NAV swap
 

Hi, i was wondering if anyone(possibly someone who works at a mazda dealership tech department) knows about how much it would cost to have a nav unit installed into a non nav car. im guessing around 4,000 dollars, figure 2k for the nav system, plus money for the dash components that will need to be replaced to accomodate the nav and labor.

any input would be great.

-StealthFox

this has been discussed in a whole bunch of threads. just try a search. i think the general conclusion is that you can't (or it's not worth their time) to have the nav installed afterwards. i'd suggest an aftermarket unit.

i tried, i didnt come up with anything conclusive

*edit*
also, i really like the clean look of the factory one, which is why i guess id be willing to spend the extra money to get it installed

do what i did, trade in your car without nav and buy one with nav.

how much would i have to pay extra(we put 5 miles on the car)? over 2k?

I'll get you the link...some guy installed it...it looks like it would be hell to do but he said it wasn't nearly as bad

ok update here is the link
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-interior-audio-electronics-24/attempting-install-oem-navie-can-i-do-50286/

yeah i actually found this right before you posted...man that box with all of the connecting wire/harnesses was INSANE. i almost fainted when i saw that.

haha me too...I helped the guy out, I thought he was crazy, he is not a pro either, but dang he got it done :) I'm impressed

I would encourage you not to spend money on a mazda factory nav system. It has very limited capabilities and is quite cumbersome to use.

I have a modded Xbox for movies/games/music and use it for Hymee's scanalyser with a laptop...if you call that limited, well :cool:

I'd second that. The factory NAV is a POS. The hardware is nice, the integration is nice, the look is nice, the wow factor is nice. The DVD SUCKS. And it is the only one that you can use in the factory system.

I need a new thread to explain what a piece of crap it is. This is my favorite and it just happened this week.

I CAN SEE MY DESTINATION and I scroll ahead on the map and mark the point as a destination. The NAV system makes me do a U turn and go 20 F**king miles, 20 Miles?? I was a mile away and could see is as the crow flys.

Phew, the blood pressure was up again. If there is a "Rant about your NAV" thread please point me to it because I could come up with a new one every day.

Don't do it. Buy Microsoft Streets & Trips and a laptop. $29 and it works 100 times better.

I'm done. I'll try to remember my meds tomorrow.

Or, you can do this:

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-interior-audio-electronics-24/my-carputer-installation-54492/

what software version do you have? really I don't use the nav much...but it is'nt that bad

take your meds...and use the NAV for something fun...

I have the latest DVD and for my use it is that bad. It might work in the citys but where I live it has no clue about the back roads. They aren't really back roads because they are the only roads. I'm not way out in the sticks either and the roads are paved. I bought the nav because I wanted it to look for address when looking for real estate. I havn't been able to type in a road that it has known yet.

Don't get me started, it's too early to start drinking, but not by much!

Mine works fine. It's great in some ways and it sucks in other ways. There are a few issues where it doesn't know some streets (this happens a little TOO frequently sadly enough, three times recently, though one was a brand new street, one was a weird ass residential track. the other time, i have no idea why it didn't work). It also got the street my parents live on wrong. They live on an "avenue" but the software insists that they live on a "street". In fact the software claims that it's an avenue until half way up the street (it's a residential area) it turns into a "street".

I've never had it tell me to take a 20 mile detour though and the places that it does find fine, it directs me to fine.

EVEN Better: Pocket Map Navigator, a Blue Tooth Pocket PC, and the DeLorme Bluetooth GPS device.

About $240 plus the cost of the Pocket PC, and you can use it in any car.

Totally rocks - great turn-by-turn directions, vivid display, small, wireless. Awesome. I'd never buy a factory Nav ... useless toy.

