[dougt]

Happened to see a Car Confection review of the 2021 Sorrento (nice!) - here is what their Purple Wasteland home screen looks like - just like our November Update....They must have some goal in mind... But with the GV70 above and the Sorrento, the Seltos is not some one-off at this point it appears.

 

[dougt]

So we got an ally in this discussion! Peter Lowe at Brantford Kia in Ontario does a Kia video generally everyday live at 2 pm Eastern which you can join and ask questions. He does a more in-depth review of features than the average dealer reviews and he is intrigued by some of the advanced Kia tech. I told him about the "November Update" and he jumped right on it. Please view his 8 minute video from earlier today on "Kia's Controversial New Software Update" at

Add your comments to the video, pro or con, like it (and subscribe if interested) and Peter has the Kia contacts to get this video and the comments to Kia - it may help! He shows the results of the update on an EV Soul, but the effect is the same as on our Seltos.

As far as his daily videos, here is some more info he sent me.
Yeah, so our LIVE videos at 2:00 [Eastern] do not have a schedule, we announce what we’re doing on my Instagram account each morning (@peter_brantford_kia) but sometimes what we plan on a Monday can change by Tuesday due to a number of factors. The LIVE videos are always new Kia’s. The Used videos are really just for our sales team to use to send out an extra piece on information to our customers.

We do a number of filmed videos too, but there is no schedule to them. As you mentioned its difficult to schedule. Sometimes the car I want to use ends up being sold. Basically, I’ll talk anything Kia. But we tend to focus on New Kia vehicles.

 

[BMcK]

So we got an ally in this discussion! Peter Lowe at Brantford Kia

Good work, Doug!

 

[Ricky10]

I watch his videos from time to time, I will have to check this one out!

 

[dougt]

Be sure to comment on the video if you can. Right after Christmas he will be sending the video and all the comments, which are all negative from what I see, to his Kia rep.
thanks

 

[Ricky10]

Be sure to comment on the video if you can. Right after Christmas he will be sending the video and all the comments, which are all negative from what I see, to his Kia rep.
thanks

I never actually did the download, but I still don’t like it...haha! It surprised me that he liked the graphics of the radio screen. Surely he is the only one!

It seems odd to me that KIA wouldn’t already be aware of the the problem and that people are not happy. It should have been taken care of weeks ago.

Back to another subject, I find it odd that Hyundai owners get 3 years of free “Blue Link app” while KIA owners only get one free year of the “KIA access” app. I thought they were sister companies? One of the sisters is apparently much more generous!

KIA owners aren’t happy about the ”update“, and they are also unhappy about paying ~25/month to remote start their vehicles. It’s a shame that their beautiful vehicles are being tarnished with avoidable and completely unnecessary annoyances.

 

[Pourquoi805]

So we got an ally in this discussion! Peter Lowe at Brantford Kia in Ontario does a Kia video generally everyday live at 2 pm Eastern which you can join and ask questions. He does a more in-depth review of features than the average dealer reviews and he is intrigued by some of the advanced Kia tech. I told him about the "November Update" and he jumped right on it. Please view his 8 minute video from earlier today on "Kia's Controversial New Software Update" at

Add your comments to the video, pro or con, like it (and subscribe if interested) and Peter has the Kia contacts to get this video and the comments to Kia - it may help! He shows the results of the update on an EV Soul, but the effect is the same as on our Seltos.

As far as his daily videos, here is some more info he sent me.
Yeah, so our LIVE videos at 2:00 [Eastern] do not have a schedule, we announce what we’re doing on my Instagram account each morning (@peter_brantford_kia) but sometimes what we plan on a Monday can change by Tuesday due to a number of factors. The LIVE videos are always new Kia’s. The Used videos are really just for our sales team to use to send out an extra piece on information to our customers.

We do a number of filmed videos too, but there is no schedule to them. As you mentioned its difficult to schedule. Sometimes the car I want to use ends up being sold. Basically, I’ll talk anything Kia. But we tend to focus on New Kia vehicles.

