Sat Nav - OEM vs aftermarket

[fliptophead]

I'm wanting to put sat nav into my Ed.30. I didnt get the chance to spec it at purchase time as the car was pre-specced pretty well, but missing sat nav.

I like the Kenwood DNX-7200 from what chance I had to play with it at the shop, and it looks like a great fit for a GTI. ( blue + red lights ).
Obviously I can pick up an MFD2 for a fraction of the VW price on E-bay.

What are the real pro's and cons of OEM vs aftermarket...

Advice appreciated.

[sexylady16v]

have seen some oem on ebay for £300 ish which looks a good investments, looks factory fit too

[Ridg]

i personally would say go aftermarket as you're going to get much more for your money eg speed camera, traffic and you can use it in more than one car easily.

[Hurdy]

I Thought about this and finally decided on the Kenwood DNX 7200 unit. The reasons being:-

It had a hard drive sat nav and so I can use the DVD slot to play CD's MP3's on DVD etc.
The IPOD set up is leagues ahead of the frankly rip-off IPOD prep that VW do.
I had a reverse camera set up fitted with it.
I also chose to have the Bluetooth prep with it. Very useful as it mutes the hifi when making/receiving calls, unlike a seperate hands free jobbie.
I got speed camera alerts fitted for free.
Touch screen

There are loads of other features too, but the main ones are above.

If you can fit it yourself or have mates rates then the system fitted would be around £1,000.

If the new OEM sat nav is as good as it looks then even with the extra features you would still have to fork out extra for Bluetooth, reverse camera etc and so would be about the same cost.

I don't regret my choice at all

[synnea]

Hurdy, I have been looking at the very same Kenwood unit today. Features wise it looks amazing and you can now even get an optional Digital TV tuner for it - not sure how the reception would be though.

Hows the colours etc at night - does it integrate well with the VW red/blue lighting at night? Can you play DVDs on the move or only when stationary?

The only thing putting me off at the moment is the security aspect of it. Cant take off the cover 

[monzablue16v]

If it's like the old ones, then with the amount of gubbins they'd have to remove to get it and still have it work they'd be there a good few hours

[fliptophead]

Security was one thing that bothered me, but I'm assuming its bolted in the same way the MFD2 is with the brackets.

Looking at some of the pix on the net, about fitting MFD2 it looks not that complicated, but certainly time consuming.

A determined thief, would probably stop at nothing,.. crowbar or anything, but they dont want to be there for more than a minute I suspect.


I liked the kenwood as you can now get the module that makes the Multifunction steering wheel all connect up too, which is compelling also.

I'm looking at
DNX-7200 + Bluetooth + Ipod (video) + Facia + Speed cameras etc for a good price similar to what Hurdy suggests.

It is worth going to the shop armed with internet prices, as they started with a first quote of 1200 quid just for the unit, and I told them to bxxxxr off, and I could get it from JustKenwood for a fraction over 800 quid...  Immediately they said they would match it, after verifying their price.


My Ed30 is garaged on a night and I typically careful where I park it... (touching wood as I type this)

[Cass]

I'm doing some negotiations with a guy from Czechoslovakia about a price on this:

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=62026.0

Price still a bit on the high side at the moment but I'll see how far it can go. It is likely he can supply more than 1 unit.

Cass

[J.M.]

I am also looking at the Kenwood DNX-7200 for my Ed.30, i agree with Hurdy the i-pod prep that VW supply is crap, it drives me nuts. Will have to pay to have it fitted though as i don't have a clue myself.

[Hurdy]

Hurdy, I have been looking at the very same Kenwood unit today. Features wise it looks amazing and you can now even get an optional Digital TV tuner for it - not sure how the reception would be though.

Hows the colours etc at night - does it integrate well with the VW red/blue lighting at night? Can you play DVDs on the move or only when stationary?

The only thing putting me off at the moment is the security aspect of it. Cant take off the cover 

Hi Synnea,

Colours at night are excellent. The Blue and red lighting on the VW is almost spot on with the DNX unit and people have even said that they thought it was OEM at night as the colours are so close. You can play DVD's on the move although this is not legal, so I don't recommend it

I followed s_tether with the security and caniballised an RCD300 unit and put the fascia over the DNX unit when leaving it anywhere which could be "a bit dodgy". It is spottable close up, but if some robbing dog just gives it a cursary glance then it looks like a boggo standard VW head unit (especially through the rear tints)