2019 Q5 and SQ5 with tow hitch not available
 

Since at least early December, Audi USA has been aware that the updated 2019 MMI, from the Q5 and SQ5, is unable to be coded to detect and enable correctly the towing features, when a towing package is installed.

It looks like Audi corporate went finally thru some meetings today on this specific subject. Apparently the outcome is that they seems currently unable to find a solution to address the problems (yes we are talking 2+ months software issues there) or even build a time frame to resolve those issues. So currently the only options seems to agree to remove the tow hitch from the order, to eventually get the car delivered, or wait even more without any way to get any estimated dates at all. More interesting, it looks like the port installed tow hitch hardware is already installed on some cars, that are all currently held at port because of those issues, but the hitch hardware would need to be removed, before any shipment dates could start to be estimated and tracked.

Maybe now is the time to start sharing experiences & expectations about this unacceptable situation, as this is currently delaying cars ordered with the port installed OEM option, but this very well could also impact any towing package installation at a later time, making the Q5/SQ5 unable to tow anything.

A car maker that is unable to fix (quickly?) a set of basic software issues, seems more than scary when pretending again and again to be very advanced about autonomous driving ....

That's really interesting. I wonder what changed so significantly between 2018 and 2019. Does anyone know if the 18s and 19s share MMI software versions? If so, the hardware would need to be different or else an update would break existing installations like mine.

Hardware have been updated for sure on the 2019 models at least to keep on supporting the google maps display, that is already announced to stop working at some point on the 2018 and older models.

Can you supply the source of this information? I would like to check my order (4218 production week) as well. If true, I might have to go with the X3M40i.

With my current 2015 SQ5 lease ending on mid-November 2018, on the early days of September, actually as soon as the order guide with some pricing started to float around, I placed a reservation for a 2019 SQ5, customized with almost all options. The car was planned to be delivered around mid-November, very close to the lease end. From that time all the provided dates have always been unreliable, and I have been forced to extend my current lease from month to month since then. Finally the car got built & shipped at the US port, in Houston (here are the details), where apparently the tow hitch hardware got installed. Then the release date, depending on the final EPA approval, became totally unknown. When the SQ5s got finally approved and released, on mid-December, I learned that the ship date from the US port was set to 12/20. At that time, I already started to be suspicious about this issue when @AviatorX posted about this problem on 12/18 in Post #19 of the '2019 SQ5 Ordered' thread in this forum
A few days past this 12/20 date, as I was trying to get some updates, I have been told that all the dates were now showing up in red, meaning that the car could not be shipped. Confirming my suspicion, on 12/26 I received an email from the dealer saying "../They’re having some sort of delays with the tow hitches at the port. If you’re okay without the tow hitch there’s a chance we could get it here this month. Otherwise they won’t release it yet./..".

On Monday, a month later without much progress, I contacted Audi customer support. They said, after a quick search, that they are well aware of the problem, where the 2019 Q5/SQ5 car system does not register & detect the tow hitch package, when installed. After further research on their end, they said that some Audi executives were having a meeting, about this specific issue, planned for Tuesday. I have then been proposed to be called back to get more information regarding any update about this situation, following this meeting. I then got called back, to be told that the meeting was running late and that they did not have all details available yet. But also saying again that at this point Audi would not be able to deliver any 2019 Q5/SQ5 with an installed towing package and my only option to get the car delivered would be to remove this option from the order. Also said that they were waiting for more information & details, and would eventually provide those by the end of the week, but confirming that the problem is not resolved.

Same here.

Here we are now after almost 6 months, since I started to look around for a new car in August, and extending my current lease from month to month since November, I have no other option than to restart the process. This time probably with another brand, as I am planning a X3 M40i test drive this coming weekend. Of course, I was surprised to see that BMW seems to be able to deliver this car with a tow hitch installed (and wireless carplay, but this should be another story). Fun fact, a few years back I moved from BMW to Audi, because BMW was not able to deliver a car with a towing package, at that time.

We picked up our 2019 SQ5 in mid-December. Our delivery was delayed for a couple months due to this software issue. We were finally able to pick up the car without the hitch installed (not sure if this is an option for everyone who is waiting) and we will return to the dealer for the install once the software issue is resolved. I was told just a few days ago that the fix is expected within the 1Q 2019.

This would be news to me, as both customer support and the dealer never ever mentioned or even implied anything about such timeframe, including in yesterday's phone call and emails.

@AviatorX would you mind providing some more details about this Q1 expected fix? Is it a commitment? What did they told you....

This was simply a statement made by the "Vice President, Central Region Audi of America, Inc." to the General Manager at my dealership. With the luck I have had with Audi over the past 18 months I am very skeptical of the 1Q claim. Fortunately I have no immediate plans to pull a trailer.

That may be a solution but only if AOA pays the dealer for the install once the software is available. Any idea on that?

Surprisingly this was not part of the options proposed by the Dealer or by Audi customer support. The only options were either completely drop the option or wait for an unknown date, with nothing in between. Not being able to come up with something close to what you got, like "we'll deliver the car at this MM/DD date and we'll cover the towing package installation and the coding by this timeframe at the dealership" by themself seems quite strange. On my side, since the hardware seems to be already installed, I asked why they would not deliver the car as is, requiring strong legal paperwork to be signed, notifying that the towing features should not and could not be used at all, with full disclaimer and all the legal stuff, but that went nowhere.

Since then, to even consider any option with the 'incomplete' car, I have asked several times, what would then be the expected delivery time frame, but this also seems to be impossible to get, as this could apparently only be planned after the removal of the already installed hardware.