Thank you for sharing. At this point, when I take the Seltos in for service on Tuesday, I will have to explicitly tell the dealer not to install the Navigation update.

 

[dougt]

Well, I'm afraid that would be the last thing that my service department would want to do anyway! But no harm in telling them to wait. I'm really hoping that all of this hubbub will come together in the spring update which will make things better and perhaps even add Wireless Android auto etc. we can always hope! I imagine at that point you could jump right from the original software to the spring update, skipping november. I guess. They don't tell us much!

 

[dougt]

Back to another subject, I find it odd that Hyundai owners get 3 years of free “Blue Link app” while KIA owners only get one free year of the “KIA access” app. I thought they were sister companies? One of the sisters is apparently much more generous! KIA owners aren’t happy about the ”update“, and they are also unhappy about paying ~25/month to remote start their vehicles. It’s a shame that their beautiful vehicles are being tarnished with avoidable and completely unnecessary annoyances.

I've had both Hyundais and Kias since 2002, Hyundai has always presented itself to be the 'premium' of the two. I remember a Hyundai salesman telling me, "well we have 5 year rust guarantee vs. 3 for Kia" or something like that. I think both co's have a good thing going if they don't screw up with problems like this navigation and engine fires. Just read that Hyundai is halting sales of Kona EV in South Korea due to engine fires and brake issues. Nobody wants a potential firebomb sitting in their garage!

 

[Wickedt]

I've had both Hyundais and Kias since 2002, Hyundai has always presented itself to be the 'premium' of the two. I remember a Hyundai salesman telling me, "well we have 5 year rust guarantee vs. 3 for Kia" or something like that. I think both co's have a good thing going if they don't screw up with problems like this navigation and engine fires. Just read that Hyundai is halting sales of Kona EV in South Korea due to engine fires and brake issues. Nobody wants a potential firebomb sitting in their garage!

Thats interesting, myself in my mind in Canada I equate Kia with the "premium" tag. The design, and features they have always have seemed better than Hyundai's features. I think Kia has the better designers for aesthetics. Maybe Kia has that reputation because their older vehicles were not that good, I would think pre 2000.
The Genesis was a beast of a car though, and now the Stinger.

 

[dougt]

Thats intersting, myself in my mind in Canada I equate Kia with the "premium" tag. The design, and features they have always have seemed better then Hyundai features. I think Kia has the better designers for aesthetics. Maybe Kia has that reputation because thier older vehicles were not that good, I would think pre 2000.
The Genesis was a beast of a car though, and now the Stinger.

That is interesting... This US News and World Report article compares Hyu and Kia and gives more 'wins' to Kia!
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/kia-vs-hyundai-battle-of-the-brands Both of them still have to be careful not to get ahead of themselves... All this tech is nice but the explanations and examples in their documentation are simply missing, for example, along with the more serious engine fires, etc!

 

[ArmandoU]

If we had the option to change the UI colour and mabey even add your own wallpaper image like what genesis does in this picture below:

I would then be happy. The Radio app dosent bother me that much but it would be nice to include a setting that is able to switch radio themes. I think the new homescreen looks better just not the colour.

 

[Ricky10]

I've had both Hyundais and Kias since 2002, Hyundai has always presented itself to be the 'premium' of the two. I remember a Hyundai salesman telling me, "well we have 5 year rust guarantee vs. 3 for Kia" or something like that. I think both co's have a good thing going if they don't screw up with problems like this navigation and engine fires. Just read that Hyundai is halting sales of Kona EV in South Korea due to engine fires and brake issues. Nobody wants a potential firebomb sitting in their garage!

It’s funny that u mention rust. I previously owned a 2009 Hyundai Sonata and it was the only vehicle that the frame rusted, as well as the exterior body that I have ever owned. That was within 4-5 years....ridiculous! I took a leap of faith with KIA, and the fact that I am in a 4 year lease anyway. If it happens again: not my problem..

