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Oh you don't "need" it, but kind of fun when you have voice operated lights at home and want to mess with some one. lol Saying that I don't use it in my truck either, I will use it through my phone if I want to.
My wifes 2015 Fusion has had these features built in from day one, I have used it I think 4 times? total. And that was just to see if it still worked. lol usally by the time I walk out of a place dig out my phone, get the app running, have it sync with the car, to where I can hit any of the buttons, I am already at the car. And if the car is in a parking structure forget it, usually no cell service.
Fordpass is not required for Alexa, but the Ford-Alexa app is.
Very interesting because I never knew that any of the apps in the Ford AppLink catalog could be used with the SYNC 3 system without being signed in or having FordPass on.
Plenty of you have asked for feedback. First off Nate at Fairway Ford has been great. I ordered the unit from him over the phone and it was at my house in 2 days. Once you have the unit, you call him and give him some numbers on the back of the unit. He does his magic and you get an invitation email to log into your account. You then plug it in and it talks to the cloud. From there it is now on the website and showing information. Below are some screen shots of things you can see in a browser. The iPhone app sucks. You use the FordPass app and then SmartLink is no where to be found. You must go into settings within that app and enable SmartLink. Then you still have to drill down into it from the FordPass start page. Once the Ford Pass is open, you have 3 screens to go through before you can even start your vehicle. Horrible design.
Nate sends you full instructions on how to program the key which you can get through everything except for the IDS portion. I have not found a way in ForScan to add a key but I only looked quickly as I will do some more digging tonight. Called my local dealer and they want $150 to program a key and he said it may be more as they have no idea what SmartLink is. I told him I have full screen by screen instructions for IDS on how to do it and the whole process cant take more than 10 minutes. And these places wonder why the general public doesnt like them. If I cant find a way in Forscan, I'll have to try to call more dealers. $150 for 10 minutes max of work is ridiculous. I could hand the instructions to my kids and they could do it as its that easy.
Plenty of you have asked for feedback. First off Nate at Fairway Ford has been great. I ordered the unit from him over the phone and it was at my house in 2 days. Once you have the unit, you call him and give him some numbers on the back of the unit. He does his magic and you get an invitation email to log into your account. You then plug it in and it talks to the cloud. From there it is now on the website and showing information. Below are some screen shots of things you can see in a browser. The iPhone app sucks. You use the FordPass app and then SmartLink is no where to be found. You must go into settings within that app and enable SmartLink. Then you still have to drill down into it from the FordPass start page. Once the Ford Pass is open, you have 3 screens to go through before you can even start your vehicle. Horrible design.
Nate sends you full instructions on how to program the key which you can get through everything except for the IDS portion. I have not found a way in ForScan to add a key but I only looked quickly as I will do some more digging tonight. Called my local dealer and they want $150 to program a key and he said it may be more as they have no idea what SmartLink is. I told him I have full screen by screen instructions for IDS on how to do it and the whole process cant take more than 10 minutes. And these places wonder why the general public doesnt like them. If I cant find a way in Forscan, I'll have to try to call more dealers. $150 for 10 minutes max of work is ridiculous. I could hand the instructions to my kids and they could do it as its that easy.
Very interesting Texmudder and thanks for following up.
If i`m understanding this correctly, are you saying that one or both of the key fobs that come with our vehicles have to be reprogrammed and does this also apply to intelligent access key fobs?
This is very interesting info and you`re the first person with SmartLink who has mentioned this and I really appreciate it.
I agree, $150.00 for a few minutes of work sounds steep especially since as you mentioned your dealer has never heard of it.
If i`m understanding this correctly, are you saying that one or both of the key fobs that come with our vehicles have to be reprogrammed and does this also apply to intelligent access key fobs?
Essentially it acts as another fob, so it is like adding a third key and has to be programmed as such.
It is basically a cellular key that is powered by the OBD port and also gets diagnostic info from the connection.
Essentially it acts as another fob, so it is like adding a third key and has to be programmed as such.
It is basically a cellular key that is powered by the OBD port and also gets diagnostic info from the connection.
Ahh okay now I get it.
Based on the images i`ve seen from Texmudder, this looks very interesting and i`m leaning towards ordering one for myself.
Well, I ended up having to pay $150 at the dealership. After waiting 1.5 hours in the waiting area I went to see what was going on, only to see my truck sitting in the same place in the shop it was after they pulled it in. I asked, and sure enough they hadnt touched it. After the service manager went down there to ask, it took them a total of 10 minutes to program. Aside from the extreme cost of this, it does work great.
Well, I ended up having to pay $150 at the dealership. After waiting 1.5 hours in the waiting area I went to see what was going on, only to see my truck sitting in the same place in the shop it was after they pulled it in. I asked, and sure enough they hadnt touched it. After the service manager went down there to ask, it took them a total of 10 minutes to program. Aside from the extreme cost of this, it does work great.
Glad to hear it`s working for you but they should have given you a discount considering the time you spent there plus you having to inquire "again" about your truck.
Yes and charging that much for 10 minutes of work is crazy as well. It wouldn't be a visit to a dealer if I wasn't getting screwed. Still haven't found a dealer in this area I can or will trust.
I have previously purchased and programmed two additional IAK intelligent access keys to my 2017 Explorer XLT, so it shows on my display I have 4 admin keys. I think four is the max keys that can be programmed to the vehicle.
TM, can you see does it mention this in the IDS instructions, what to do if the vehicle already has four admin keys? Do I need to delete one of them?
Do the IDS instructions look like something that could also be accomplished in Forscan?
I dont remember the document talking about number of admin keys.
I did verify with the Forscan guru on here that it can not be done in Forscan. He is aware of what memory values change and I did verify that, but the pairing process does require IDS.
