Aftermarket sat nav

[Silverdust]

What options are there for aftermarket sat nav?

I have seen some chinese infotainment units that replace the headunit in the centre console, are they any good? 

[Sled Driver]

Hi Huw, 

We have separate Garmin satnav for long trips. It has built in lifetime updates included. Ours is a 2016 Ct200h. The Satnav built in has been OK for local trips but anything further then it's the Garmin. Far more up to date 👍🏽

[Herbie]

7 minutes ago, Silverdust said:

What options are there for aftermarket sat nav?

I have seen some chinese infotainment units that replace the headunit in the centre console, are they any good? 

It's really all very messy and nothing is guaranteed to be as good as they look.

I spent about £200 on a Carlinkit from Aliexpress but I just couldn't get it to work. I then decided to get a Grom Vline 2 which, as it turns out, was faulty so I'm waiting for a new replacement to be sent out, but I do have to say that I'm more confident about getting the Vline working than I was with the Carlinkit.

Other options are to use Waze, Google Maps or Sygic on your phone, or to get a stand-alone sat nav such as a TomTom.

[Las Palmas]

6 hours ago, Sled Driver said:

Hi Huw, 

We have separate Garmin satnav for long trips. It has built in lifetime updates included. Ours is a 2016 Ct200h. The Satnav built in has been OK for local trips but anything further then it's the Garmin. Far more up to date 👍🏽

+ + + + +

Garmin is probably the best.

Lifetime update for several models (we have one that is 7 years old and 10 times better than the built-in Lexus OEM 2021 map we had installed a year or so ago.

[diabolik]

All sat navs were outdated once modern LIVE navigations were released.

Your best, your cheapest and most realible is your phone.

Use Waze or google maps, they use the same database of live traffic with countless of people using them at any given moment.

[Silverdust]

On 12/5/2021 at 4:14 PM, Herbie said:

It's really all very messy and nothing is guaranteed to be as good as they look.

I spent about £200 on a Carlinkit from Aliexpress but I just couldn't get it to work. I then decided to get a Grom Vline 2 which, as it turns out, was faulty so I'm waiting for a new replacement to be sent out, but I do have to say that I'm more confident about getting the Vline working than I was with the Carlinkit.

Other options are to use Waze, Google Maps or Sygic on your phone, or to get a stand-alone sat nav such as a TomTom.

Thanks, I may heed the warning regarding aftermarket units!

Wonder if its plug and play to retrofit factory sat nav from car of same age. Ours has no media display, so could involve some cutting of the dashboard but not impossible. 

[Herbie]

1 hour ago, Silverdust said:

Wonder if its plug and play to retrofit factory sat nav from car of same age. Ours has no media display, so could involve some cutting of the dashboard but not impossible. 

Braver man than me! 

I didn't mind pulling the dash apart but cutting it would be a step too far for me. I have to say that the Grom Vline 2 seems to be the best of the aftermarket devices. A lot of people seem to be happy with it and they say that it works well, which is why I intend to persevere with it, but it is expensive at just over £500.

[Silverdust]

Cutting the dash is a bit extreme! 

Looked into the Grom Vline 2, still seems to be firmware issues encountered by some owners fitting it. 

Also a bit confused, ours has no sat nav or infotainment from the factory - so where does the screen go?