peterp

Agree that this is a small sample size, but I don't agree with anything else in your post. Any car ashtray should be designed so that it can't get stuck with anything that could potentially be put in it (short of liquids ). If you live in an area that doesn't require metered parking, then the need for carrying coins may seem foreign to you. However, if you live in an area that has metered parking, then you need to carry a lot of coins all the time so that you don't get stuck.

Car designers should anticipate the foreseeable use of every feature of the cars and it is not the least bit uncommon for people to store coins in the ashtray. As I write this, the poll numbers are 5/9/21, with means that 40% (14 out of 35) of owners use their ashtray as a coin holder, so this is a case that any car manufacturer should anticipate. Of the 14 people that have used their ashtray as a coin holder, 5 have coins stuck, so 36% of people that have used the ashtray for coins have this problem (when I posted last night, 5 of 11 indicated a problem, which was 45%). A 36% fail rate in a use case that occurs with 40% of owners is very, very, very high.

A more telling statistic for me personally is that, within my family, I have owned more than 20 cars of various brands, I have used the ashtray in all of them as coin holders, and I have never had any stuck in any other car. It is a design problem and not one I would expect to persist for many years from a higher-end brand like Audi.

peterp

spijun

The ashtray is designed and envisaged for a ..............???????

I think it's a good design ashtray. You have your opinion and I have mine

Audi engineers and designers thought differently from you (the experience and feedback from test drivers and user)
There is no perfect solution that will satisfy all users

BlackSVT

peterp, you almost need a poll category of "I would have used the ashtray for holding coins, but I do not because I've read several accounts of doing so being a problem"

I have used it for coins in all prior cars that have not had a separate coin "drawer", but have not on the Q5 because of what I've seen here and at Audizine.

peterp

You realize that, in the US for example, 82 percent of adults do not smoke. Even among smokers, statistics show that 30 percent of smokers do not smoke in the car (because they are concerned about kids, odors, etc). So, only 12-13 percent use the ashtray for ashes. The statistics are different in Europe and elsewhere, but smoking is dropping everywhere and the most common use of an ashtray hasn't been ashes for a very, very long time. Space is at a premium in every car, so are you saying it is reasonable that the 87 percent of people in the US that have absolutely no need to store ashes should avoid using the ashtray for anything else? Is this really a good design?

If Audi was selling cars only to you, then their design would be fine, but since they are selling to everyone and every market, their design is not fine.

peterp

I agree the lack of that option on the poll it is probably affecting the stats quite a bit. Wish I had the foresight to think of it when I created the poll.

spijun

Q5 and other cars are not designed and manufactured only for the U.S. market.
These cars Are sold worldwide

For your information the same ashtrays used in: A4,Avant, A5 / Convertible / Coupe/ Sportback, Q5, RS4, RS5.

China is the world's largest car market and there are a lot of smokers (China and Asia). Audi sold 488,000 vehicles in China 2013

In Europe, some Manufacturers car ashtray offered as an option is not in the series

Again, the same problem
You may contact Audi Ingolstadt

Bye-bye, enjoy life

PS: Statistics voting is bad for you
End of discussion for me

Sugadaddy

I was surprised there was an ashtray, and even a cigarette lighter in my 2014 Q5. I thought they weren't putting lighters in cars since the early 2000's...

peterp

When it comes to overall car design, you are absolutely correct that there is no perfect solution. When it comes to something as specific and simple as an ashtray, though, that generalization is incorrect. It is entirely possible to design an ashtray that can: a) hold ashes; AND b) hold coins and other stuff. Not only is it possible, it is trivially easy as demonstrated by the designs of just about every other car made.

rudymon

My prior RX 300 had a simple and useful solution. There was a small door on the left lower section of the dash, below where the light switch is on the Q5. Door angled open, inside was whatever change or anything I wanted to store in there. Ihave seen older cars with similar setups on the steering column. Just makes good use of otherwise wasted space.