[Viper505]

Just got off phone with Chrysler Uconnect. Was informed that 2015 - 2017 Chrysler 200C Uconnect uses older 3G technology which is going obsolete sometime this summer. Although there is a 4G adapter for some Chrysler vehicles, the 200 and two other models cannot use the adapter. We subscribed ($149/year), mainly for the voice text message, which is one of the safety features of the system. They said the phone can still be connected with Bluetooth without Uconnect, but will only be able to reply with pre-selected displayed messages.
Although it is totally unacceptable for a vehicle manufacturer to take our $34K for a car and then discontinue this and other safety features like remote lock, 911, etc., I fully expect they will do it. Person said they were looking into alternative solutions, but we all know they will keep saying that until we just give up and accept our cars no longer have the features that cost us many thousands of extra dollars.

 

[fltru103]

Never subscribed to UConnect services. Expensive for what is offered.

However, if you could post where you found this information, ( not the phone call ) then please do.
I find it hard to believe UConnect will stop support for just this car. The same system is in place for all 2015 Chrysler branded vehicles, Durango, Town & Country, Challenger and the 300. Why just drop the 200 ? Doesn't make sense.

 

[Viper505]

I mentioned 200, and two others. One was the Jeep Renegade, don't remember the other one. Could not find any information online about this so I posted it. If you don't believe me, call Uconnect.

 

[N8200C]

3g was already obsolete in 2015. It does seem a bit silly that they would be nitpicky about who they are willing to sell a 4g adapter to though.

I subscribed for the first 2 years that I had the car.
The talk to text feature was kind of clunky. If I felt compelled to reply, I would more often just use the talk to text that was built into my phone.
The car locator was kind of handy to have if you forgot where you parked or someone borrowed the car and you want to spy on them.
The remote locking was nice for peace of mind if I started second guessing whether I remembered to lock it.

The only feature that I honestly used much was the remote start. I always start considering a subscription when winter comes but then I look at subscription prices and change my mind.

 

[Paul_N]

I did a bit of searching on this and the adapter is apparently an OBDII dongle from T-Mobile: T-Mobile 4G Adapter

For some reason it looks like the 200 and the Dodge Dart are both being left out, though I suppose that could change since some of the other vehicles use the same head unit.

Personally I subscribed the first few years for the app based remote start but eventually decided it wasn't worth the cost (especially since I found the fob had enough range if I went to a second floor window in my office).

I guess this might make the decision for some on whether to install an aftermarket head unit to get Carplay or Android Auto a bit easier since Uconnect Access is one of the few features not retained.

 

[N8200C]

The thing that seems odd to me is that the list of compatibility is based on model of vehicle instead of model of radio. It could be that since the ra4 was only available in upper level trims there just aren't enough 200's with them to bother adding it to the list. I believe that the best option the dart offered was an ra3 w/ navigation so naturally it would not be on that list.

I can't imagine that the 4g adapter is going to work out very well for people. The whole concept is kind of clunky.

 

[themountain]

Oops. They should at least warn everyone! 5G is the next thing but maybe after 2 years they would face it out also.

 

[Crazcnuk]

3G going obsolete doesn't mean it's going anywhere, at least not anytime soon. 3G is still the fall back from the (fake) 4G 'lte' and will be for a long time until the 5G network is completed.

 

[Paul_N]

The 3G retirement is already underway and it looks like the majority of carriers plan to have it out of service by the end of 2022 at the latest, in the U.S. anyway.

 

[Crazcnuk]

Most companies have barely got 4G. 4G LTE is not real 4G, it's a 4G 'light'. Companies went with it because it didn't require wholesale replacing of their cell service infrastructure.

4G has been around since 2008, and if your provider only offers 4G LTE, then they will likely take a long time to go full 4G-5G.

Either way, use your subscription until it doesn't work. Could be a year, could be 5 years.

 

[DionR]

I think the 200 has a different network and/or systems that many other models. Due to this, I would bet the the issue isn't with UConnect arbitrarily deciding that they didn't want to support the 200 anymore, but instead because the dongle just plain doesn't work on a 200. At least a 2015+ 200.

My support for this is that I have owned a 2015 Challenger and still own a 2015 200, both at the same time. I used AlphaOBD to turn on hidden features of my Challenger several different times, all without issue. I tried making a change to my 200 exactly once. It lit up the dash like Christmas so I undid the change and figured I got lucky it fixed it. There is something different in how the 200 works system wise when compared to the Challenger I owned.

Last point, for people with Challengers and Chargers who want to turn on the Super Track Pak apps, having 3G go away is a blessing. Every time the car get's within range of a tower, if the car is registered with UConnect as not having those apps, the system updates and turns it off again. And there is no way to get UConnect to stop it. I know of one guy that got them to remove his info from their system and it still turns off STP when he get's close enough to a tower.

Personally, I'm not interested in having my car connected to the internet.