I’ve had my Automatic Link for a few months now and I’m very happy with my purchase. It’s easy to install and just works.

Setup

First, just plug it in. That was the step I was most worried about as I hadn’t ever interacted with the OBD-II port and I’m not to mechanically gifted. However, it was just as easy as plugging in a toaster.

The only issue I had was getting it linked to my iPhone. The directions said to install it ‘firmly’. Turns out, if I didn’t do it firmly it worked better. The harder I pushed it in the harder time my phone had finding the link.

Once it was synced with the phone, I haven’t had an issue and haven’t had to touch it.

Use

As long as the phone app is open in the background, and Bluetooth is turned on, it just works. I don’t have to do anything. I usually have music playing or Waze watching out for traffic & cops as don’t have to have the Automatic Link app in the forefront to collect data.

Results

I’m very happy with my Automatic Link. It alerts me if I hit the brakes to hard; even though I don’t always agree with it. It also alerts me when my car goes over 70 mph. This is nice as I don’t want a speeding ticket, and the little beeps from my Link remind me to slow down a bit before a police officer does.

I’m also a big fan of getting gas mileage data. You quickly find out that short trips around town are horrible on gas mileage. Walking or biking around town would be much better.

Driving to work, without traffic, give me great gas mileage. My drive home however is not so good as I hit more traffic.

One thing I do find odd though is that it seems my gas mileage seems better if I’m going 70 or so. Chances are that if the Automatic Link is beeping at me, my mpg for that trip is going to be higher.

The app also calculates the price for a trip. Not sure where it gets the price of gas from, but it is interesting to see how much a day it costs me to go to and from work.

I’ve yet to get to test the engine alerts, however that’s a good thing as it means my car is healthy.

I also haven’t tested the crash alerts and I really hope I never have to.

I also haven’t really tested the parking feature, but I only go from home to work so that’s not a big deal to me. I like the idea though.

Even though I’m very happy with my Automatic Link, I’d like it to do more. What about telling me when my tire pressure is low? Or can it send a signal to my car to start it? I don’t know what’s available from the OBD-II port but I assume there is much more it could do for us.

Overall, this was a great gift to get and I’ve been very happy with it.