Thinking of fitting Columbus navigation

[Brimma]

I just believe it is extremely prudent to make the OP fully aware of the situation.

If he really doesn't care where a potential purchase is coming from - like so many people who "buy off a mate in the pub" then that is fine.

If you ask no questions no lies can be told and the OP is a happy person.

As I said in another post, those looking to buy pirate DVD's or Pirate Software really don't care about the history of the product they are buying.

I'm slightly surprised and disappointed Stoof by your recent responses on this subject :|

I can remember the good old days when you, and I, used to post a regular update of units for sale on ebay - what's happened since then to change your view?

Unless you've had your fingers burned by a bricked unit?

[EGC]

I work in the retail motor trade and know from bitter experience that a lot of the 'used' and 'refurbished' stereos is in reality stolen goods. I still have a Merc unit on my shelf that we now know to have been stolen in Europe and made its way to the UK (Doncaster) via Poland. Unfortunately the police dont seem interested in looking into this.

I bet nearly all the stuff coming in from eastern europe is stolen. If someone can show me a genuine source of so-called refurbished units then I would be very interested in buying some. I have numerous trade suppliers and no one has yet found, or even heard of, a supplier of genuine VAG ICE other than the going to the dealers themselves.

[fluffmeister]

I work in the retail motor trade and know from bitter experience that a lot of the 'used' and 'refurbished' stereos is in reality stolen goods. I still have a Merc unit on my shelf that we now know to have been stolen in Europe and made its way to the UK (Doncaster) via Poland. Unfortunately the police dont seem interested in looking into this.

I bet nearly all the stuff coming in from eastern europe is stolen. If someone can show me a genuine source of so-called refurbished units then I would be very interested in buying some. I have numerous trade suppliers and no one has yet found, or even heard of, a supplier of genuine VAG ICE other than the going to the dealers themselves.

Is it not possible that many of the genuine units could be coming from breakers, as there are far more Skoda's on the road in Eastern europe than here in the UK, and they probably have accidents over there as well

There is always going to be an element of dodgy units on E-Bay but many of us have found reliable, well rated sellers in the past. Superskoda have in the past sold Genuine Columbus unit's and do sell many many OEM parts such as MFSW, are these new items all stolen to?

[Brimma]

Superskoda have in the past sold Genuine Columbus unit's and do sell many many OEM parts such as MFSW, are these new items all stolen to?

Presume you could add Skodateile to that list too fluff - my maxidot display was about £250 delivered, dealer price is about £860

That obviously must have been nicked too if some of the comments above are anything to go by :S

[Lou_O]

I work in the retail motor trade and know from bitter experience that a lot of the 'used' and 'refurbished' stereos is in reality stolen goods. I still have a Merc unit on my shelf that we now know to have been stolen in Europe and made its way to the UK (Doncaster) via Poland. Unfortunately the police don't seem interested in looking into this.

The Theft Act 1968 s.22 and 24 describes handling stolen goods as an offence regardless of where they were stolen.

The problem for the Police would be proving the buyer knew they were stolen.

It's a shame they don't want to act, my guess would be that someone importing stolen goods is probably up to more stuff that the police would like to know about.

[Hedge]

In response to the OP. Fill your boots. Top toy.

[Lou_O]

In response to the OP. Fill your boots. Top toy.

+1

Especially if you get the latest software allowing SDHC cards. Without this you're limited to 2GB SD cards which is a bit pants.

[Brimma]

The Theft Act 1968 s.22 and 24 describes handling stolen goods as an offence regardless of where they were stolen.

The problem for the Police would be proving the buyer knew they were stolen.

Almost right, but before you get to the stage of whether a person knew or believed they were stolen, the prosecution would have to prove they were stolen

May be a pretty tall order

Edited 23 February, 2011 by Brimma

[wmscud]

Would I be right in saying that the columbus unit is not only in Skoda cars.

If so they may be out of most VAG cars so there would be an ample supply,maybe thats where the eBay dealers probably get them.I do a lot of transactions on eBay buying and selling and would hope that people I sell to are not suspicious of me,as I am not of them.

As long as you have proof of purchase whats the problem.

[fluffmeister]

In response to the OP. Fill your boots. Top toy.

+2

[Hedge]

Would I be right in saying that the columbus unit is not only in Skoda cars.

If so they may be out of most VAG cars so there would be an ample supply,maybe thats where the eBay dealers probably get them.I do a lot of transactions on eBay buying and selling and would hope that people I sell to are not suspicious of me,as I am not of them.

As long as you have proof of purchase whats the problem.

In Volkswagen world it's called an RNS510 but the colour scheme is unique to Skoda.

[Gadget6014]

Thanks Guys

I'm looking at OEM (Has Mobile fitting but not sure if Bicester is classed as M1 Corridor :( ) or this ebay seller http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200578729011&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Either way I can check the unit out and code card ETC..before handing over my cash also have an address and face if things go wrong.

[Voyager220v]

To the OP, Ive ordered one as standard on my next VRS imo they are a good unit if some what over priced. For me whilst portables may be more flexible and more up to date they are also a hassle to carry around, mount/dismount, & more attractive to the casual thief.

To those concerned about prices of non-factory units being “too” low (whatever that value is) and thus an indicator they are all stolen, report the seller to the police if you think this is sufficient evidence of guilt, otherwise all you are doing is risking slandering someone. By that metric Amazon.com must be guilty of theft on almost every item. There are many reasons why anything may sell for less than the manufactures rrp, theft is but one of them.

[mackie]

Random eBay seller does not have the outrageous buying power of Amazon though. I'm actually in the market for one of these units but I'm having to ask myself how people are letting them go for so little. Around 600 notes seems ok but half that for "as new" items seems a bit cheap, barely more than the dodgy clones.

