[iamitp]

When Hyundai first launched Bluelink with the Venue back in 2019, I was genuinely excited. Living in NCR with searing summers and freezing winters as well a high rate of car theft, the promises of connected car tech was quite tempting.

That temptation was finally fructified in 2020 when I bought home a Creta 1.4 DCT SX(O) which came loaded with Bluelink. Over the past 10,000 KMs, I have used Bluelink extensively to pre-cool or pre-heat (in peak winters) my car, track its usage when I've lent it to family, monitor for door lock status and tyre pressure status as well breathe a sigh of relief knowing that my car's location can be traced if it is ever stolen using the onboard GPS and SIM. Granted that Bluelink took its own time to respond (at-least 10 seconds) when Tata Motor's iRA was almost instantaneous.

However, over the past few months Bluelink's use-ability has taken a nose-dive due to a complete connectivity failure. 8/10 times it will not pass on the command from the app to the car even when car is parked in the same spot as it always it with decent signal. I confirmed this failure rate with other Bluelink users on the Creta review thread as well other user forums and this seems to have been the norm for almost everybody. I have taken up this issue at HASS who, after checking with HMIL's Bluelink team, advised standard troubleshooting procedure such as re-installing the app, signing out and then in, restarting phone - none of which offered a long-term solution.

While it is annoying to get the 'failure' notification on Bluelink after trying a command 5-6 times, frustrating to get false 'door unlocked' notification, it is truly scary to imagine that the system will fail/not work if my car is stolen thereby reducing chances of recovery.

The purpose of starting a new thread on Bluelink user experience and issues is to collate issues faced by all of Hyundai Bluelink's users across different models - Creta, Verna, Venue, Elantra, Tucson, Alcazar and i20 - and bring it to the notice of Hyundai Motors India Limited for corrective action.

Kicking off the thread, here are my Bluelink issues with Creta 2020:

- Doesn't work 80% of times even when there is sufficient signal
- Doesn't work if car is stationary for 4-5 days
- Even when it does work, Bluelink takes 10 seconds from command to completion of action. Competitors do it in 1-2 seconds.
- Bluelink reports incorrect door lock status; when door is locked it will show it as unlocked with a matching alert till I manually refresh the status in the app
- No support for Biometric access in the app
- The one time I used RSA button on IRVM, the call did not go through and I had to re-dial using Bluelink button a couple of times in order to connect. After placing RSA request an ETA was not correctly conveyed.
- Not a single OTA update thus far

My request to HMIL is as follows:
- Please change your tele-service provider as so many users across India are facing connectivity issues
- Diagnose your servers for reducing the lag and failure rate of commands
- Your software team should be constantly making the Bluelink app more user-friendly by adding features such as Biometric authentication, more remote functions and indicators like ambient temperature etc.
- You should be developing and pushing OTAs for improving functionality of the car using Bluelink.

Please do share your own Hyundai Bluelink experiences and issues below!

[niranjan94]

Thanks @iamitp for creating this thread.

I think some (or all) of these might apply to Kia UVO too (That's just rebranding BlueLink). For all we know, Kia and Hyundai might even be sharing the backend infrastructure for this.

On my Sonet I face the following issues:

- UVO takes 20-30 seconds from command to completion of action
- UVO reports incorrect door lock status; when door is locked it will show it as unlocked with a matching alert till I manually refresh the status in the app
- No support for Biometric access in the app
- Got one OTA update that seems to be always stuck at 27% for the past 2 months . I asked the SA if it was possible to apply the update offline when I went for my scheduled service and he said even they don't have a working update yet and they might get it in a 4 to 5 months but no guarantee

---

Kia uses Vodafone Idea for connectivity. And based on some articles, Hyundai also uses the same for Bluelink. I think they should first ditch Vodafone for a more reliable carrier to start with

[MSC]

I am user of Bluelink since May 2020 when I bought the Venue SX-OPTIONAL.

Pros.
1. When it works, it works perfectly fine. The commands are executed within 10-15 seconds. I live in hills and the network is patchy in hills. So in my case I can give benefit of doubt to it. Even since I bought, the covid screnario and associated lockdowns in different states, meant I am yet to take it out of Himachal and hence I cannot comment on its functionality in plains.
2. Almost 24 hour check on the car and it's associated things like location etc.
3. Full marks to support call center. Most calls are usually through to the executive within 10-15 seconds. They do help as far as possible and when in their hands


