2014 Buick Intellilink Not So Impressive

[cheflionfoot]

I just traded in a 2011 LaCrosse for a 2014, and I must say the interior redesign is a huge improvement, but the radio has a lot to be desired, as a matter of fact, it's a huge step back in my opinion.


Yes they removed a ton of buttons from the radio and now there are just seven, and there are sixty favorite locations now versus thirty six before, but now the radio is so complicated and backward it is ridiculous to use, and I am a tech savvy guy.


In the old radio you had the physical FAV button and buttons 1 through 6 at the base of the radio screen. You had six FAV pages and you pressed the FAV button to move between the pages, and to save a preset, just press and hold the button you want to save it to. The new system is so freaking annoying. You have to flick up with your finger and then the buttons appear, and the screen is not very responsive at all, and then you press the button you want to save the station to. The more you save the more buttons appear until there are three rows, which cover the radio screen and you can't see what station you are tuning to.


The most annoying thing is that when you save an XM station to a favorite, It only saves it as the station number, not the station name as in my old radio, so when you are going though the favorites, it shows as "XM 8, XM 9, XM 10" etc. In my 2011, it showed the actual name of the station on the fave button like "80s" "Comedy Centra" "The Pulse".


If I want to tune to The Pulse, I can't remember which station number it is, so if I want the station name to show up, I have to do it manually. I have to go into settings, choose the button that "The Pulse" is set to, and then physically type in the name. Really? I have to this for sixty stations? For a $42K car, couldn't it know what each station's name is like as it was in my 2011?


I know that the whole idea is that it runs on voice commands, but the recognition is not all that great. I like to listen to Comedy Central and when ever I tell it to tune to that it goes to AM, My wife asked it to tune to Oprah Radio and it keeps going to Opera.


I hope that Buick fixes this and that there will be a firmware update for 2014s if and when they do.

 

[MHT]

I just traded in a 2011 LaCrosse for a 2014, and I must say the interior redesign is a huge improvement, but the radio has a lot to be desired, as a matter of fact, it's a huge step back in my opinion.


Yes they removed a ton of buttons from the radio and now there are just seven, and there are sixty favorite locations now versus thirty six before, but now the radio is so complicated and backward it is ridiculous to use, and I am a tech savvy guy.


In the old radio you had the physical FAV button and buttons 1 through 6 at the base of the radio screen. You had six FAV pages and you pressed the FAV button to move between the pages, and to save a preset, just press and hold the button you want to save it to. The new system is so freaking annoying. You have to flick up with your finger and then the buttons appear, and the screen is not very responsive at all, and then you press the button you want to save the station to. The more you save the more buttons appear until there are three rows, which cover the radio screen and you can't see what station you are tuning to.


The most annoying thing is that when you save an XM station to a favorite, It only saves it as the station number, not the station name as in my old radio, so when you are going though the favorites, it shows as "XM 8, XM 9, XM 10" etc. In my 2011, it showed the actual name of the station on the fave button like "80s" "Comedy Centra" "The Pulse".


If I want to tune to The Pulse, I can't remember which station number it is, so if I want the station name to show up, I have to do it manually. I have to go into settings, choose the button that "The Pulse" is set to, and then physically type in the name. Really? I have to this for sixty stations? For a $42K car, couldn't it know what each station's name is like as it was in my 2011?


I know that the whole idea is that it runs on voice commands, but the recognition is not all that great. I like to listen to Comedy Central and when ever I tell it to tune to that it goes to AM, My wife asked it to tune to Oprah Radio and it keeps going to Opera.


I hope that Buick fixes this and that there will be a firmware update for 2014s if and when they do.

Wow! I must be missing something as I remember the Infotainment System in my 2012 and I find the 2014 to be much better and so much easier to use. I have no complaints about the responsiveness of the touch screen of the Infotainment Center nor the Touch Pad for the HVAC . One person complained about the responsiveness to touch and they were wearing gloves, I am like really.

The best way to bring up the preset buttons if they are hide is to lightly touch the Menu button on the screen and slide your finger upward.

Good Luck and may the force be with you.

I edited my post because after I read your reply I see that you understand how to set the preset buttons to show the name of the radio station. My 2012 did not set the names automatically and unlike the 2014 I don't remember being able to program the names manually.
I can see were the manual programing would be an issue if you preset allot of stations.

 

[cheflionfoot]

Thanks, but my major peeve is that I have to type in the name of the stations to see them on the faves instead of the station name. My 2011 automatically saved the faves with the station names instead of the station number. Even my Chevy Equinox saves the names instead of the numbers. To me this is a backward step. I guess I can find the time to waste to sit in my car and change 60 presets from radio numbers to names. It is such a pain in the a$$. Still love the car tho.