I called uconnect and I was told the one time activation fee was $600 and since I have a 2016 ram the maps that are that old and the map update would be $140. This is driven by Chrysler - unbelievable
I bought a 2016 2500 with 8.4 Nav radio in it and the radio itself was on the original version of firmware from the day it was sold (map version 2014). I found the updates across several different forums and slowly version by version updated the radio to the newest version - for free. Not the NAV maps, but the version of firmware the radio runs on which is required to be on the latest in order to update the NAV maps data. Once I was on the latest version of firmware, I then went online and ordered the latest Nav maps. Last fall there was a sale for $99.00 for up to 2022 NAV maps which I was able to update since I was now on the latest firmware for the radio. Did it all my self out in the driveway with battery charger on the truck while it was in the run position on push to start button.
Is there a risk to doing this? Yes, if you skip too far in versions on the radio firmware in updating it you could brick your radio. But I also found many that before me had done this successfully, so I gave it a try and it worked out fine. Your truck, your call certainly.
I will also add this.....when I contacted UConnect to see if they could straighten out my ability to download the firmware software myself via their website (because their website indicated I was fully up to date - and since version was pretty old I knew that wasn't true). And with the call and emails that followed a few things became apparent to me:
1 - UConnect reps I spoke to are just following a script. And know absolutely nothing about how updates to older trucks work. Remote radio updates for UConnect (which I am guessing is what they are trying to charge you $600 to get hooked back up to) do NOT work any longer for radios that are older than 2018. The reason they stopped working is due to the wireless technology being sunset - 3g. So there isn't any way possible today for remote downloads to work, because your truck can no longer get to their system now that 3g is dead. But anyone you talk to at UConnect can't speak past the script in front of them, including who they go talk to when they put you on hold. Clueless.
2 - They can't seem to reset your account with your connected truck's VIN to allow you to download all versions of firmware necessary to get to the newest one. Remember, you have to take the updates step by step so you will need as many as how old your firmware version is. So that leaves you searching forums like this one to gather up each one, once you figure out how many you will need. Get your radio type, P/N, version of FW currently on, etc to start the journey. And if like me where my truck was sold in Canada, well there's a completely different set of FW files you'll have to get as US and Canada FW files were different on some of them.
I'm now all up to date with FW and NAV Maps to latest versions. All for my time, a USB memory stick, and $99.00 for latest NAV maps when it was on sale AND AFTER I got all FW updates completed.
BTW...dealer told me they would charge $185 per FW update version to upgrade me, which was like 6 versions old - which I obviously declined.