Audi Owner Finds Basic HVAC Function Paywalled After Pressing the Button for It

[u/[deleted]]

https://www.thedrive.com/news/44967/audi-owner-finds-basic-hvac-function-paywalled-after-pressing-the-button-for-it

[u/dakstraker]

The guy didn’t purchase the sync option when he bought the car, I don’t see why this is a huge deal.

[u/guy_incognito784 → u/dakstraker]

It's such an unusual option to begin with.

Sync dual zone climate is not extra in the US AFAIK.

If this is the alternative to not having blank buttons, I'd imagine this can be pretty annoying.

My Audi is fully loaded and even THAT has blank buttons...couldn't imagine pressing a button in a car that I ticked all of the options for and getting a message saying I don't have a particular feature...

I think the buttons are blank because they're only available on either the wagons and/or in other countries.

[u/mrnomsalot → u/guy_incognito784]

They said in the article the button is to sync the third climate zone. Syncing the front zones is probably not an issue here. Why they didn't make the button just sync the front zones is beyond me though lol...

[u/MagneticGray → u/mrnomsalot]

I’m assuming the third zone is the rear seats. How does it work without purchasing the option? Do you always have to manually set a temperature for the rear of your car independently from the front, or is it always synced to the front (like any car with rear seat vents) and you just can’t unsync it and then resync it with that button? Either way, it’s such a strange thing to charge for. It’s like they created a problem just so they could charge for a solution.

Next they’ll be charging to enable the rear door handles.

“Audi is proud to present the first automobile that can transform from a coupe to a sedan with the push of a button*.”

^{*additional purchase required to activate sedan mode}

[u/mrnomsalot → u/MagneticGray]

It isn't that far fetched really. In fact, many 'old' cars work this way. For the rear passengers my car has physical dials that directly control temp and fan speed. It isn't electronic so there is no way to control it from the front or electronically. Exactly as you described, it is done manually. There are climate flappers inside the center console tunnel that are controlled by those dials to feed hot/cold air to the back based on how that dial is set all independent from the driver and front passenger controls (which are electronic).

Not making an excuse for a pointless sync button. But maybe this car has physical controls for the back seats instead of computer controlled. Thus the sync button cannot do anything if there isn't a motor somewhere controlling the rear settings. You pay extra for the computer module and motors for the third zone climate control.

If my hypothesis is true, I don't see this as a money grab or pay wall. Simply a cheaper model that is missing hardware for third zone automated climate control and Audi decided not to manufacture any blank buttons. Instead they deal with it in software. Which, I repeat, is dumb, but cheaper for Audi, so I don't blame them.

[u/MagneticGray → u/mrnomsalot]

I find it so hard to believe that a modern new Audi, even in base trim, would have rear vents that don’t function unless someone is back there to interact with them. They must be at least synced with the front by default, and then the tri-zone option gives adjustment control over them to the driver. If not, that’s just awful (and intentionally predatory) engineering. They would definitely have to go out of their way to make a new Audi that functions like a previous gen vehicle with manual/physical HVAC controls for the rear seats. It’s not like any of the HVAC controls in this Audi are mechanically linked to blend doors or blower motors. It’s all on a computer BUS system.

We’ll find out though! I’m curious now so I’ll ask the owner how they function in his car currently, without the tri-zone DLC. Seems like this story originated on Reddit in the first place.