More specifically cheapo non branded stuff from likes of ebay?
Daughter is thinking of one for her first car, '08 Fiesta. Personally I wouldn't bother changing the factory unit but try telling a 17yr old
that.
Although I do understand a little given the amount of music on her phone and the other features they offer. But are the cheap ones utter garbage?
J
I do. I bought an Erisin custom fit nav unit for my mk4 Mondeo. I worked well in many respects. The navigation was great and the sound quality on SD
card, DVD, bluetooth and via the iPhone input was good. The radio was poor though. However after 18 months it had given up - the nav went first and
then the whole thing died.
I now have a Kenwood DAB double din which is great. Does pretty much everything the Erisin did except nav, which I now use my phone for.
So they aren't crap but in my experience don't last well.
With all these units you can add a reversing camera which is really handy.
Stu
[Edited on 27/7/17 by SJ]
I've fitted a couple for costumers. They were regarded as "amazing value hi spec" units by them but "fancy eBay tat" by us. Both had issues with fit as the facias were very slightly oversize so a tight fit in the dash. One had to be trimmed to go in. Also when the other had to come out to access a heater control the release catches didn't... We were lucky to get it out without marking the dash.
Looked at such cheap eBay units for Seat and VW cars we've had. I bought one at one stage for £100, but after receiving it and looking it over I
never fitted it. Returned it within a week and had a refund.
Big name brands may well be more pricey (think VW wanted close to £900 for one with Sat Nav), but I'd be more comfortable with them for fit,
finish and performance.
The other element to watch is connectivity. Some of the cheaper ones suggest that the cars wiring needs to be modified for them to work properly.
Given the complexity of more modern car electronics this puts me off them a lot!
In summary, get a sat nav app on the phone and live with the standard head unit already in the vehicle. I'm sure not the answer a 17yr old wants
to hear, but work on the overall money/time/hassle saving factor and try hard to persuade her.
If she's anything like my kids it would fall upon you to install it too
Look out on gumtree, ebay and facebook for second hand units of named brands I bout a sony £400rrp unit for £120 as it had been stood on a shelf a
while so no garentee it worked so took a small 12v battery and tested it on collection. A bit cheeky on my part as it was up at £180 but got it down
due to he couldnt proove it all worked, just didnt tell him I was going to try it with my battery first