Redd

Could easily be a niggle in the way the companies have contracted their licensing terms. Audi might have said "Yah, we pay 100 Deutschmarks for every car sold with your maps in the EU, and $120 for every car sold in the US" and then they're stuck that way. BMW could have said "We pay the same for every car we equip with your maps, regardless of territory" and that might give them the leeway to "retake" the EU maps and replace them with the US maps. There's always some foolish reason for this kind of thing.

Like for claiming an update will cost $200 and be available only every second year, when the same source data is updated every quarter and sold for $75 "for life" by competitive vendors. Uh, nah, homey don't think so.

superswiss

Well, Audi together with BMW and Daimler owns the mapping provider. The maps are HERE maps (formerly known as NavTeq) and the aforementioned business conglomerate bought the HERE Maps business unit from Nokia.

Also the Deutsche Mark hasn't been accepted as valid form of payment since 28. Feb 2002 .

Redd

I'd heard about that. I can't guess at how that affects the overall situation though. There could be anticompete regulations in place, that require arms-length negotiation even between Here and the owners. Or simply old (Nokia) contract terms still obligated to be honored. I'd also expect Here to be constantly updating their data, most cartographers are doing that daily, and issuing updates is simply a matter of deciding how often they want to do it. Inventory no longer has to be printed or burned off to media, so that's no excuse.

Bottom line...they could easily do better if they chose to.

For a while (2010-2016 or so) the highways around and through Washington DC were changing so rapidly, as new flyways and express lanes and interchanges were opening, that one day my GPS, complete with updates, still said to me "OK, you just let me know when you've found a highway again, I give up." Updates every two or three years are just an insult, especially at dealer prices.

bigdaddyp61

I'm a bit confused. What GPS are you talking about that comes with a US spec 2017 Q7? I live in Italy (associated with DoD) and have two US spec Audis, neither of which came with GPS or maps loaded into the MMI. The new MMI system that was introduced in 2013/14 did away with the ability to load maps into the nav system. I contacted Audi after the delivery of my A7 and spoke with one of the MMI technicians. He told me he could switch out the MMI unit and put in a European unit for about 5,000 euro not to mention that a different wiring harness would be needed. When I ship the car back to the states, I'd have to change out the unit again and pay for the labor. For me, it wasn't cost effective as I can use my cell phone in my A7 and Car Play/Android Auto in the Q7. Sure, I'd love to have the convenience of using the MMI/Nav to get around Europe but I'll suck it up until I move back stateside to get the full use of my vehicles. There was a German company outside of Ramstein that claimed they could reconfigure the system at about the same price Audi was going to charge me. Of course, that would void the warranty and it wasn't worth it to me. If I can find my old post in the A7 forum, I'll re-post here.

p.s. the $300 non-functioning GPS credit you get is supposed to make you feel better about not having full use of your MMI/Nav

kry226

Thanks for the discussion and insight. It helps as we move forward on making a decision...and at this point, it isn't looking good for Audi (and not because of the GPS thing). Just came across a deal on a 2018 X5 that is really too good to pass up (21% off MSRP).

Do you not know that a GPS/navigation system comes standard on a Q7 Premium Plus?



Yes, but only so long as I remain in Europe. When I return to the States, I'm sure the nav will work fine.

jetsfan101

it appears you may be right.