After Market Sat Nav guidance for Golf 90TSI Auto

[aussietanker]

Hi Folks ... my first post here so i hope that i have it right ...

I have just bought a 2014 Golf 90TSI Auto (wishing that i had bought the GTI now, but that's another story) and take delivery in a few days.

anyway, this model doesnt have an inbuilt sat nav ... the dealer that we bought the car from actually recommended that we get an after market sat nav and put that into our car as we would "save heaps" ... he even mentioned that its possible to get the after market ones to be rigged up to the steering wheel controls ... i desperately need the sat nav as i get lost driving to the local shopping center

i have been reading up on here and on other vw forums about the vw sat nav and despite many hours of research i am non the wiser (sadly, not very mechanical savvy so don't understand what they are talking about half the time)

i was going to just buy a unit off ebay but was concerned that it might not even work. I also have gathered that the oem unit from vw is not actually the best of systems. So i am hoping that a few ppl on here that have had after market sat nav installed can give me some advice and guidance


i dont understand the technical jargon - but i do know that i am hoping that i can get the following features if possible...

1. in dash sat nav with aussie maps and voice guidance + able to add my own "favourites" .. a unit that has an "easy to use" menu system and where the route will recalculate if i miss a turn etc (LOL ... that happens often with my driving ... even more when the missus is driving!)

2. blue tooth connection to my android phone


3. able to stick in some sort of usb or memory card thing with a bunch of music on it and have the unit play the music (if possible)


4. nice radio ..


5. would be great if it could play videos (from the memory card / usb stick thinggo)


6. have heard that some of these units can pick up free to air TV... not essential at all, but happy to pay a bit extra for that as i have to sit around waiting to pick up kids from ballet, swimming etc a fair bit

7. i also have seen that some of these systems can do other stuff such as provide sensors that tell you if the tire pressure is too low etc (also interested in that but not essential)


8. will it work with the existing controls on the golfs steering wheel?

9. can i connect to a rear camera and front or rear parking sensors (i need to add these to the car so would rather get it from the same place and have it installed at the same time )

so any idea of a good reliable unit that can do (all or most) of these things ... the ones on ebay are about $550
> $650 but i dont know if they are any good ...

approx cost of units + acceptable installation fee ... less $$ is better, but only if it does the job well!

cheers and thanks for taking the time to read all this

regards
A|T

any help, advise, suggestions, referrals appreciated ... would prefer to use and support forum sponsors (altho i did emailed and pm one a few days ago and still have not had a reply as yet )

[Transporter]

As long as they didn't register the car to your name, you should still be able to get the GTI now (don't take the delivery of the 90TSI), and it would cost you less than buying again in 2-3 years time.

[moda]

Assuming Mk7?

1,2,3 yes,

4 no, most aftermarket headunits have shocking radio reception

5 yes but dunno why you would

6 yes but again, dunno why you would

7 yes, tpms (tyre pressure monitoring system), bit more effort than its worth tbh

8 yes, most should to varying degrees, MFD compatibility is more an issue

9 yes, but doubt it would accept OEM cameras, most units would take a standard video feed, oem cameras have a fakra plug.

Can get aftermarket units that fit the spot like oem, most run either android or wince, avoid crappy generic units made in china. There aren't many out on the market atm that look very interesting/good, to be honest. In most cases you'd be better off just paying the money to get the OEM unit fitted from factory.

[aussietanker]

Thanks Transporter ... based on your comments i did contact the dealer but unfortunately the car is already registered in my name, and sales have said that it will cost several thousand dollars to "unregister" it because it then becomes a "second hand" car as it was already registered/owned by someone .. not sure if thats completely true or not, but i will stay with the base model ...

dont get me wrong, its not that i dislike the base model at all .... actually, i really like the car ... its just that once i started looking a bit closer the GTI looked even nicer! ...

i normally only lease my cars for 3 years, so i will just view that as a time to evaluate the brand and the model .. and if i am happy with it when the lease is up i will then consider trading up to the GTI next time round

i am sure that i will be happy with the selected model

moda ... thanks for the summary ... yes, its a mk 7 ... hand over tomorrow am

i have an aftermarket sat nav in the car that i am trading in - not sure of the brand, altho its not a cheap chinese unit ... to be honest, the radio in that unit works fine. The kids use the radio a fair bit when they are in the car but i don't use it much at all ... i prefer to choose my own music ...

