car infotainment system: updateable or replaceable?

March 28, 2017 9:10 PM

What is going to be the status of a Kia Soul / Apple CarPlay infotainment system in, say, five years? Will it be updateable by either Kia or Apple? Will they charge a lot of money for a major update? How feasible will it be to replace the system altogether when better components become available?

I plan to buy a new Soul Plus, and am there's an option for a bigger display on the infotainment system. I'm reluctant, though, to spend a lot of money on something that's going to be quickly obsolete and expensive to replace.

Advice much appreciated.

posted by saywhat to Technology (7 answers total)

Best answer: If the bigger display is 4" x 7 " (called double-DIN in car stereo terms), your prospects for future replacement are favorable. I would be surprised if it were not, as nearly all factory-installed systems conform to the DIN standard. I looked at Kia's website for the Soul, and it seems like the smaller stock system could be a single or 1.5 DIN size, and the larger one potentially double-DIN. You could probably call a car stereo installer in your area and ask.

I was an early adopter of Android Auto, replacing the stock double-DIN stereo in my vehicle with a Pioneer unit in May 2015. The cost was ~$500 for the head unit, plus installation of $100-200. That included connecting my backup camera to the display, steering wheel control integration, and speakerphone installation. The new unit does everything the old one did, plus a whole lot more, and looks better doing it. It's been almost two years, and I don't feel like it's outdated in any way. When that time does (inevitably) come, I would expect any future upgrade to be of similar or lesser expense.

Frankly, unless the upgraded infotainment system provides something you can't live without, it might be worth getting the cheapest stock stereo possible, and replacing it with an aftermarket unit immediately. With the way trim levels and upgrade packages work, you often wind up paying for things that you don't care much for in order to get the things you want.
posted by EKStickland at 11:27 PM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

EKStickland covered it pretty thoroughly but there has always been an aftermarket and there will always be an aftermarket. As long as a car is made in sufficient numbers someone will make stuff to fit it, and in this case where the dash openings conform to a standard you'll be fine.
posted by fixedgear at 5:30 AM on March 29, 2017

Best answer: I bought a new Kia Soul in October of 2016, and opted for the audio package with the large screen and navigation features. It also included an upgraded speaker system including a large dashboard center-speaker, which makes in-car phone calls sound great. There were also some frivolous things included (light up speakers!) but I don't regret the upgrade one bit.

Short answer: I wouldn't worry about obsolescence.

The system uses Bluetooth and USB as the interface to the phone. Those are going to be supported for a long time. The Soul will connect to your iPhone via Bluetooth and you'll have all the features you expect: voice calling, streaming music from your phone, etc. If you want to use CarPlay, you plug in the USB. That replaces the built-in nav system with your iPhone's Apple Map system, and replaces the built-in voice command system with Siri. It works great. The touch screen display with CarPlay is also similar to your iPhone home screen, with CarPlay supported apps showing up. Keep in mind, a lot of the potential upgrade ability resides on the iPhone side. Apps that are CarPlay compatible will show up; Kia doesn't have to do anything as they have already provided the interface.

That said, there's no reason to think there will not be firmware updates in the future if needed. When I bought my 2016 Soul, CarPlay was not installed. The car was manufactured before they included it. However, a firmware update was available, and I installed it to get CarPlay running. It's a pretty simple process. (There's an SD card in the Soul, which you insert in your computer and download software.) I have no way to predict how often updates will be needed or provided, but there are tons of Souls on the road and I can't imagine Kia just abandoning owners all of a sudden. By the same token, the huge "installed base" of Kia Soul owners will guarantee a healthy after-market if Kia itself somehow lets your system fall in obsolescence.

Another Kia-specific data point: I also own a 2010 Kia Forte Koup. It has a pretty rudimentary infotainment system. No navigation, no CarPlay, but Bluetooth calling, voice recognition for making calls, and USB interface for iPhone music control. To my knowledge, they have never offered a firmware update. But the system, although it's primitive by today's standards, works perfectly, exactly as it did when new, seven years ago. So, I have no worries at all about the Kia Soul system becoming obsolete.
posted by The Deej at 5:56 AM on March 29, 2017

I would assume that car-brand specific systems will become obsolete and less-usable within 5-7 years, but that Apple's CarPlay and the Android equivalent would probably last at least a little longer, but that's just a gut.

With our 2014 BMW, upgrades to the phone OS frequently compromised smooth operation with the native BMW integration system, but so far with our 2016 VW (with CarPlay) we've had no such issues.
posted by uberchet at 6:44 AM on March 29, 2017

I paid extra for the technology package on my 2012 Hyundai Veloster, and I will never make that mistake again. The GPS map went quickly out of date and costs $250 to update, the remote start feature requires a ~$300 annual subscription, the voice dialing makes Siri seem like she could pass the Turing test, the touchscreen is increasingly unresponsive and will cost $1200 to replace, etc, etc.

I think a lot of this is different now that CarPlay is a thing - by offloading the brains of the system to your frequently updated phone you solve a lot of the problems that I have with my system - but in the future I will always get the base tech package and upgrade it aftermarket if I feel the need to.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:30 AM on March 29, 2017

Best answer: Remember that CarPlay (and it's Android counterpart Auto) are actually fully driven by your phone. All the user interface is fully rendered on the phone and then just streamed as a video to the car head unit which only displays the image and sends back the key commands. So as soon as Apple updates CarPlay on your iPhone (like they did in iOS 10.3), you immediately see and get new features. As long as Apple/Google don't break their protocols (which they probably won't soon), you'll get new features and updates for forseeable future.

That's the main benefit of these technologies - they're not reliant on car manufacturers good will anymore and are just dependant on your phone - which is easier to upgrade and replace :)
posted by mavrik at 12:29 PM on March 29, 2017

Response by poster: Thank you very much for the informed and well-reasoned replies. It's especially good to understand that the phone is the crucial player in this arrangement. Today I bought a Soul with an 8" display, for a surprisingly good price, and I have no worries about it.
posted by saywhat at 7:19 PM on March 30, 2017 [1 favorite]