brooklyn-sline

Silly question probably, but can you add Driver Assist, and more importantly the rearview camera option later?

dealer told me this was possible.


thanks!

hans007

its all on the MOST bus or whatever for nav cars, so in theory it should be doable.

ThePiombino

The simple answer is yes. I wouldn't recommend going through the dealer though (assuming that's even an option). It'll cost you an arm and a leg...and your first born...your soul...and many hours of your life that you wouldn't be able to get back even if you wanted to. DIY FTW!!!

markcincinnati

Never ceases to amaze me! Sure, anything is possible on one of these cars. . .the question is, however, how high is the stack of $100 bills required to make things happen?

If you are contemplating one of these (or any car) fine new A4's, etc, here are things you may want to consider.

#1 Unless you buy your new car fully loaded, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that you will want to add some feature or option from the list of packages or stand-alone options.

- There is nothing wrong with wanting to add some of the options not typically found on an inventoried car, it is ALWAYS possible. . .for a price. Heck, it would be possible to replace the 2.0T engine with the 3.0T engine if money is no object!

#2 Typically due to costs the dealer can avoid, you will be able to acquire a custom ordered vehicle for less money than one that is on the lot. The salesrep may tell you it ain't so, but that may often be due to the fact that an ordered vehicle delays commission.

NB: If you want "whatever" and you want it to be "as if" the car was "born" with that feature or option (or color even) you might as well order the car exactly as you want, rather than adding on the features or options after the fact -- due to point one and point two above.

- The only reason to buy out of inventory is real "immediate need" for a car due to the loss of your current car for whatever reason, or a price that is so low, so attractive that you will acquire the car configured NOT in the way you would have wanted had you not been so drawn in by the super price. (Of course if the car you want is in inventory, and the price is OK, that, too, is a reason to buy off the lot.)

Adding driver assist to an A4 that doesn't have it has to be breathtakingly expensive. It would, likely, cost more than the $2,995 (USD) the option commands at full MSRP (and options are discounted when all is said and done -- but you will pay for parts and labor, without discount, to add it after the fact.)

o Get what you want.
o Get it at a price advantage.
o Get it, however, a couple or three months or so in the future.

Order your car, don't pick from inventory unless you can get exactly what you want at the price you are OK with -- anything less is summed up in the phrase, "good is the enemy of great!"

hans007

well it seems like to me he already bought the car, as his signature is a 2010 prestige.

they have nav but you need driver assist package to get the rear view camera. i know the only other way to get it is buy a premium plus and add nav pack (which has the camera, but no blindspot warning thing) so the actual camera piece must be seperate from the entire package, and probably can be bought online somewhere.

brothers

You're thinking of Drive Select - Driver Assist is only $900.

- Dennis

matthewsjl

Side assist is likely to be an expensive retrofit (from the Drive assist package). Radar sensors in the rear bumper and control modules... plus indicator lamps in the side mirrors.

Rearview camera should be easy as long as the correct control head unit is fitted. On the Q7, if you didn't get nav, you didn't get the correct control head unit.... which was needed for the rear camera input (and this was an MMI-high equipped car too). That module could be sourced but it was in the region of $1,000.

Now, I can't confirm that the A4 is the same but it may be the case.

EDIT: Just checked EKTA and there are two interface different control head parts listed - one for cars with rearview camera, and one for cars without.

John.

AofC_RR

The rear camera would not be too outrageous to do. Parking sensors are offered as a dealer installed option i believe. Side assist is a waste if you use a radar detector.

brooklyn-sline

Thanks for everyones support and replies. Seems like this could be a possibility.

markcincinnati, you are 100%, I shouldve gottent what I wanted from the jump. But the dealer checked all the A4's in the 'eastern' region US and basically for the most part what I wanted wasn't available ( a dark colored prestiege A4 with drivers assist, sport package, s-line )

So, I 'settled' for everything but drivers assist.

I'm on so crazy about the assist, but I really would love the back up camera, especially parking in the streets of NYC.


Im gonna try to find someone to do the camera.

validA4

I know exactly what you mean. Being in NYC myself, the backup camera is invaluable. I couldnt forgive myself if had gotten the A4 without it.

My original plan was to buy the plain 6MT prestige with no options, but all they had in the Northeast was with S-line or fully loaded and I wasnt planning to spend that much more. But after I test drove an A4 with the backup camera and sport package, I realized that I couldnt bring myself to buy the car without the backup cam and upgraded seats but I didnt want the alcantara seats in the sline. So I wound up getting a 6MT P+ with options instead.