Fordpass

[dgc333]

And I keep all notifications on for all the apps I have, never had an issue with too much notifications.

And I turn off notifications on almost all of my apps because I can't stand the constant tingling of the phone. Facebook is the worest one if it is on I am getting 10 to 20 notifications an hour.

Now if I could find away to turn off group messaging remotely on other people's phones I would be a happy camper.

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[ZenkaiRacer]

Hmm I wonder how the remote start/lock unlock from the phone works. How does the car get the signal?

I never knew about this, I’d actually use the remote start at work. The range on the fob is actually crap and I walk a ways to get into work from the lot so this would be handy.

 

[Kevin08]

I find it pretty useful. I don't get any ads, or push notifications.

Can ...

- locate car via GPS (useful if your SO has the car or you drop it off at the stealership/tint place/shop etc)
- Lock/unlock (good if you can't remember whether or not you locked it)
- Start the engine (if auto)
- See remaining fuel and estimated distance to empty
- check tire pressure
- see a vehicle 'health report' - I'm guessing this would indicate if there are any codes thrown (it probably would just say 'go to the dealer' instead of what the exact code means)
- access dealer service history (if you do that)
- manage vehicle hotspot (if you subscribe to that).

For a free app, it's worth having.

 

[DukeGaGa]

Hmm I wonder how the remote start/lock unlock from the phone works. How does the car get the signal?

I never knew about this, I’d actually use the remote start at work. The range on the fob is actually crap and I walk a ways to get into work from the lot so this would be handy.

Not sure the remote start works on models prior to 2018, you need a car with Sync Connect to have it work. But you can always buy Sync SmartLink and plug it in your OBDII port and have the same functionalities as Sync Connect.

And about the keyfob, you can just touch it on your head and it boosts the range quite a bit. And no this is not a myth though no one knows for sure why it works, but it does (I've tested multiple cars with this trick and every time it boosts the range somewhere around 150% to 200%).

 

[Rasn1320]

I signed up on ford owner,not really much there,no health report. I have a scanner if my check engine light comes on lol. I love my remote start on my 17.

 

[dgc333]

I find it pretty useful. I don't get any ads, or push notifications.

Can ...

- locate car via GPS (useful if your SO has the car or you drop it off at the stealership/tint place/shop etc)
- Lock/unlock (good if you can't remember whether or not you locked it)
- Start the engine (if auto)
- See remaining fuel and estimated distance to empty
- check tire pressure
- see a vehicle 'health report' - I'm guessing this would indicate if there are any codes thrown (it probably would just say 'go to the dealer' instead of what the exact code means)
- access dealer service history (if you do that)
- manage vehicle hotspot (if you subscribe to that).

For a free app, it's worth having.

I have a 17 Premium running Sync 3 version 3.

Other than the health report and service history all those other features you mention require purchasing a Smartlink that plugs into the OBD port in the car and cost $17/month. I wouldn't call that free.

As far as running Health Reports; I have purchased 4 new Ford's with Sync and it took me awhile to realize what was happening. Every time I ran a health report within a week I got a card from my dealer with exact mileage on it telling me I am do for some sort of service. I see the Health report feature as a way for Ford to collect data on your car.

 

[DukeGaGa]

I have a 17 Premium running Sync 3 version 3.

Other than the health report and service history all those other features you mention require purchasing a Smartlink that plugs into the OBD port in the car and cost $17/month. I wouldn't call that free.

As far as running Health Reports; I have purchased 4 new Ford's with Sync and it took me awhile to realize what was happening. Every time I ran a health report within a week I got a card from my dealer with exact mileage on it telling me I am do for some sort of service. I see the Health report feature as a way for Ford to collect data on your car.

It's all free for 2018s

 

[dgc333]

Can't imagine Ford is giving you an LTE data connection for the car free beyond some trial period.

 

[control4userguy]

It's not all free, even for '18s.

 

[DukeGaGa]

Can't imagine Ford is giving you an LTE data connection for the car free beyond some trial period.

It's not all free, even for '18s.

But it is, only the wifi hotspot has a monthly charge, which Kevin08 said in his original comment that you need to subscribe.

 

[control4userguy]

So Ford hands you a OBD dongle?

 

[JeffreyDJ]

So Ford hands you a OBD dongle?

No, on certain models it's built-in, though I didn't know 2018 Mustangs had it; Fusion, Escape and F-150 where the only ones in 17/18 I knew about.

And, on the site it says with a new car it's complimentary for 5 years.

 

[dgc333]

But it is, only the wifi hotspot has a monthly charge, which Kevin08 said in his original comment that you need to subscribe.

But that is what you need to make all those remote start, door lock/unlock, etc. features work.

If you are a mile away from your car how do you think you can use your phone to lock or unlock the door? It is the LTE data service that you subscribe to that also allows the car to be a WiFi hot spot. The car has to have a connection to the internet which you have to pay for.

 

[DukeGaGa]

But that is what you need to make all those remote start, door lock/unlock, etc. features work.

If you are a mile away from your car how do you think you can use your phone to lock or unlock the door? It is the LTE data service that you subscribe to that also allows the car to be a WiFi hot spot. The car has to have a connection to the internet which you have to pay for.

If you don’t believe me, ask ford, they’ll tell you the same thing, all the features except for the WiFi hotspot is free of charge, and doesn’t depend on the WiFi hotspot. And I don’t understand your thinking here, the LTE to WiFi feature needs to be subsrtibed because the data usage is high enough, the other features don’t use much data, a few kB every time, a few MB a day at most, it’s not worth charging a fee for it. Also do you know that data subscriptions are actually wrong?

Oh and please don’t assume things, many of us who ordered 2018 Mustangs when the order bank first opened have done way more research than others, and we all know LTE data is behind the remote start/lock features and we have discussed about it. And if you have a 2018, you would know that you’ll have to activate your data trial before you can use it in your car but all the other features are already enabled before you activate your data.

Or you can rethink your assessment a little, let’s say every time you send a command to your car needs 1kB (it is already way higher than it should be since it’s pure data, so it might just be a few bytes per command, you’re not using it to browse the internet, but let’s assume the computer is sending human language as commands, which btw is still way less than 1kB since each character is one byte, and I can’t imagine a simple command to take more than 1024 characters to describe, and remember Twitter uses 140 as a cap), and on average you use it 10 times a day so it’ll be 10kB. Times 365 that’s 3650kB or a little below 3.6mB a year, let’s say the you drive your car for 30 years that’s 107mB total. I’m pretty sure that’s low enough for Ford to just include that in the price of the car. But because your car is always connected, you can get notified when service is needed, which Ford will gladly do it since servicing cars is earning them a huge chunk of revenue.

 

[dgc333]

Well I stand corrected. Ford includes the data connection for Sync Connect for 5 heard.

"Vehicles equipped with SYNC Connect: SYNC Connect is an optional feature on select 2017 and newer model year vehicles and includes service for five years from the vehicle sale date as recorded by the dealer."

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