MDI cable

[sbm]

Hi,

Sorry if this has been posted before, but the search for "MDI cable" came up with 296 results, none having the title MDI cable. (until now.)

Anyway, my new vrs came with the MDI interface, but no cable.

When i rang the dealer to say that it wasn't in the glove box can i come grab it, he said it was separate and had to be purchased, for $98.. I said that was like saying wheels were to be purchased separately.

I was wondering if anyone has purchased one from ebay for the more reasonable price of around 24 dollars, or if that the genuine cable had something special about it.

cheers

sean

[LunchboxVRS]

theres a couple of cables. most VW come with the MDI to USB cable but this wont work with IPOD/Iphone cable pluged into it so you need to get the seperate apple connector. same with most other phone plugs. best bet is to go for somthing that shows the OEM item in a packet like below.
VW MDI IPOD CONNECTION CABLE GENUINE VW 000051446C . | eBay
what do you want to plug in.

[sbm]

Thanks,

Yeah i want to plug in my iPod.
I actually looked up the part number and that same seller you sent the link for had the OEM cable for 12 pounds posted. bargain.

cheers

[K1W1]

When i rang the dealer to say that it wasn't in the glove box can i come grab it, he said it was separate and had to be purchased, for $98.. I said that was like saying wheels were to be purchased separately.

So the price has gone down then?
They wanted $120 for mine AFTER I PAID to have the MDI interface installed (it was an option then).
The ebay cables work fine. In the mean time if you have a 3.5mm male to male cable you can plug your iPod in via the audio socket in the pocket under the centre arm rest or just buy a SD card and dump a pile of MP3s onto that which is what I now use 99% of the time. I really only use the MDI for charging now or if we are on a trip one of the families i devices if they want.

[Mysticality]

MDI was an option on mine, too.
One of the first of the MY12's.
I just permanently run a 3.5mm cable.

[LunchboxVRS]

MDI was standard in my polo but it only come with the USB MDI plug. i had to get the ipod cable of ebay to.

[Yao]

Having optioned the MDI interface connection, the dealer was kind enough to include the ipod cable for free. They specifically asked me which cable I wanted. Like K1W1, I use an sd card for all my music, but my daughter likes using the ipod connection for her music on the rare occasion that she's in the car

[Damo105]

I bought mine on ebay out of Singapore or Hong Kong or somewhere for $32 shipped. Arrived in what appeared to be genuine Skoda packaging. Plugged it in and it's never missed a beat.

[Tigger]

I just emailed and phoned my stealer and said "you obviously forgot to include the MDI cable I need...send it to me in the post please"...

I said it insuch a way that it was clear that I was not going to pay for something that is integral to the operation of the MDI that has been fitted to my car.

Yes, as someone else said, it is like having to option and buy the tyres separatley from the wheels!

Anyone who gets bullied into paying for a cable is too soft.

[kamold]

You can see it from the dealer's perspective: if they included the iPod cable with every MDI, then they'd get people with other audio devices with a non-proprietry USB interface complaining, and vice versa. Given VW charge like wounded bulls for the cable, they leave it up to the owner.

With that said, from a customer perspective, they really should ASK the buyer what interface cable they would like with their MDI device and provide that one with the car. If the buyer wants both, they can pony up for the second one.

For the record I bought both cables off ebay for a few bucks and use either SD, HDD or BT streaming. I sometimes use the MDI interface for charging my phone but otherwise it just sits in the glovebox, unloved...

[Umai Naa!!]

Spot-on.

Salespeople don't read the accessories lists too well. You would think that if there's a few different cables, then they would ask which one you'd want.

[K1W1]

Yes, as someone else said, it is like having to option and buy the tyres separatley from the wheels!

Anyone who gets bullied into paying for a cable is too soft.

That's rubbish. Virtually every car these days is fitted with a USB or other (in VWs case MDI) interface port. How many cars are supplied to customers with USB cables?
The cable is not part of the car and it's nothing like supplying a vehicle without wheels. I bet 90% of the MDI interfaces in VW group vehicles never get used in these days of Bluetooth streaming and SD cards and when you find out how bad the iPod integration and control is via the cars ICE system you will probably cease using the interface as well.
The fault here is simply that dealers do not tell their customers that the cable is an option and nowhere is it mentioned as an option in the Skoda sales literature as far as I can remember.

[sbm]

That's rubbish. Virtually every car these days is fitted with a USB or other (in VWs case MDI) interface port. How many cars are supplied to customers with USB cables?
The cable is not part of the car and it's nothing like supplying a vehicle without wheels. I bet 90% of the MDI interfaces in VW group vehicles never get used in these days of Bluetooth streaming and SD cards and when you find out how bad the iPod integration and control is via the cars ICE system you will probably cease using the interface as well.
The fault here is simply that dealers do not tell their customers that the cable is an option and nowhere is it mentioned as an option in the Skoda sales literature as far as I can remember.

In my case it wasnt rubbish and usb is not standard on the Skoda, i think you have missed the point of the original post. I got told "it has MDI, so you can plug your phone in and access you play lists etc through the touch screen". noting was mentioned about a separate cable that had to be purchased. So yeah it is like saying "here is the car, see these tires on the wheels? the are great for driving on!", so you would assume that they come with the car. But then get told car doesn't come with them, just the rims after buying it.
But the deal i got for the car outweighed that anyway. Its just frustrating.
Anyway the problem got solved by the OEM part from the UK for 12 pounds.

[K1W1]

Every car ad you see today says much the same thing and none of them are supplied with cables. Many TV commercials show phones connected to cars while smiling passengers happily changing music for the camera but do not mention that it's byo cable. Brochures show phones or music devices connected to car systems but never mention that it's byo cable.
The MDI is nothing more than another pig headed attempt to keep an open standard (USB) proprietary. If the Germans were to forgo their arrogance for a while and simply scrap the next to useless MDI serial interface and replace it with a world standard USB one this whole issue would be resolved but cars would still not be supplied with cables.

[Umai Naa!!]

Don't know about Skoda, but the factory-fitted ones in VWs (the one in the centre console), comes with a USB cable.

If you bought the kit as an accessory (dealer-fitted), it comes with no cable at all.