My 2014 Durango R/T was delivered 2 weeks ago and I have a couple of questions on the operation and features on the 8.4AN radio. First, let me say that I have had 7 cars with full featured Nav radios since 2004 and 5 of those were Chrysler vehicles. So, I am not inexperienced with Uconnect radios. However, I can't seem to figure out how to set up some of the preferences and features on this new 8.4AN.

• The Blind Spot audible warning is way too loud, short of turning it off completely, can the loudness of the chime be set lower?

• Also, the ring of incoming phone calls are blowing me out of the car because they are so loud.

• I often miss my Favorite Song or Favorite Artist notifications because the notification is a tiny 1/4" text announcement in the upper radio face. Is there any way to get a more visible notification? On my 2012 Chrysler, a large, can't miss, dialog box popped up and notified me of a favorite song or artist.

• My 2012 radio had a cool feature that allowed me to pull up and view my list of pre-set radio channels or stations. Once in that mode, I could switch the list to show; either the channel names, or the artists currently playing, or the song titles. With my radio set on any given channel, I could see what or who was playing on my other preset channels...a very nice feature. I can't seem to do this with 8.4AN. I can bring up the pre-set channel or station list, but I can't switch to artist view or song view.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Mariano (Alfie)

 

I'll add a question as well:

Is there any way to chance the red background? Would love to customize it.

 

I agree...a soft blue or green would be cool. I never liked red themed dash panels, or as they call them now; "Instrument Clusters".

I remember when Pontiac went nuts with the red instruments a while back...yech! Maybe that's why they are no longer around.

The only red I want to see on my dash are the needles on the analog gauges.

Alfie

 

All good questions and requests. I don't know the answer to some and I would like to know so hopefully we'll get someone to chime in. If not, I can notify a friend at Chrysler who can pass it along to their UConnect guy for possible updates.

"Blind Spot audible warning is way too loud, short of turning it off completely, can the loudness of the chime be set lower?"

Not sure. Perhaps try to use the volume **** while it's going off (I know, hard), but that may do it)

"Also, the ring of incoming phone calls are blowing me out of the car because they are so loud."

I had the same thing happening. This I know for a fact can be changed, but again, you have to wait until someone is calling and use the volume **** to turn it down. I think what happens is that when someone is calling, the volume then switches from radio to phone volume control so you have to use that window to turn it down. But after you do it the first time, that new volume becomes the default one. Perhaps there's another way, but I haven't found it yet.

I often miss my Favorite Song or Favorite Artist notifications because the notification is a tiny 1/4" text announcement in the upper radio face. Is there any way to get a more visible notification? On my 2012 Chrysler, a large, can't miss, dialog box popped up and notified me of a favorite song or artist.

I don't think there's a way to make it bigger. You do get the ding though when there is a favorite artist playing. Do you hear that?

My 2012 radio had a cool feature that allowed me to pull up and view my list of pre-set radio channels or stations. Once in that mode, I could switch the list to show; either the channel names, or the artists currently playing, or the song titles. With my radio set on any given channel, I could see what or who was playing on my other preset channels...a very nice feature. I can't seem to do this with 8.4AN. I can bring up the pre-set channel or station list, but I can't switch to artist view or song view.


That would be awesome. Let me know if you figure it out.

 

Thanks for the reply and suggestions.

Yes, the radio volume control does turn the phone ring down, but by then its too late, the damage has been done, so to speak. I don't know if the radio volume also controls the blind spot warning chime, but that warning sure is loud.

Yes, I did hear the little ding notifying me of a favorite, but that can get lost in some of the crazy stuff that I listen to. I don't know why they dropped the dialog box from previous radios. It was a 2" x 3" window that popped up and informed you when an artist or song was playing. It had 2 buttons: "Go To" or "Ignore".

...and yes, the ability to view favorite artists and songs on other channels was a very cool feature. I miss that.

Perhaps these issues can be fixed with a future system update from Chrysler ???

Alfie

 

My quest for answers for these issues led me to the Uconnect web site. http://www.driveuconnect.com . There I found a couple of phone numbers as well as a chat feature. I spent about an hour on the phone with the Uconnect help representatives.

Have you ever talked to a support expert and after a minute into the conversation, you realize that your level of understanding of the subject is greater than theirs? They were very professional and tried hard to help me, but their expertise was limited to basic 8.4AN operation.

I kept asking for the next higher level of support and after being transferred up 3 times, I finally got to a real expert on the line. The bottom line; no good news. All of my concerns cannot be changed or reconfigured. It is in the design of the hardware or software.

• The volume level of the Blind Spot Warning and Incoming Phone Rings are connected to your radio volume setting. They cannot be lowered. Even if I listen to my radio at a moderate level, I'm going to get jolted by the Blind Spot warning and Phone ring.
• Other than the little 1/4" text up in the info bar on top of the screen, there is no way to get a larger more visible notification for my favorites. I will receive a little audible "ding", but that can get lost in many rock songs with a lot of sound on the track, i.e., Jimmi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, etc. If you are driving behind me and I seem to be lane wandering, it's because I am driving with my eyes on the radio watching for my notifications.
• There is no way to see what or who is playing on your other pre-set channels. They said this is the most frequent complaint of the new 8.4AN radios. People like me that had previous generation Uconnect radios are really disappointed in losing that really cool feature.

Bottom line; I still love this Durango R/T. Hopefully, a future software update can address some of these faults in the new Uconnect.

Mariano (Alfie)

 

I have to agree with on the phone ring part in particular. I almost chit myself the other day when a call came in. It results in a frantic reach for buttons to make the madness stop


One other thing that is irritating with the latest version has to do with the auto comfort settings. It used to allow you to have it come on with the remote start and not with a regular push of the button start. Now it is simply always on or always off. That's stupid. If I remote start it, I either want it warm and toasty or cool and comfortable. If I just hop in and start it then I am obviously not concerned either way and would not want all the comfort stuff coming on. Makes no sense to take that away in 13.48.3 version or whatever it is. Don't feel like looking it up. Stupid!


However, my wife's 14 Jeep Cherokee retained the option with the same version. WTF!

 

I am learning to tolerate the loudness of the Blind Spot Warning Chime, because it's only slightly louder than what I am used to on my previous four Uconnect systems.

However, the blast from the phone ring is ridiculous. It should be called a "Phone Alarm", because it's more like a fire alarm. It makes you to jump in your seat...stunning, to say the least.

Mariano (Alfie)

 

There's a new uconnect update out.

Marty

 

https://rsur.extra.chrysler.com/rsur/Uconnect.do