to send addresses to your NAV system and the ability to see the fuel level of your car. I guess you could also unlock, but not lock the car. And you could push the button and ask the operator for the nearest Panera and she could download the address. On VW the traffic comes from Sirius so you keep traffic if you keep XM radio.

[jokingjimmy]

I want built in Waze. It's the only reason I have my phone in a darned holder on the dash. Yes, I have a Prestige with Nav

[SHCKR]

My trial runs out in two months, so I've been doing a lot of digging about what do I actually get for Audi connect subscription, and is it worth the cost.
Long story short, with latest generation Audi's you can't simply insert a random sim card and get Google maps/search, and hotspot functionality. You have to pay for both. One, for Audi connect, priced ridiculously at $500 for year and a half, plus $10-20 per month for hotspot. And you can't get the hotspot without paying for audi connect. It's obvious what you get when paying for the hotspot. But what do you really get when paying for Audi connect? Random crap that shows up, such as gas prices and weather? Who really uses that, when it's readily available on your phone. Personally, the only benefits I see is the Google search option when trying to navigate somewhere. Unfortunately, the navigation itself is not Google maps. Sure, it looks like Google maps, but it's just an overlay of the default vehicle map.
Try for yourself, navigate somewhere far (few hours away) using your phone, and then using your MMI. I bet your MMI is guiding you via terrible route with an arrival time of almost double of your phone.
That effectively makes it useless. So once again, what do I get for my $500? A pretty map overlay that doesn't work for navigation, and a search function that could be just as easily done via Android auto...

Come on Audi, get with the program. I didn't buy a $70K vehicle to be presented with horrible functionality with a cherry on top of price gouging for a useless service....

Rant over.

[ManyAudis]

I am the thread starter. After much soul searching I signed up for Audi Connect and paid the painfully high $500 for 18 months. So you ask, why did you do it? Here are my reasons and what I like (in no particular order).

• I like using the in-car navigation over Apple Maps or Waze. The graphics are better and I can see it on the VC and when I go skiing in the winter there is no cell reception in many areas so the “on line” NAV just wont work. Because I use the in-car NAV I want live traffic and you need Audi Connect for that feature (or there is a hack and you can buy XM traffic)

• I use “Google search <navigation address>” a lot.

• If I am at home or in the office and I need a navigation destination I can look it up in the Audi app or on Google Maps and send it to the car.

• I like being able to look at the weather maps while I drive home from work. I like to cycle in the evenings and I often check to see if there is a storm coming.

I use other features occassionally but these are the ones I use the most. Is this worth $500? Probably not, but now that the bill has been paid the pain is gone ;)