[Brishti]

I also had bought my Octavia around that time after considering Audi S5 and A4 but from what I recall they had nothing bigger than 1.4L which was a big issue for me. The A4 was similar to Octavia in a lot of ways and I would have loved a powerful A4 "1.8/2.0 TSI" but their showroom people had no idea when that would come.

They did offer the S5 for quite a nice price since I had kinda booked the Octavia RS "Before 1.8 TSI conversion & since Audi and Skoda dealership were the same people"

Edit : Here is the thread (Octavia 1.8 TSI vs BMW 330i GT vs Audi S5)

[prateekchanana]

Originally Posted by Brishti

I also had bought my Octavia around that time after considering Audi S5 and A4 but from what I recall they had nothing bigger than 1.4L which was a big issue for me. The A4 was similar to Octavia in a lot of ways and I would have loved a powerful A4 "1.8/2.0 TSI" but their showroom people had no idea when that would come.

It’s good you did not wait because the 1.8/2.0 A4 never happened in India. Octavia is a wonderful car, my cousin bought it last month and I love the park assist and all digital instrument cluster in it.

I did not consider the A5/S5 because of lower headroom in the rear and we have two 6-footers in the family, even though I loved the frameless doors on them. But just out of curiosity, why you did not consider superb over Octavia ?

[ProximaCentauri]

Great review! We have the same car in Mythos Black.

I agree with your opinion totally, the A4 is the most all-rounded and well finished car in the segment and hence we chose it too. Contrary to popular opinion of BHPians, I find it is a much better product than the C class too, which a friend owns and I have driven extensively and honestly, is inferior to the older generation C as well.
The material and build quality, fit and finish, interior quality, ride comfort, refinement, practicality and insulation of the A4 are way superior. The 3 definitely drives better, the C looks better, but overall the A4 trumps both of them as the most well engineered and special feeling product. The more you live with it, the more you adore it!

[prateekchanana]

Originally Posted by ProximaCentauri

Great review! We have the same car in Mythos Black.

I agree with your opinion totally, the A4 is the most all-rounded and well finished car in the segment and hence we chose it too. Contrary to popular opinion of BHPians, I find it is a much better product than the C class too, which a friend owns and I have driven extensively and honestly, is inferior to the older generation C as well.
The material and build quality, fit and finish, interior quality, ride comfort, refinement, practicality and insulation of the A4 are way superior. The 3 definitely drives better, the C looks better, but overall the A4 trumps both of them as the most well engineered and special feeling product. The more you live with it, the more you adore it!

Thanks Proxima. And I completely agree with you on that, A4 is a very well rounded packages. Looks are subjective and I prefer it over the C-class. 3 series is great for that sporty and spirited ride but then its now what you always want. On a highway and on long drives, A4 has been a very comfortable cruiser and it keeps on munching miles without a sweat.

[Puneet0051]

Great Review buddy.

This was the one in Diesel I was sold on and had my eyes set on, I wanted their Blood Red bright coloured but that colour apparently was no more in production and then the other Metallic Red, very close to buying A4 Diesel but finally settled for C220 in Black by the time i finally decided to buy, C Class was available in higher state of tune and that was 1 reason why i made almost a last minute change

[Reesnat]

Audi and VAG group have extremely well built cars and engines but they’ve faltered in their business strategies and product positioning. I really hope that 2020 and beyond they come back into the market strongly. This would not only provide great options to new buyers but also give fuel to the after sales which will help existing customers like yourself.

Car looks great in black, wishing you the best!

[prateekchanana]

Originally Posted by Puneet0051

Great Review buddy.

This was the one in Diesel I was sold on and had my eyes set on, I wanted their Blood Red bright coloured but that colour apparently was no more in production and then the other Metallic Red, very close to buying A4 Diesel but finally settled for C220 in Black by the time i finally decided to buy, C Class was available in higher state of tune and that was 1 reason why i made almost a last minute change

Thanks Puneet. C class is a beautiful car inside and out, Congrats for your purchase. As mentioned in my review, I ruled it out mainly for the spare wheel eating up the boot as travelling comfortably with luggage of 4 was a must for me.

