munsabin

So I was watching Partriot's Day last night and the guy w/ the Mercedes says something like: "You can track my car's GPS - it's code is ######." It was freaking hysterical and I found it stereotypical (the guy was fresh off the boat asian guy who says "girls like nice cars that's why I bought a Mercedes" haha), but in good fun.

Anyways... point of this post is... do we have that with ours?

My car is Canada-spec "Progressiv" + LED + SLine.

Cheers

snagitseven

I doubt an Audi can do it as built but any of these will work:

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-...ics/5811986011

superswiss

This is a common misconception and so overdone in movies. In order to track something, it has to emit a signal. A GPS navigation device doesn't emit a signal. GPS is a one way communication. The satellites send out the signal and it's received by the GPS in your car. The navigation system is not communicating back to the satellites. GPS is a form of triangulation. It needs to receive a signal from at least three satellites and then based on the signal travel times, it calculates its current coordinates. If it receives a fourth signal, then it can also calculate its elevation.

GPS trackers have a way to report their location to you over a data connection, so you can remotely query their current position. GPS tracking is built into most smartphones nowadays. For example the Find my iPhone feature. If turned on, the iPhone periodically reports its location to Apple's cloud and then you can query it using any computer. That's how GPS tracking works. But a GPS navigation device by itself can't be tracked, because it doesn't report its location anywhere.

Now having said that, I believe the latest MMI has theft-tracking built-in as far as I know, so using the MMI connect app or the myAudi website you can remotely check your car's location. But again, that works the same way as I just described with the iPhone. The MMI keeps reporting its location to the Audi cloud, where you can then query it using the app or the website as long as you have an active Audi connect subscription. If you terminate your Audi connect subscription, then the GPS tracking stops working as well, but you can still use the MMI for navigation. You just can't track your car anymore.

EDIT: Ok, I just double checked. Yes, I was correct. GPS tracking is part of the latest MMI in the A4 and Q7 and all models moving forward. It's part of Connect CARE, which doesn't require a separate subscription, but the footnote says it's not available on the 2017 A4. Also, it's only available to law enforcement, so you can't actually track your car yourself.

snagitseven

I believe GL300 GPS equipped devices like this example would allow an owner to track a stolen vehicle. They are primarily used by fleet companies to track where their vehicles are located real time. Parents concerned about where their teenagers are driving can use these devices as well.

https://www.amazon.com/Optimus-Real-...V3QF9AM1MJ2KAB

superswiss

Yep, that's an option, but costs $19.95/month.

Strife1013

I can track the location of my car via the MMI Audi Connect App. Don't know if that's the same thing being discussed here but yup big brother can track you.

superswiss

I think you are talking about parking location. That's not the same thing, and no big brother can't track you. For the MMI connect app to know where your car is parked, your phone has to be in the car at the time you park and the location is only kept on the phone itself. The stolen vehicle locator on the other hand does store the location in real time in the Audi cloud, but there is a process for Audi to allow law enforcement to access the location of your car.

Mitchfin

You can track the Vehicle parking location without a phone in it, when I lent a friend my car a while back (when I still had a subscription) I was able to see where he parked it from another state with my phone (the only one with the Audi Connect app) in my hand; the cars GPS is used, same for Valet alert and geofencing in the Audi Connect app.

And yes you need a filed police report to allow the authorities access to the stolen vehicle location.

superswiss

Oh that's cool. Don't have much of a need for this, but nonetheless.

A4Driver

OK, so I downloaded the Audi MMI Connect app. It won't even let me sign in. Yes, I do have a myAudi account with a user name and password. I went to the website and verified this.

When I launch the app, it asks me for my user name and password. Underneath that is says:

Please log in with your myAudi account.
Not registered with Audi yet?
Password forgotten?

But there's nothing to click on except "Demo mode." When I click on Demo mode, it takes me to a page that says:

Audi TTS roadster
Audi Q7
Audi A3 limousine

Please select a vehicle. The available app functions will depend on which vehicle is selected.

Since my vehicle does not appear, I click on the large + sign. It then asks me to put in my VIN number. I enter this, and click on DONE.

Next I was getting a message saying: "Cannot do this in Demo mode." But now I'm getting a message that says: "There is currently a problem with the server (error: %s). Please try again later.

So I guess I will try again later.

Edit: I just tried again, and this time I did not select a vehicle, I just hit "NEXT." This time it brought me to a map -- actually two maps -- one labled "Car finder," and showing me where my car is located, and the other labled "Traffic information."

Anyway, it seems to be working ... for now.
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