Golf 7 - No USB port - really?

Golf 7 - No USB port - really?

Author
Discussion

bitchstewie

Original Poster:

50,800 posts

209 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
Bit late now I'm driving the bloody thing but it seems the Golf 7 doesn't come with a USB port to allow you to charge your phone.

It does have a media cable or something in the console in front of the gear selector - and from a quick Google it seems you can buy a cable which converts to USB from either VW or third party i.e. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004I9CXHW?ref_...

I just want to check I'm not missing something here and that's really how it is?

I've hunted everywhere and I can't see a USB port anywhere - dash has a couple of SDs and a CD but that's about it.

Trustmeimadoctor

12,526 posts

154 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
Yes your right about £5 deliver on eBay used

cdrx

598 posts

187 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
Thats how it is. I have one of those cables, but with a lightning port on the end of it to charge an iPhone. A couple of types of cable came with the car though... worth asking VW for one?

chr15b

3,467 posts

189 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
I think it depends on the options on the car - though the brochure doesn't really make it clear.

If you go for either advanced car kit, or heated front window (which comes with advance car kit) then you get a USB port in the centre arm rest.

I went for the discover navigation pro and that came with a USB port rather than the mmi- though I'm not sure this is always the case.

My wife's Leon came with two cables for mmi, one was a 30pin apple cable, the other a USB cable - if you could get one from VW or eBay that might help.

Lgfst

391 posts

108 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
Same on my wifes Q3. Cable in the arm rest.

ging84

8,831 posts

145 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
is this a serious thread?
this is not even a 1st world problem
this is just
there is no word for what it is, but there should be

Captainawesome

1,817 posts

162 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
ging84 said:
is this a serious thread?
this is not even a 1st world problem
this is just
there is no word for what it is, but there should be
Not really, I have discounted 2 cars due to the difficulty in getting a USB to play through the stereo.

GetCarter

29,358 posts

278 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
The last 3 cars I have bought have all had at least one USB port. For a few quid I think it's daft not including one. My first 3 cars all had cigarette lighters.. same bloody thing! Back then everyone smoked, these days everyone has a phone!

TheAngryDog

12,394 posts

208 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
In these days of streaming music / storing music on your phone, it is understandable to expect a modern car to have some kind of usb connection / charging. Mrs Angrydog's 2013 Twingo has one so you'd expect a mk7 golf to have one.

CYMR0

3,940 posts

199 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
99p cigarette lighter adapter plus Bluetooth works better than the MMI cable - I've tried both but MMI isn't that good at picking up apps like Waze whereas Bluetooth is too dumb to know or care.

surveyor

17,768 posts

183 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
I had an Audi A4 on hire a few months ago with one of these connectors.

Highly fking annoying, as it meant I was stuck with radio in a country where I would have preferred not to have been....


CarAbuser

693 posts

123 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
Funnily enough the lack of aux port was one of the reasons I didn't get a Cayman.


Rick101

6,959 posts

149 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
No issues with streaming through Bluetooth. Even comes up with name of track on screen.
As for charging, just buy a little adaptor, 99p.

GetCarter

29,358 posts

278 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
CYMR0 said:
99p cigarette lighter adapter plus Bluetooth works better than the MMI cable - I've tried both but MMI isn't that good at picking up apps like Waze whereas Bluetooth is too dumb to know or care.
Do they really still make cars with cigarette lighters as std? yikes

bitchstewie

Original Poster:

50,800 posts

209 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
Yeah despite working in IT I've never really done much with streaming but the point has been forced a little by my favourite radio station going to digital/online only.

So as I understand it, unless I have an iPhone, using the MDI cable would just charge the phone via USB, it wouldn't actually playback - in which case as suggested I guess a 12v charger is the way to go as they're cheaper.

First world problems indeed biggrin

theboss

6,878 posts

218 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
I'm using the supplied adapter to link my iPhone to Golf 7 and it has a few flaws

(1) charging is so slow as to be nearly useless unless you're driving for hours at a time, and
(2) storing your phone in the adjacent storage area (owing to the fact the lead is about 6 inches long) severely impacts cellular reception

Essentially I wouldn't be too fussed about lack of USB interface - you're better off with a proper fast charging adapter in the 12V socket and streaming over bluetooth or shoving media on an SD card!

kambites

67,462 posts

220 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
bhstewie said:
So as I understand it, unless I have an iPhone, using the MDI cable would just charge the phone via USB, it wouldn't actually playback - in which case as suggested I guess a 12v charger is the way to go as they're cheaper.
Given that iPhones make up such a tiny proportion of the portable media type market, that would be really, really moronic if it's true.

kambites

67,462 posts

220 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
GetCarter said:
Do they really still make cars with cigarette lighters as std? yikes
Most of them have the socket as standard, don't they? You just have to pay extra for the actual lighter bit.

bitchstewie

Original Poster:

50,800 posts

209 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
kambites said:
Given that iPhones make up such a tiny proportion of the portable media type market, that would be really, really moronic if it's true.
I'm still trying to find out as the VW documentation is st and I don't have the cable so can't test for myself.

I think that it would let you connect/control the Android phone a bit like a USB stick but that it wouldn't let you stream the sound from apps on the phone to the audio system - again though I'm reading thread after thread all of which seem to contradict one another.

TheAngryDog

12,394 posts

208 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
I use a griffin powerjolt to charge my phone (plugs into cig lighter) then a USB cable to the phone.

Then Bluetooth to radio (previous car).

Next car hopefully will have Bluetooth