First service - third party equipment found behind headunit!

[kiruji]

My diesel vRS is in for its first service today and I asked them to have a look at the headunit as it sometimes fails to respond to touching the screen and seems to lock up.  It's the stock vRS touchscreen - the Bolero?  Anyway, the guy just rang me to tell me that whatever is wrong with the headunit won't be covered by the warranty because it has third party equipment plugged into it behind it.  As I bought it as an ex-demo from a Skoda dealership, I'm slightly confused as to what it could be and the service chap couldn't shed any light either - his guess was maybe something to do with a 3rd party sat-nav system, but I thought it wasn't possible to add sat-nav to the stock system.

 

I asked him to take some pictures of whatever it is so I can try and identify it and take it up with the supplying dealer; I won't be too happy if the warranty is void on the stereo system...  He did say they could remove it for me but it would be chargeable!

 

Just wondered if anyone had any guesses at what the hell is going on before I get the pictures and post them up!

[alberg]

But the bolero doesn't have sat nav.

[Yogi-Bear]

Some sort of Google data slurping device?  NSA/GCHQ tap to monitor your phone calls?  Insurance black box?

 

There's a million and one things it could be... or it could be that the bloke doesn't know what he's talking about and it's all perfectly normal.

[Auric Goldfinger]

Think I'd be speaking to the dealer you got the car from

[Huskoda]

It may be a tracker. Can you put up a picture of it, as I work in the industry.

[kiruji]

When I pick the car up and get the pictures, I'll post them - and I'll be speaking to the supplying dealer once I have the evidence!

 

I was just wondering what the possibilities are

Edited 22 September, 2014 by kiruji

[susi]

I'm fairly sure this will be a telemetry box.

[mannyo]

I was going to say a tracker or some kind of black box like those used in the insurance industry. Could be as the car was previously a demo they had that kit to keep tabs on the car.

[Trekster]

In Denmark you can buy a third party windows CE navigation solution that is plugged into the bolero in a similar fashion. Usually placed behind the touchscreen. The manufacturer is Dynavin but could also be a zenec unit. Long pressing one of the Bolero buttons takes you to the nav...which is horrible and could well explain what you have experienced.

[Trekster]

I should mention that the solution is sanctioned by Skoda Denmark and isn't invalidating the manufacturer guarantee of the unit.

[FlyingGecko]

kiruji - so, they took it out to look at it, found something there, put it all back, and want to charge you to identify properly what they should've done in the first place? And what if it has no bearing on the problem?

 

Great customer service.

[Crogers]

So what does it look like?

[kiruji]

I'm waiting for the guy to email me the pictures, which he's promised to do this morning.

 

He said it said something about nav on it, but didn't know what it was.

[kiruji]

In Denmark you can buy a third party windows CE navigation solution that is plugged into the bolero in a similar fashion. Usually placed behind the touchscreen. The manufacturer is Dynavin but could also be a zenec unit. Long pressing one of the Bolero buttons takes you to the nav...which is horrible and could well explain what you have experienced.

 

Well, Trekster called it... Photos (attached) show a couple of boxes. Two minutes on Google gave me the Dynavin user manual (although the Italian version).  Scan through that for a minute and I now have sat-nav on my Bolero. The map and interface graphics are a bit shonky and I have no idea how well it works (although it loads far faster than the stock system in the last car I had), but I'm actually very happy!  I thought there was no way of getting sat-nav into the Bolero and had given up on it and was using my phone instead.

 

Now to have a word with Skoda UK and find out if it has actually invalidated the warranty or not...

 

I also want to find out if there's an English manual available and if it's possible to update the maps on it.  And I'd love to know how it ended up in my car!

Edited 23 September, 2014 by kiruji

[Crogers]

well if it was sold to you by a skoda dealer i think you should be ok, the next question what is it exactly and how much, people will want to know!

[Trekster]

well if it was sold to you by a skoda dealer i think you should be ok, the next question what is it exactly and how much, people will want to know!

Its about 300£ but..i must admit that the response in Denmark hasn't been stellar. The system is dated and as I've said runs windows CE..which by nature is crap..

But I guess its better then nothing, however it is MILES behind the original Amundsen and particularly Columbus.

It supports English and the maps are updatable.

[Coops]

http://www.dynavin.com/index.php is their main website

 

But Status Vehicle Technology are the UK distributor, and this is their VW offering: http://www.dynavinstore.com/shop/volkswagen-series-1/dynavin-dvn-vw-d99.html

[kiruji]

I'm trying to track down more info on it.  Found out the maps are done by Desnav.com and should be upgradable - I'm emailing them to find out if it is without buying a new license.

 

The system also includes a media player and will play music, movies, picture slideshows and even eBooks from a memory stick.  Not much use when the slot is buried behind the dashboard, but I think it might be extendable out to the cabin.

[Trekster]

The ones being fittet here are these ones:

 

http://www.cars-equipment.com/www/en/shop/navigation-parts/navigation-head-unit-dynavin-for-skoda/

And they are delivered with iGO navigation i believe

[kiruji]

Watching the video on that page, that's exactly the same as in my car - hold down the Media button to launch the thing.  The menu is exactly the same too, except as mentioned it uses a different navigation program, which is pretty nasty looking.