Originally Posted by Reesnat

Audi and VAG group have extremely well built cars and engines but they’ve faltered in their business strategies and product positioning. I really hope that 2020 and beyond they come back into the market strongly. This would not only provide great options to new buyers but also give fuel to the after sales which will help existing customers like yourself.

Car looks great in black, wishing you the best!

Thanks Reensat! Rightly said the business strategies of VAG group has been totally a miss for the Indian market from last couple of years. Hoping to see them do better in coming years. I agree if they make the 2.0 strategy work, a lot of customers including me will happily buy a T-Cross or T-Roc to upgrade from Polo.

P.S. The car is blue, but I won't blame you because it looks black especially at night.

[prateekchanana]

I tried a lot to find anyone having a hands on experience with Audi connect in India but couldn’t find it anywhere. I think the timing of launch and the falling sales not many people opted for it yet and the lack of initiative on part of dealerships trying to promote it adds to sales even further. I even tried to contact my SA who did my last service and he said I will get a call from office regarding this. The office called and asked me if I wanted to book a service and I told them I just need Audi connect and they said the accessories team will contact me for this. Never heard back from them again. Audi connect was launched for a price of ₹19999/- in India with a license of 3 years. I found the price quite high for the features which were offered and never considered to get one initially. However recently while browsing the Audi India merchandise store I saw the price was now showing as ₹9999/-. I added the product to cart but was still confused whether to order the same or now and left it like that.

Next day I got a call form Audi India asking why I didn’t go through with the order and I enquired about the charges after 3 years and the price changes. They informed me that the dropped price is only valid till 31st July after which it will be back to ₹19999/-. However, upon checking even in August, the price is still ₹9999/- on their website. For the renewal after three years the company has not yet finalised the charges and the same will be informed at the end of three years but it should be a very nominal amount to be paid annually. I was also informed the installation will take place at my residence and an executive will come for installation and it should take 15-20 minutes for the same.

The wife overheard everything and saw I wanted one but was still confused and she went ahead and ordered the same for me as it was birthday week and it made her job easy to get a preselected gift. The order was finally paid on 14 July, and the process after that was not as smooth as it should have been. After having no update form Audi for 2 days I contacted them on 16th via the app itself and got a reply soon after that they will arrange the call back from the dealer. Got the call form the dealer next day and they told me they are waiting for the part to arrive from the company as it is an online order and it should come in 2-3 days from Faridabad to Delhi.

Another week passed without any update and I called the dealer back and they told me they still have not received the part and it should come in a day or two now as many parts are stuck due to covid situation. Waited for another 2 days finally called up Audi directly on 24 July and the told me they will contact the dealer and update me. Finally the head of the accessories form the dealership called me and said that they have still not received the part but they will install the part from their stock and keep the one Audi sends with them. It was good to hear but then if this was possible why was I made to wait for 10 days is out of my understanding.

Finally the part was installed on 25th July, the dealership called me and asked to send a copy of RC as it is required for some back end activation of all services. The installation person arrived at the location at the exact time I asked them to which was good to see. I had already installed the app before I ordered Audi Connect and had added my car to it as well. I was told on phone to install the app as well by the dealer to save time. The installation took less than 15 minutes and the part was installed below the steering column after removing a couple of screws and the trim. As the part is installed inside the dash and is not clearly visible, it is not so easy to remove like in some other cars. if the part is just plugged externally the location alerts are not so useful as anyone can easily remove it in case of theft.

The service advisor who came for installation gave me a QR code which I could scan form the Set Up Audi Connect option inside the My car section of app. After scanning the QR code the app took 2-3 minutes to recognise the device and it started showing the details. Below is the screenshot of the app before connecting the device. Schedule service and service history options are always there in the app even without the device once you add your car. The service history shows all the previous services details including the service centre, advisor name, mileage, date and amount paid excluding taxes. Apart from this the part also shows SOS option in which you can add up-to 5 contacts and send them location and other details in case of any accident or damage to car. The notification will also be sent to Audi and the app says you will received help with in 10 seconds after pressing this button. The last option is to remove the car form app.

