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CARS.COM — Hyundai’s Blue Link is a feature-heavy communications system with services such as emergency response, voice-activated navigation and the ability to remotely operate the door locks or start the engine through a smartphone application. Blue Link could have many more confusing buttons than the one puzzling center button on the Hyundai’s rearview mirror.
Among the system’s three buttons on the 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT is a center icon showing a star at the end of a road. Were the Three Kings in the age-old Christmas-time story driving a Hyundai hatchback when they found baby Jesus beneath a star?
Related: Hyundai Pairs Better Blue Link With Google Assistant
Nope, but it could help you find a store for holiday shopping. The button activates the navigation features of Blue Link.
The middle button accesses a voice prompt for Enhanced Navigation Services to alter guidance options on Hyundai cars with navigation systems, like establish a new route from saved destinations or find surrounding points of interest. The prompt also allows managing current navigation route and system options. On Hyundais without navigation, the Blue Link button accesses turn-by-turn guidance. The button is also used to activate Eco Coach, which sends a detailed report of gas mileage and carbon dioxide emissions to the Blue Link user’s online account.
Blue Link services are a paid service after the complimentary trial period on new Hyundai cars. Prices range from $79 a year for the basic package to $279 a year for the full suite, though discounted rates apply for original owners. An explanation of the packages can be found here.
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I manage Cars.com’s daily news publishing and execution of Editorial strategy. As a lifelong enthusiast, I’ve worked in the automotive industry for over 20 years, attending Universal Technical Institute for my Automotive Technology Certificate before continuing education for technical writing and journalism, where I graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Technical and Professional Communication with emphasis in Journalism and Automotive Technology. Since starting at Cars.com in 2006, I’ve reviewed hundreds of cars and tested new cars in almost every setting, from standardized fuel economy and cargo to dynamic testing such as drag-strip acceleration, towing, off-road and rock-crawling. I’m a juror on the World Car Awards panel of journalists from around the world that vote on their favorite car of the year, as well as a member of the Midwest Automotive Media Association.