Turning 71 and just need to rant!

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Sweetee

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Greetings! With my birthday just around the corner and feeling a bit miffed, I just needed to rant.

Actually, I love my 2017 Laramie 1500 CC. I found the perfect truck 4+ years ago for my wants and needs. Plus I was able to have NAV added at the dealership. All has been good up until this year. Here is a litany of my frustrations.

1. After the first 6 months free trial, I chose to subscribe to Uconnect Access for $149 a year. I truly liked Send & Go, Vehicle Health Report, remote lock/start/etc. Additionally, I really liked being able to use voice to send or reply texts hands free. While a bit pricey, I chose to subscribe.
2. Last January I again called Uconnect Access to renew my subscription, but was told I had to go on a monthly plan. The dangling carrot was that they would send me an OBD adapter that would allow me to have WIFI in the truck for ONLY $10 a month. Too good to be true, but they assured me this was the future.
3. In February the adapter arrived and I installed it according to instructions. While I was able to pair my smart phone to the adapter, it was connected without WIFI. I called Uconnect Access and they explained that I may live in an area that is not adequately served my T-Moble, but that would improve. The associate said that when I was out of range of T-Moble the adapter would switch over to another provider! NOT SO MUCH! We live about 25 miles from Madison, WI, and when I'd crest a hill about halfway to Madison I'd eventually get WIFI. However, about every month I'd have to reset the adapter to regain connectivity.
4. One of my favorite features of my Uconnect was where I could push the phone button and say "call John Smith mobile." About a month ago I tried using this feature and the first menu line that reads "CALL." has disappeared. Thinking it was a temporary glitch, I waited thru a couple restarts and even disconnected the battery in hopes that it would resolve. No such luck! I then called Uconnect Access and it was explained to me that they are discontinuing 3G towers throughout the land and the new service thru the adapter would not support the "CALL" function in the menu. I expressed my disappointment with losing this feature and the fact that I can't access WIFI in the area where I live. The associate said that this was "progress!" I said that I would be dropping Uconnect Access and she informed me that I would still have to pay the remaining monthly payments. It was totally worth ending my association with Uconnect Access on the spot. Having just changed phone plans, I have more than enough data so the WIFI feature is no great loss, but I am disappointed to lose Send & Go, Health Report, Remote controls and the CALL features.

If any of you find yourself in the same situation, check your cell phone talk and data coverage before committing to Uconnect's idea of "progress." Here is a great link to the 4 major carriers.

or
index.html

OK! Now I feel better! Happy Holidays!
 

jejb

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I know there were some changes for the 18 Uconnect system, but I have a lot of those features in my truck and have never subscribed to Uconnect. They are built in apparently. Calling via voice command and some limited text responses. Not build in wifi, although I wouldn't pay to use that anyway. I have remote start also, but I know that Uconnect subscription gives you more options there.

Anyway, happy birthday!
 

Badger 13

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I don't subscribe to Uconnect either. I had the 30 day free thing from them, but I never used it. Your still ahead of me by having and using a "smart phone". I have an old flip phone that I carry in the vehicle in case of an emergency, and from what I have been hearing, that will have to be upgraded due to companies not supporting 3G. But, feel free to "rant", it makes a guy feel better. I call it "venting".
 

18CrewDually

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I'm not going to be a salesman here but I have it and use it almost daily. Mostly the remote lock feature and to see fuel level. My father who's 70 has it also, and talking with him yesterday apparently he uses it more than me. You must have a smart phone or it's not worth the thought of having it.
The problem I have is the pricing and packaging. For it to be worth while you have to talk to them on the phone and wheel & deal. The best I did back in June was Convenience pkg. for $15 month paid in full. My father called yesterday and best he could do was $19 monthly, so he's going to wait until it is closer to expire then try another negotiation. He said they told him he should of called sooner because they had a Black Friday deal but now isn't available.
And to add, neither of us subscribe for the cell service although mine seems to have the service still because I use the hotspot. My fathers if you try to use the hotspot your phone will go to an At&t page to sign up. Mine doesn't. We both have 2018s.
 

crash68

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I know there were some changes for the 18 Uconnect system
The '18 and newer radios support AndroidAuto/CarPlay, basically your phone works through and on the radio screen. Navigation along with voice texting and dialing are massively better than UConnect. Being that it comes from your phone, there no UConnect charge to use it.
 
