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Is MyLink really this buggy?

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buggy mylink
9K views 10 replies 8 participants last post by  Pukwudgie 
#1 ·
Recently picked up a Cruze 1LT. I opted for the model with the MyLink Radio without navigation. It's great... when it works. The problem is that it's kind of buggy? Anyone agree with this? Don't get me wrong, I'm loving my Cruze, and the MyLink system is lightyears ahead of the old GM radios. It's just buggy enough to make me wonder whether mine is broken, or if GM just shipped an unfinished/subpar product. MyLink is marketed as making media easy and making your driving/listening experience safer by letting you focus on the road. The problem is MyLink just doesn't work the way it should 100% of the time, in my experience of course. I feel like I'm promised an Apple iPhone like experience, but what I'm getting is an Android Froyo experience. It's functional and has its moments, but reliability is an issue.

I'm not new to iPod integration, I've used plenty of systems, both factory and aftermarket. If MyLink worked reliably it would easily beat the majority of them, but in some cases I feel it'd be easier to just use the aux port and mount my phone on the dash.

Case in point. Often I'll turn my car off playing one source, but when I return to the car it brings up another source. For instance, I left in the middle of an iPod mp3, when I return MyLink brings up Pandora. Other times, I'll be walking to my car listening to a Pandora station, and when I plug it in it brings up the iPod instead. Or even worse, it gets confused by Pandora, and it gives me the pause screen. I can't do anything, when I hit play, it just goes back to pause. Sometimes it can be forced to play by unplugging the phone, but other times I have to switch to another non iPod source, close the Pandora or Stitcher apps on my cell phone to force it to play. Not a big deal when sitting in a parking lot, but not very safe when already driving.

Then there's the whole issue of launching Pandora or Stitcher, apparently if I started my car with the iPod mode on, if I want to move to Pandora or Stitcher, I have to unlock my cell phone and make sure it's on the home screen. Otherwise I get that message to unlock or restart the phone app. Again, not a big issue when parked, but when driving, it's a huge hassle, especially since the iPod cable is inside the center console. It wouldn't be an issue if the Cruze had more interior storage space, but I use my cup holders.lol

Another issue I've experience multiple times is that the audio refuses to play through the cars speakers, instead the audio plays through the cell phone speaker. Funny thing is when this happens, I still have full control of the music library on the screen, it's just outputting to the wrong speakers. It could be the phone, but I've never had this problem with this phone on any other iPod integration system, only my Cruze.

And of course there's the whole indexing thing. I haven't changed any music on my phone for over a month, yet every time I plug it in I see "indexing...". Does it not store the index file?

Then there's the bluetooth/phone feature. Sometimes I'll go to make the call, but it only outputs to the phone itself, not the car speakers. I can hit the transfer button, but the audio goes straight back to the phone. Funny thing is I can still voice dial, I just have to hold the phone up normally to talk.

Now, I know, I sound like I hate MyLink, but I really do like it. It's so much more convenient than what I had in my Cadillac CTS. I'm just trying to see if I'm the only one having/noticing these things. I think i'm going to skip my Chevrolet dealer for the next service/oil change, they have a quick lube place, so I don't get a chance to talk to a proper service advisor. I'm going to bring it to my Cadillac dealer and talk to my usual service advisor about it. Hope they don't get mad that I bought the Cruze over the Verano/Encore.lol

MyLink is so close, but it just misses the mark. I hope the next version that is already out in the new Impala, Silverado, etc is more reliable. Nevertheless, from what I've heard and briefly experienced, the MyLink system in my car is still better than the CUE system in the Cadillacs. That thing promises an iPhone experience, but give you a Palm Pilot experience.lol

I can hope for an update to fix my issues, but from what I've gathered from other threads, it's unlikely that our cars will be getting any major updates.
 
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#2 ·
i did a quick glance over ( sorry its long mate) i have had the same issues with my radio. sometimes it wont reconize my ipod, or eject then reconnect.

as for changing what you are listening to, from what i have seen with my system is that it picks up where you left it last time, BUT, the ipod portion does take a few extra seconds for the computer to recognize the ipod part of a a iphone( or even on the ipod itself). i had them look at it at a dealer and it passed with flying colors.

i hate to say it, i think this system just has a few bugs in it... its not unheard of, my fathers old truck and his freinds truck both had a bit of a ghost in the system. Fortunatly for me the system usually works ... that is 99% of the time.

lastly i have never...NEVER been able to recreate it (that is so rare that happens not being able to recreate an issue for a dealer...not)

seems to just fix itself
 
#3 ·
Isn't that how it always goes? We see an issue maybe just once, or maybe everyday, but when we bring it to the dealer to look at, the car is on its best behavior.lol I have 2 rattles from both doors, looks like it's the door panel because I can replicate the noise when I push against it. But I bet if I brought it to the dealer they wouldn't find a road rough enough to duplicate it.lol