...crazy, thats unbelievable

Mine works very well. It has glitches but your fooling yourself if you think other don't have their glitches too. I actually worked for ETAK for 9 years back in the mid 80's- mid 90's. We developed the first navigation system for automobiles. Way before GPS, we used a flux-gate compass, wheel sensors and digital cartography as our navigation. Worked very well but not nearly as well as the Mazda GPS system with Navtech data or any modern GPS system, except perhaps the fairly inadequate pocketpc GPS systems. It's not perfect and it doesn't have post offices (doh) but it still works VERY well indeed. The fact you don't have to swap tapes, cd's, memory cards, etc... everytime you enter a new region is fantastic as well since the DVD includes the entire country. Routing algorythms are not easy to calculate so if it get's it right 95% of the time, then it's doing very well. You may live in an area that has incorrect classification for road priorities (rural area) which may exagerate your problem. This would be a problem with the data, and that comes from Navigation Technologies in the bay area (NavTech) and is not a fault of the navigation system itself. If Navtech fixes bugs as they should, your particular problem would go away. I would suggest emailing Navtech about your problem and have it placed on their bug queue. When they release their next map version, you should have it fixed. I used to know everyone over their at Navtech and they are a bunch of competent people.

Hope this helps...

Stew, I would have to wholeheartedly disagree. Pocket PC's with GPS are exceedingly cumbersome, take up space, look awkward hanging onto the dash and most importantly are horrible for cross country trips. I bought one and used it to go from Texas to California with many stops in between. I spent so much time loading the next region into memory from my laptop it became quite annoying. I ended up using my laptop a lot more to find things because the pocket pc just couldn't keep up. I had the fastest Dell. You also have wires hanging everywhere and trying to see it in the sunlight was nearly impossible. I would NEVER go that route again. PocketPC screens aren't meant to be seen in the bright sunlight. Also, I had problems connected to satellites on ocassion although they did provide an external antennae that somewhat worked better, but again, you had to dangle wires from your dash, over or under a seat, out through the windshield and on top of the roof.

All in all, it was a mess and a pain to use. Highly UNRECOMMENDED. The best systems are integrated systems as they work seemlessly, relatively painlessly and are also the easiest to use not to mention that they are MUCH harder for a thief to steal. With the portable, you had to grab all the parts/pieces and take it with you every time you left the car if you wanted to make sure it was secure. Painful. Did I mention that it was a PAIN?? :)

i thought i was the only one
the worst time it got me lost was when i was going to polak house.
i was maybe 5 min away then all of a sudden it says to do a u turn and take a local rt.i was close enough to rip it out that day.took me like another 20 min to get there.

I decided to let it drive one day even though it seemed a little clueless - It said it could get me close. I was close but there was a river and no bridge for 10 miles in either direction. POS.

The hardware is great. The DVD is horrid. Why does Streets & Trips w/GPS find everything if they all aren't that good. It is 100 times better than the Mazda NAV.

I don't mean to attack you! But I tried Navtech twice and they only point back at Mazda. It's not Mazda's problem except that they don't have any other options. If you know good people there I'd like to take them for a ride because the only thing I have got from customer service is the cold shoulder. I have a $2000 option in my car and I won't even use it any more because it pisses me off.

Try to scroll around the map and find Portsmouth, NH. It only shows up on the highest zoom but Rye, a tiny town next to it shows up. It makes no sense.

Try to find Sanford, ME. Nevermind a street in Sanford, try to find the whole town. Good Luck. Errrrrr.

Please, Please if you know somebody that can help I can give them dozens of examples. I'd like to help make the product better but I haven't found anybody that gives a s*** yet. OK, I'm done again. Is my dissapointment with the product showing?

Yeah that's the setup I have, iPaq 5550 with the Bluetooth GPS unit. Works great.

but I hardly ever use it when in the city, since I know my way around. And I found the maps were a bit off or non existant way out in the country side where it might be of use.

Hmm, im heavily considering the trade in, but i'll first call a dealer to ask how much parts and labor would be. hmm hmm hmm, i wonder if there is an aftermarket that will fit in that dash accesory one that fits as clean as the OEM, the OEM one fits soo nicely and looks so good, and i plan on doing rx8garage.net stuff like the AV switcher to put a PS2 in there so i can have music, DVD's, and games in the car :D

^ You'll never find an aftermarket one that fits like the factory one unless you go the custom route.