Back in a barge! 3rd party warranties for A8s?

[Marshy]

Hola,

Finally found myself a nice 2005 A8 3.0TDI, 67k on the clock. Couldn't resist

Now, it has full history, but is out of the standard 3 year warranty and the previous owners didn't keep the warranty going. Hence Audi want £1899 plus the cost of a multipoint check to bring it under their scheme. Computer said 'No' to that

Has anyone experience of other warranty schemes that are worth taking out on big iron of this sort, where the sums claimable are worthwhile and the premiums not too eye-watering?

Right - that's all. I'm off to research whether I'm likely to get a dealer to upgrade MMI to a version that happily supports my iPhone. I fear I know how this one will go...

Chesrs,

--Chris

[Marshy]

Oh cock. There's a thread about three posts away about warranties on big Audis.

Look, it's late on a Friday, what can I say. Sorry.

C

[Dr G]

We'll forgive you this once

I've heard good things from customers on Warrantywise and Tesco of late

[oilyrag1424]

Let me know how you get on with your iPhone and the MMI.

[Marshy]

Well, having searched (now ), I didn't find anything hugely useful relating to big iron warranties.

I'll give those two a look - thanks

Still recovering from the quote I had on the phone...

[Marshy]

oilyrag1424 said:

Let me know how you get on with your iPhone and the MMI.

Well, currently it's paired and can make calls as well as retrieve recently dialled and missed call numbers.

What it doesn't seem to want to do is retrieve the phonebook from the iPhone. Having researched this extensively (a.k.a. googling it...) there's hints that MMI software version is a part of this. Mine's on version 1110. I think that's almost as old as it gets.

Now, I know that the firmware's "obtainable" if you see what I mean, but this ain't like flashing your PCs BIOS or new firmware on a phone... Hence I'll be ringing around dealers to find one gives a plausible response to the upgrade process, rather than "we'll have to plug it in and see if we can get the software for it".

[Marshy]

Dr G said:

We'll forgive you this once
I've heard good things from customers on Warrantywise and Tesco of late

Just had a squint at Warrantywise - it's a damn good website, if nothing else!

[ecain63]

Dont touch warrantywise, they are crooks. Tesco dont cover engines bigger than 3.0l now. Try Warranty direct, im with them (RS6) and have had no probs with claiming.

[oilyrag1424]

I can't even pair my iPhone !!!

[Marshy]

oilyrag1424 said:

I can't even pair my iPhone !!!

I couldn't persuade the car to initiate the pairing process, but if I kicked it off on the iPhone, it was all good. Had to guess the PIN though as I'd not managed to read all 1500 pages of the manual at that point.

Mine's a 3GS with the latest 3.1.3 software on it. As far as I can remember, iPhone 3G and 3GS models have the same Bluetooth hardware. The first-gen iPhone had a different chipset that didn't support A2DP - there could be other implications too, I'm guessing.

Edited by Marshy on Friday 19th February 19:38

[mitchet]

Hello - just joined this forum as I've been searching for answers to the same question on the MMI / iPhone issue!

As it happens, I also just purchased a 2005 A8 3.0TDi last week, and have the same iPhone 3GS (ver 3.1.3) issue where it will pair okay, but I cannot access phone contacts. My MMI software version is also 1110 too!

I've found the genuine Audi version 5510 CD's on a well known auction site for £15.50 plus P&P, but I've heard too many scare stories about upgrades that have gone wrong and broken many of the MMI systems.

I've called one of my local Audi dealers today, and they've said that MMI cannot be upgraded on my 2005 model, as the iPhone compatibility is a hardware limitation!?

CraigyB (floats around various VW/Audi forums!), has apparently done upgrades from 1110 to 5510 before without any issue though.... so, where do we stand (confused?!)?

[Marshy]

I might suggest that you're being overcharged for those CDs: I believe they are parts you can purchase from any Audi parts dept for a nominal sum - they're just CDs after all.

I think Audi are spinning you a line about software upgrades: everything I've read says it's possible. Here's the thing, though: this is more computer science than car maintenance, and I suspect that's what leads to a lot of air sucked through teeth.

I'm about to have another crack at this via my local dealer, but failing that I'll be off to talk to Craig.