Toyota or after-market Sat Nav for Kluger

[whitey3]

Hi

Here's my virgin post :D we are looking at buying a new Kluger KX-S AWD, but were wondering whether the $1700 for the Toyota Sat Nav was worth it? Considering i could buy a new after-market sat nav every year for 6 years for that amount.

Have heard people have mounting issues for some after-market Sat Nav due to the angle between windscreen and dash in Kluger. Anyone care to share...

thanks

[CROCO]

Hi david, I have the toyota sat nav in my kxs, mate they are good sat nav they offer clear easy to read screen with clear voice commands with easy to read maps and instructions.

Mate the biggest problem I have with any inbuilt or factory sat nav is the price of the map upgrade disk, I was quoted$ 390 for a disk, but you may find cheaper genuine or aftermarket ones out there, had I bought my car new I personally wounldnt bother with a factory one, I would just by a little portable one and when the time comes to upgrade the map you can just chuck it away and get another one. I think a while back they selling portable gps with life upgrade at ***** smiths for less than $200.

I bought my car second hand and it came with it, but they are a good unit and they fit perfectly in the dash, so im more than happy to upgrade my disk when needed.

[whitey3]

Thanks Croco.

Yeah we are dropping the SatNav from the new car. It was $1700 before GST :(

[11/16Aurion 12Kluger]

Unless you are permanently lost, a fixed satnav that costs extra (1700 ouch!) is something to think about twice.. They pretty up a dash but at what cost?

For the rare occasion i need to use satnav i take out my portable & it is easily jammed to the window somewhere on its suction mount.. i know some leave them permanently mounted for the look at me factor... but that is personal choice.

Another alternative these days is the android mobile phone.. if it does not come with nav maps they are easily obtained. Mine has all the bells & whistles including onboard maps & voice guidance the same as the regular sat navs. Good ones can be had these days for under $300... and you get a lot more than a satnav as well. I use it now in preference to the dedicated satnav... faster & more convenient.

My mobile ph satnav even worked well in the middle of the tasman sea and also all around nz!

Some hand sets have weak sat signal strength, so watch out there.

An added benfit of the phone satnav is that if an area is not covered in your map you can just flick to internet and access it there. More convenient, and heaps cheaper.

[dazz]

I just fitted an aftermarket satnav/bluetooth to my 2009 KXR. Purchased on ebay from Dig Options in Melbourne for $499 delivered to my door with I-Go mapping. This unit is a plug nad play so steering buttons etc all work and no need to cut wires. It fit straight into the original stereo hole. Highly recommed this unit. I will try and arange some pics of it as it looks like a genuine unit when looking at the dash.

cheers

Dazz

[Milo 10]

I just fitted an aftermarket satnav/bluetooth to my 2009 KXR. Purchased on ebay from Dig Options in Melbourne for $499 delivered to my door with I-Go mapping. This unit is a plug nad play so steering buttons etc all work and no need to cut wires. It fit straight into the original stereo hole. Highly recommed this unit. I will try and arange some pics of it as it looks like a genuine unit when looking at the dash.

cheers

Dazz

Hey Daz,

Tell us all about it, please. I saw the unit on ebay and I must say that it looks good. What are your experiences with it?

Easy to install? Any plugs to be re-done or is it a straight plug-in to existing wiring?

Thanks

Milo

[dazz]

Milo 10,

This is a very easy unit to install. There are no wires to cut and the steering wheel controls still operate as normal. The unit is Australian stock located in Melbourne. It is a perfect fit as it is the same dimensions as the original unit it replaces. It also has the option of connecting a USB connection ans also a i-phone charger wire. (these wires come with it and you dont have to connect them if you dont want to).

I have a dashmat on my Kluger so i placed the sat-nav receiver under the dasmat at the front of the windscreen. It is totally hidden from view.

The entire fitment only took about 1 hour. The hardest part is removing the dash fascia panels to get to the original unit. You must start at the top near the air-con air vents first. Make sure you use a piece of strong thin plastic to remove them otherwise you will damage them. Once you have removed them the rest is quite easy.

I also changed the colour of the LED lights for my air-con controls by removing the small green rubber boots when I had the unit removed to install the GPS unit.

Again, very easy to install and use. It is one of the best looking units available on ebay.

cheers

Dazz

[Milo 10]

Wonderful. Thanks Dazz!

