HD Radio in Non-Nav unit

[troutspinner]

Been discussing with an attorney. There’s definitely wrong-doing in FCA’s part here, even if unintentional. It’s still bait and switch and they owe me (and all others who purchased under the same assumption) compensation or repair to add the feature left out at the factory.


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I am the reverse, I'd want a refund. I bought the 8.4c model because I knew the other 8.4 did not have HD Radio.

 

[danielle2019]

Don’t know much about HD radio...so how can one tell you don’t have HD Radio? Isn’t it just a digital broadcast of local AM/FM stations? Can the radio just be pulling the digital feed when tuned to a station that’s available available in HD, sort of behind the scenes? (Like how if you tune to a local station on cable, it switches to the hi-def version.)

 

[Turin]

Don’t know much about HD radio...so how can one tell you don’t have HD Radio? Isn’t it just a digital broadcast of local AM/FM stations? Can the radio just be pulling the digital feed when tuned to a station that’s available available in HD, sort of behind the scenes? (Like how if you tune to a local station on cable, it switches to the hi-def version.)

If you have navigation you have HD radio. Visually, the trim piece around 8.4 units with NAV is glossy while the trim for non-NAV units has a matte finish. On screen, you'll see the HD radio logo when tuned to a station broadcasting in HD.

HD radio works basically the same way as HDTV. It's a digital broadcast (though it's in addition to the analog broadcast rather than a replacement for it). Stations can have up to four sub-channels. The broadcast can include more metadata (album art, traffic info, etc.). If equipped, you should get the digital broadcast automatically when tuning.

 

[danielle2019]

If you have navigation you have HD radio. Visually, the trim piece around 8.4 units with NAV is glossy while the trim for non-NAV units has a matte finish. On screen, you'll see the HD radio logo when tuned to a station broadcasting in HD.

HD radio works basically the same way as HDTV. It's a digital broadcast (though it's in addition to the analog broadcast rather than a replacement for it). Stations can have up to four sub-channels. The broadcast can include more metadata (album art, traffic info, etc.). If equipped, you should get the digital broadcast automatically when tuning.

I’ll be sure to check it out. I know I have the non-nav unit. I haven’t tuned to a radio station besides Sirius since I’ve had the truck, so this is a non-issue to me. If I happen to see the HD I’ll report back, but most likely I’m in the same position.

Update: No HD radio for me! Oh well.

 

[AnthroMoto]

Been discussing with an attorney. There’s definitely wrong-doing in FCA’s part here, even if unintentional. It’s still bait and switch and they owe me (and all others who purchased under the same assumption) compensation or repair to add the feature left out at the factory.


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Class action?

 

[fotomatt1]

Only if several other people want to make the same complaint. I’m only working only looking at it from my perspective.


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[Evank33]

any update on this issue?

 

[PMantle]

The Ram website shows it has it as well: https://www.ramtrucks.com/uconnect/systems/2019/UAM.html

I'm over it now as I have a free year of SiriusXM and will most likely subscribe after the year is up. The tune start feature to start the song at the beginning when you change your presets is amazing!

I don't think I fully understand the tune start thing. I have seen it happen when I chose a favorite artist, but it seems to work inconsistently.

 

[conesmacker]

I'm pretty annoyed about this also. Apparently in '18 and '19, most 8.4 non-navs included HD radio. I think the charger & challenger 2020 8.4 non-navs have HD radio, but I could be wrong.

I tested my 8.4 non-nav and realized the no HD radio during the pre-purchase exam. The salesman 1st said it did have HD radio, but did some checking, apologized and said he was wrong.

I went ahead and bought my truck, because I liked everything else on it.

My '14 Jetta, and the Pioneer 6.8 unit I just put in my Corvette, both have HD Radio with the HD Artist Experience that shows album art and FM station art, which is pretty neat-o.

Do any 8.4 Uconnects with HD Radio show the album art? (this is the HD Artist Experience feature.)

I've never seen a picture of a 8.4 Uconnect showing color pictures/album art from HD Radio - so I don't thick Uconnect had the HD Artist Experience feature. PLEASE prove me wrong.

Note that this is DIFFERENT than the Sirirus/XM functions, which DO show some color pictures & art for the specific XM channel. I know the difference, as I have the 1 year free XM radio still working.

So obviously both flavors of 8.4 Uconnect have the color & processing capacity to show pics....so why did they not add the additional programing/circuitry to decode the over-the-air HD Artist Experience signal....?