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Sweetee

Sweetee

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I'm not going to be a salesman here but I have it and use it almost daily. Mostly the remote lock feature and to see fuel level. My father who's 70 has it also, and talking with him yesterday apparently he uses it more than me. You must have a smart phone or it's not worth the thought of having it.
The problem I have is the pricing and packaging. For it to be worth while you have to talk to them on the phone and wheel & deal. The best I did back in June was Convenience pkg. for $15 month paid in full. My father called yesterday and best he could do was $19 monthly, so he's going to wait until it is closer to expire then try another negotiation. He said they told him he should of called sooner because they had a Black Friday deal but now isn't available.
And to add, neither of us subscribe for the cell service although mine seems to have the service still because I use the hotspot. My fathers if you try to use the hotspot your phone will go to an At&t page to sign up. Mine doesn't. We both have 2018s.
I didn't have a problem with the features, but with the loss of features after the cessation of 3G. Plus, the '17s are different from '18s+. Also, where we live T-Moble does not cover for either talk or data. Glad you are successful. BTW, just yesterday I got an email from Uconnect Access asking me to come back for $8.50 a month. Not going to happen! Better to use the OBD port for my ScanGauge. Never did like that I couldn't see voltage on the voltmeter. Now I have a digital answer!
 

18CrewDually

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I think I'll end up letting it expire if I can't strike a deal next June then let them beg for me to come back at a reasonable cost.
Your Laramie doesn't display voltage in the instrument cluster? If I scroll through I can see digital format for the voltage.
Happy Birthday by the way.
 
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Sweetee

Sweetee

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I think I'll end up letting it expire if I can't strike a deal next June then let them beg for me to come back at a reasonable cost.
Your Laramie doesn't display voltage in the instrument cluster? If I scroll through I can see digital format for the voltage.
Happy Birthday by the way.
Must have been changes between '17 & '18. I don't have digital voltage, but our '18 Pacifica does. I have a combination page, coolant temp, oil temp, transmission temp, oil life, tire pressure and hours. The gauge doesn't tell me much other than above or below the middle line. Again, the '17s are 3G and '18s are 4G and the adapter for '17s is a PITA!
 

jejb

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Must have been changes between '17 & '18. I don't have digital voltage, but our '18 Pacifica does.
We just bought a brand new '21 Pacifica Limited about a month ago. I like the Uconnect in that better overall than the one in my 18 Ram. It does split screen stuff that actually makes using nav not as much of a penalty. It also has presets for channels that switch the band also. So preset 1 might be FM, 2 might be XM, 3 could be AM, etc. It's kind of cool, but I'd have to live with it for a while to see on that. It's the wife's van, so I rarely drive it.
 

pacofortacos

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It is true on the 3G towers. While not a fan of Uconnect, it isn't their fault on the 3G issue. What is their issue is using a T-mobile dongle instead of another carrier with better coverage or a dongle that will easily, truly, and quickly change providers to allow coverage.
 

Irishthreeper

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The '18 and newer radios support AndroidAuto/CarPlay, basically your phone works through and on the radio screen. Navigation along with voice texting and dialing are massively better than UConnect. Being that it comes from your phone, there no UConnect charge to use it.
Agree totally. I plug my iPhone in and have access to Navigation, texts, calls, Amazon music, etc. I dislike Verizon as a company but we switched to them as fulltime RV’ers and it’s hard to beat their coverage- across country and back we never lost a signal. Good to go!
 

Treburkulosis

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We just bought a brand new '21 Pacifica Limited about a month ago. I like the Uconnect in that better overall than the one in my 18 Ram. It does split screen stuff that actually makes using nav not as much of a penalty. It also has presets for channels that switch the band also. So preset 1 might be FM, 2 might be XM, 3 could be AM, etc. It's kind of cool, but I'd have to live with it for a while to see on that. It's the wife's van, so I rarely drive it.
I hope your Pacifica doesnt turn into junk like our 19 did. We had an 18 before and it was great. I do really like the split screen on our new Jeep. Does yours have the driver one or two option? I do like that feature in the Jeep. I have my settings and presets.
 
