Hello, I've been driving Audi Q3/Q5 for about 6 or 7 years now but when my Q5 lease runs out (8 more payments) I'm strongly considering leasing the Defender. I'd have to special order a build to get it to work with my budget so at the moment I'm looking at a 90 series P300 with just a few options, adaptive cruise being one. Can anyone enlighten me about scheduled maintenance on the Defender? Coming from Audi I've always purchased Audi Care when buying or leasing the vehicle, essentially it covers the first three or four scheduled maintenance visits which are anything from oil changes every 10k miles all the way to dual clutch transmission service.

So I will say Audi has been good to me, over the 7 years I've put on two sets of tires and haven't paid a penny out of pocket for anything else. Good cars IMO. What's not so good? No remote start is really a negative for me. Some law in Germany is the culprit there but I'm in the USA, go figure. From what I've read the Defender can be remote started through the InControl app. Can anyone confirm that? I'm up by lake ontario and I'm frankly tired of climbing into an icebox in the mornings.

Anyway back to the maintenance, I would be looking to purchase something similar for a scheduled maintenance plan on the Defender. Do they offer anything like that at the point of sale?

 

setting the climate via the app will start the car and run it for a max of 30 mins. i don't think there's a more typical remote start via the fob.

i've had remote start via the fob on many jeeps and i'm kinda missing that option. it would set a/c or heat + plus steering wheel and seats if needed. i'm finding a number of things i actually miss from my jeeps so far. kinda sucks to pay double for the car and be missing some seemingly basic things.

 

i'm not sure if the app also turns on the heated seats + wheel or seat fans for cooling. i still haven't bothered to read the manual this week since i got the car.

 

I don’t think a law in Germany is preventing remote start. My wife’s Tiguan has remote start with fob

 

Been a thing for years, I've even had the dealer tell me that and I'm not the only one, you can read here:
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/q7-...obd11-2944329/

I'm not sure why some VWs pop up with it in recent years but never an Audi. Maybe where the Tiguan is manufactured plays into it somehow, I'm not sure. It can be added aftermarket by a third party if you own it but if you're leasing you can't mod anything like this.

 

Thanks much for the reply, time permitting give me a shout if you do find out whether the heated seats turn on with the app. That would be good to know. You mentioned the heated steering wheel which suggests to me you've added the winter package. I was going to do that as my primary can't do without option until I heard a reviewer say that he personally hates a heated windshield because when the sun hits it a certain way it draws his eyes to the windshield itself and off of the road ahead. So I wanted the heated steering wheel but since it seems for this vehicle you can't order that without the whole winter package, I'm like, well, if it turns out this heated windshield is really annoying then I'm stuck with it for the next several years. I better leave it off of the build just in case. So no heated steering wheel for me (again). My dad has the heated steering wheel in his Q7, loves it.

That brings me to another question (which might be a good thread on its own) is there any option you or anyone else on the forum has on their 2020 Defender but would opt out of it if they had a chance? It could be an option that you really don't like now that you've lived with it for a while or maybe it's ok but isn't worth the added cost.

There are certain things on the build I currently have configured at the moment which seem like a no brainer to add like the interactive display vs the analog display with that digital piece in the middle. I have the Audi digital cockpit in the Q5 so I was thinking I should just stick with that on the Defender too but maybe the analog would be preferable, I dunno, I've heard more than one Defender reviewer now who has had the whole thing go blank while driving, not good! Maybe the analog is quite cool, anyone have thoughts on that? Does the middle digital section between the analog dials allow you to show the speed in mph? That would be kind of how my 2015 Q3 was setup which was not bad really. Something to consider I guess. As far as the ability to show the navigation / map on the interactive display, I honestly never use that option on my Q5, yea it looks cool but I just show the navigation on the primary screen.

There's also the Meridian sound system, again for a $350 this upgrade sounds like a no brainer. I left the air suspension off of the build so if the coil spring ride is terrible for some reason feel free to share your thoughts on that. I'll be leasing and I would not be going off road with this much if ever, but I do need it to be a really good snow driver / daily driver.

 

I have the snorkel. It came with the truck. But Im not sure of the benefit, especially since the manual says it doesnt increase the depth of water you're able to traverse. So, if I were doing my own build, I wouldnt do the snorkel.

You will be able to purchase 3 years of maintenance. I didn't but I think the cost was somewhere around $7k.

Yes, the remote app can remote start the truck. But since my app isnt working since I bought 5 days ago, I cant confirm about the seats or steering wheel.

The truck does drive phenomenally, Im not sure sure how much the lack of air suspension will change that.

 

We have owned many Audis, starting with a 96 A4 through a 2007 Q7. Loved every one of them, especially the 2002 & 2005 allroads. But the Q7 got stuck in sand on a nearby drive-on beach and my wife was done with it so we replaced it with an LR3 and now have 2 LR4's. When my Defender build went over $80K, I considered the SQ7 but could not get past the lack of a spare tire combined with regular (not run flat) tires. Sorry, enough about my love for Audi.
To answer your maintenance question: From my experience, Audi maintenance has service intervals that are correct and protect the longevity of your vehicle. For whatever reason, JLR seems to stretch these intervals to a point they create problems later. For example, the oil change service on our 2013 LR4's is every 15K miles if you go to the dealer for service. Many of us thought that was too long and changed our own oil every 7500 miles. Most of us that did the more frequent oil changes do not have timing chain guide issues. (And changing your own oil on a Defender takes about 15 minutes and is very easy) So take a look at the service intervals before you prepay for the maintenance on your Defender. Also, know that it probably won't cover wear items like brake pads & rotors, of which you will go through about twice as many as any Audi.

 

Hi,

Currently there is no provision for the remote start to turn on the heated seats, heated steering wheel or ventilated seats if so equipped. Doing remote start via the app , (the only way to remote start a LR), allows you to choose the temp you would like the cabin to be and it will adjust the HVAC system to heat or cool as needed. Others are correct: it will only run a maximum of 30 minutes and then shut off.

I chose to upgrade the Meridian system to the Surround version. It was worth the small upcharge to me.

I made sure to choose a version with the air suspension. I truly believe that it is a better system for me. I will likely never "overland" my Defender on the Sahara or the Outback, so having the better ride, load leveling and adjustability was worth it to me. And, I can do a small lift very easy.

Audi has a nice car, but my last new one was in 2002 and I just haven't looked seriously at the brand since I traded that one in on a Lexus. For the past decade with have had multiple Rovers, BMWs and an XC90.

Rob

 

The snorkel is quite helpful in sand, in the desert, as raising the air intake and reversing the direction reduces the load on the air filter.