garethsnaim

Hi guys.

I have a new 2014 A6, se. Sorry if this is the wrong section I have no idea if mine is a platform 7 or what ever.

I went for the SE with the company scheme because I really fancied a better tech pack, so I got the technology package.

This supposedly gave me googlemaps and other stuffs.

However so far after a couple of months, I find this particular nav system very frustrating and slow.

I just wonder if I am missing something fundamental.

So the issues:

Google Maps.
I admit I misunderstood the sales chatter. I thought I was getting googlemaps which would be a good thing as when I use it on my phone it never puts a foot wrong. What I actually got was some sort of mashup that does not work.

If I use google maps on my lappy, I can 'send to car' on paper this looks great, fundamentally it does not work.

If I put the postcode in googlemaps it goes to the right place, I send to car and give it a name, however in the car the name is ignored. So for instance I have put in 12 addresses in the croydon area which I have to visit next week. I have put this into googlemaps with meaningful names and sent to car.
In the car they all say 'croydon' and thats your lot. So basically using googlemaps with postcodes does not work.

If I search in googlemaps by a name of a location, again googlemaps zooms into the right location, happy days I will send that to my car. This time it appears in my car with the right name. But choosing it for a location to nav to always, always returns an 'cannot navigate enter manually' I think its because it can only go via a postcode that has no spaces, google puts a space in the postcode I think.

Sometimes you can nav via the X/Y co-ordinates, but this then appears in the last destinations as the co-ordinates making it impossible to determine between them to use again.

OK then, so using googlemaps is out, it simply does not work well. So what about logging into audi and using their system?

Does not work. You can put locations in and when you pull them up in the car it sends you to around quarter of a mile out. It never takes you to the location!

There is another issue. Logging into the online thingy and pulling up the data takes a bloody age. It then makes it a total gimmick. I might as well have walked to the car with the postcode in my hand because by the time I have got into myaudi and pulled up an online destination 5 minutes has gone. My wife came out to the drive in the first week thinking I had a stroke or something.




All in all I am a bit gutted, i was offered an s-line, but I felt that better tech would be better for me as I visit lots of locations, but so far as I can tell the enhanced sat nav features are infact not particularly good gimmicks.

Whats other peoples experience, is there a methodology for making googlemaps actually work?


(the car is great for driving by the way, the seat is totally crap and its killing me, but I love the auto and hifi)

Richard Solomon

Set up a MyAudi account if you haven't already (it sounds like you have). Part of that process should link google maps to your MyAudi account.

When you do "Send to car" in googlemaps, the destination should appear in MyAudi in your "My Destinations" section - this apparently varies by country, so the UK one may be different that the US one I have. You can edit the destination there and give it a useful name.

I had the same problem and didn't at first realize that google maps puts the nice name you enter in the "Note" field of the contact it creates rather than in the "Destination name" field - which is what shows in MMI. A quick cut and paste and you should have a nice useful destination in MyAudi - which you can then select (and store if you wish) in the MMI itself. You should be able to repair the items you already sent if they got stored in MyAudi, just go change the names from Croydon to what you'll probably find in the Note field

HTH!

PJRed2008

Also, the car does not have Google Maps, it has a Google Earth overlay. The actual map data is on the harddrive in the car, so that may or may not match what you would see on a smartphone or computer.

I also believe the GPS system calibrates itsself based on usage IIRC. So, the longer you use the syatem the more accurate it becomes. That being said, mine was pretty close out of the box but is better now.

garethsnaim

Hi thanks for the feedback.

I tried a different approach last night. In myaudi account i entered destination via the maps bit where it says 'where', 'what'

In where i put the postcode (zip) in the what the name of the place. Sure enough it then shows me the correct address and destination. Excellent.

I send to car.

In the car when i select it, it says cannot create destination, please enter manually. It does this with every address sent from myaudi. Surely this is a bug?

Is there like a contact for audi that i can get this sorted, or is that a pipe dream?

DB22

I know where Croydon is but you should put your location into your logon credentials so that members have a clue as to your references. The models in the UK have different options but the operations are certainly similar but may not be the same when advice comes from other locations.

I am sure that the UK has "like" a customer service contact. If you cannot find it in your documentation then call the dealer. Giving you the CS number for the US or Australia probably won't help you.

garethsnaim

Hi DB22, Croydon was an example today, but it matters not what address I pick from 'my audi' they all result in the same error at the car end.

I'll pick this up with the lease company as it was a £1000 extra that so far as I can tell in the UK at least does not work.

I must confess I am getting really messed up in the car between favorites, contacts, online destinations, last destinations etc, its all a bit confusing and messy, but can safely put that down to my incompetence.

Its a shame with the software int he car its comprehensive but very hard to use. scrolling contacts for instance, if you go fast it jumps then you find yourself scrolling back, but go a bit fast and boom you are back to the beginning. And Making, hanging up calls means tabbing over before doing so etc, it was far easier on the BMW before because there was dedicated phone controls (IMO makes a lot of sense in basically a reps/sales car)

I'll get there in the end.

DB22

I never thought that I would hear that iDrive is better than MMI.

Can't you hang-up by pushing the left scroll ****?

Reps/sales should not be in Audi's/BMW's or talking on the phone.

garethsnaim

Well i can hang up provided i am in the correct tab. However if i am fighting the satnqv trying to get to a destination, i need the directions up. There should be a dedicated hangup/dial button.

Also frustratingly i have the touchpad thingy, but all it does is select radio stations when driving, what a waste! On the bmw there were 8 buttons that could be assigned to anything in the idrive system including phone numbers, actions, etc.

But this lovely touch pad interface, radio stations only! Sigh.

James517

The MMI has so many details, it can be overwhelming.

One of the confusing things is that the same action can often be accomplished in several different ways. Part of the challenge is figuring which sequence of buttons is the most convenient for you and mainly use that strategy to get to the menu, etc., you want.

Consider the one or two features that you most need to work correctly, then have the sales person take the time to walk you through the steps to make them work for you.

Once you have those right, do it again with the next feature(s). Trying to do it all at once only adds to the challenge.

They told you about the features. They sold you the car. It's ok to have them follow through and demonstrate how those features work for your use. (Supposedly, that's why these are not simply purchased from a catalogue.)

James517

The arrows on the left side of the wheel toggle you through different screens quickly. Set up a route. Have someone call you. Then see how many arrow presses will take you to the screen to hang up. It may be just two clicks....hang up by pressing the wheel....then a click or two to get back.

True...not as easy as a dedicated button. But it's particularly hard to figure this out if you're in traffic, enroot to a client.