RNS510 cost-justified?

[Rob Burns]

I'm not sure the dealer can legally do that. Aren't there laws about selling a previously installed product in a new car? The added cost of an antenna is not a huge issue I imagine.

[STV4SYT]

Given the lack of R's on their way into the country at the moment unsold its unlikely any dealer will remove an option to sell the car as there are people willing to take it as is. Not until that car has been sitting on the forecourt unsold for a while would any dealer (IMO) even consider doing such a thing.

I think what you should be concerning yourself with is do you want the R sooner with satnav or can you wait for one to the spec that you want to be built.

Just for the record i have seen stock lists for a couple of dealers recently and its pretty much a a case of not being able to be fussy with spec if you want a car relatively soon.

[Dubya]

Actually considering a GTI . . . however this is true about beggars not being choosers if you want a car without much delay.

In the earlier thread re swapping out an RNS510 for an RCD510 (which unit I would prefer for cost reasons) Coreying suggested that the RNS510 was a lot more than just a SatNav . . . but above SatNav and what is offered by the RCD510, what does the RNS510 offer?

[pologti18t]

Actually considering a GTI . . . however this is true about beggars not being choosers if you want a car without much delay.

I popped into Barloworld on the weekend and they had a nice selection of manual GTI. Strangely they were all manual and all had sunroofs (no sat nav).

[Corey_R]

Lets make this easy.... I'll start the list, other people can copy this list and add to to it....

Things the RNS-510 has over the RCD-510

• Sat Nav (duh!)
• The screen has 4 times the resolution
• DVD drive/playback
• 30GB HDD
• 18.6GB available for music storage
• Music browsing is quicker/smoother via HDD than SD slot and MDI.
• Allows Voice Control of cars features (does this need to be mated with a Bluetooth kit?)

Aftermarket:

• Can be mated with a TV tuner aftermarket
• The HDD can be replaced with up to a 100GB "Automotive" HDD allowing about 83GB of storage for music playback.

Things the RNS-510 has over portable Sat-Navs

• Integrated elegant solution
• The integration extends to the MFD where Navigation Instructions, directions etc appear.
• Even when navigation isn't enabled, the MFD has a "compass" and "street you're travelling on" display which can be selected.
• MFD is more in line of sight than any "safe" mounting of portable GPS.
  GPS dropouts (when in a tunnel etc) are a non-issue as the RNS-510 uses the car's speed and direction information to continue the navigation (very helpful if you don't know which exit to take in "distributor tunnels").
• No obstruction of vision on windscreen
• No messy wiring up the dash from the cigarette socket
• No need to retrieve from storage and mount it and plug it all in each time you get in the car, nor put it away each time you get out of the car
• No "suction cap" marks on windscreen causing thieves to target your car for "smash and grabs"
• Combined with bluetooth, it has address book entry and voice dialing etc

Things Portable Sat Nav has over RNS-510

• Cheaper
• Maps are updated more frequently and have better coverage and features (speed cameras, speed zones etc - although this is something they have over all car manufacturers... I smell a conspiracy here )
• You can take it with you when walking around (though, do people actually do this?) or getting into someone elses car.

Feel free to "Reply With Quote", then remove the Quote tags and add to the list everyone

[VeedubTSI]

As I just noticed with Dubya's dp that's an Mk5 GTI (to state the damn obvious). Does anyone know if there may be any trouble getting the RNS-510 to work with the MFD in the GTI? Cos having the directions on your MFD is real handy. I've seen mk5s with sat nav but I'm pretty sure it wasn't the RNS-510 or was it?

[dave_r]

Given the lack of R's on their way into the country at the moment unsold its unlikely any dealer will remove an option to sell the car as there are people willing to take it as is.

Not true. I was offered a car for launch day if I was willing to live without a sunroof which had RNS510 installed. They were happy to have it removed if I wanted the car.

Yes they could sell it without the extra work, but they were attempting to fill my order as best as they could which I think was a good effort on their part.

[Corey_R]

As I just noticed with Dubya's dp that's an Mk5 GTI (to state the damn obvious). Does anyone know if there may be any trouble getting the RNS-510 to work with the MFD in the GTI? Cos having the directions on your MFD is real handy. I've seen mk5s with sat nav but I'm pretty sure it wasn't the RNS-510 or was it?

Off the top of my head, the MKV had 3 Sat Navs. An original CD based version which was terrible, a DVD based version (which I had on my short lived MKV) which was alright, and at the very end of the run, the RNS-510. So the RNS-510 can work in the MKV, however, if you are purchasing one aftermarket, I'm sure that there are possibly things to be aware of (such as certain revisions of the RNS-510 only being suitable for Red vs White MFD's, and if not, at least recoding being required to adapt for the relevant MFD).

However, Dubya is finally considering an 'upgrade' to a MK6 GTI, so for the purpose of this thread, we can all assume that the target car is a MK6.

[pologti18t]

Here is a RNS review on CNET:
Volkswagen RNS510 Review - Car Entertainment

[team_v]

If the RNS had the full functionality that is was made for i would say it is worth the money.
I just don't see the point in shelling out 2.5k for something that only has half of hte functions that the rest of the world gets.

If you want one, i would get one from ebay and install it post purchase.

If you are okay using aftermarket, Pioneer or Zenec make integrated units.