Cons.
1. The network. The Bluelink works on a Vodafone-Idea network sim. The said network may work good in plains and major National Highways network but it is highly erratic in high hills. Once you loose the signal, the Bluelink is as good as dead.
2. The network/ service goes down a bit too frequently. And to make matters worse, if servers go down, you can't do anything. Even the support call centers can't help you out. I had once activated the geofence option. After hospital hours while going home, I sent command to deactivate the geofence in hospital parking .The servers were down and hence none of the commands worked. Fed up, I started driving directly. My phone was literally bombarded with notifications that my car has violated geofence. The servers were out for almost 6-7 hours and for that duration, I had to switch off data services on phone so that I could have a peaceful sleep at night. Next morning, the things returned normal as of nothing happened.
3. The car has network connectivity. So the update for maps etc should be available directly. Here again nothing happens. One and half year has gone by and I am yet to receive any updates for maps. For that I again need to head for Hyundai service station. What's use of connected car when it can't even download a map update itself?
4.If for some reason my car is stationary for period of more than 7 days, it stops relaying car status till the car is started again. Why? The car has its battery and why does it need to to switch on engine to convey the details after 7 days?

Summary.

I am not too keen to renew the service when it comes up for renewal after three year period. I have a diesel manual and hence most functions like remote start stop, remote climate control etc are not available. I seriously doubt this. If I am not wrong ,the Creta/Sonet manual has these functions activated. If it's possible in Creta, why not in Venue?
And if as usual, Hyundai gets greedy and asks for an exorbitant fees, I am sure most Diesel Venue owners will desist from the renewal.
If it worked atleast 90% with accuracy, people may think of renewals. But it's the other way around. It usually works 25-30% times flawless and for remaining, it either requires a second command or else it doesn't works at all.

My wish.
My first wish is it should work as and for what it has been designed. The intension is good but the implementation is hopeless.
The most important thing, the customer should be able to select the network service provider as per his choice. Hyundai has selected Vodafone-Idea for its obvious buisness purposes. What if my area has a poor Vodafone network? In that case, the much hyped feature is good for nothing for me.
Though I rarely use voice commands, in case car is out of Vodafone-Idea network, this feature also stops working. When you have multiple features which require network, you need to select a network with decent coverage if not the best coverage and not the one which gives you maximum profits. Or atleast, let the consumer choose himself what he wants.
And I also hope Hyundai doesn't gets greedy as it has become since last some years and doesn't asks for an extremely high renewal fees after passage of three years.
Lastly, I hope the remote start stop and climate and is also made available for manual transmission owners. In case the renewal charge is same for all, why should I renew for getting lesser features being active?

[iamitp]

Originally Posted by niranjan94

I think some (or all) of these might apply to Kia UVO too (That's just rebranding BlueLink). For all we know, Kia and Hyundai might even be sharing the backend infrastructure for this.

Yeah that sounds about right, as the issues are pretty much the same with Bluelink. Maybe the mods can allow changing the thread title and poll to include Kia UVO too?

Originally Posted by MSC

I am user of Bluelink since May 2020 when I bought the Venue SX-OPTIONAL.

Thanks for sharing your experience with Venue. The network connectivity leaves a lot to be desired even in prime areas like Central Delhi. Also as you rightly said features which are supported by the hardware should be implemented by manufacturer on OTA, otherwise what's the point of advertising it.

[deepakdograbhp]

Thanks for starting this thread Amit. Couldn't agree more on this. Bluelink at best has been patchy! It has marred otherwise beautiful cabin experience. Can't we collectively pass on this message to Hyundai?

More often than not, it says "no response from server". Least I expect it to do is make a call from phone book, but with failure each time.

I guess only thing it can do it open sunroof, which I think has been marketed more than its actual utility, thanks to so many youtube videos

[iamitp]

Originally Posted by deepakdograbhp

More often than not, it says "no response from server". Least I expect it to do is make a call from phone book, but with failure each time.

I guess only thing it can do it open sunroof, which I think has been marketed more than its actual utility, thanks to so many Youtube videos

Yeah, I've never actually been able to dial a contact from Bluelink with my phone connected via cable and Bluetooth. Either it doesn't recognize the contact name or somehow the phone book integration is faulty. Far easier to use Google Assistant.

Interestingly, Bluelink doesn't seem to recognize 'Open Sunblind' command which is ironic because Hyundai has one of the most irritating Sunroof switches which inevitably opens the Sunroof when all I want to do is open the Sunblind. What a wasted opportunity for doing something useful!

[prajwalmr62]

Hyundai's Bluelink used to work properly some months back. My assumption is number of users have gone up, but the server resources are either kept same or reduced.

Here's a couple of issues I found in the app itself.

