Before I begin my complaining, I must make it clear that I have one of the last Patriots off the assembly line, manufactured in late 2016, at the end of the Patriot's life as a Jeep product. It came with a plethora of premium options - none of which I asked for, as it was shipped to the dealer that way - including navigation with the UConnect 430N, so I paid around $35K for it, including dealership fees.
We all know how ancient/bad the design of those UConnect systems are and that Chrysler is ditching them for new units with Android Auto, so that they don't have to deal with the expenditure of resources on maintaining the software and the costs of map licensing.
Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that the UConnect 430N is totally worthless. For starters, it doesn't work well at all with modern phones and doesn't have the voice command/hands-free features that even a $150 GPS has. It is from 2008/2009 or so, right? Second, the unit is glacial in it's response time and function speeds, with a very poorly designed interface. Hardly news, given the aforementioned age of the design, but I'm getting to the real shocker. Third, the maps in the nav unit are woefully incomplete and out of date. According to Chrysler, I have the latest maps in my unit because it is a 2017. Logical, yes. Factual, definitely not. I have tried to find multiple POIs - movie theatres, shopping malls, gas stations, etc. - and streets that have been around for several years at the least and not a single one is in the maps on my GPS unit. Here's the kicker: Even the Jeep dealership from which I bought the vehicle is not on the map in the correct location. It's listed at an older location, which used to be an old Dodge dealership that my family bought multiple Dodge vehicles from, before they moved to their new building several years ago, where I bought this vehicle. Either I don't have the latest maps in my unit or the company from which Chrysler licensed the map data from dropped the ball big time. Based on a cursory analysis of what isn't in the maps, I'd say the map data is at least from 2008-2012, which is far from being current. So, if you're stuck with a 430N or buying a Patriot that has one, you may just want to not use it for anything other than a big MP3 player and stick with a $150 GPS that has the hands-free and GPS stuff covered perfectly or go with a $30 Bluetooth car speakerphone unit that will let you use hands-free navigation and calling with your phone, via Google's Assistant or whatever you prefer to use.
We all know how ancient/bad the design of those UConnect systems are and that Chrysler is ditching them for new units with Android Auto, so that they don't have to deal with the expenditure of resources on maintaining the software and the costs of map licensing.
Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that the UConnect 430N is totally worthless. For starters, it doesn't work well at all with modern phones and doesn't have the voice command/hands-free features that even a $150 GPS has. It is from 2008/2009 or so, right? Second, the unit is glacial in it's response time and function speeds, with a very poorly designed interface. Hardly news, given the aforementioned age of the design, but I'm getting to the real shocker. Third, the maps in the nav unit are woefully incomplete and out of date. According to Chrysler, I have the latest maps in my unit because it is a 2017. Logical, yes. Factual, definitely not. I have tried to find multiple POIs - movie theatres, shopping malls, gas stations, etc. - and streets that have been around for several years at the least and not a single one is in the maps on my GPS unit. Here's the kicker: Even the Jeep dealership from which I bought the vehicle is not on the map in the correct location. It's listed at an older location, which used to be an old Dodge dealership that my family bought multiple Dodge vehicles from, before they moved to their new building several years ago, where I bought this vehicle. Either I don't have the latest maps in my unit or the company from which Chrysler licensed the map data from dropped the ball big time. Based on a cursory analysis of what isn't in the maps, I'd say the map data is at least from 2008-2012, which is far from being current. So, if you're stuck with a 430N or buying a Patriot that has one, you may just want to not use it for anything other than a big MP3 player and stick with a $150 GPS that has the hands-free and GPS stuff covered perfectly or go with a $30 Bluetooth car speakerphone unit that will let you use hands-free navigation and calling with your phone, via Google's Assistant or whatever you prefer to use.
