This is a possible huge mess and I'd like opinions.

I just went to the dealer to pick up an A4 cab which he had just gotten in for me. It's a 3-year lease. One of the things I made clear to the dealer is that being able to fully control my ipod (not only "playlists"!!!) in a car is an absolute must; I'd even be happy with a simple aux-in jack. Because the Audi cab doesn't have an aux-in, I'd have to get the an ipod dock option. But in the Audi A4 cab, just having an ipod dock with a the regular radio (no MMI display) only allows you to access playlists from the ipod. That option would be a dealbreaker for me.

However, according to the dealer, the Audis with the MMI display allow full access to all the menus in the ipod. I even tried my ipod with an MMI display in two other Audis on his lot (an SUV and an A4 sedan) last week, and I loved how I could indeed access all the menus on my ipod. (There were no A4 cabs with ipod/MMI on the lot.)

In order to get an MMI display on an Audi A4 cab, you need to have the navigation system option. You cannot get an MMI display without nav. I did not want to pay extra for a navigation system just to play my ipod.

But the dealer was able to make a great deal on an A4 cab with nav, so I agreed.

Today, I came in and signed the papers. Immediately after the papers were signed -- while I was sitting in the car with the dealer and going over the controls of the car -- we realized that there is NO menu access to the ipod in the MMI dsiplay!!! It seems that this car's MMI screen only accesses playlists.

Remember, I had made it clear to the dealer from the very beginning that this type of ipod interface would be a dealbreaker. Yet the dealer thought that he was leasing me a car that would integrate my ipod in the same way that the MMI on the other models did.

Since it was after-hours at the dealership, the salesman I was working with had no one to confer with. Plus, he's only been there for 11 months and he's a young guy. So he couldn't help me immediately. I told him that I did not want the car unless I could integrate the ipod as he told me it would. He told me to take the car home and he would call in the morning, at which time he would confer with his manager and service department to find a solution.

Frankly, I think this is Audi's fault more than the dealer's. Even the Audi website, under the A4 cab "Technology/Audio" menu, states that the ipod adapter creates a "connection for seamless integration with your ipod. This feature is only available with the Navigation Plus Package."

Since you can also have an ipod adapter in this car without the nav/MMI (I actually tried my ipod in one of these cars; it only accesses ipod playlists through the non-MMI radio), it seems logical that "seamless integration" being "only available with Navigation Plus Package" means that the nav brings something different to the table. However, it does NOT.

I'm hoping the dealer can contact Audi and find a way to make good on what I was promised. If the dealer ultimately tells me that there is no recourse, what are my options? Should I just bring back the car and drop off the keys and tell him to do the right thing?

Thanks in advance.

 

strange since mine works fine....well I am using an iphone and it works great. Will try with my 5th gen ipod to see how that works.

 

Do you have the convertible? That's the car I'm supposed to be leasing. If you have the A4 Sedan, the ipod has full functionality through the MMI. If you have the convertible and have full ipod menu functions through the nav/MMI screen, then there may be hope for an easy solution for my situation. However, the manual for the nav states that the convertible's nav/MMI does not allow access to ipod menus.

 

I spoke to the manager at the dealership this morning. He is going to see if there is any way to get the ipod functionality working. If not, he will refund me the difference I am paying on my lease for the nav and find a way to get the ipod to work in the more typical "aux in" manner. The dealer was very concerned about making me satisfied, and I must say that I am impressed with that.

 

no, mine is the sedan w/ nav .... good luck, hope you get it working to your satisfaction.

 

Since the the cab is based on the older platform, does it use the same MMI as the B8s? What functions of the ipod did you want to access?

 

As I've now found out, the cab does not use the same MMI as the 2009 A4 Sedan (although both MMI's look the same). I want to be able to access these menus: Artists, Songs, Albums, Genres. The dealer thought that I would be able to access these menus (just as you can on the sedan), but I cannot. If you know a work-around, please let me know.