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Sweetee

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It is true on the 3G towers. While not a fan of Uconnect, it isn't their fault on the 3G issue. What is their issue is using a T-mobile dongle instead of another carrier with better coverage or a dongle that will easily, truly, and quickly change providers to allow coverage.
I understand that it is the 3G tower situation. However, I am miffed that the product that I purchased in January of 2018 has been rendered obsolete less than 4 years later. The Magnuson-Moss Act provides protections that automakers must provide parts, etc. for a much longer period of time. I agree that T-Mobile was a poor choice. The connectivity we had with our 2018 Pacifica was AT&T and that had much better coverage. Strange that both systems were "Uconnect," but Guardian and Access used different carriers. I suspicious of Stellantis's commitment to providing long range service to their customers. Plus, I've heard from several sales folks that they are losing opportunities to make a commissions like in the past. Don't even get me going on inventory and parts availability. Our local dealer used to have 200-250 "new" sitting on the lot. This summer I counted 16 and it hasn't improved much since then. The "person" in charge of ordering chips probably used to work for T-Mobile! Just another vent!
 

Quick_Shifter

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I’ve owned an Audio Video company for the last 12 years. It’s extremely frustrating to sell a $100K system and it be out dated in 3-5 years. My customers are all great but I can see their disappointment when I tell them we have to replace a bunch of equipment to get new features and functions. The 3g 5g this is called sun downing they did the same thing when 3g first came out. (Used to be 1g or LTE) I have a ton of home security systems communicating on 3g cellular and we have to replace the modules as they do each area. (Not fun) The client has to buy a new module and pay for the install, manufacturers don’t do any discounts or trade in programs.
 
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Sweetee

Sweetee

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What if you update the dash unit to a 2018? Then no dongle, right?
There'd still be the T-Mobile coverage issue plus the cost of upgrading if even possible. I'm fine with saving the $ and not having the poor coverage. It is just frustrating to lose features that were handy and convenient.
 

pacofortacos

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I understand that it is the 3G tower situation. However, I am miffed that the product that I purchased in January of 2018 has been rendered obsolete less than 4 years later. The Magnuson-Moss Act provides protections that automakers must provide parts, etc. for a much longer period of time. I agree that T-Mobile was a poor choice. The connectivity we had with our 2018 Pacifica was AT&T and that had much better coverage. Strange that both systems were "Uconnect," but Guardian and Access used different carriers. I suspicious of Stellantis's commitment to providing long range service to their customers. Plus, I've heard from several sales folks that they are losing opportunities to make a commissions like in the past. Don't even get me going on inventory and parts availability. Our local dealer used to have 200-250 "new" sitting on the lot. This summer I counted 16 and it hasn't improved much since then. The "person" in charge of ordering chips probably used to work for T-Mobile! Just another vent!
The Magnuson act doesn't say anything about said parts being functional or upgraded tech though - they just have to produce what the vehicle came with - which has been outdated by the Cell carriers, not Ram.

The chip shortage isn't Ram's doing either, it's the chip manufacturers getting back at the auto manufacturers for cancelling orders at the start of the pandemic. It's all auto manufacturers and the chip makers weren't happy at cancelled/scaled back orders, so when all of a sudden other markets opened, they sold them the chips. That's what we get for depending on foreign countries.

Samsung is going to build a $17 billion chip manufacturing plant in Texas. Hopefully we will see more manufacturing come home since automation and AI can make it cost effective to do it here - if energy or lack there of doesn't put a stop to it. The jobs created will be fewer and higher skilled positions but still better than relying on overseas production.
 

GTyankee

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Intel is also building a plant in Texas, but i think it is 2 years out & they did not state if they were going to be Superchips, or the more basic chips used in automobiles

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I have been wondering what is going to happen when Stellantis comes out with Uconnect 5 this production year, which is 2022


FCA’s All-new Uconnect 5 Global Platform Is the Most Advanced Uconnect System Ever: Powerful, Personalized, Connected and Easy to Use​

 

jejb

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I hope your Pacifica doesnt turn into junk like our 19 did. We had an 18 before and it was great. I do really like the split screen on our new Jeep. Does yours have the driver one or two option? I do like that feature in the Jeep. I have my settings and presets.
Yes, it has the different driver options. Sorry to hear about your Pacifica.
 
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