Wadda

Do all 2016 Malibu have Android Auto? is it any good?
What car class do National class them as?

alec_b

http://www.chevrolet.com/culture/art...to-update.html

According to this link, the 7" MyLink radios for the '16MY will come with android auto from the factory, and the 8" MyLink radios will get an "exclusive dealer update", whatever that means.

According to GM, the 7" MyLink radio is standard in LS and 1LT Malibus, with the 8" being optional in the 1LT and standard in 2LT's and higher. Purely judging by the rest of the fleet, I would expect that National would be ordering at least a 1LT, if not higher.

That being said, the big unknown is whether the 8" MyLink equipped models that National (may) have in the fleet have been updated with the new software. Best bet will be to hop in the car before taking it and try it out.

piper28

The other thing to keep in mind is that National seems to have a lot of the Malibu Limited, which are last years models (and quite frankly, unlike the Impalas, are not labeled obviously as the old model). So far I haven't seen a new Malibu, and I've been trying to keep an eye out for one because I'm curious to give it a try (assuming it's decently equipped).

IsleOfMan

If this is the case, I'd actually give a new Malibu a try if I saw it on EA/ES and it were otherwise reasonably trimmed (leather, backup camera). Having a familiar and usable infotainment system already customized to me just by plugging my phone in is huge, assuming the rest of the car is reasonably up-to-snuff. I really hope the Impalas get Android Auto soon which would almost completely flip my opinion of them and eliminate the OnStar roulette you play every time you get one... this really goes for most/all GM models, especially most of the Buick models and doubly the Buick Lacrosse which I already think is the second best PCAR available behind the 300C (since I still haven't seen a '15+ Genesis in the US). There are a lot of cars I'd consider acceptable by simply adding Android Auto that I currently avoid otherwise.

piper28

The update for the Impalas has been out for at least a month or two as far as I know, so I'd expect that any *new* Impala might have it. But I'm guessing that most of the existing ones they'll probably never bother with the updates, so our most likely chance of seeing it will be when the 17's start rolling out.

kxc262

The updates aren't OTA so the cars have to go to the dealer for the actual update.
Hopefully they should be rolling out of the factory with the install now.

Also, android auto is not wireless so make sure you bring the USB cable.

IsleOfMan

If you don't, chances are your phone's battery will die through the course of your travels regardless.