[JohnM]

Hi

Just had one of these units installed. Look great but I have no sound on the GPS, everything else is ok.I have checked all the settings that I know. Maybe software problem.

Any Ideas

John

[JohnM]

Hi

Resolved the problem of no sound. Just changed the voice from the one already selected in settings and all is good now.

Cheers

John

[tpl]

post some pics would be good bros.

[JohnM]

Pics as requested

John

[Bumblefreak]

I also found this to be the best option for the price.

Did you connect the reversing camera to show on this units screen? I believe it is possible.

Also did the existing hands free microphone fit this unit or did you have to install a new mic?

[JohnM]

The unit came with reversing camera but I did not have that connected. I had the hands free mic supplied fitted.It works well.

John

[Ronnyboy]

Here are a few budget ones you may want to consider;

http://www.ebay.com....=item460aeb8ee5

http://www.ebay.com....=item460c33cd1b

http://www.ebay.com....=item20c5678f3c

[Bumblefreak]

I also just installed this unit in my 2012 KX-R. I got it directly from Dig Options web site which is cheaper than Ebay ( as ebay includes the reversing camera for an extra $30 but as we already have one). So I paid $440 including delivery which only took 2 days !

I installed the unit myself, here are some of the challenges I overcame:

• The radio reception was poor after installation, couldn't get any AM stations. Turns out that our cars have a antenna booster that requires 12V power and the harnesses supplied with the unit did not cater for this. So I attached a wire from the Control Port harness (steering controls, only has 3 wires) labeled 12V to the black wire that is taped up with the antenna cables in the dash. Interesting that there was a smaller antenna cable taped to the main one but it wasn't connected to anything in the standard setup? After this I can get all radio stations with good reception.
  
• The TTS (Text to Speech) voices in the GPS would not work - this means no spoken street names. The non TTS voices were fine but my wife said she can't live without spoken street names. As this unit is running on a Windows CE 6 system and I am a geeky programmer I saw this as a challenge. I managed to replace the I-Go8 with a newer IGo Primo version that had the TTS dll's and now I have the spoken street names working and a newer GPS software running on the unit.
  
• I wanted to install the reversing camera but when I saw all the wires going into the current small reversing camera screen I lost my nerve. I was expecting a simple RCA plug.
  
• In order for the DVD player to work you are suppose to connect a wire from the harness to the hand brake so that by law you can only watch content while the hadbrake is up, I would have no idea where the handbrake cable is so thanks to some other forums and a hint on the Dig Options web site I ran this wire to one of the Ground connections and now the player works anytime.
  
• I ran the Ipod connection cable and the USB connection cable into the glove box, no drilling neccessary they feed straight through. I have a 64Gb USB stick plugged into it with enough music to last me to the end of my Kluger days.
  
• I did not need a Blue Tooth microphone as it turns out the unit has it built into the front under the display. The person on the other end can hear me but it is a bit soft but easier than installing a microphone into the car.
  

I can highly recommend this Dig Options unit. For that price it does everything the more expensive units do and more. Dig Options responded to every single one of my e-mails and helped me out over the phone. In fact the only thing I can complain about is the fact that playing content via USB does not have a shuffle option and the "up" and "down" buttons on the steering wheel do not change radio stations, they initiate a station search. They do however work fine to change tracks when listening to music.

[Yorkiebar]

I can highly recommend this Dig Options unit.

Do you have any pics of the install?

Thanks

John

[hsv1413]

I bought a full size version from eBay, and it slotted straight in.

It is made to mimic the genuine version.

I sourced the hazard switch from the US for a Highlander..

Total spend - $500 and well worth it.

Never had an issue and everything works fine.

[NelssoN]

Hi hsv1413,... which one did you get? $500 incl the hazard is a pretty good price, I've not been able to price one below $600 yet with the Hazard button ($255.00)

Thanks,

Dylan.

I bought a full size version from eBay, and it slotted straight in.

It is made to mimic the genuine version.

I sourced the hazard switch from the US for a Highlander..

Total spend - $500 and well worth it.

Never had an issue and everything works fine.

