Should I have gone with the 12" screen?

[mikeru82]

You can set the "buttons" for heated seats/steering wheel to be in main screen without having to do anything else.

Yes, that's an option. But I have other buttons there that I use more. At Joe's suggestion, I've split my screen to show the radio and comfort settings screens so it's no longer an issue for me.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Yes, that's an option. But I have other buttons there that I use more. At Joe's suggestion, I've split my screen to show the radio and comfort settings screens so it's no longer an issue for me.

I guess everyone is different. I went through all the different icons I could select, and there really wasn't anything else, other than the climate one, which is there, that I really would have used enough to need it there.

 

[mikeru82]

I guess everyone is different. I went through all the different icons I could select, and there really wasn't anything else, other than the climate one, which is there, that I really would have used enough to need it there.

Definitely, different strokes for different folks.

 

[JoeCo]

Could always just set the heated seats and steering wheel buttons as standard buttons in bottom of screen. Instead of having to select a sub menu. I have drivers side heated seat on far left, then heated steering wheel next to that. Passenger side heated seat is in far right. No need to change menus it swip left or right. They are right there all the time

Yeah just depends on your scenario and how you use it. However, my scenario there is no swiping, I start the truck and plug in my phone to use carplay, carplay screen comes up on top and the bottom card is already on the heated seats/wheel and cooled seats menu, not something you have to select every time you get in. I very rarely have to switch off of either of those top or bottom cards so it's pretty much always what is on my screen, as I noted in my first post I almost never have to actually go to the climate screen itself.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Yeah just depends on your scenario and how you use it. However, my scenario there is no swiping, I start the truck and plug in my phone to use carplay, carplay screen comes up on top and the bottom card is already on the heated seats/wheel and cooled seats menu, not something you have to select every time you get in. I very rarely have to switch off of either of those top or bottom cards so it's pretty much always what is on my screen, as I noted in my first post I almost never have to actually go to the climate screen itself.

Only time ai got to climate screen is when I want to turn it off. Other than that, it stays in auto. My bottom card is the Travelink weather. I don't need to have the heated seat/steering wheel screen up constantly since they are hot buttons on bottom of screen. And it would honestly bug me to have that screen there constantly when there are other more useful things you can put on bottom half of display. If so want heated seat, I turn it to medium setting and leave it. I also added three level heat for steering wheel and use low most of the time.

 

[mikeru82]

Only time ai got to climate screen is when I want to turn it off. Other than that, it stays in auto. My bottom card is the Travelink weather. I don't need to have the heated seat/steering wheel screen up constantly since they are hot buttons on bottom of screen. And it would honestly bug me to have that screen there constantly when there are other more useful things you can put on bottom half of display. If so want heated seat, I turn it to medium setting and leave it. I also added three level heat for steering wheel and use low most of the time.

Please elaborate on this three level steering wheel heat. Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Please elaborate on this three level steering wheel heat. Inquiring minds want to know.

Setting in alfaOBD. The icon doesn't actually show the three levels. But there are definitely three levels. First push of button is "high" and icon comes in and is also shown on top of display next to heated seats. Second push the icon on climate page , or bottom of screen, is medium and icon stays on, but the small image at top of display goes away. Third touch is low, icon stays on. Fourth push is off, and icon goes back to gray.

You can also change the steering wheel type, which effects heat levels. From factory, mine was set to wood, like the limited get, but mine is only leather. I switched to it all leather and even on "high" it doesn't get as hot as it did from factory

 

[HSKR R/T]

This is my normal layout.

Heated steering wheel on high


Heated steering wheel on medium and low. There is no difference in display between the two settings


And heated steering wheel off. I left heated seat in so you can see the icon

 

[JoeCo]

Only time ai got to climate screen is when I want to turn it off. Other than that, it stays in auto. My bottom card is the Travelink weather. I don't need to have the heated seat/steering wheel screen up constantly since they are hot buttons on bottom of screen. And it would honestly bug me to have that screen there constantly when there are other more useful things you can put on bottom half of display. If so want heated seat, I turn it to medium setting and leave it. I also added three level heat for steering wheel and use low most of the time.

That's really cool about the steering wheel heat settings, didn't know about that possibility. Got to love Alfa.

I did go with the travelink weather page for a little bit but didn't really find it useful, but it was nice to look at. The main thing is I like having the access to all heated/cooled seats in one area as if they were physical buttons. There are many times where we leave before the sun comes up and the heated seats will be used but by afternoon when we are heading home it's all cooled seats. Of course it's just what works best for us, there isn't anything else I could put there that would get more use at this point. Here's my typical layout (please excuse the filth of winter going on), of the other bottom options the only real one I like having and use regularly would be the backup cam. I don't use that nearly as much as the heated/cooled functions while driving, but I like having it ready to go if I want to take a quick peak behind the truck or verify the tailgate got fully shut if someone loaded something in the back. I know it will tell you if the tailgate isn't closed but seeing is believing.

