ChinaBob
Well-known member
My 2015 A3 TDI continues to run flawlessly, and even better than new. I don’t know what the dealer’s service department did at the 15k service, actually done at 16k, but the car is a noticeably peppier now. Fuel economy may be up, too, but it’s hard to tell since I’ve been driving it in a much warmer climate in south Florida since a week or so after the service and the mileage would rise from that alone. Even though I hand calculate the mpg at every fill up, I don’t keep track of mileage overall, but it seems to be averaging in the low 40s. I’m sure it would be better if I could keep my right foot out of the turbocharger but 80+ is its natural cruising speed and besides, it’s fun to use the engine’s newfound responsiveness. The difference between the car’s MPG estimates and my hand calculations continues to be all over the board; the only sure thing is that my calculation will be lower.
The only fly in the ointment is that the oil light came on at around 15,000 miles. Hadn’t had this happen for many decades and called the dealer in near panic. After determining that the light was on due to oil level as opposed to pressure, she told me to just put a quart of oil in it and it’d be fine. Which I did, and it was fine. Now I carry an extra quart in the trunk, just in case.
But there’s another funny thing about that. A few weeks later I was filling out the annual Consumer Report car survey online, checking the usual boxes indicating whether or not there were various problems with the car, then went to the next page. There it was, a question all by itself on the page, asking if the car was burning oil, and if so, how much and at how many miles. Hm, I doubt they ask this question about every car. Are they on to something about EA288 engines already? To me it’s no big deal to add a quart every 10,000 miles as long as I know not to be surprised by it.
Speaking of surprises, now that the car has hit the six month point I have to start paying AT&T for Audi Connect. Since I drive cross country a lot I got the $499 for 30 Gb plan and then checked my usage online a few days later. Yikes! 2.8 Gb, over $46 worth, in four days! Now I am on a quest to find out how much each of the Audi Connect features contributes to this total. Doing some online research brought up a post in another forum indicating that Google Earth is the data hog, but if anybody knows something more about this, or can point me to a tool to separate out the various features for data usage, I’d be very appreciative. Meanwhile, I’m using the standard maps.
Finally, the MMI Connect Android smartphone app has been through several updates and is getting better but still not completely there yet. It added a traffic data feature and the buffering problem with some of the internet radio stations seems to be gone, though one Boston area station that I’d like to listen to on the road still refuses to connect. And, more funny than anything else, is the Car Finder, which purports to mark where you parked the car: “Exact parking position saved (~54.4 yards)”
The only fly in the ointment is that the oil light came on at around 15,000 miles. Hadn’t had this happen for many decades and called the dealer in near panic. After determining that the light was on due to oil level as opposed to pressure, she told me to just put a quart of oil in it and it’d be fine. Which I did, and it was fine. Now I carry an extra quart in the trunk, just in case.
But there’s another funny thing about that. A few weeks later I was filling out the annual Consumer Report car survey online, checking the usual boxes indicating whether or not there were various problems with the car, then went to the next page. There it was, a question all by itself on the page, asking if the car was burning oil, and if so, how much and at how many miles. Hm, I doubt they ask this question about every car. Are they on to something about EA288 engines already? To me it’s no big deal to add a quart every 10,000 miles as long as I know not to be surprised by it.
Speaking of surprises, now that the car has hit the six month point I have to start paying AT&T for Audi Connect. Since I drive cross country a lot I got the $499 for 30 Gb plan and then checked my usage online a few days later. Yikes! 2.8 Gb, over $46 worth, in four days! Now I am on a quest to find out how much each of the Audi Connect features contributes to this total. Doing some online research brought up a post in another forum indicating that Google Earth is the data hog, but if anybody knows something more about this, or can point me to a tool to separate out the various features for data usage, I’d be very appreciative. Meanwhile, I’m using the standard maps.
Finally, the MMI Connect Android smartphone app has been through several updates and is getting better but still not completely there yet. It added a traffic data feature and the buffering problem with some of the internet radio stations seems to be gone, though one Boston area station that I’d like to listen to on the road still refuses to connect. And, more funny than anything else, is the Car Finder, which purports to mark where you parked the car: “Exact parking position saved (~54.4 yards)”