• Total distance traveled/Time is different in the monthly view (My Trips) and Vehicle Health report.
• My Trips are not updated properly, I found it to be erratic.
• Vehicle Health report skipped some months, distance etc is zero.
• I could never clear the notification check mark (blue dot on the bell icon). Have no clue why it exists.
• Time taken for any request is too high. It doesn't make sense to wait 60 seconds to see your car's location.

[tiagoatrix]

As OP mentioned, blue link services has gone from bad to worse in last month or so. Blue link needs a major overhaul. It has been fairly useful but far from user friendly.
Command execution takes about a minute or more, failure rate is high as well. I was able to reach the rsa from the ivrm button once.

App user interface is dated but tracking and location services are fairly accurate.
Features like window roll up, complete fuel log, average fuel economy can be included.

Most importantly, HU needs to support wireless android auto and apple car play, its cumbersome to use media and map from phone using cables.
Apart from bluelink, the inbuilt map is annoying, it always shows the longest route possible

[07CR]

Originally Posted by iamitp

Please do share your own Hyundai Bluelink experiences and issues below!

I am not aware of the Hyundai Bluelink issues, therefore haven't voted.
However, I am part of a Ford Ecosport owners group where the owners have been criticizing the FordPass(Ford Speak for Connected Car tech) in recent months. Fortunately it doesn't show false alarms (Yet), and success rate of a command is about 50% for the owners. But still 50% success rate is also too bad IMO. I believe this will improve and these could be issues because of the technology itself being in kind of nascent stage.

I would say the option to remotely start the car using the smart key should be provided in case of all such cars (Kia/Honda already do it, so does Hyundai on Alcazar). IMO, for me remotely starting the car (and thereby it's climate control) is the most important use of this connected car tech, and providing an option to start the car through smart key can be highly useful.

[alphahere]

I have about 3 years experience with the BlueLink system though not in India. I got a 3 year free subscription as part of the car purchase (2017 Elantra Sport Premium Pkg). The issues noted here seem to be related to network related. I have encountered a failure only once in my 3 years when the command did not go through due to network congestion.

But it's always been quite slow. It can take between 30 seconds to 1 minute max for the car to respond at times. This is because apparently the system goes to sleep to conserve energy and it needs to be woken up before it actually does it's thing. But it always did respond save for the 1 time as mentioned above. And the vehicle status in the app does not get updated at times unless it is manually refreshed. This was something that I could live with though because the last refresh time is displayed within the app.

Not sure how it is in India, but we had no access to vehicle tracking and remote disabling. That function was supported but access to it would only be provided to authorities if for example the vehicle was stolen. The call center had the ability to pinpoint exactly where it was and if needed progressively cut power and finally stop it altogether. This is separate to the geofencing that we have access to.

And I know that the remote start/climate functions were unavailable to the manual transmission versions (mine was the DCT, hence had them). These were reserved only for the automatics, unaware if they had been brought over to the manuals in the recent times. Also there were a bunch of preconditions that had to be met like it needs to be in Park with the handbrake engaged and the vehicle must have been used within the last few days. Otherwise it refuses to comply.

[fhdowntheline]

Here's my take on this Bluelink connected-car tech after experiencing it on the Creta.
1) In an accident/emergency, it hopefully functions as desired.
2) For the occasional remote unlocking/starting of the car, it works about 90 % of the time (good enough for me).
3) For checking out how much and where I travelled-just a gimmick.
4) For voice commands (except sunroof), its absolutely crap.
5) For vehicle diagnostics, it may have some purpose.

In a nutshell- its not a must have or a deal maker/breaker for anyone buying a car. That decision must be made basis of the mechanicals, comfort, safety, reliability, serviceability and the money that is required to fulfil all these factors. Everything else is optional!

[Totoro11]

Thanks for starting this thread, i too have experienced the below issues on Creta.

Originally Posted by iamitp

While it is annoying to get the 'failure' notification on Bluelink after trying a command 5-6 times, frustrating to get false 'door unlocked' notification, it is truly scary to imagine that the system will fail/not work if my car is stolen thereby reducing chances of recovery.

- Doesn't work 80% of times even when there is sufficient signal
- Even when it does work, Bluelink takes 10 seconds from command to completion of action. Competitors do it in 1-2 seconds.
- Bluelink reports incorrect door lock status; when door is locked it will show it as unlocked with a matching alert till I manually refresh the status in the app
- Not a single OTA update thus far

The expectations have gone so low that i am not even expecting any enhancements. Getting it to work as designed itself will be a big achievement.

