I just picked up my new 2007 A3. It's beautiful, and drives like a dream. One of the important features for me was to be able to connect my iPod to the car and listen to my MP3s. Dealer after dealer told me all different things- some said I could do it with a kit, others said that it was difficult. All finally agreed (after they did some research) that I would need the Audi Integration kit which connects the iPod through the glove compartment. 4 dealers told me this.

One thing everyone did agree with was that I could no longer connect the iPod through the tape deck since they discontinued cassette from the 2007's. That would have been the easiest solution and would have made me perfectly happy. When I finally ordered my car from the last dealer I went to in NYC, I had stopped asking about the iPod and just sucked up the $595 charge for installation and actual product of the iPod kit (German wiring- very difficult to work with --- very labor intensive--- so I was told...)

So I finally get the car yesterday and after all that, there's a cassette deck in it with my Bose System!!! Discontinued? I just paid a rediculous charge to put this stupid kit in the A3 which, granted charges the iPod, but only allows me to skip through songs from where I've started playing them on the iPod itself. If I want to hear another record, I have to unplug the iPod from the cable, find what I want, and plug it back in again. When it's connected to the kit the iPod itself is actually locked out. Very safe for driving through the world. Sure, I can change tracks from the steering wheel, but for $600 I should get a little bit more. For $0, I could have just bought a $10 cassette adapter, but nobody seemed to know the car came with a cassette.

Pretty lousy, and I'm a sucker with a $600 built in iPod charger. Be aware!

 

any a3 with the bose audio package comes with cassette....except if you get nav. but nav can play mp3's on SD cards, even better then an ipod IMO.

 

Yeah, that pretty much sucks. Then they wonder why nobody trust them when buying a car. And you're right the Audi solution is real lame. You think they might give you something since it was their bad informtion that made you buy the integrations kit in the first place. Might be worth some additional mats, a refund or something. But anyway, I know 600 doesn't grow on trees, but seriously you got a nice ride, and I can don't think there is anyone that leaves a stealership completely happy, even rich folks.

 

I've pretty much settled in with the fact that I threw away 600 bucks. I guess I'll make really big playlists for my Ipod and skip around with my steering wheel **** every once in a while, just to get my money's worth. But I do love the car and I can't wait to drive it again tomorrow.

 

i T r i p

 

Good idea, but FM transmitters are useless in the congested FM band NY area, and they generally don't sound as good as other methods outside of busy citys.

 

hey spaceman, congrates on your new car. where did you get yours? and how much did you pay? if you dont mind me asking. what options did you get. i'm ordering mine very soon. thanks.

 

Not only am I pissed at Audi for this. It's Apple too. Steve brags about how many cars are "APPLE COMPATIBLE" ... but when you get to the details of spending over twice the price of an iPod (top of the line here) to connect with limited features.... then something is wrong with the 'compatibility' definition. If I spend that much I'm expecting full integration with easy access to playlists from the steering wheel, with the names of songs displayed on the radio. And of course good sound...

I ordered the Nav/Sound package because I was skeptical of this. although I'm currently converting my iPod library to MP3s which is a pain in the *** as well. You pretty much have to burn them to CD and then re-rip them in MP3...

I love the iPod, I love Apple. I own a lot of shares of the company... but I'm very skeptical of their "iPod Compatibility" and what level and what price it is.

Thanks for the honest post. Congrats on your A3 purchase!

 

sucks you got ripped, a DICE setup would've only run you $150 or so =/

 

I drove the car for a while today, and listened to Sirius Satelite radio, so I mostly forgot about my iPod woes. The car drives freakin great and I'm really happy with it, so the ripoff integration nonsense is going to the back of my mind pretty quick (until I plug the iPod in again that is...) My dealer told me to make sure I give him a positive review when Audi customer service calls me in a couple of weeks. I guess I'll let them know that this little issue soured things for me and the dealers are all pretty uninformed on the radio options.

Lou, I got my A3 at Zumbach in Manhattan. After a shakey start and a nasty salesperson who decided to take his personal crap out on me, I got a pretty nice guy and he really was ok. They all turned out pretty decent after I made the deal, which left me with a good taste in my mouth. My A3 is Lava Gray with the Premium Pkg, Cold Weather, 6 speed manual, Bose sound (no nav- I've ordered the Garmin Nuvi 660, which apparently rocks way more than Audi's very basic overpriced system) and Open Sky. I like the Open Sky a lot, and the radio sounds pretty sweet. I had a VW GTI just before, and this car is so much smoother than that one. Potholes don't scare me as much anymore, thankfully. I paid just about $30k.