Q6 e-tron bricked during dealer software update — anyone else experienced this?
My Q6 e-tron is currently at an Audi dealer for a couple of service items, one of which is an Audi-requested/required software update. My service advisor warned me beforehand that the update is fairly involved and that they would need the car for 2–3 days.
This morning I got a call saying that during the software update the car had essentially "crashed" and was now bricked/inoperable.
The technician apparently had to disassemble part of the front luggage compartment to access one of the modules that was no longer communicating properly. During the subsequent diagnosis, they discovered an aftermarket LoJack/tracking device connected to the car's OBD/CAN system.
This was news to me. I leased the car new from a different Audi dealer and have never installed any aftermarket electronics. I called the selling dealer, and they immediately confirmed that they installed the LoJack before delivering the car to me. I vaguely remember getting an email about activating LoJack when I leased the car, but I never activated it and didn't realize there was actually an aftermarket device physically installed in the vehicle.
The servicing dealer now believes the LoJack may have interfered with the software update and caused or contributed to the failure. They're also looking to charge me roughly an hour of labor ($450+) for the additional work/removal, although much of the diagnostic work and disassembly appears to have been done before I was notified about the LoJack or any customer-pay charge.
I'm still trying to sort out who ultimately bears responsibility for that, but my main reason for posting is the technical issue:
Has anyone here had a Q6 e-tron crash/brick during one of the dealer software updates?
And specifically:
- Has anyone had an update fail because of a LoJack, GPS tracker, OBD device, or other dealer-installed aftermarket equipment?
- Did your dealer tell you aftermarket OBD/CAN devices needed to be disconnected before starting the update?
- If your update failed and a module became unresponsive, what was ultimately required to recover the car?
- Has anyone had a Q6 e-tron software update fail like this with a completely stock car?
I'm particularly curious whether the LoJack explanation is a known issue with these updates or whether the dealer is simply finding an aftermarket device after the fact and assuming that it caused the failure.
I'll update the post once I find out exactly which module failed and which software campaign/update they were performing.
UPDATE: I spoke with the Audi dealer that originally sold/leased me the car. They confirmed in writing that they installed the LoJack before delivery. They also checked with their service department, which says the LoJack should not prevent the Q6 from receiving the software update. So at the moment I have two Audi dealers giving me conflicting explanations about whether the LoJack could have caused the update failure. The selling dealer has offered to cover the removal cost, which I appreciate, but I'm still interested in figuring out what actually caused the car to brick.
UPDATE: Got the car back. Once the dealer removed the dealer-installed LoJack/Spireon tracker and restored the OBD connection to factory configuration, they were able to complete the software updates successfully. The car seems to be working fine now, although I'm still occasionally getting a charging-system warning.
The servicing dealer charged me about $430 for the removal/diagnostic work after giving me a slight discount when I pushed back with the service manager. The selling dealer, which had installed the tracker before delivering the car, very quickly agreed to reimburse me for the entire charge, so credit to them for handling that without a fight.
I'm still planning to open a case with Audi. This incident was resolved, but combined with the liftgate problems, intermittent driver-assistance warnings, charging warnings, etc., I'm pretty disappointed by the number of quality-of-life/software issues I've had with the Q6 in less than a year. None of them individually has been catastrophic, but collectively they're starting to undermine my confidence in the car.