Has anyone upgraded their Bolero to a Columbus Sat Nav ? It appears to be well on the way as the display is shared. The Columbus is a £1540 factory fit option, how much to upgrade a Bolero?

The thing to ask yourself is: How much hassle do I want?

You've seen the amount of grief that the units that come off of ebay seem to be giving certain members of this forum who've bought units from there, so is it worth it?

Also the mapping doesn't appear to be that up to date & when you buy a new map it seems to be around a £100 or more!

You can buy a cheap sat nav to stick on your windscreen & get a free intial update with a TomTom or others, (I know you can get 4 maps per year for £85 with TomTom.)

As for the music side of it, you've got a SD card slot on the Bolero & if it has the latest firmware then it should accept a SDHC card of upto 32Gb & even if you record everything at 320kbps that's still one hell of a lot of music to listen to!

IMHO Save your money!

Bugger! I knew I forgot something..

The thing to ask yourself is: How much hassle do I want?

You've seen the amount of grief that the units that come off of ebay seem to be giving certain members of this forum who've bought units from there, so is it worth it?

Also the mapping doesn't appear to be that up to date & when you buy a new map it seems to be around a £100 or more!

You can buy a cheap sat nav to stick on your windscreen & get a free intial update with a TomTom or others, (I know you can get 4 maps per year for £85 with TomTom.)

As for the music side of it, you've got a SD card slot on the Bolero & if it has the latest firmware then it should accept a SDHC card of upto 32Gb & even if you record everything at 320kbps that's still one hell of a lot of music to listen to!

IMHO Save your money!

All of the so called extras, be it Sat Nav, leather etc. costs are never recouped come resale. Leather looks (and smells nice) and integrated sat nav looks so much neater and is more convenient. OK, you sell the car and its gone, so if you intend keeping the car for several years they both bring pleasure during your time with it Other than that it is money down the drain.

On the face of it the Bolero to Columbus appears easy but has anyone actually done it or had it done?

All of the so called extras, be it Sat Nav, leather etc. costs are never recouped come resale. Leather looks (and smells nice) and integrated sat nav looks so much neater and is more convenient. OK, you sell the car and its gone, so if you intend keeping the car for several years they both bring pleasure during your time with it Other than that it is money down the drain.

On the face of it the Bolero to Columbus appears easy but has anyone actually done it or had it done?

You seem to have made your mind up already :confused:

You seem to have made your mind up already :confused:

Well, not really - depends how much money would go down that proverbial drain :eek: It was one of those options I did consider prior to build but talked myself out of it - but it keeps nagging.

I'd be tempted upgrading the Bolero in my, soon to arrive, Fl. But, I have TomTom on my phone, rarely gets used. Its got Speed cameras on it and I have a modded window mount which clips onto the glovebox so no windscreen marks.

For me, its fixing the GSP antenna that puts me off! Running the cable to the roof, etc... Then having the ECU codded blar blar.

I'd be tempted upgrading the Bolero in my, soon to arrive, Fl. But, I have TomTom on my phone, rarely gets used. Its got Speed cameras on it and I have a modded window mount which clips onto the glovebox so no windscreen marks.

For me, its fixing the GSP antenna that puts me off! Running the cable to the roof, etc... Then having the ECU codded blar blar.

If you mean the GPS antenna, it just fits on the bulkhead behind the unit - there's no need to wire it into the roof aerial. Coding, for someone who has VCDS, is a piece of the proverbial, so if you know someone who has it that's no problem either.

It's a major bugbear of mine as to whether you need speed camera alerts, as you should be paying enough attention to your driving not to need them.

Unless you've got an absolute brick of a phone, the screen size will be far smaller than the Columbus, and even it has a touch screen on the phone, will be far more distracting than the Columbus.

Anything else I can help with - feel free to ask

Edited 11 October, 200916 yr by Brimma

Brimma harping on about not needing speed camera warnings agian I see

Seriously I had literally just bout a TomTom Live XL Europe at over £200 when I got the Octy and was very unsure as to coughing up £500+ on ebay for a Columbus. a month on I'm glad I did - the unit works like a dream. Its responsive, sounds first class, it veryusable and the sat nav works well. It >isn't< as good a sa TomTom and lacks a lot of features but having it integrated means the usability is 100% better and in over 20 journeys to unknown locations, it has yet to screw up.

It was dropped straight into a car that had an Audience originally without coding and works fine. Stu is goiong to tweak things with VCDS to dive me stalk control but to be honest 97% of its usability is available straight "out of the box"

I'm keeping my car for 5yrs so it was worth the investment. Only you can decide if you want to commit that amount of money. I do think however that your Bolero should fetch good money on ebay so that could help offset the cost.

Brimma harping on about not needing speed camera warnings agian I see

:thumbup::thumbup:

Seriously I had literally just bout a TomTom Live XL Europe at over £200 when I got the Octy

Shame :P You could have got 3 and a bit fixed penalties for that cost

was very unsure as to coughing up £500+ on ebay for a Columbus. a month on I'm glad I did - the unit works like a dream. Its responsive, sounds first class, it veryusable and the sat nav works well. It >isn't< as good a sa TomTom and lacks a lot of features but having it integrated means the usability is 100% better and in over 20 journeys to unknown locations, it has yet to screw up.

