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2019 C-HR Entune 3.0 owners now get Alexa

5K views 9 replies 2 participants last post by  zx10guy 
#1 ·
Just received an email from Toyota saying there is a firmware update that now gives Alexa functionality for my 2019 C-HR....provided I use an iPhone. Reading between the lines, I'm hoping this is a good sign Android Auto will be an upcoming firmware update now for us 2019 owners.
 
#2 ·
I'm confused. Why would Toyota tell you there is an update to enable you to use Alexa and then require you to use iPhone. Makes no sense since iPhone uses Siri. I have a 2019 Toyota CHR and am anxious to be able to use Alexa and Google maps. The Scout navigation app is really crappy. Toyota just needs to get thier crap together and give us a choice.. Alexa or Siri. Not everyone has an iPhone. For the price we pay for these cars there are a lot of things missing. I love my car but it is lacking in some things.
 
#3 ·
I agree. Toyota gets a major fail in how they've been handling their Infotainment systems. Here is the text in the email Toyota sent me:

"Amazon Alexa compatibility is now available for iPhone® users in your C-HR LE. With Amazon Alexa, using only your voice you can easily access the same skills you get with Alexa at home. Plus, listen to audiobooks, stream Amazon Music, make lists, check the weather, get news briefings and much more."

And you're right. Alexa functionality should also be supported on Android. Even Toyota's own video says as much:



Who ever is managing their Infotainment division needs to be fired. I really wonder if anyone at Toyota cares enough to visit the various forums to see how people are. I know large corporations such as Dell have a social media division which interacts with customers on various Internet sites and reports back feedback from customer complaints.
 
#4 ·
Guess I hate to admit it but I'm sort of regretting buying this little beauty. First there is no little drawer for my loose change, there is only one USB port for charging my phone and it is inside the console and awkward to get to, then no trunk release. The trunk is heavy and I can barely reach it to close it, I had to pay $450 to have remote started added so I could let my car warm up in the winter time, and now it can't heat up enough in 15 minutes for it to be comfortable. I only have 7,000 miles on my 2019 CHR xle. And no possible way of trading it without losing money. I fell in love with the unique body style. Wish I had done more research. This is supposed to be my retirement car. I'm 69 and Retiring in a couple months.. Now I have a brand new car that I'm not happy with. 😢.. Hate to complain so much. I'm really going to be agrivated if I can't use Alexa and get a better navigating app besides "Scout".. Ugh would love Google maps or waves.
 
#5 ·
I get what you're saying. I'm not in the target demographic for this car too being 49 years old. But this car has enough appeal to me to purchase it. If you see my posts giving feedback on what I think of the car, I use this phrase...."The C-HR is a half done car." What I mean by this is there are so many deficiencies which are easily corrected by Toyota to make this a great car. Yet Toyota refuses to address many of the problems.

On the top of the list is the engine. Toyota should have put in the engine from the Corolla Hatchback into this car. It's proven to fit without issues as the Lexus UX250 has the same engine and trans in it. The Lexus UX250 is built on the same chassis as the C-HR. It's inexcusable to have a car such as this do 10.5 second 0-60 times and being the slowest car in this segment. The HRV will do the same sprint in 8.6 seconds.

As you've pointed out, the placement and the number of USB ports is also plain stupidity. For a car targeted at the tech savvy younger crowd, I don't know what Toyota was thinking. I've gone on and on about the atrocious handling of rolling out Android Auto in general by Toyota. For 2020, they could have addressed the USB port issue. But chose not to. At least the 2020 has Android Auto. Also, they've corrected the headlight situation which is good because the halogens are frankly a safety hazard. I upgraded my headlights to HIDs the first week I had my car.

For your warm up issue, as I said, all you need to do is turn off the Auto climate feature.

The loose change problem is solved by buying one of the myriad of trays out there that go under the center console arm rest. But this too isn't ideal as Toyota should have designed the same tray integrated into the flip up arm rest assembly.

Unfortunately, the car you needed to buy based on your complaints is the Lexus UX250. As it does have the power lift gate feature from the factory. To be fair, I wouldn't expect the C-HR to have this as it's not targeted at the luxury car market. As far as I know, none of the C-HR competitors have a power lift gate either.

For the nav situation, I agree Scout is terrible. But I'm waiting on feedback from someone on another forum about the CarPlay2Air device. If it works, this will be our way to have Android Auto now instead of waiting for Toyota to get a clue about releasing a firmware update for us 2019 owners. I have a thread going in the Electronics sub forum discussing this.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for taking the time to address all my complaints! After reading your suggestions about the heat, I tried it last night and the car was much warmer after running it this morning for 15 minutes . Of course the temp was about 20 degrees warmer. But the good thing is that where I live in Asheville NC we don't get too much weather in the teens anymore. If I can just get Alexa that I can use with my phone and have Google maps (I hear that Google owns wave now too) . I can hardly see an iPhone user trade Siri for Alexa.. That's plain dumb. The iPhone users I know love thier Siri. 🤣
 
#7 ·
Update regarding Alexa for 2019. CHR. I recieved the same email tonight. After reading down into the finer print it also mentions something about Android smartphone 5.0 or newer being required. I called Toyota and talked to a nice and very helpful associate. He checked, came back to the phone and told me the app should be available to download the app on my Entune 3.0. I went out to my car but the app wasn't available. He called me back while I was in my car, said he had checked and thought the email was sent in error. He gave me an email address to forward the email to so I did. He said they would be getting back in touch with me and he gave me a file #. I told him that there are lots of people who are upset because we can't get Alexa, etc. And i felt we should be able to get an update to entune 3.0. I will let you know if i hear anything back from them. Hope this helps.
 
#8 ·
That is interesting. Another bungled feature roll out by Toyota. I wish you had told them there are more people upset about how they're handling the Android Auto roll out or lack there of.
 
#10 ·
I think we're confusing features. Siri and Alexa support has no bearing on CarPlay or Android Auto. For my situation, I care more about Android Auto than having Alexa support. Having Android Auto allows you to have Waze mirrored functionality on your head unit touch screen. Having Alexa support will not provide Waze support on your head unit.

But I agree people should call in and complain. Also when you're visiting your dealership to also give the staff there your feedback about the issues with the car. The sales staff at my dealership says they do have regular meetings with Toyota reps and they're asked by the reps to provide customer feedback they've heard.
 
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