UConnect question

[dhay13]

So my son just bought a '21 2500 Cummins yesterday and I went with him. Salesman sets up his free trial of UConnect. Has the remote start, find your truck, etc on it. I have never set this up on mine. Mine is a 2018 with the 8.4 touch screen Nav. What features would I get if I subscribe to it? My truck has the factory remote start through key fob already too. Would it be worth me paying for this?

 

[cityredneck]

you'd get lock, unlock, remote start, be able to send a destination from the uconnect app to your nav in the truck, find my truck, and you'd be able to see some info on the truck, gas level, oil status i think, tire pressures, i think thats it.

i'd wait until they have the uconnect service on sale for half price ($75+tax). the uconnect app on the phone takes forever to unlock the truck (at least when i would use it)

 

[KalboKalbs]

It's all personal preference.

On my fifth Ram/Jeep with UConnect.

My fob opens/locks, starts from a few hundred feet.

I have no idea what else UConnect offers. Perhaps something along the lines of hosting Internet access for all passengers. Would never pay for that either.

The salesman I've dealt with, have never pushed or hyped the benefits of UConnect.

Been driving 50+ years. The day I can't find my truck, I have bigger problems than, where's my truck.

 

[Rlaf75]

I just bought my 21 bighorn a couple weeks ago and find find the uconnect app sucks. The functions on the app are very very slow. So slow that its just easier to use the key fob to start the truck. I will not subscribe to it when my free trial expires

 

[GTyankee]

I can't think of one thing that i would use that is part of the Uconnect that has a monthly fee

If i was half way across country & lost my FOB. i would call AAA & have a mobile locksmith come to me & i would buy another FOB & have it programmed

I would not call my friend & have them remote start my Ram & unlock it
How many times would i need to call him to return home

If i am on the road and need a HotSpot, i would park in front of a building that has free WiFi

If i needed to know when my truck needs service, i can look at my records, i don't need an email that tells me that something is due

I would not pay over $250 a year because i am lazy or forgetful

 

[Kermudge]

I can't think of one thing that i would use that is part of the Uconnect that has a monthly fee

If i was half way across country & lost my FOB. i would call AAA & have a mobile locksmith come to me & i would buy another FOB & have it programmed

I would not call my friend & have them remote start my Ram & unlock it
How many times would i need to call him to return home

If i am on the road and need a HotSpot, i would park in front of a building that has free WiFi

If i needed to know when my truck needs service, i can look at my records, i don't need an email that tells me that something is due

I would not pay over $250 a year because i am lazy or forgetful

LOL GT that comes with age.

 

[dhay13]

Yeah my truck was slightly used with 8000 miles so never had the free trial. They gave my son the free trial but not sure if he will renew it or not. His wife just bought a 2021 Wrangler about 2 months ago and has it on hers too but not sure if she will pay after the trial. She did pay for it when she had her Subaru. I think it was like $200 for 5 years. But the remote start on the Subarus only works from about 15' away literally. And it shuts off when you open the door so really is worthless unless it is parked right beside your door or window. In 4 years with my wifes Subaru we have used it maybe 5x and that was when it was right outside a door we were at.

 

[stevenP]

Our truck had the uconnect for 5 years, never used it. Now the travelink add ons thru the connect that had the gas prices, weather maps and travel functions was handy. But we use our truck so seldomly I just cant justify the cost.

 

[dhay13]

Yeah figuring it might be a waste of money for me then. I work from home and only put about 6000 miles a year on it so probably don't 'need' it but if it was only something like $75 for 5 years then I might just to have it. I have no idea how much it costs though

 

[Rlaf75]

Yeah figuring it might be a waste of money for me then. I work from home and only put about 6000 miles a year on it so probably don't 'need' it but if it was only something like $75 for 5 years then I might just to have it. I have no idea how much it costs though

Even if it was 75 for 5 years I wouldn't buy it lol

 

[GTyankee]

Correct me if i am wrong
Doesn't the Uconnect Access, Uconnect Advantage, Sirius Guardian, or what ever they are currently calling it

If you were someplace in say another state from where you live & say your other half was locked out of a vehicle with the Plan
You could open the car or remote start it by using the Smart Phone APP, right from your location
It does have a delay, some say that it may be as long as 1/2 hour

It costs 14.99 a month
or
You can purchase a membership to Uconnect Services for a price of $149.99 for a year.

 

[bigred90gt]

Correct me if i am wrong
Doesn't the Uconnect Access, Uconnect Advantage, Sirius Guardian, or what ever they are currently calling it

If you were someplace in say another state from where you live & say your other half was locked out of a vehicle with the Plan
You could open the car or remote start it by using the Smart Phone APP, right from your location
It does have a delay, some say that it may be as long as 1/2 hour

It costs 14.99 a month
or
You can purchase a membership to Uconnect Services for a price of $149.99 for a year.

Anyone that says there is a 1/2 hour delay is overexaggerating to the point of flat out lying. It is maybe 30 seconds. There has been a handful of times in the 4 years I've had my truck that it didn't work, but I always got a notification saying it failed, then redid it and it worked. People just love to complain about all kinds of nonsense these days.