[Voyager220v]

Going off topic here and I'll make this my last say on the matter.

I suspect its not that cheap if you consider the real manufacturing cost, and its still probably above what VAG pay for the units. Call me suspicious but if I had questionable ethics I suspect its cheaper, way less risk and more profitable to buy a dozen units from someone connected to the supplier. Consider many electronic items are often manufactured in china, or at least assembled from parts sourced there. How much of a clone is something that comes off the same assembly line or contains the same parts? No one will tell you who the someone is because they dont want VAG persuing the supplier to close down the supply. Just a thought.

Edited 24 February, 2011 by Voyager220v

[fluffmeister]

Random eBay seller does not have the outrageous buying power of Amazon though. I'm actually in the market for one of these units but I'm having to ask myself how people are letting them go for so little. Around 600 notes seems ok but half that for "as new" items seems a bit cheap, barely more than the dodgy clones.

The thing is though, if it's a no reserve auction, then it went for what it went for, as always on e-bay, you win some you lose some. I just picked up a Nardi 3 spoke airbag steering wheel for my MX-5, I missed one on ebay a few days previous where I had bid £150 and it went for just under £200, I then picked mine up, same wheel type, same seller for £79.

You simply can't use ebay prices as a guide.

[OrganistSRA]

I had a Columbus fitted some time ago by OEM Retrofits, and although it sends the right display to the Maxidot in Nav mode, it takes over it completely, so when I'm in Nav mode I can't use the Maxidot's other features at all. Also, they told me at the time that the MFSW wouldn't work with the Columbus unit - I had an MFD2 before and it worked fine with that. Does anyone know any different and perhaps how to sort out these two issues?

Thanks in advance,

S.

[Nick P]

I had a Columbus fitted some time ago by OEM Retrofits, and although it sends the right display to the Maxidot in Nav mode, it takes over it completely, so when I'm in Nav mode I can't use the Maxidot's other features at all. Also, they told me at the time that the MFSW wouldn't work with the Columbus unit - I had an MFD2 before and it worked fine with that. Does anyone know any different and perhaps how to sort out these two issues?

Thanks in advance,

S.

It needs the firmware re-loading, this time with the SK / PQ tables switched. You'd have hoped they would have known about that really. If you want to fix it, you'll have to get hold of a modified firmware image, burn it and load it on to the unit.

[Lyonzo]

Nick P, who are the eBay sellers you've bought stolen units from?

[EGC]

Some of you guys living in fairlyland or what?

Most of the units coming into the UK are nicked. It rife all across europe. I am in the motor trade and get offered knocked-off stereos all the time. They even cold-call the workshop and ask what we want and offer to come and fit it. These are mainly people with connection in eastern europe.

Code cards are not problem.

You can get software from Lithuania to set whatever pin code and serial number you want! Only 300 Euro and comes with the lead to the quadlock.

--Link Removed--

You get templates for the code cards off the web and print on to a piece of card!!

If you must buy one of these then do not pay cash. Only pay by check or card and make sure you get some kind of warranty.

Edited 27 February, 2011 by Nick P
Link removed to Lithuanian RNS cracking tool suplier

[Nick P]

Thanks EGC - those leads / software seem to have come down in price in the last 18 months. Like I pointed out earlier in the thread, I wouldn't think anyone still solders onto the system board.

[Brimma]

T

Some of you guys living in fairlyland or what?

Most of the units coming into the UK are nicked. It rife all across europe. I am in the motor trade and get offered knocked-off stereos all the time. They even cold-call the workshop and ask what we want and offer to come and fit it. These are mainly people with connection in eastern europe.

Good post, you just forgot to tell us how many you bought

[countryboy]

I had a Columbus fitted some time ago by OEM Retrofits, and although it sends the right display to the Maxidot in Nav mode, it takes over it completely, so when I'm in Nav mode I can't use the Maxidot's other features at all. Also, they told me at the time that the MFSW wouldn't work with the Columbus unit - I had an MFD2 before and it worked fine with that. Does anyone know any different and perhaps how to sort out these two issues?

Thanks in advance,

S.

As Nick says you'll need to download the firmware again swapping over the SKtable and the PQtable this will activate the MFSW. The Columbus will take over the maxidot display when you are actively navigating. You can however cancel this and go back to normal MFD display by pressing and holding the bottom end of the rocker switch on the wiper stalk or reset button on the underside of said stalk. I can't remember which, the navigation will then be working in the background.

Ian

[Lyonzo]

When adding a Columbus, does the maxidot ot display navigational arrows, or is radio and track titles also added to the cycle while pressing the buttons on the stalk?

[OrganistSRA]

As Nick says you'll need to download the firmware again swapping over the SKtable and the PQtable this will activate the MFSW. The Columbus will take over the maxidot display when you are actively navigating. You can however cancel this and go back to normal MFD display by pressing and holding the bottom end of the rocker switch on the wiper stalk or reset button on the underside of said stalk. I can't remember which, the navigation will then be working in the background.

Ian

Thanks for that. I know about the process for taking the Maxidot out of the Nav display mode - this used to work with the old head unit, but not with the Columbus, as I said, it takes over completely. It also does this in any other selected mode, i.e. if I select, for the sake of arguement, the 'Audio' display via the Maxidot menu, it is then latched into that mode and the only way to get back to the normal display is by switching the radio off.

I haven't dared touch anything to do with the firmware on my Columbus yet for fear of bricking it. If there's anyone here reasonably close to Gatwick Airport who has experience in sorting this sort of thing out, I would be very happy to reward their time and experience with numerous pints of beer!