Photo: Carey Trost for Electrek
Whichever way you look at it, Audi isn’t exactly a traditional automaker. The brand that redefined rallying with the Ur-Quattro is also responsible for the first all-LED production car, but in regards to electrification, the Germans from Ingolstadt play second fiddle to Tesla’s trailblazing path.
Even though it’s not the first EV, the e-tron is the company’s first EV intended for mass production. Two versions are offered – the 50 and 55 – and both feature dual-motor AWD under the quattro nameplate.
This gets us to servicing, which is rather simple as opposed to an automobile that relies on internal combustion for going places. The e-tron’s 10,000-mile maintenance checklist includes things like the brakes, battery, tires, wiper blades, various suspension parts, and all that jazz.
An owner by name of Carey Trost sent Electrek a picture of his e-tron’s digital instrument cluster as the electric crossover was approaching the scheduled service mileage, reading “oil change and inspection in 200 miles.” Indeed, ladies and gents; the appeal of dinosaur juice is hard to resist.
This slip-up can be attributed to the software developers who coded the instrument cluster’s software and service notification program, copying and pasting the message from an internal combustion-engined Audi. Trost told Electrek that he’s sure the dealer “will charge me at least $500 just to get the stupid message to stop popping up every time I get in the vehicle.”
Based on responses from 57,286 owners and lessees of 2016 to 2018 model-year vehicles, the J.D. Power 2019 Customer Service Index Study lists Audi under Mercedes-Benz, Infiniti, Cadillac, Lexus, and the top-ranking Porsche. If you’ve ever stepped into an Audi dealership in the United States, then you’ll understand why customer satisfaction isn’t exactly good.
e-tron owners in Europe have also reported oil change messages, which goes to show that the software in question is shared between U.S. and European models. More importantly, Trost has figured out the ulterior motive of the 10,000-mile maintenance check-up. “That’s an old requirement from gas cars that they carried over to EVs by default so their dealers can keep making money on service, even if no service is needed.” Couldn’t said it better!
This gets us to servicing, which is rather simple as opposed to an automobile that relies on internal combustion for going places. The e-tron’s 10,000-mile maintenance checklist includes things like the brakes, battery, tires, wiper blades, various suspension parts, and all that jazz.
An owner by name of Carey Trost sent Electrek a picture of his e-tron’s digital instrument cluster as the electric crossover was approaching the scheduled service mileage, reading “oil change and inspection in 200 miles.” Indeed, ladies and gents; the appeal of dinosaur juice is hard to resist.
This slip-up can be attributed to the software developers who coded the instrument cluster’s software and service notification program, copying and pasting the message from an internal combustion-engined Audi. Trost told Electrek that he’s sure the dealer “will charge me at least $500 just to get the stupid message to stop popping up every time I get in the vehicle.”
Based on responses from 57,286 owners and lessees of 2016 to 2018 model-year vehicles, the J.D. Power 2019 Customer Service Index Study lists Audi under Mercedes-Benz, Infiniti, Cadillac, Lexus, and the top-ranking Porsche. If you’ve ever stepped into an Audi dealership in the United States, then you’ll understand why customer satisfaction isn’t exactly good.
e-tron owners in Europe have also reported oil change messages, which goes to show that the software in question is shared between U.S. and European models. More importantly, Trost has figured out the ulterior motive of the 10,000-mile maintenance check-up. “That’s an old requirement from gas cars that they carried over to EVs by default so their dealers can keep making money on service, even if no service is needed.” Couldn’t said it better!
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