 

[HSKR R/T]

That's really cool about the steering wheel heat settings, didn't know about that possibility. Got to love Alfa.

I did go with the travelink weather page for a little bit but didn't really find it useful, but it was nice to look at. The main thing is I like having the access to all heated/cooled seats in one area as if they were physical buttons. There are many times where we leave before the sun comes up and the heated seats will be used but by afternoon when we are heading home it's all cooled seats. Of course it's just what works best for us, there isn't anything else I could put there that would get more use at this point. Here's my typical layout (please excuse the filth of winter going on), of the other bottom options the only real one I like having and use regularly would be the backup cam. I don't use that nearly as much as the heated/cooled functions while driving, but I like having it ready to go if I want to take a quick peak behind the truck or verify the tailgate got fully shut if someone loaded something in the back. I know it will tell you if the tailgate isn't closed but seeing is believing.

View attachment 124567

I dont have the fancy ventilated seats. The poors with Big Horns can't afford that. Lol. I got rid of the Nav button because it's useless to me. And didn't really use the back up cam as much as I thought I would. Which free'd up the sports for heated seats and heated steering wheel, since you don't need the "controls" button anymore.

 

[JoeCo]

I dont have the fancy ventilated seats. The poors with Big Horns can't afford that. Lol. I got rid of the Nav button because it's useless to me. And didn't really use the back up cam as much as I thought I would. Which free'd up the sports for heated seats and heated steering wheel, since you don't need the "controls" button anymore.

Haha ah I gotcha yeah I missed the big horn part but I do now plainly see your info in your sig, that's an awesome color you got and must be cool to have a limited edition like that.

And until my last 2 rams I had never had heated or cooled seats, but I really wanted the cooled seats for the longest time. The heated stuff didn't appeal to as very much but they've grown on me over time, certainly nice to remote start on the very cold mornings and have everything nice and toasty, especially after clearing snow off.

Still wanting a cooled steering wheel for summer, as well as an air conditioned suit to wear for the long weekends at our daughters softball tournaments.

Back to the configurable buttons, I do like having the nav up there for the occasional time I'm mostly familiar with the area I'm in but want a quick reference to verify where I'm going. Nice to have that in full screen for the fast verification, otherwise on longer trips I'll usually use carplay to use gps. And I leave the controls option there only because that gives more options than just the heated seats/wheel and cooled seats that the bottom climate card does, if equipped it also gives the options of deploying the running boards, accessing the surround view camera and the mirror dimmer. These are things I also rarely use or adjust but on the rare occasion I do want to say access the front camera quickly, it's fairly easy to get to.

 

[mikeru82]

Setting in alfaOBD. The icon doesn't actually show the three levels. But there are definitely three levels. First push of button is "high" and icon comes in and is also shown on top of display next to heated seats. Second push the icon on climate page , or bottom of screen, is medium and icon stays on, but the small image at top of display goes away. Third touch is low, icon stays on. Fourth push is off, and icon goes back to gray.

You can also change the steering wheel type, which effects heat levels. From factory, mine was set to wood, like the limited get, but mine is only leather. I switched to it all leather and even on "high" it doesn't get as hot as it did from factory

Good to know this in case I ever get alphaOBD. Thanks for posting this.

 

[Shots]

.... And there are plenty of rural roads in Nebraska that aren't on the factory Nav screen. It's actually rural areas where I have the most issues with maps not being updated when they change the course of highways to bypass towns, or add in another highway. .....

Funny because we don't have roads added/deleted around here too often.
That said, you do have a point about updating rural areas. There is a bridge that's been out in my area for probably a year or better but I think my map will still try to take me that way. Granted my stand alone Garmin nav (windshield mounted) in my work car does the same thing, so I don't know if all navigators will go that way or not. I don't have Apple or Android maps so I can't test it. I'll have to have a friend give it shot on theirs and let me know.

.....I start the truck and plug in my phone to use carplay, carplay screen comes up on top and the bottom card is already on the heated seats/wheel and cooled seats menu,....

..... My bottom card is the Travelink weather. I don't need to have the heated seat/steering wheel screen up constantly since they are hot buttons on bottom of screen. And it would honestly bug me to have that screen there constantly when there are other more useful things you can put on bottom half of display. ...

This is a prefect illustration of what is nice about the 12" screen. You can configure it to match your preferences. Ram had the foresight to know that not everyone wants the same functions on the screen so they let us decide what is a better display to have.

 

[CCA]

The larger screen is a bit of overkill, though super nice. Its all about personal preference of course! If the funds are there and its not a stretch I would say go for it. Resell value will benefit a lot with that bigger screen

 

[RandyMarionCDJR]

I have the 12" screen, and agree it's not a necessity, but it is nice and certainly adds some wow factor. Wow factor is always nice to have when you eventually sell the truck, so that's something to consider.
When I bought my truck I was actually looking at one with the 8.4 instead. My wife wanted this truck (it had more features) so I got it. Now that I've had the 12, if I was ordering a truck, I'd get it again. I may get a 8.4 again if I was buying off the lot, but to special order I'd probably spend the extra.
And no, I've had no issues with the radio. Actually I've had more issues with the 8.4 in my wife's Jeep, because it occasionally won't display the guide lines on the back up camera. As far as I know they all use the same software so I don't think it's an issue exclusive to either radio.