 

[Evank33]

Has anyone had fca replace the radio to give them the advertised HD radio?

 

[conesmacker]

So after a little more looking around on FCA's sites....apparently there is a difference in the non-nav 8.4 units from Dodge to Ram. This is soo confusing, because this required programming and hardware engineering time & material for the different systems - and different part numbers.

Per this screen grab, the Dodge cars' lowest option for an 8.4 size screen is called "Uconnect 4C", and includes HD radio. (Update: per Infotainment.com, it looks like this 4C has the model code UAS).



But in Ram-land, the lowest 8.4 size screen is a "Uconnect 4", per this screen grab: (Update: per Infotainment.com, it looks like this Uconnect 4 has the model code UAM).


By the brief description, it appears the only difference between the Dodge uconnect 4C (UAS) and the Ram uconnect 4 (UAM) is that the Dodge includes HD radio.

WHY??????????????????? Why did that have to create an 8.4 unit for Ram that omitted 1 feature included on the Dodge unit? (update: this is just crazy...one more part number, all the engineering, manufacturing, and support after the sale..... it seems REALLY inefficient)

I don't have the resources to do it, but it'd be real interesting to see if that Dodge 8.4c would work in a Ram, bringing HD radio without the glossy face panel with, factory Nav, heated wheel & seat buttons, dual zone HVAC, etc... My bighorn level 1 package doesn't have those features because I didn't want have 'em or pay for 'em - but I would like HD Radio.

 

[Evank33]

The original ads for the uconnect 4 was advertised with HD radio. I currently have a case going with FCA will update when I find out more. I was talked down from getting nav by the dealer stating they could download nav and it had hd radio.

 

[millerbjm]

I'm late to the party but also pretty miffed at the downgrade. I had a 2014 Big Horn with the 8.4 (no nav) and it did not have HD radio but did have unconnected access for controlling from my smartphone and had sos etc. I assumed the 2019 would have the same and it wasn't until I was doing the feature review post purchase I discovered it had no sos, no sirus guardian (new version of unconnect smartphone stuff) and no HD radio. As others have said a strange downgrade from my 2014! My subaru has the HD radio and the additional stations it provides are awesome for more niche genres without paying ridiculous SirusXM fees. I've learned to live with it but will be paying more attention next time.

 

[millerbjm]

I was thinking about this today and looked in the radio manual that came with the truck and sure enough right there in the manual it states that the 4C non-nav unit has HD radio and shows this graphic. I went back to the truck and searched the menus but can't find this anywhere - we were just straight-up lied to!

 

[Evank33]

The 5th gen trucks have the uconnect 4 not uconnect 4c.

 

[millerbjm]

The 5th gen trucks have the uconnect 4 not uconnect 4c.

interesting - I can't understand why they gave me an owners manual that states my radio has HD capabilities, they still advertise the HD radio on the ram website and all this time they are using a different radio that lacks the feature... It is all just kind of annoying!

 

[ZCoffman]

This is also dependent on the station you run on I'll have to double check but I'm certain I have seen the symbol that this is a HD station show up on my truck on the way home when I bought the truck. Like for Sioux City, we have 4 channels, 1 I can see some listening to, which is country(Not my cup of tea), the rest.... yeah.... who needs NPR and News in HD or Classic music, no offense to those that jam out to the classic music. But a lot of cities only have a few HD stations. Most mainstream radio stations don't have HD, there isn't a point in it honestly.

 

[millerbjm]

This is also dependent on the station you run on I'll have to double check but I'm certain I have seen the symbol that this is a HD station show up on my truck on the way home when I bought the truck. Like for Sioux City, we have 4 channels, 1 I can see some listening to, which is country(Not my cup of tea), the rest.... yeah.... who needs NPR and News in HD or Classic music, no offense to those that jam out to the classic music. But a lot of cities only have a few HD stations. Most mainstream radio stations don't have HD, there isn't a point in it honestly.

In the Twin Cities we have multiple stations that broadcast in HD including the Public Radio station that has a roots/folk/bluegrass music station and BBC America only available in HD so for me the additional channels offer content I enjoy and the increased sound quality is also a bonus.

 

[sppb32]

I didn't even know i don't have HD radio in mine, when i want to listen to the radio i use "I Heart" radio through android auto or bluetooth, I have most local radio stations there and the sound quality is night and day compared to any FM stream HD or not, but if it's advertised we should get it.

 

[MaximumTwenty]

The 5th gen trucks have the uconnect 4 not uconnect 4c.

That's weird......