Same thing happened with our 95 Suburban, we had a new GM Goodwrench installed, a few weeks later the idle was rough and it felt like it had a misfire. Brought it back in, they said it was fine. It failed smog, so we brought it in again, timing is off, they fix it, it passes. Again running rough did a whole bunch of stuff, plugs, wires, motor mounts, still running rough (remember, brand new engine, not a rebuild). Finally, we got it acting up at the right moment, so we drop by. They acknowledge the shaking, but the official line is, "That's just how the engines from that generation were, they're not supposed to run as smoothly as the new engines." Really? I don't think anyone in 1995 would have bought a 95 Suburban or Silverado if the NVH levels were as bad on this engine. We've just learned to live with the lack of refinement, can't do anything, the 3 year/100,000 mile warranty is already out. Too bad they didn't have a satisfaction guaranteed clause.lol


I dunno, I've been a GM guy my whole life. My family has been driving GM vehicles since the 1930s. But there are those moments when I take a look at other guys, and I just wonder.lol


Still loving the Cruze though. Still would choose it if I had to do it all over, now if the Verano had better fuel economy...lol
 
#4 ·
It seems that MyLink and Apple products don't play real well together. I don't have an iphone, but I did have a 160GB ipod classic that worked great with the aftermarket JVC system in my Jeep and had similar issues to yours in the Cruze. It would also lock up the ipod from time to time and I had to do a reset to get it back.

Lots of people with iphones have posted about issues with them also. My Samsung Galaxy S2 works really well with it, although I don't use Pandora too often.

It seems like the iwhatever and MyLink are fighting each other for control.

I got a 64GB flash drive and use that instead of the ipod and the car seems much happier.
 
#5 ·
Mine has bugs aswell and its a 2013.
I never use the USB cord to connect my iPhone, so I do t have some of your issues. My screen freezes steady if I skip a few songs and takes up to two or three songs to catch up if it even does in my trip.
Another issue which is similar is I am listening to Bluetooth audio get to the store run in come out start my car and then voila it's playing fm radio. I don't get that.
MI don't hate it either, but in Canada it's a 700$ option that's its certainly not worth with so many issues. It's kinda like gm just thought of it and threw it in there with little to know testing. I mean get some apple people and google people on it!
 
#6 ·
And here I thought it was just mine that was buggy! Overall I'm happy with mine as well, but it does have some idiosyncrasies. The one thing that I can 'make happen' is when I'm playing Bluetooth from my iPhone... and I manually change to the next song... the on-screen display doesn't change to show the new song title. If I just let a song finish and go on to the next one by itself, the screen updates properly with the new song title. Also, when I start the car, sometimes it plays whatever the last source was, and sometimes it switches to a new source. I haven't been able to figure out a pattern on that one.
 
#7 ·
From what I was told, Droid has way more issues than our iOS devices. In short, kill all apps before turning the car on to make sure you have the best experience with MyLink. You can go all OCD and reboot your phone walking down the stairs before you get outside to the car as well. The OCD step usually works for the playing music through the phone instead of the car issue. Unplug and plug back in will do nothing to correct this issue. One more step to take before driving to dealer is reset the radio to defalt settings. You need to delete and re pair your phone back to the radio if you do this step and wait for the *indexing* to stop before you go back to normal. *Indexing* is the radio trying to copy your contacts so it can use them for voice dial. Indexing also takes longer if you got a ton of apps in the background: reason I said kill all apps before getting in the car.

If you go to the dealership make sure you have an official droid cord and not something Verizon gives you as a constalation prize for buying their phone service. They will 99% of the time plug up the aux/usb tester in and blame the aftermarket cord to be the sole reason it's not working.

I haven't figured the exact number for playlist but try and keep them under 30 so they recognize it. Another issue you will find is using voice to call a song that does not play on your phone. This will lock the radio up untill you press hang up/mute from the radio or sterring wheel.

Bluetooth streaming takes place when the phoone IS NOT connected via USB cord. I epic failed that one as well. As for the calls if you are already on the phone and get into the car still on the phone it sometimes remeber that setting. Also this happens when you start off on a call with bluetooth off then switch on to use cars hansfree settings. It remebers privacy mode again for that too. Next time someone calls in that drive cycle it will answer but in prvacy mode as you were when you got in the car. I sometimes fudge this as well because I can find the number faster in favorites than voice dialing it.

Besides all that my biggest issue is the radio not responding to skip up and down from the wheel or the radio it's self.
 
#8 · (Edited)
When I first set out to buy a new car, I knew that I wanted a Cruze and had my heart set on the MyLink system as well. I opted for the ECO model without the MyLink, and haven't been happier. I've been reading a lot about people having issues with it. Perhaps when it comes time to trade this one in (if I decide NOT to run it until it wont run anymore), I will get the MyLink or future equivalent. By then maybe they will have the kinks worked out of the system.
 
#10 ·
I wish GM would follow Apple's protocol for system updates and support cars for at least several years. It looks like the 2014 Cruze will have the Siri feature, but for 2013 we're out of luck. It can't be anything more than a software thing since Siri is an iPhone feature just routed through the speakers (which can be done via the phone).

It would also be nice if GM updated the Cruze version of MyLink to have the look and feel of the new version of MyLink. The current MyLink system was a major leap vs what was in the old GM navigation/touchscreen system, but the MyLink 2.0 (or whatever version it is) looks way nicer.

I think Ford updates their Sync/MyTouch systems fairly regularly. GM should take notice. Then again, from what I've heard the MyTouch system is so messed up, that those updates may be necessary just for the consumer to get basic use out of the system.lol

If I had to do it all over again, I'd still choose my car and the MyLink system. It works... mostly.lol
 
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