As for using the dual screen (aka "cards"). You can absolutely have music up top, and nav on the bottom (2 options for that actually). You can also put nav on top if you don't want to look down so far.
You can either press the "map" button on your media display to get a half map. This doesn't work on all media sources though (such as SXM).
You can also go to the home screen with two customizable cards and select your music source on one and your nav on the other. Notice the little dots near the top of each card? Those indicate you can swipe right/left on that card to change what it's displaying. For example the Travel Link car can show weather, fuel prices or I think some other options.


Edit 3/24 @ 1059:
Remove and repost images with road names and address redacted.

The 12' screen has a very positive impact on the resale value a lot of the time. In my time selling at our dealer I would say that bigger screen is asked about almost once every busy day. Theres a whole market of guys who would never buy new just waiting for something with that feature.

The wow factor is there with that screen! Plus, its always nice showing it off from time to time.

 

[mikeru82]

The 12' screen has a very positive impact on the resale value a lot of the time. In my time selling at our dealer I would say that bigger screen is asked about almost once every busy day. Theres a whole market of guys who would never buy new just waiting for something with that feature.

The wow factor is there with that screen! Plus, its always nice showing it off from time to time.

I can see that helping a dealership out. Or maybe someone selling their truck in a private sale. I don't see this being much help for someone who's trading in a truck. When trading in, as I'm sure you're aware, you'll never get back what you paid for any particular option. And that amount is dependent on the age and mileage of the vehicle. Lots of people trade in vehicles before they're paid off, and not many of those people can afford or don't want two car payments, and don't wait until their vehicle sells before buying a new one. I fall into that category, so I opt to trade them in. Plus, I live in a state where you only pay sales tax on the difference of what's owed and the cost of the new vehicle. That usually makes up the difference in what I might have gotten in a private sale. Because of this, I would never choose an option based on resale value.

 

[SnowBlaZR2]

I can see that helping a dealership out. Or maybe someone selling their truck in a private sale. I don't see this being much help for someone who's trading in a truck. When trading in, as I'm sure you're aware, you'll never get back what you paid for any particular option. And that amount is dependent on the age and mileage of the vehicle. Lots of people trade in vehicles before they're paid off, and not many of those people can afford or don't want two car payments, and don't wait until their vehicle sells before buying a new one. I fall into that category, so I opt to trade them in. Plus, I live in a state where you only pay sales tax on the difference of what's owed and the cost of the new vehicle. That usually makes up the difference in what I might have gotten in a private sale. Because of this, I would never choose an option based on resale value.

A dealer or a private seller isn't likely to get back what those options cost new, either. But trade in on a bare bones truck versus a loaded up Limited in comparable condition isn't going to be the same.

If it's something dealers can move easier, they're more likely to give you a better deal.

Of course you aren't likely to get the new value back out of it, just like everything else, but it certainly isn't zero.

 

[mikeru82]

A dealer or a private seller isn't likely to get back what those options cost new, either. But trade in on a bare bones truck versus a loaded up Limited in comparable condition isn't going to be the same.

If it's something dealers can move easier, they're more likely to give you a better deal.

Of course you aren't likely to get the new value back out of it, just like everything else, but it certainly isn't zero.

A dealer never paid for the original option, so it's all gravy for them. A private seller sets his price and either gets that or not. They are in control of the sales price.

Maybe they'll give you more for a truck with a popular feature, maybe they won't. That would depend on the dealership.

I actually never said the return was zero. Not sure why you even added that.

 

[SnowBlaZR2]

A dealer never paid for the original option, so it's all gravy for them. A private seller sets his price and either gets that or not. They are in control of the sales price.

Maybe they'll give you more for a truck with a popular feature, maybe they won't. That would depend on the dealership.

I actually never said the return was zero. Not sure why you even added that.

A dealer likes all the gravy they can get. They're not going to just eat money if they don't have to.

And sales price is whatever. Sold price is what matters and the market sets that. If the market says 12" is more popular and not as available, you're going to get more money for it. Dealer or not.

You can figure out if it is worth it and how hard you're going to go when negotiating the value of your trade, but I'd argue that you're going to have a sliding scale of lowball offers depending on your truck, condition, and options.

 

[mxz]

Could always just set the heated seats and steering wheel buttons as standard buttons in bottom of screen. Instead of having to select a sub menu. I have drivers side heated seat on far left, then heated steering wheel next to that. Passenger side heated seat is in far right. No need to change menus it swip left or right. They are right there all the time

How do you put these down to the bottom of the screen?