I have had my 2020 Soul EX for about a week and been playing with the UVO link and the "Kia Access" app on my smart phone. The window sticker states we get a year of service....anyone know what the cost will be to continue the subscription after the first year? Not sure I have a use for the features if it costs too much.
I noticed with your first post that you did not put one in the intro for yourself. Ok, your call but welcome on board anyway. As far as UVO goes, on the first gen 2 and gen 1 it was free, I assume forever. Later Gen 2 cars it was five years. Since those that had the five years are not out from that umbrella, I would again assume that they will charge them then. I noticed on the Gen 3s that it is one year so they will probably be out sooner than most of the Gen 2s so you may be the first. HOWEVER, if you are like me you will find that most of what UVO offers is a PITA, you won't use it anyway. And if they charge too much, most folks will just drop it. That is if you don't have a lot of teenagers at home still .
Shaggy, thank you for your rely. I did not know the history behind the previous versions. I would say the same, that the services offered aren't really that big a deal except for certain owners. We are retired and don't get very far from home.
I am retired also but my wife still works. She is quite a bit younger than me (62) versus me, an older fart, but still works. We mainly just run around town with the car but put the 2017 on the highway every once in a while. Glad to hear that you are enjoying the car.
I'm a bit underwhelmed with the UVO, online and on the app. I have a 2016 Soul and a 2016 Sedona and wasn't aware that the service ever expired and went to a pay to play. From what I've seen I wouldn't pay anything for it.
UVO was very underwhelming on my 14 Soul and 16 Optima, but the version on the new Soul is a big step in the right direction. Still has a long way to go, but it's better.
I'm at the dealership where they're finally doing a make ready (was raining when I took delivery). The Kia Access is quite a bit different than Uvo as it took me 3 days to realize. Probably the biggest advantage is that it let's you set the temperature remotely. I imagine this will be my favorite feature in the summer. I'm still reviewing some of the app's finer points, but so far it's interesting. I can't imagine paying more than about $30 a year for such a feature though.
I would agree....$30 a year would be all it is worth to me. I guess it all depends how much one has an application for the features vs. just a toy to play with. In my case, it would be more of a toy.
The UVO on my second generation (2018) needs the phone plugged in to do much of anything.
I had it work the other day. i remotely turned on the A/C to cool the cabin. The only downside, is like other remote start features, I was thinking that I had to get in and "start" the car. I got into the car and turned the car "on" and it shut the car off. I found this video.
To be honest, all I have done with the remote app is to lock and unlock the doors. I will try the remote start and A/C temp settings.
The UVO link in the Soul must function through one of the cell phone carriers, any idea which one? I believe General Motors uses AT&T for their Onstar system, which is similar.
I have been using the remote start/climate pretty much every morning for the past couple of weeks. It's nice. But wow, is it sloooooooooooow. I wish we could just use the keyfob to remote start the car like a lot of other manufacturers do. I have the kia remote start on my last car and had to carry another fob for it...
I have been using the remote start/climate pretty much every morning for the past couple of weeks. It's nice. But wow, is it sloooooooooooow. I wish we could just use the keyfob to remote start the car like a lot of other manufacturers do. I have the kia remote start on my last car and had to carry another fob for it...
The Kia UVO remote system is a nice addition but needs more work. I have been playing with it and I either get a communication error or it take 15 to 20 seconds after the the button is pushed on the smart phone for the engine to start or the doors to lock or unlock.
A few years ago, I owned a Buick with the Onstar system. I would say it is/was much more refined than the Kia Access.
Hyundai's BlueLink is $180 per year, I suspect the Uvo to be the same. $15/month seems a bit steep to avoid getting into a hot car 4 or 5 months out of the year. The *cool* factor is certainly there, but at anything over $5 per month, it's a tough sell.
in Canada it's called UVO Intelligence (I presume it's the same as the US as you can control things on your vehicle via a smartphone app) and its free for the first 5 years.
In Canada it's only available on the EX Premium and higher models.