Bluelink dies after 1 year of inactivity

[zape]

Just discovered this: Hyundai Blue Link vs. Owner: $500 is not a small connections fee, says lawsuit
They say if the bluelink is inactive for 1 year, it will require a hardware replacement for activation which costs $500.
I think mine has died already because it says "Unable to connect to service"
Probably the sim card simply expires after 1 year and they have to replace that.

Can anyone confirm the above is true?

 

[PMCErnie]

Smells like BS to me.

 

[Mr. Incredible]

with the amount of users on this board that have bluelink connection issues that have required hardware replacement, I don't find it surprising that a lawsuit has been filed.

however I believe this is more related to the age of the vehicle, similar to what occurred with OnStar back in the early 2000s. The equipment from 2012 is likely on a 3G network and is being dropped out for the newer 4G equipment.

With OnStar, users that had active subscriptions were informed they had to come to the dealer and get their equipment upgraded when OnStar switched from analog to digital around 2005. People with inactive OnStar equipment were told that if it had been inactive for more than 1 year that they would have to pay for the upgraded equipment.

This sounds to me like what has happened with Hyundai Bluelink and pre-2015 vehicles, active subscriptions will stay active because there is a revenue stream coming from the customer, but inactive systems have their serial numbers (likely the IMEI) dropped from the backend servers and/or the carriers systems requiring new equipment. I suspect all pre-2015 vehicles regardless of an active subscription or not will have to swap out at some point in the future, or be completely disabled from the features.

All the US Cell carriers killed off all 3G phones requiring all users to upgrade to a 4G phone back in 2013, 3G has only been maintained for these other services like vehicle connectivity, but with 5G looming on the horizon, and already available in some markets, it is not surprising that the carriers are trying to kill of the old 3G technology and rid themselves of the equipment and associated costs to maintain for little to no return.

 

[FlySwatter]

I bought my 2016 3.8 Ultimate on 04-06-2019. I had already read (somewhere in this forum) that activating Bluelink as a second owner could be a mess, and I very directly brought this up during my test drive with the salesman. He assured me that they wre the largest Hyundai dealer in (insert your own hyperbole) and that they never have a problem with this, and other owners come from near and far for them to fix exactly such problems because said owners failed to buy from this dealer. So, naturally, I was confident that I also would have no problems, and when the salesman activated by Bluelink account he assured me that I would probably have service by the time I drove from Atlanta to Macon -- if not 24 hours later.

This was a Friday, and I still didn't have service Monday. After several e-mails back and forth with the Salesman unsuccessful with Hyundai getting Bluelink to work and Sirus XM getting satellite radio to work, I proceeded to work with both myself. On the bright side, it only took 3 phone calls to get XM working. Bluelink was another matter, and to make a long story short (too late!!!), I was finally told to have a Hyundai service rep look at the car for possible head unit replacement.

I called my local Hyundai dealer today and spoke to the service manager, who was polite and knowledgeable. After hearing the description of my issue, he immediately told me almost exactly what the OP wrote: if the Bluelink account is inactive for more than a year, it becomes inactive and must be replaced. Thank goodness I'm still covered within the original 3yr/36k warranty (or wrap around which I definitely bought). It really boggle my mind that this wouldn't be something that could be reset over the computer. Oh well, I have an appointment to replace it next week Friday, and I have my fingers crossed, it will be resolved then.

I will say, that once I made my first call to Hyundai Bluelink support, I was treated professional, and I received multiple follow up calls and a final e-mail to contact my local dealer with all the information I needed to provide them so that they knew I had been referred.

Of course, I'm sure my XM radio ID will change with the new head unit, so another round of calls to Sirius XM are in my future.

 

[zape]

Do you know the cost to replace out of warranty?
Why would they want to replace the whole head unit? such a waste!

 

[FlySwatter]

Do you know the cost to replace out of warranty?
Why would they want to replace the whole head unit? such a waste!

I have no idea, but it would certrainly be cost prohibitive just get BlueLink working. I'll ask the service manager next week when I get mine taken care of.

 

[Mr. Incredible]

According to the parts manual there is a separate part labeled as the Telematics iBox module. This is the blue link module that connects the services to the carrier.

If this is all that is failing there is no need to replace the whole radio, the telematics module is around $800. And attaches to the back of the head unit.

 

[Mr. Incredible]

Also there are many used ones on eBay, but based on the issues with being inactive I would be hesitant about buying those.

The XMSirius and HD radio systems are built into the head unit. The bluelink telematics module is not. At least for pre 2018.

Looking at the parts for 2018 it appears that part is no longer sold separately as a serviceable part and a new head unit might be required, but pre 2018 (2015-2017) it definitely shows as a separate serviceable part.

 

[Mr. Incredible]

BTW. The manufacturer of the part

Telematics module: connected services in the vehicle

 

[FlySwatter]

^^^Very interesting information Mr I. It would be interesting indeed if the talk of "head units" is in fact a reference to the telematics module. And I for one would be happy if that were the case since the Radio ID would seemingly be unimpacted.