Originally Posted by MSC

I am not too keen to renew the service when it comes up for renewal after three year period. I
And if as usual, Hyundai gets greedy and asks for an exorbitant fees, I am sure most Diesel Venue owners will desist from the renewal.
If it worked atleast 90% with accuracy, people may think of renewals. But it's the other way around. It usually works 25-30% times flawless and for remaining, it either requires a second command or else it doesn't works at all.

Renewal will be a tricky issue as you get everything bundled for a fixed cost. I would have preferred a tiered payment plan where you can pick & choose from a set of functions and pay accordingly. I see utility in only the below features:
1. Check lock & location status, VHR on your mobile.
2. Remote locking/unlocking of the car (instead of handing over the key to the car cleaner)
3. Remote cooling in advance once in a blue moon.

For Maps, Voice commands, Sunroof, doing it manually is the way to go (as they anyways don't work). Hyundai is complacent thinking that 90% of their customers will still renew and pay full amount even for using only the basic features listed above

Considering that Vodafone is in a financial mess, i don't expect any investments in improving network quality and coverage. You can only hope they go bust and Hyundai is forced to change the service provider (no other way they are going to let go of a low cost service provider).

[iamitp]

Originally Posted by 07CR

I would say the option to remotely start the car using the smart key should be provided in case of all such cars (Kia/Honda already do it, so does Hyundai on Alcazar).

In fact, Hyundai now offers Key-based engine start function on the 2021 Creta update too. If this was always possible then why shortchange 2020 buyers? Is it that hard to implement it on a 2020 Creta key?

Originally Posted by alphahere

I have about 3 years experience with the BlueLink system though not in India. I got a 3 year free subscription as part of the car purchase (2017 Elantra Sport Premium Pkg).

Please do share where this was? If Bluelink's unbearably slow speed of execution is based on how Hyundai's routes the command, I am guessing it should be easier to fix via an OTA?

Originally Posted by Totoro11

Renewal will be a tricky issue as you get everything bundled for a fixed cost.

I wonder how many Bluelink users will renew at all if the current level of service persists! If Hyundai's seriously thinking of spinning off Bluelink as a revenue stream then they need a dedicated team to improve the system to make it worthwhile for buyers.

[Stribog]

Have the Uvo, and am neither here nor there.

Network is not an issue (maybe because Airtel has decent network in the south? I don't know), have used it in the hills in Udupi, works in my 3rd basement floor office car park etc.

Never a delay- maybe 15-20 seconds to implement, and am perfectly happy with that.

BUT,

As I own a manual, not sure what I can use it for. I use it Dubai or Riyadh style to keep the Aircon running if am popping into a shop or something for 5-15 mins (the pains of getting into an oven thanks to the Chennai summer is not worth it) and remote locking it with my Uvo app.

Find My Car is useful / paired with the horn and lights, the latter esp in Malls where I always forget where I parked my car.

Pre Covid when I absolutely had to hand over my car to a valet (I usually avoid this as much as I can), the valet mode gives me peace of mind that these guys won't raise the engine too much or something. I cap the speed at 40 kmph.

The occasional time my driver takes the car, I cap the speed at 80 kmph but that is just gimmicky as he never crosses 80 kmph anyway.

That is it.

Would I renew it? Sure if costs like 5, 6k or something than I think the features are okish, but anything more than I would rather live without them.

The one singularly irritating thing about Uvo is its asinine lack of OTA updates. You want an update? Take it to the service centre, and they will do it the oldschool way with a USB.

And oh, if the stupid app disconnects and you can't log in? They have a process that would put a govt babu to shame. You have to write an email, attack a copy of your RC, they will authorise it and then you take it to the service centre for a reset.

Seriously painful.

[alphahere]

Originally Posted by iamitp

In fact, Hyundai now offers Key-based engine start function on the 2021 Creta update too. If this was always possible then why shortchange 2020 buyers? Is it that hard to implement it on a 2020 Creta key?

Do they offer an RF based Remote start too along with the telematics based one? That's strange. It's usually one or the other that I have seen.

Originally Posted by iamitp

Please do share where this was? If Bluelink's unbearably slow speed of execution is based on how Hyundai's routes the command, I am guessing it should be easier to fix via an OTA?

This was the North American model, specifically the USA. They had the same in Canada as well. I think it's the way their system is designed and its power save function. It may not be possible to fix it with an OTA update. It responds very quickly to subsequent commands once the first command has gone through till it goes back to sleep again. It's the first wake up nudge that takes ages. The provider in the US was Verizon Wireless, which had quite a vast coverage due to the CDMA base.

Originally Posted by Stribog

Seriously painful.

This thing has complete control of the car. I guess the thought is that it should not be handed over to unauthorized users by mistake.