New ‘Audi Cam’ aims to put customers in the picture

No-one likes a nasty surprise, and we’ve all had at least one when it comes to car servicing time. What we thought was a set of brake pads and oil change turns out to be so much more – I can hear the sound of the mechanic sucking air through his teeth now!

But, Audi are looking to address the potentially costly issue of bigger-than-thought servicing and repair bills in all of their UK Audi Centres with their new Audi Cam service.

The Audi Cam is a hand-held video camera controlled by trained Audi technicians who will use it first to visually and verbally identify the customer’s car on film after conducting an initial inspection, and will then pinpoint and clearly explain any problems found; then proposing solutions. It’s like a mini home movie all about your motor.

Each problem identified is filmed and narrated by the Audi technician as an individual clip, and, in around three minutes can then be sent to a special web page that is exclusive to that customer. A secure link to that page is then emailed to the customer, who has sole access to it using a unique PIN number which is sent separately by text message to their mobile phone. The customer’s own page is set up for compatibility with home computers and smartphones, so, in theory, it can all be accessed, understood, and the then agreed work required authorised anywhere.

Sounds like a neat idea for Audi drivers looking to control their finances closely, but even a useful personal service film can’t cushion the pricey pain of a new pair of big, fat rear tyres for an Audi R8 V10!


 




 
By Daniel Anslow

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