Peter L Schwartz

Can't believe that I bought a new 2018 Audi Q5 with all the whistles and bells and now after 6 months I'm forced to pay Audi $500 to continue the privilege.
They block out your ability to get it on SIRUS XM for only $4 a month.
Audi, shame on you!

I will never by an Audi again!

jeffrey r

I am still well within my 6-month trial, but when it ends, it ends. Just my .02 cents, but I don't see this as a reason to shun the brand. My enjoyment of driving my SQ5 will trump this annoyance when my trial ends. I just came from Lexus, and they try to get you as well with their overpriced plans. I do think that I still had traffic with my Lexus after the initial trial (and with Lexus, I had no wifi, it was just their lock/unlock through their app and other apps, which were horrendous by the way). But the Lexus Nav sucked anyway, so I almost always used Waze or Google Maps. Now, with my Audi, I'll be content to continue with Apple Carplay and Android Auto if I choose not to re-up with Audi Connect.

NeedMoreHP

umdstu

wyerless

I do agree with Jeff that this by itself isn't enough to abandon a brand, even though I can certainly agree with Peter that it is disappointing and a poor strategy on Audi's part. I think that the Apple Carplay/Android Auto is pretty much a reasonable replacement for 90% of folks as it delivers excellent map/traffic performance, and at least in my case, better voice recognition than built-in solutions from many brands (and I've had many). Even if the Audi services were free (at least the non-wifi ones) I have a preference to the ease of use of Google Maps/Android Auto.

Having said that, I do pricing and bundling for a living. I lead a pricing organization for a multi-national. Audi's approach here on services is pretty bad. At $499 for 18 months you are at approximately $28 per month for a bundle of services. Now if you used all the possible services (listed here) then maybe... maybe you could justify the cost. However, most people won't. Here is my pricing/value breakdown:

• Google Earth: Definitely cool and has a wow factor for people who see it. In some cases can be more useful than a map view as you can identify buildings or landmarks. It's easy to use as well, since it is a simple option of the default map view. This is also differentiated, meaning you can't easily get this functionality (at least today) with another brand or solution. So pretty good value in pricing terms.
• Google Voice Search: Nice idea, but low value as it is already a feature of your phone (or Siri if you prefer). Also not easy to access unless you are running Android Auto and use a "long press" of the voice command button. Otherwise you are digging around in the Audi Connect section of the menu, so very low ease of use.
• Traffic information with route guidance: As the OP mentioned, seems like table stakes. This has been built in for several of my past vehicles (heck we have a RAV4 with it built in). Now in the past the traffic systems were pretty low resolution and slow to update, but the Audi solution still does reach Google Maps quality either and that is effectively free when I am using Android Auto. Price value? Zero.
• Fuel Prices: Cool, but the feature is buried in the Audi Connect menu, not convenient. Now if this was simply something you could turn on in the default map view..... that would be worth something. As is, I am using Gas Buddy on my phone.
• Parking information: Either high value, or low value depending on where you live and if data is available. Also not integrated into the map view so it's a hassle.
• Audi Connect CARE: Valuable as it is a good safety feature. Currently doesn't cost anything, but you can see on the website that they are essentially reservering the right to charge for it later. However this, like traffic, is increasingly being seen as a basic built in function so it's value to the price is dropping.
• WiFi hotspot: I have always struggled with the value here. Most people's phones will happily provide a hotspot service, so mostly I see this as an advantage of convenience.... it's always there and ready vs. fiddling with your phone to start the hotspot. Still, while convenience is often worth something in price, it isn't a big value.
• MMI app: A good idea, but maybe not great execution. This probably varies individually, but I find the app doesn't function 100% of the time for locking/unlocking and some of the other features embedded. Also, I would have loved to see start/stop function here that can be found with many other brands. So for me... low to no value.
• Valet Alerts and Geofencing: Cool but this either has high value if you happen to use Valet service a lot, or none if you don't. Unfortunately I fall into the second category.

Ultimately most of this functionality is replaced by Apple Carplay or Android Auto. The parts that aren't (some of the MMI features) are quite selective to whether they will have value for you. The last wild card is the data connection for the car (that enables the cool map display and other features)... this duplicates the connection you already pay for to your mobile carrier (Verizon, ATT, so on). It is convenient to have built in but not a show stopper. If it was my strategy to create, I would have made 3 "tiers":

• Free: Built in functions that are commonly found in other brands: Traffic, Once a year map update, Audi CARE
• Value added apps that need data service ($10/month): Google Earth, MMI app functions (with the addition of start/stop for colder climates), some functions need to be integrated with the standard nav map view. Even then you can argue that Carplay/AA does most of this for free, but this is mostly a convenience charge.
• Unlimited Hotspot ($10-$20): Maybe nice to have two options here at the $10 level capped for some amount of GB (2-5) and $20 for unlimited (as it is now, but only after you pay $499 for Audi Connect)

Do they make less per user? Definitely, this caps out at $30 a month. But I would be willing to bet that the conversion rate between trial to paid subscriber is pretty low. If you could increase conversions by 50% it would likely more than pay for the lower price. Also has the indirect benefit of increasing customer "stickiness" to the brand, which is the opposite of the current strategy had on Peter (the OP).
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ifeldman

Do a search on this forum. I read where some people have been successful to change the default and add XM traffic using OBDeleven tool. I went ahead and paid the $500 for the extras it included. I knew up front it was going to cost me $500 every 18 months.

2018_SQ5

Shame on you for being not doing your due diligence on spending 50+ grand on a vehicle and not understanding what you are getting for the money.

SCarGuy

SCarGuy

Jester7677