 

[dougt]

If we had the option to change the UI colour and mabey even add your own wallpaper image like what genesis does in this picture below:
View attachment 573

I would then be happy. The Radio app dosent bother me that much but it would be nice to include a setting that is able to switch radio themes. I think the new homescreen looks better just not the colour.

Whatever they do with the radio widget, I really think they need to make room for the Sirius channel names like the old way, not just the Sirous channel number. I'm too old to memorize those things! And you're right, there's no reason why they couldn't let us upload a little driver profile picture or wallpaper, as well as have a choice of colors.

 

[Wickedt]

It’s funny that u mention rust. I previously owned a 2009 Hyundai Sonata and it was the only vehicle that the frame rusted, as well as the exterior body that I have ever owned. That was within 4-5 years....ridiculous! I took a leap of faith with KIA, and the fact that I am in a 4 year lease anyway. If it happens again: not my problem..

To be honest, you dont see a lot of rusted Kias on the road at all, unless they were in an accident, which is a good thing.

 

[Pourquoi805]

Thank you for sharing. At this point, when I take the Seltos in for service on Tuesday, I will have to explicitly tell the dealer not to install the Navigation update.

OK, took Seltos in for service on Tuesday. I asked about the Navigation update and technician said that there were none required. Got the Seltos back from dealer and no purple screen....

 

[dougt]

OK, took Seltos in for service on Tuesday. I asked about the Navigation update and technician said that there were none required. Got the Seltos back from dealer and no purple screen....

I would bet you a Subway Sandwich that they have no idea what to do and just told you that, probably confusing it with a service update, or just ignoring it. I never heard of a dealer making the update around here, but that's just my experience. Suggestion - go to update.kia.com, download the updater. You'll see the notifications and "Nav Updates" in that tool. YOu'll have to supply some information (although I think it basically 'knew' about Seltos since it is so new). It will tell you about the update available for you (if you are interested). To make the update you download the update to your PC's hard drive, then copy it to a 32GB USB drive, start the car and insert the USB and press the Update button as shown on the screens below. I know we've talked about it here, but the only reason it might be good to do the update is that the next one, maybe March/April, may build on top of this one - i.e., you'll have to make all the updates. I have no idea if that is true but the way these guys are working and not communicating, anything is possible. At least you do get the latest map updates. But I still can't get the '3' screens to show like we had originally!

Here are my before and after versions if you want to compare what you have....

Before the update:

After - you can see the purple creeping in!

 

[dougt]

Just to keep this discussion up to date - I emailed to the Canadian Kia dealer referenced above - he did a video on the "November Update" as mentioned and committed to getting the info to Kia. It has had 68,000 views and almost 400 comments. What he has to say is below.

In the meantime - could you take a look at

All of a sudden can't send text from screen

Hi - if you have installed the much-discussed "November Software Update" - could you let me know if you're having the same problem as described below? Sending a text message from the car, including voice command "Text Joe I am running late", seems to me to be one of the more helpful things you...

www.seltosforum.com

and...if you have the 10.25" screen and have installed the November update - please do a quick test and see if you can send a voice text from the car. That discussions gives the details, but after the Nov update I can't do the voice assisted texting any more - have to "resend" the text every time...! Now voice texting was something useful!

Kia Dealer Comments - his video on the update:

"I know they're aware of the video and the comments. At this point I don't expect to hear anything from them for a while.
We'll see how things go. It's got a good number of views, so it's not something that they can easily ignore.
I don't really expect them to change the colour. Purple is likely part of their branding in the short term. But functionality is something that they've prided themselves on in the past. So we'll see!"

 

[dougt]

Here's the official update description of the November Update if you haven't seen it:

Notice | Official Kia Navigation Update Website

Check out the latest update of Kia navigation

update.kia.com

 

[scs411scs]

There is this changelog: Notice | Official Kia Motors Navigation Update Website and if it were just the purple menus, I wouldn't mind, but there's no mention of the removal of widgets or the new home screen or radio styles. Luckily I haven't updated yet, and I think I'll be waiting to see what the next update brings.