3 year free car-net for eGolf is a scam

[bobk2824]

I tried pressing the "I" button today to get some questions answered on the car. The Car-net guy came on and gave me a very long speech on how great car-net is. Unfortunately, he didn't answer any of my questions except one: there is a 3 year FREE car-net deal for the eGolf functions, but you only get that if you have a regular car-net subscription. In other words, there is no 3 year free anything.

He couldn't answer any of my questions about the car, so transferred me to some VW person. She couldn't answer my questions either (is there a trip odometer? What does the 0.0 button do? Why don't I have any driving data? etc. etc.). When I started asking questions about the iPhone app (it just plain doesn't work) she said that question has to go to the car-net guy that transferred me to her.

All in all, and hour and a half wasted.

 

[bobk2824]

My post above turns out to be incorrect. The car-net guy had it wrong. At least in the US, e-Golf owners get the full car-net service for the first 3 years. This information was apparently top-secret, even to VW, as owners on this forum reported getting letters from VW to buy car-net after the 6 month trial had expired. Those letters were sent in error, according to newer information.

 

[johnqh]

My impression is that there are two parts of car-net. We have 3 year of the EV part (whatever you see in the app) and 6 months of safety part.

 

[jaq]

Go to your Car-net Account page (top right)

Mine says:

VW Car-Net New Vehicle Trial
Subscription active until Dec 19, 2015
VW Car-Net 3 year EV Complimentary
Subscription active until Jun 19, 2018

Looks like it will auto-renew the subscription, but it's just goes by a different promotional name.

 

[phr00t]

The two products are actually different. The 6 month trial includes general "remote" features like door locking & unlocking. That will stop working after the 6 month trial ends. However, "EV" features like remote charging & setting up climate control schedules will work for that 3 year trial.

A Car Net rep said they are working on an "EV"-only subscription, that should be available by the time our 3 year trial runs out. The whole package with remote features costs $199/year, so hopefully the "EV"-only subscription will be much less (since that is all I'm really interested in).

 

[GadgetGav]

My car is 10 months old and I just tried the remote unlock through the iPhone app. I got a text message back saying the doors had been unlocked.
I am not paying anything for an expanded Car-Net subscription...

 

[formerdieselrumbler]

...The 6 month trial includes general "remote" features like door locking & unlocking...

Just feel compelled to make a small correction here— the car-net app will allow you to unlock the car remotely, but will not allow for remote lock. This flat-out sucks because sometimes I walk away from the car and think, 'did I lock the car?' It would be nice if I could just use my phone to lock it, but noooooo.

It would also be nice if I could roll my windows up or down remotely, but that doesn't seem possible either. I use car-net for manually pre-heating the car when it's cold outside, and that's it. It's pretty close to useless otherwise.

 

[GadgetGav]

On the Car Net website it shows icons at the bottom of the screen for the services available.
Battery, Climate and Remote are all available without a paid subscription (though remote does seem limited to unlock).
Vehicle health, Speed alert and Boundary alert require a subscription.