First 3 points are the most important so that's good ...

5 & 6 (&7) are just on the list as "gee, that would be nice" but not at all essential ... the main reason that being able to watch a video or movie/tv is that i have one child who is an elite athlete and i have to wait for him at training almost every day which involve me sitting around in the car waiting for 1.5 hours almost every day. So being able to watch a video or movie would be nice ... but its not essential at all ... i just noticed that the chinese one on ebay had that feature (if it worked as it claimed to!)

i have seen several comments on here and other vw forums that the OEM sat nav is not very good ... i would be very interested to hear from anyone who has put an aftermarket sat nav unit in a Golf ... and how they feel about it and what brands that they would recommend etc

Appreciate the comments and observations so far, please keep the comments coming

cheers

A|T

[Guest001]

Thanks Transporter ... based on your comments i did contact the dealer but unfortunately the car is already registered in my name, and sales have said that it will cost several thousand dollars to "unregister" it because it then becomes a "second hand" car as it was already registered/owned by someone .. not sure if thats completely true or not, but i will stay with the base model ...

dont get me wrong, its not that i dislike the base model at all .... actually, i really like the car ... its just that once i started looking a bit closer the GTI looked even nicer! ...

i normally only lease my cars for 3 years, so i will just view that as a time to evaluate the brand and the model .. and if i am happy with it when the lease is up i will then consider trading up to the GTI next time round

i am sure that i will be happy with the selected model

moda ... thanks for the summary ... yes, its a mk 7 ... hand over tomorrow am

i have an aftermarket sat nav in the car that i am trading in - not sure of the brand, altho its not a cheap chinese unit ... to be honest, the radio in that unit works fine. The kids use the radio a fair bit when they are in the car but i don't use it much at all ... i prefer to choose my own music ...

First 3 points are the most important so that's good ...

5 & 6 (&7) are just on the list as "gee, that would be nice" but not at all essential ... the main reason that being able to watch a video or movie/tv is that i have one child who is an elite athlete and i have to wait for him at training almost every day which involve me sitting around in the car waiting for 1.5 hours almost every day. So being able to watch a video or movie would be nice ... but its not essential at all ... i just noticed that the chinese one on ebay had that feature (if it worked as it claimed to!)

i have seen several comments on here and other vw forums that the OEM sat nav is not very good ... i would be very interested to hear from anyone who has put an aftermarket sat nav unit in a Golf ... and how they feel about it and what brands that they would recommend etc

Appreciate the comments and observations so far, please keep the comments coming

cheers

A|T

Most aftermarket are crap compared to the VW factory unit.
Yes the navigation is not the best but the rest will do what you list without problems. With the others you will probably spend more than its worth trying to integrate it into the car.

Dont know about the units for a MK 7 but the RNS510 is available for probably under $1300 and it WILL WORK.

Try the forum sponsor Home page Euro Car Upgrades

[ian]

I just bought a RNS 510 P dated 06/2014 from the uk including postage $949 arrived in 4 days
Easy swap over just had to get it coded for MDF

[aussietanker]

Has anyone looked at, or bought a unit from here > Golf Mk7 GPS | CarKitMe | Sydney ... can anyone confirm if this will work ok in my 2014 golf and not mess up the existing audio and steering wheel controls?

[aussietanker]

I just bought a RNS 510 P dated 06/2014 from the uk including postage $949 arrived in 4 days
Easy swap over just had to get it coded for MDF

what model/year car do you have ian, and who did you get to install it and do the coding ian? ... are you happy with both the units navigation and its integration with the audio system and the existing steering wheel controls?

regards
A|T

[Guest001]

That unit appears to be only a Nav and not an entertainment unit as well. They have an entertainment unit a Zenec but its over $2000 so you would be far better taking Ians route and buying something you know will work.

Quite a few have tried aftermarket units trying to save money and ended up in tears.

[ian]

hey aussie its a piece of cake to install your self a mate of mine coded it in about 5 minutes and every thing works as it should AC navigation audio all on the MDF

Oh I have a New tiguan the 130 TDI