Here are a couple of pictures of the the box it device came in. The MRP on the box is ₹19347/- and another box came which had a couple of plastic ties to install and fix the device which had and MRP of ₹652/-.






After installing the app, the following new option showed up -





Recent Trips - Shows all the details of the recent trips on a map. The starting point / time and the end point / time.



Upon clicking a trip it further shows the details like Hard Brakes, Hard Acceleration, Sharp turns and Idle time you had on that particular trip. All the four details are also marked on the app with exact location where the particular thing happened.


It further shows details like time taken, distance travelled, average speed, top speed and how many notifications showed up in that particular trip.



Car Notifications - shows a log of all the previous notifications sent via the device to your phone.


The same notifications also show up on your phone depending upon your device.


Current location - shows the current location of the car on map with an option to share that location.


Driving Challenges - You are given a driving score here out of 100 on the basis of trips taken, total distance travelled, the average speed on all the trips, total hard accelerations, sharp turn and hard breaks.



You are also given stars here on the bases of your driving skills, distance travelled and longest trip you have had. The last section is experience points in which you are given 1 experience point for every 5 kms travelled.



Boundary Settings - You can set a single or more boundary setting ranging from 1 km to 21 km around the cars current position and you can set a notification every time the car leaves / enters / or does both in that area. You can also further set this timing to be applicable for particular time of day and particular days of the week.


Car Battery Voltage - shows in volts and the condition Good / Bad

Intake air temperature - The current temperate reading and its condition as Good / Bad

Engine Coolant temperature - The current temperature reading and its condition as Good / Bad

Notifications settings - You can turn on notifications for device removal, speed limit notification (car crosses a set limit from 66 to 97 kmph), Towing notification, Disturbance notification (any disturbance to the car when its parked), Idle notification (in case car is tuned on and idle for more than 10 minutes)

Trip Configuration - here you can set to ignore the trip if its less than 0 to 8 kms in case you want to ignore the shorter trips of the car. You can also change the time when the car is stopped and started between 1 minute to 5 minutes then whether it should be considered a new trip or part of same trip.

Curfew - Here you can set a combination of particular time of day / all day, particular days of week / all week in which you know you car will not be used. In case the car is turned on during this curfew time you will get a notification for the same.

Reset Telematics Data - This will reset and remove all the data stored in the device including the car health data and all trips.

There are no connected car features offered here like turning the car on/off and many other which are offered abroad. Features like even google maps are part of Audi connect subscription outside India but they come at a more expensive subscription fees. There is nothing major offered here by Audi but at a price of 10K its not a bad deal to install and learn about your deriving patterns. And for people whose cars are majorly driven by drivers, it offers a greater peace of mind when they are not on the back seat.

I have received a software update in progress notification also once but I could don't find any change in the app or options after the update. May be Audi will add more options to the app with newer cars.

[prateekchanana]

Ceramic Coating at Dazzle Detailing


The place in Noida I got the coating done from had shut down post Covid last year so the car never went for any maintenance. Went there that time with a reference and the results were not so great post after some time passed. So I visited Dazzle Detailing mainly for the leather seat issue I was facing as discussed at the following thread.

My Audi A4's seats are turning yellow | Manufacturing defect & Audi India's pathetic response

When I went to show my car to Mr. Jaspreet he also noticed the not so great work done on the car and suggested to go for complete car package at around 13k instead of just the seats I was facing. We closed not his and decided to meet 2/3 days later. However, the following week they got busy in the launch of Lamborghini Huracan STO as they were called by the company for detailing the car during launch, so I finally dropped this week. Upon further inspection the previous coating was not of any brand, and Mr. Jaspreet also pointed out that most people are only saying that its ceramic but never mention the brand. They are the official dealers of the brand Maxprotect for ceramic coating, so I decided to get the external coating done with them as well which costed around 20k including taxes and the results are simply amazing. Both the brothers Mr. Jaspreet and Mr. Gurpreet are extremely knowledgeable and their works speaks for itself. They themselves are involved in everything done on the car and the attention to detail they have is hard to find.

Attaching some images of the work done on the exteriors.