A6 avant first problem with car,

[jack]

Hi, so I have had my first problem with my car after owning for 2 weeks now.

Got in the car and it started ok, then I thought I would try and lock the car with the key button while the car was still running to try and warm the car up, this did not work so I turned the car off and then locked it.

after about 10 minutes I returned unlocked the car and tried to start it, firstly it didn't recognisied the key saying put it near the center console where the key sign is.
I tried several times and it then worked, but the car would not start the engine , I tried and tried and gave up calling audi assist.
The guy came out plugged his laptop into the ecu and found several error codes which he cleared and then went about to see if there where any new downloads for the car which there wasn't .
He has logged it into the system which apparently is sent back to Audi who look at it to see if this has happened before on other cars .
Basically it was a software problem maybe caused by me trying to lock the doors while the car was still running.
BMW have a system where the car can be warmed up before you enter the car without unlocking any doors, my mate has it on his 5 series.
Great little feature to have in this cold snap we are having, shame on Audi not having this feature on the new A6.
Just wondered if any one else having this problem with there car.

 

[DaveW]

Not tried it and won't now.

I wonder how insurers would act if the car was stolen when locked with the engine running?

 

[cuke2u]

Can't lock the car with the engine running is correct. It is an offence in the UK to leave a car unattended with the engine running..
"Leaving an engine idling is an offence. ... The Act enforces rule 123 of the Highway Code, which states: "You must not leave a vehicle's engine running unnecessarily while that vehicle is stationary on a public road." Doing this can incur a £20 fixed-penalty fine under the Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) Regulations 2002.18 May 2018".

And https://www.drivingtesttips.biz/driving-tips/parked-with-engine-running.html

So Audi have it right really in trying to prevent this even if the vehicle isn't on a public road...

 

[jack]

So how come BMW can offer a preheat function on there car externally which demists the car without starting it and Audi don't, that is my point, not the fact that the car is running with the doors locked.

 

[Sam77]

So how come BMW can offer a preheat function on there car externally which demists the car without starting it and Audi don't, that is my point, not the fact that the car is running with the doors locked.

BMW's used to have an oil burner built in for this option. I'm not sure what modern BMW's have today but I would imagine its some hardware that Audi do not have in their range.

 

[cuke2u]

So how come BMW can offer a preheat function on there car externally which demists the car without starting it and Audi don't, that is my point, not the fact that the car is running with the doors locked.

UK cars tend not to have auxilary heaters, however they are nothing to do with uk laws on running engines. If there is one fitted a different remote to the usual one comes with the car that has a timer built into it.
This may well be referred to in your manual, it is in my A4 version...

 

[DaveW]

UK cars tend not to have auxilary heaters, however they are nothing to do with uk laws on running engines. If there is one fitted a different remote to the usual one comes with the car that has a timer built into it.
This may well be referred to in your manual, it is in my A4 version...

It is mentioned in the manual, but from memory, it's not available on the UK cinfigurator, so it available in the UK. Probably only for cold climate countries.

 

[DotNetDude]

Yes I tried this a few days ago. This is one of those little things that really annoys me, especially now when enabling this type of feature could be very easy. It is not just Audi, I have yet to own a car that would allow me to lock it while running. It is true that you can't leave your car unattended on the public highway, but I am perfectly entitled to start my car on my private driveway, and leave it unattended. Whether I should do it or not, is or course an entirely different matter. But, for security reasons, if I want to do that, I should be allowed to lock the car. If they don't want to allow it all the time, at least add a software switch so I can enable it when needed.

Leaving your vehicle unattended is a grey area. If you are one metre from your car, is it unattended. What about 2 metres, 5 metres, or 6, or 10. What about only 1 metres away, but just on the other side of a brick wall? What about watching your car through a window from inside your house? The definition of unattended is simply "Not supervised or looked after", or "not being watched or taken care of" . Our next door neighbour had their car stolen in this fashion about 15 years ago. The insurance company tried to argue that they had left the car unattended hence they were not covered by leaving it running (on their private driveway). The insurance company lost!

 

[cuke2u]

You are perfectly correct in all you are stating and I wish I knew the answer, however I am not the lawmaker. It is there for no reason other, that I can see, to reduce airborne pollution it seems and this is covered by some of that law.
The law may be adapted, as we will be seeing more and more vehicles that can park themselves without the need for someone to be sitting behind the steering wheel, however it may not change the ability to be able lock the car when the engine is running....