For me, it is worth it because I live in an incredibly hot environment, and I can crank my truck from my office and let it cool down 5-10 minutes before I'm done for the day without having to walk outside. That alone is worth it for me. Plus, there has been several times I have gone out to get something from my truck, or been in my garage and needed something but realized I didn't have my keys on me. Instead of having to go chase down my keys, I can open the truck with my phone in a few seconds. Is it instantaneous like having the key? No, it's not. Has it ever taken anywhere near 30 minutes? Not even close. Whether it is worth it is obviously a personal choice, and to many it is not. To me, it is. Additionally, since I do not have carplay in my 17, it is much easier to find an address on google maps and send it to the truck than it is to fumble around with the head unit trying to find the address.

 

[Wirerat]

Controls will look something like this. I keep the subscription mainly because of the send and go. If you have the built in navigation its great.

I dont have carplay/andriod auto. So send and go let's me add destinations while truck is in motion.

My cost is $9.99 a month.
View attachment 464549

 

[GTyankee]

Apparently you have or had a good connection between your cell phone & the Ram's Sierra Aircard, maybe the Aircard uses the same cell phone provider as your cell phone uses

 

[bcbouy]

Anyone that says there is a 1/2 hour delay is overexaggerating to the point of flat out lying. It is maybe 30 seconds. There has been a handful of times in the 4 years I've had my truck that it didn't work, but I always got a notification saying it failed, then redid it and it worked. People just love to complain about all kinds of nonsense these days.

For me, it is worth it because I live in an incredibly hot environment, and I can crank my truck from my office and let it cool down 5-10 minutes before I'm done for the day without having to walk outside. That alone is worth it for me. Plus, there has been several times I have gone out to get something from my truck, or been in my garage and needed something but realized I didn't have my keys on me. Instead of having to go chase down my keys, I can open the truck with my phone in a few seconds. Is it instantaneous like having the key? No, it's not. Has it ever taken anywhere near 30 minutes? Not even close. Whether it is worth it is obviously a personal choice, and to many it is not. To me, it is. Additionally, since I do not have carplay in my 17, it is much easier to find an address on google maps and send it to the truck than it is to fumble around with the head unit trying to find the address.

no.i waited about 20 mins. for mine to start then closed the app and haven't used it since.i did get a uconnect service check this morning though.that was interesting.all systems checked out with no issues.

 

[Mohican69]

So my son just bought a '21 2500 Cummins yesterday and I went with him. Salesman sets up his free trial of UConnect. Has the remote start, find your truck, etc on it. I have never set this up on mine. Mine is a 2018 with the 8.4 touch screen Nav. What features would I get if I subscribe to it? My truck has the factory remote start through key fob already too. Would it be worth me paying for this?

I have a hard time believing UConnect is still in business. I can't think of one use case where I would ever need or want it. The only time I ever want to use remote start is when I'm close enough to my truck to use it. All the other apps suck and they are just now in 2021 upgrading to 4G and you need a dongle from T-Mobile to plug into your OBD port for that. If they offered me the option to rip out my touch screen and replace it with a decent stero and retain all my truck controls with actual buttons I'd take it in a heartbeat! With this garbage UConnect you can't even DISConnect or even shut the stupid thing off. You can only turn the screen off. I'm not against technology at all.. UConnect just sucks that much!

 

[jgmartz]

On my 2019 3500 my nav system will not search for an address outside of my "local" area unless I pay the monthly subscription fee for uconnect. This pretty much makes the nav system obsolete unless I pay $160/year. No one ever told me this when I bought the truck or I wouldn't bought the nav system. RAM is a total rip off! I should have gone with the Ford.

 

[GTyankee]

jgmartz & others

Uconnect has 2 different systems

Basic Uconnect is absolutely FREE
Pairing your cell phone to Radio & then anything you do with your FOB/RKE is basic Uconnect, same for the Steering Wheel Controls

Uconnect the FEE Based part is call by several names, here are 3 of them, there are likely more names, most of them are Phone APPS
Uconnect 2
Uconnect Advantage
Sirius Guardian

Navigation is your mapping & some information
I can be in San Diego & map every road to get me to Connecticut or even Ontario Canada without leaving my driveway
Just like with Garmin GPS, you have to use Way Points

 

[Rlaf75]

jgmartz & others

Uconnect has 2 different systems

Basic Uconnect is absolutely FREE
Pairing your cell phone to Radio & then anything you do with your FOB/RKE is basic Uconnect, same for the Steering Wheel Controls

Uconnect the FEE Based part is call by several names, here are 3 of them, there are likely more names, most of them are Phone APPS
Uconnect 2
Uconnect Advantage
Sirius Guardian

Navigation is your mapping & some information
I can be in San Diego & map every road to get me to Connecticut or even Ontario Canada without leaving my driveway
Just like with Garmin GPS, you have to use Way Points

Cant you use your smartphone that's linked to the radio for navigation? If I remember correctly the sales lady told me that I can tether my phone to the system to display gps. I could be mistaken

 

[GTyankee]

Yes you can, i don't own a Smart Phone so i can't do anything like that

I have a dumb cell phone, that is smarter than i am
I make & receive calls, i can get & send Voice Messages
I tried sending a text to my neighbor, she was standing next to me, so i know that it sends & receives Texts.
I know that it will take a Picture, but i keep a camera in the Ram so that the phone is not needed for that
.................................................
I would not know what to do with an APP if it was biting me

I take my laptop with me if i am going out of State for more than a day. loads of coffee shops, motels & eateries have free internet

....................................

The part of Uconnect that i use is the Steering Wheel Buttons, mostly the things that you can do with the VR Button

They make you pay to use APPS & i don't use things that i have instant access to, i have a rather laid back life