Metzga

Hi everyone,

We are going to upgrade from our 2008 Q7 4.2 to the new Q7 Prestige with Driver Assistance, Cold Weather Package, Tow Package, Adaptive Chassis Package, black headliner.

We are considering the Luxury Package but I wanted to check with you guys to see if you think Valcona leather seats are a good idea with 3 kids under the age of 3?
I know from my S8 that Valcona seats are very nice but I don't know if they are softer and therefore not as good for kids as the regular Milano seats.

My other question is with regards to the exterior color. I have seen a Carrera White Q7 before and it looked a little better than Ibis White, IMHO. I am not a big fan of flat colors and always have/had metallic or pearl Audi colors. I haven't seen the Tofana White Crystal and would like to know how it compares to the other whites, i.e. glacier white metallic, ibis white.

Any info is appreciated. Thank you!

Buckwheat2088

What do you do in regards to your car seat setup for your kids? When I still had the Q7, we had 2 car seats in the 2nd row...definitely no room for a 3rd, and couldn't come close to putting anything in the 3rd row.

As far as the leather...with 3 kids under 3 (I have 2 girls...2 yr old and 1 yr old), I would not go with Valcona. My girls (including the wife) beat the crap out of the interior of my Q7 and it just pissed me off since I always put time and effort into keeping it clean.

Main reason we sold the Q7 and bought a new Honda Odyssey. Good luck!

Metzga

Thanks for your input regarding the Valcona leather.

Our friends have 3 narrow cars seats in the 2nd row in the 2009 Q7. We just ordered 2 really narrow car seats for our bigger girls and the new baby will have the regular one. If not I will buy another narrow car seat. My main goal is to keep the 3rd row down so I actually have some trunk space. It is nice to have the 3rd row as an option.

I am not sure if our kids will actually ruin the seats since they will be in car seats and the car seats will have a protection pad on the actual Audi seats. We are also going to lease this Q7 so I guess I am not sure if the luxury package upgrade makes a lot of sense since resell value doesn't matter on a lease.

I have yet to find any info reg. the Tofana White Crystal paint. It sounds like it is a white pearl.

911 Crazy

Hope you're kidding. We had those same pads under the car seats in a brand new Town & Country and I was amazed by the stuff that found it's way under the pads. It was like a landfill appeared! Might not matter as you are leasing though and don't need to do unnecessary things to drive up the lease payment.

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of lease quote/terms are being offered to you? I'm looking at a SQ7 with ED in a couple of years so starting my homework.

Buckwheat2088

Haha I know what you mean. We also utilized the Britax rubber "protection" mats under our Britax car seats. Didn't do much other than help keep the seats in place. Still left noticeable indents, too, in the leather. Between the excess dirt, food, milk and juice constantly making it's way to the seats and the floor, I'm kinda glad we didn't decide to upgrade from our 2009 Q7 to the 2015 even with all the ridiculous offers we were getting from our dealer. I kinda feel better having our girls "trash" the new minivan!

jsh333333

Volcano leather will not be a big problem for young children. Light leather may be affect by jeans.

My previous Q7 is Carrera White which is not metallic. It is purer than Glacier white. But Glacier white has some kind of bluish stuff in the lacquer. It looks more thicker than Carrera White. I also ordered Tofana White Crystal in my incoming new Q7's exterior, as I saw the digital swatch, it is actually whiter than Glacier white, brighter than Carrera white.

WesQ7

So my opinion may be in the minority, but I love the Valcona leather in our new Q7 and am very happy that we sprung for the luxury package. The leather is much smoother and softer that the standard leather and there are other things about the package that make it worthwhile. For example, we also got the black alcantara headliner, which you can only get with the luxury package. It really gives the car a more upscale feel and the alcantara is not just on the roofline it is also on the side of the interior doors. In addition, you get the massage seats. This may sound a bit silly, but when stuck in traffic, there is nothing better than using the auto driving cruise control to keep you in your lane and accelerate and stop while you are enjoying a massage. It really takes the stress out of traffic. To me, there is nothing to suggest that the Valcona leather would be messed up any easier by children than the regular leather. So if the money for the package is not an issue, I would just go for it. It gives the car a much more premium feel and I don't think you will regret it. The seat cooling capability is also really nice. Finally, if you are getting any of the white colors (we have Glacier white), the black alacantra headliner goes really well with the black Valcona leather. Let me know if you have any questions.

WesQ7

Also, on the color, I have not seen the Tofana white, but I think our Glacier white looks a lot better than the regular white. In the sun it has really nice metallic flecks that stand out and make the color pop a bit more.

GK12345EMAIL

I ordered almost the same exact vehicle, except I have the regular headliner (not black).

I didn't order the luxury package because frankly I dont think it's worth the $6000 cost. I had massage seats on my SL550, and I thought it was more of a gimmick. I also do not want the soft close doors that comes with the luxury package with my 2 kids.

If Audi offered Alcantara on the doors and headliner as a stand alone option, I would have probably ordered it.

dhc8guru

My first post...but have to say, we are getting a Q7 to replace our 2014 Odyssey Elite . Why? It's a miserable ride, the road and wind noise is unbearable. The interior is cheap, the hands-free link system is garbage. The whole bluetooth, stereo interface is slow. It has more rattles then a box car (eventually fixed). It is roomy and comfortable and that's it. When your Odyssey hits 29k miles, don't ignore the service to change the trans fluid, otherwise you end up with a burned up tranny by 60k.
Thanks for the tip on the upgraded leather package, as it's a debate we are having.