[fl360]

I agree with hsv1413 - you need to get the full size Sat Nav (looks like the Grande Sat Nav) - the standard double din size like the ones from dig options.com looks semi pro - and ~450 is overpriced, you can get similar ones from ebay for like 300. the double din ones is only about 6 inch screen size, and the full verion is 8 inches.

I did the same with hsv1413, I source the hazard button from USA online, about 120-130 delivered.

and I bought the unit from ebay, I picked the seller with at least 1,000 positive feedback, I added the digital tv tuner as well, the seller provide two years warranty.

So total about 550.... with digital TV for australia

there is another seller in Melbourne who will sell you the unit with the hazard button for about 530-550 deliered, I don't like them because they only provide 7 days guarantee.... and no digital TV option.

[fl360]

Also while during my search about these head units I found this,

http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/dcbint/cpindex.pl?ctn=CID3687/00&slg=en&scy=HK

intersting ? this is a philips head unit specially designed for the highlander / kluger, I am sure you can't get this in Australia,

also I am not sure about the availability / price in HK or US.... however this may be a even better option for people who want a more reliable brand, as I trust Philips more than even Fujitsu ten (Toyota OEM).

Edited June 19, 2013 by fl360

[Alex Chistol]

Hi guys,

The only problem with after market Chinese Sat Nav is the quality of the screen. If sun light gets on the screen that is it. You cant see a thing unless you have a special visor for that which doesnt exist. Genuine units are so expensive for being a good quality and lasting for ages. They are not manufactured in some basement in China using cheap accessories. If you are so in to cheap Chinese accessories why you all driving Toyotas? Go and get yourselves a Great Wall, BYD or Cherry. They are cheap and come with all you can imagine as standard and 3 or 4 times cheaper than used Toyota.

Regards

[fl360]

Hi guys,

The only problem with after market Chinese Sat Nav is the quality of the screen.

Agreed, the quality of the screen might be worse for the Chinese ones, but buying a Chinese WinCE unit with iGo is so much better because from the functional point of view:

1. iGO can provide with speed / red light / speed + red light / average speed camera alerts and warnings, which for some absurd reasons the toyota factory ones will not provide, and in NSW / VIC ever increasing number of cameras it could save you thousands. iGo spedcam files are updated at least half yearly and you can get them for free on the web. Ford units use igo software so I think they come with speedcam alerts.

2. if an el cheapo Garmin unit selling for under $100 can provide free lifetime maps + speedcam update over the web, I don't understand how come a over $4,000 Toyota genuine GPS unit, with map updates of over $200 a pop will not give you speedcam alert.

3. also the Garmin standalone / Chinese Wince ones, your passenger can operate while the car is in motion, which the factory unit cannot do.

4. I believe the Toyota factory ones are made by Fujitsu ten in Thailand, not Japan anyway.

5. with the new Kluger made in USA and the new corolla sedan made in Thailand, I am thinking of Mazda / Subaru for my next car. Toyota please have a look at Honda and see what will happen to your market share if you start become cheap and importing cars from Thailand and charging Japanese prices.

[Matchew]

Thinking about upgrading our Kluger to have SatNav and I'm curious on other people's recommendations.

I'd prefer a system using Android 4.4. So far all I've found is HD 1024*600 10 Inch Screen Android 4.4 Car DVD Video Player Radio For Toyota Highlander 2008-2012 With GPS Bluetooth RDS WiFi 3G on AliExpress. eBay seems to have older models which are mainly WInCE.

What do I need to look out for?

[cleasc]

So I just had one of those 10 inch android 4.4 units installed in my 2010 Kluger Grande.

Link to Unit

It was mostly a smooth install only encountering a significant problem when it was all wired up and ready to install for testing. The units mounting holes for the factory cradle didn't match the original. So when you tried to fit the unit into the dash it was out by around 10mm in two directions. After a few attempts of drilling out the holes in the cradle I got in to sit 99% okay (close enough).

The actual operation of the unit has been rather impressive. The touch controls are very responsive and the screen quality is more than sufficient for it's purpose (visible enough in direct sunlight). The steering wheel controls were recognised and worked flawlessly.

I do recommend the upgrade but I must also state that the unit is extremely light. So I suspect the built in amplifier is somewhat useless. I can't confirm this though as I installed a 5 channel amp and all new speakers (not that I would class the original parts as speakers) at the same time.

Edited April 9, 2015 by cleasc