New Owner

[Teaspoon]

Hi Folks,

Delighted to have made the right choice in the Golf GTD when replacing my company car, Spent a lot of time running through posts on your forum which really give some excellent advice on spec etc... My car is Irish Spec that comes with technology pack as standard comprised of reversing camera, Sat Nav, Xenon Headlights. Carbon Grey Metallic, Sport and sound, DCC, Dynaudio, Full Leather with Heated Seats and Santiago Upgrade. Ownership experience has been extremely good. Although I have a couple of questions that I hope you can help.

1. Clunking noise from gearbox when I move off in reverse. Sounds like it has dropped out of gear but it hasn't. This happens regularly over the past couple of weeks.
2. I require a dealer key to activate App-connect and the Voice recognition via the steering wheel controls. Dealer has quoted €375 to set up.

Wondering if anyone has come across similar noise when reversing and what's your thoughts on the dealer key required to activate features that should really come as standard feature?

Cheers,

Niall

[Mk7-GTD]

I don't know about the gearbox because I'm not getting mine until the new reg over here in March but I'm fairly sure it shouldn't be making any noises no matter what gear it is in.

As for the dealer wanting money for something that should be on the car they are trying to pull a fast one. I would ask them for a written quote and then ask Audi Ireland as well and if the dealer tries to say they didn't ask for money at least you have proof.

You could also try another dealer. Whatever you do don't let them fob you off.

[JoeGTI]

Hi Niall
Fellow Irish man here, welcome along.

I collected a new R in August and I have the same issue RE activating App Connect. The dealers are actually correct - to a point. App connect / voice control is not a standard feature. To spec it on a factory order is £100 in UK but I've never seen an Irish price for it. I'd assume in or around €200 on a factory order.

Up to very recently it wasn't available to retro fit. This is the first time I've seen a price quoted for it from an Irish dealer, so I'll be enquiring with my dealer too about it soon enough! €375 does seem steep. It really is just a software upgrade, no hardware is required. However, it is VW themselves that are charging the bulk of that cost for the activation code. And the dealer is probably adding 1 hour labour on top of that. You might be able to negotiate the Labour part of it down a bit!

Joe.

[p3asa]

2. I require a dealer key to activate App-connect and the Voice recognition via the steering wheel controls. Dealer has quoted €375 to set up.

.............and what's your thoughts on the dealer key required to activate features that should really come as standard feature

When you say features that should really come as standard do you mean YOU think they should be standard or they are standard and the dealer is trying to make you pay for them again?

I don't know about Ireland but in the UK Car-net App and voice recognition are extras that you pay for if you want them.

[JoeGTI]

There's been a lot of confusion about App Connect. It's not even listed in the Irish configurator, never been offered as an official option.
It's definitely not standard though, it does cost at least €150-€200 to spec it on a factory order. So the €375 quoted, while it sounds OTT, is probably €250 for activation code + 1-2 hours labour. I'd imagine the Labour part should be negotiable but the cost of the code itself is determined by VW, not the dealer.

[monkeyhanger]

2. I require a dealer key to activate App-connect and the Voice recognition via the steering wheel controls. Dealer has quoted €375 to set up.

.............and what's your thoughts on the dealer key required to activate features that should really come as standard feature

When you say features that should really come as standard do you mean YOU think they should be standard or they are standard and the dealer is trying to make you pay for them again?

I don't know about Ireland but in the UK Car-net App and voice recognition are extras that you pay for if you want them.

When the hardware is there but hasn't been activated, it is easy to feel ripped off. My old Scirocco had the potential to add XDS at a not inconsiderable £280 in 2011, but it was a 5 minute VCDS job to activate it.

[fredgroves]

Voice control is extra for basic Nav. I have it on NavPro and to be honest, its crap.

[p3asa]

When the hardware is there but hasn't been activated, it is easy to feel ripped off. My old Scirocco had the potential to add XDS at a not inconsiderable £280 in 2011, but it was a 5 minute VCDS job to activate it.

Just like hill hold on the A1. Granted its not dear but still.

I've just specced up a GTD on the volkswagen.ie site and if you add the technology pack at 161 Euros it then gives you the option to add the car-net app for free. Maybe that is where the problem lies?

[JoeGTI]

When the hardware is there but hasn't been activated, it is easy to feel ripped off. My old Scirocco had the potential to add XDS at a not inconsiderable £280 in 2011, but it was a 5 minute VCDS job to activate it.

Just like hill hold on the A1. Granted its not dear but still.

I've just specced up a GTD on the volkswagen.ie site and if you add the technology pack at 161 Euros it then gives you the option to add the car-net app for free. Maybe that is where the problem lies?

That's the standard car-net (the online portal stuff) which doesn't include AppConnect.