2018 F-Type R. Just bought the car with about 5k miles. Is it true there is no voice dialing in the car? That’s almost unbelievable to me on a 2018. So far as I can tell, the only way to dial is to go through the phone book menu.

 

Why would you want to spoil a drive in an F-Type by phoning someone?

 

To call my buddies who can’t keep up and let them know where I will be, obviously.

 

No CarPlay on the 2018's ?

 

It's not a feature in the UK-spec MY21 cars either, with the 10" infotainment systems. However, if you connect a phone and enable Android Auto or Apply Carplay, then you can voicedial using the telephone button on the wheel.

I found it odd, coming from basic hatchbacks that have had it since 2010, but then I thought about the number of times I need to make a call from the Jag and, for me, I decided it was a compromise I was willing to live with. And that's what all cars are, a compromise. We can wish the car had this, that or the other, but life is far sweeter when you enjoy what the F-Type does have than bemoan the things it doesn't

 

If you have CarPlay you can just say "Hey Siri -- call John Smith" - if you really want to speak to John Smith!! Also works for navigation much better than the JLR nav. system.
A work around you might like is to connect a CarLinkit dongle to the center cubby USB.
This will connect automatically to your Iphone or Android phone so that you do not need to plug in your phone.
There was a 5 month problem with voice activation last year caused by a JLR software update.
You should make sure you have the latest JLR s/w version installed.

 

+1. Nice reply.

 

No offense, but how do people buy something as expensive as a car without knowing what features it has beforehand? And then act surprised that their purchased car is missing some features. It takes very little time to do some research. Boggles my mind.

 

While I understand your point, ViperX100, I think the OP should be cut some slack.
I still find it baffling that JLR nickles and dimes its basic options.
Much less expensive vehicles come complete with CarPlay, door openers, collision warning systems and better camera systems.
It is interesting that they do include a bunch of these routinely on the F-Pace.
Also, confusing is why dealers end up with cars lacking the most basic options while still selecting high end audio, black wheels, etc.
It is OK for cars to be built according to buyer's wants, but surely even then there is a decent level of base build, before buyer's start selecing custom options?
It is almost as though JLR has relatively untrained monkeys putting specs together one car at a time!

BTW, I struck lucky getting everything I wanted on my 2021 vert plus an option never likely to be used (parking assist).
I bought that car sight unseen from a dealer's lot at a time when I did not appreciate just how complicated it is to buy an F-Type with the needed options.

Sorry for the rant!!

 

No CarPlay, but I can still use “Hey Siri” with the phone in the cup holder - as long as the top is up

No offense taken. I was obviously aware during the test drive that I wasn’t able to find voice dialing. I was also aware that it isn’t mentioned in the manual. I am still a bit shocked in the days of tremendous safety regulation that a car company would be allowed to manufacture a device requiring the driver to take his or her eyes off the road long enough to manually type in a name and select from a menu to dial a phone, particularly when, as mentioned above, basic hatchbacks have had the feature for a decade.

It isn’t a daily driver and I still love the car, so it wasn’t a deal breaker.

 

I hear what you're saying and it's definitely a big knock on Jaguar and JLR to be missing the basic features that a lot of cheaper competitors offer. That being said, I am still sticking to my point that I've never bought a car that surprised me with any "missing" features. I just bought my 2018 400 sport and I knew ahead of time that the touted Meridian sound system was going to be very uninspiring (and I made sure to have the upgraded version for that reason). What I am surprised about is how many members actually think that's a good system. I am not sure what their previous experience must have been to think so. It's mediocre at best and when you factor in almost $100K as new MSRP, it's nutty. Yeah, yeah, "I bought my F Type for the sound of the engine and exhaust". Sure, but for our coin, Jaguar should have done a lot better. Mercedes, Audi, BMW for example all have superior sounding systems. Throw in no heads-up display option or adaptive cruise control even on the '22 F-Type models and there's just no good logical reason for it (especially since the F Pace had adaptive cruise for a minute now since 2018, I believe). So yeah, plenty to rant about, haha.

I love my F-Type and the way that it drives, handles, growls and there's zero buyer's remorse here. But Jaguar could have done better.

 

So you completely agree with me. Glad to hear it and thank you for your support.

 

I completely agree with your rant over the Jaguar's poor choices over options that should have been included for the price but still not about your surprise about the lack of a feature that you should have known about pre-purchase. Just keeping it real with you. Before I buy any car I literally read every review and watch every available youtube vid so that there are no surprises.

 

i don’t recall saying I was surprised, just shocked that this car lacked the feature. I still am. Nonetheless, I digress.

Enjoy your life of research and YouTube videos.

No offense.

 

Lol @ the synonym choice. Enjoy your life of shocks and surprises. All the best.

 

I call people from the car very rarely and the ones I usually call I've set up as shortcuts on a custom shortcut screen that I get if I swipe right from the home screen. I set them up to be displayed as big icons with pictures from the phone contacts so it just takes a swipe and a prod on the person I want to dial. Faster and more reliable than the voice controlled dialing I had in a previous Jag.

 

That is a great tip! I didn’t know such a thing existed. I will definitely check that out.

 

Both I and(supposedly) the sales associate were surprised to find that a top end 2022 Lexus RX450h I was buying for my wife did not have heated seats. I agree that seemingly monkeys are specing out current cars(no offense to some good monkeys I have known). I also see that my recently acquired 2020 F-Type show an additional charge for a 'foot rest' and a beige convertible top. Really??

 

One man's "must have" is another's "I'm not wasting my money on that" (e.g. I know how to park - I'm not paying for a "self parking" feature I'd never use). It's good to have a choice. Anyway, cheaper cars have to have compelling tech to make people buy them, which also have greater economies of scale.

 

There is undoubtedly a manufacturing cost associated with customizing so many options.
When every car is curated to the Nth degree, buyers end up paying more for the custom component itself plus the lost manufacturing efficiency.
Furthermore, in addition to less efficiency and increased overhead, curated vehicles tend to be less reliable - Bentleys have poor reliability despite their price.
So, my point is, adding more to the base model and making fewer custom options available need not raise the manufacturing cost.
The actual components or software differences are not a major cost factor - it is the lost manufacturing efficiency that is the real cost..
I am pretty sure no F-Type buyer would object to getting dual zone heating/cooling, collision warning systems, garage door openers, etc included in their car provided JLR did not increase the price significantly.

They actually seem to have worked this out for the F-Pace!!
I