It was dropped straight into a car that had an Audience originally without coding and works fine. Stu is goiong to tweak things with VCDS to dive me stalk control but to be honest 97% of its usability is available straight "out of the box"

I'm keeping my car for 5yrs so it was worth the investment. Only you can decide if you want to commit that amount of money. I do think however that your Bolero should fetch good money on ebay so that could help offset the cost.

:thumbup: Yay - we actually agree on something

It's a major bugbear of mine as to whether you need speed camera alerts, as you shoul be paying enough attention to your driving not to need them.

:iagree:

You don't need to drive like a twonk to have an enjoyable drive in the car. Always bugs me when people go on about how fast there car is etc yet they haven't been trained to drive the car fast.

Control & Fluidity make a better, more involving & satisfying drive. Not been thrown about like a sock in a cheap washing machine

As i always say - For men driving is like Sex. We think we are brilliant at both but seldom are

As for the OP. I would suggest that the difference in cost between the 2 units mean that Columbus would be the better option to go for.

I have Columbus with Q2 BMW maps and it is far better than my old TomTom Go720T. It's far better than the TomTom on my iPhone. Which i only have when for when im in a works vehicle

Carl:thumbup:

If you mean the GPS antenna, it just fits on the bulkhead behind the unit - there's no route to wire it into the roof aerial. Coding, for someone who has VCDS is a piece of the proverbial, so if you know someone who has it that's no problem either.

It's a major bugbear of mine as to whether you need speed camera alerts, as you shoul be paying enough attention to your driving not to need them.

Unless you've got an absolute brick of a phone, the screen size will be far smaller than the Columbus, and even it has a touch screen on the phone, will be far more distracting than the Columbus.

Anything else I can help with - feel free to ask

Thanks.

As a matter of interest, approx. how much would a dealer be likely to charge for the Bolero to Columbus upgrade?

Thanks.

As a matter of interest, approx. how much would a dealer be likely to charge for the Bolero to Columbus upgrade?

Erm about £2k i was quoted. As they won't buy the Bolero off you so you will pay for the unit and then the labour.

So i bought mine for just short of £900 on fleabay (was about 18months ago so prices have come down alot) and installed it myself

Carl:thumbup:

Looking on Ebay you can buy a Columbus for less than £500 which begs the question why do Skoda charge £1500 for one.

If the sellers on Ebay are still making a profit on £500 then with the quantities that Skoda must buy them at they're probably no more than around £250-£300. Given that the fitting is no more involved than a Bolero and they save the cost of the Bolero as well then I'm sure they could fit them and still make a decent profit for less than £400. If they were this price then many more would opt for them and they could buy them for even less.

Maybe like radios and air con most cars will have them fitted as standard one day.

Like I said I wouldn't buy one off of Ebay after reading on here that quite a few of them seem to have odd "modifications", which would suggest that they come from dodgy sources.

I think if I were to consider buying one, I'd more than likely buy from a dealer or reputable source, NOT Ebay.

So the Columbus is £1540 as a factory fit option, £2000 as a dealer supply & fit and from £500ish via fleabay (probably used or refurb.) How much would a dealer be likely to charge for a bona fide item without the fitting incurred?

Looking on Ebay you can buy a Columbus for less than £500 which begs the question why do Skoda charge £1500 for one.

If the sellers on Ebay are still making a profit on £500 then with the quantities that Skoda must buy them at they're probably no more than around £250-£300. Given that the fitting is no more involved than a Bolero and they save the cost of the Bolero as well then I'm sure they could fit them and still make a decent profit for less than £400. If they were this price then many more would opt for them and they could buy them for even less.

Maybe like radios and air con most cars will have them fitted as standard one day.

What they could do and what they do are unfortunately two completely different things. Bear in mind that the item from Skoda will be brand new, and no-one is ever going to pay anywhere near the brand new price on an item on ebay.

To say Skoda must be buying them in at £250-£300 is quite frankly naive. On ebay you pays your money and takes your chance - I was one of those who fell lucky, as have many, many others. As with anything there will still be horror stories.

So the Columbus is £1540 as a factory fit option, £2000 as a dealer supply & fit and from £500ish via fleabay (probably used or refurb.) How much would a dealer be likely to charge for a bona fide item without the fitting incurred?

I was quoted nearly £1700 just for the unit alone (£1686 iirc)which i thought was absurd considering it is £1540 as an optional extra.

I then asked what would take 3 hours to install and they said it was all the coding etc. I rang 3 different dealers and was told the same price & labour time by all. Hence i went on Ebay.

If you want one from Ebay just look at the Sellers Reputation & use Sellers that others on here have used to get there's.

If you do your research then you "should" be okay. Just make sure you use paypal or a credit card as at least then your covered should anything go wrong:)

Carl:thumbup:

Like I said I wouldn't buy one off of Ebay after reading on here that quite a few of them seem to have odd "modifications", which would suggest that they come from dodgy sources.

I think if I were to consider buying one, I'd more than likely buy from a dealer or reputable source, NOT Ebay.

NAVANDBMWPARTS - ebay trader

My Columbus has its seals intact and came with original code card. Seems OK to me!