______________________________

Help support this site so it can continue supporting you!

 

[Mr. Incredible]

^^^Very interesting information Mr I. It would be interesting indeed if the talk of "head units" is in fact a reference to the telematics module. And I for one would be happy if that were the case since the Radio ID would seemingly be unimpacted.

The part I listed is called the M.T.S assembly. After doing some research, I believe this is definitely the blue link module.

The head unit is the main radio body, it houses the radio, hd radio, SDARS (satellite digital audio radio service, aka xmsirius) and gps hardware.

There are then several other modules that attach to the head unit, This includes the parking assist module, the M.T.S. Module, and the antenna assembly module.

I found a good explanation of the M.T.S. Module here, while a different model, same principle.

Hyundai Veloster: Description and Operation - MTS System - Body Electrical System - Hyundai Veloster 2010-2019 Service Manual

 

[Nikhil Malhotra]

Strange that the hyundai service folks do not know this .

They have been suggesting Head unit replacement for the bluelink registration not working issue .

They have also been communicating this to the Hyundai Motor America via their internal warranty system.

 

[Mr. Incredible]

Strange that the hyundai service folks do not know this .

They have been suggesting Head unit replacement for the bluelink registration not working issue .

They have also been communicating this to the Hyundai Motor America via their internal warranty system.

you are paying for it out of pocket right? 'nuff said

 

[Nikhil Malhotra]

No i am not paying - not 4K for bluelink . Not worth it , as suggested by EdP on other thread - i rather invest in aftermarket remote starter.

As of now I am just following up with Hyundai America and my dealer - pushing them to fix it under warranty.
My argument is that its a CPO car and it has never worked for me from Day 1 i bought the car. Lets see - it does not cost me more than just a phone call every week.

Hyundai Dealer is clearly indicating INTERNAL PROBLEM in HEAD UNIT .

 

[zape]

This tells about how Hyundai cares about their customers.
No wonder there was a class action lawsuit back in 2015 mentioned in the first post. I wonder what was the outcome.

 

[DanH84]

I bought my 2016 3.8 Ultimate on 04-06-2019. I had already read (somewhere in this forum) that activating Bluelink as a second owner could be a mess, and I very directly brought this up during my test drive with the salesman. He assured me that they wre the largest Hyundai dealer in (insert your own hyperbole) and that they never have a problem with this, and other owners come from near and far for them to fix exactly such problems because said owners failed to buy from this dealer. So, naturally, I was confident that I also would have no problems, and when the salesman activated by Bluelink account he assured me that I would probably have service by the time I drove from Atlanta to Macon -- if not 24 hours later.

This was a Friday, and I still didn't have service Monday. After several e-mails back and forth with the Salesman View attachment 19698unsuccessful with Hyundai getting Bluelink to work and Sirus XM getting satellite radio to work, I proceeded to work with both myself. On the bright side, it only took 3 phone calls to get XM working. Bluelink was another matter, and to make a long story short (too late!!!), I was finally told to have a Hyundai service rep look at the car for possible head unit replacement.

I called my local Hyundai dealer today and spoke to the service manager, who was polite and knowledgeable. After hearing the description of my issue, he immediately told me almost exactly what the OP wrote: if the Bluelink account is inactive for more than a year, it becomes inactive and must be replaced. Thank goodness I'm still covered within the original 3yr/36k warranty (or wrap around which I definitely bought). It really boggle my mind that this wouldn't be something that could be reset over the computer. Oh well, I have an appointment to replace it next week Friday, and I have my fingers crossed, it will be resolved then.

I will say, that once I made my first call to Hyundai Bluelink support, I was treated professional, and I received multiple follow up calls and a final e-mail to contact my local dealer with all the information I needed to provide them so that they knew I had been referred.

Of course, I'm sure my XM radio ID will change with the new head unit, so another round of calls to Sirius XM are in my future.

Did the head unit replacement end up working for you? My local Hyundai has already replaced mine once with no luck. They're replacing it again this coming Monday. My issue is that my head unit (both current and previous) did not have a USIM number to activate Blue Link.

 

[PMCErnie]

Did the head unit replacement end up working for you? My local Hyundai has already replaced mine once with no luck. They're replacing it again this coming Monday. My issue is that my head unit (both current and previous) did not have a USIM number to activate Blue Link.

What year is your car? Unless your new head unit has better than a 2G, or 3G radio to connect to Bluelink you won’t be able to use Bluelink.

 

[Kyser_Soze]

What year is your car? Unless your new head unit has better than a 2G, or 3G radio to connect to Bluelink you won’t be able to use Bluelink.

This is the issue. With the rollout of 5G, older 2G and 3G technologies are being retired. Old Bluelink in cars is like old cellphones, it won't connect to the towers.

I wonder if this would be covered in the extended warranty I purchased?