Anyone got a Kenwood/Garmin GVN60 Satnav Installed?

[ajw1100]

My wife has an 18 reg Fabia MkIII, it was already built and had everything she wanted, colour, options, only one thing missing - Satnav.

Dealer said no problem we can fit a Kenwood/Garmin.

They installed the unit in the center console as it seemed the only place it would fit, we collected the car and we wanted to put our own POI's on the unit.

For that we needed to access the unit SD Card slot which we couldn't as it was buried. I bought an extension lead  and the dealer removed the console to fit the lead then put it all back together again.

Using the instructions on the Kenwood website I downloaded & installed POILoader. I made 3 SD cards with a single POI and not one of the 3 was recognized by the Garmin.

 

Have you fitted or had fitted one of these in your car? If so where was it fitted and how did you overcome the problem of accessing the card slot?

 

[macsmurf]

I got the dealer to put the unit with the SD card slot under the glovebox purely so I could access the slot (relatively) easily: this was achieved with a large velcro sticker! I've had no problems with the unit reading SD cards. Maybe a problem with the extension lead?

 

[AGFalco]

And or the card you are using.

I seem to remember that the advise is not to use a micro SD card with an adaptor to make it full size.

 

Thanks AG Falco

[ajw1100]

Thanks for the replies, I would have preferred the unit under the glove box or even in it, however the dealer said it went in the console so that's where they fitted it!

The lead/cable is Std Sd to Std SD, no micro SD adapters.

Searching elsewhere I found I may have had the SD cards file system wrong so that might have something to do with it I will find out in the morning when I can see what I'm doing in the car.......

[ajw1100]

I have re done the SD card and checked it is as the Garmin want's it. Tried again this morning and still nothing. Either the extension cable is not plugged in correctly or the cable is faulty.

 

Is there a guide for center console removal anywhere ??

[MaryV]

I too have an 18 plate Mk 3 Fabia (mine's an SEL). I too thought it had everything I wanted except a sat nav, so had the Garmin GVN60 installed.  It's 3 weeks old tomorrow, and I already love my car - except for the sat nav, which I think will drive me to distraction.  I have the same problem as above (no access to SD card slot) and this is being made a bigger problem by the fact that the map doesn't show some local 'new' roads that opened 2 years ago, and I can't see how the map can be updated without access to the internet / an SD card.  Satellite reception is also pretty rubbish as it keeps dropping out - guess this could be caused by out of date maps....  Can't access traffic updates either - the satnav screen blames poor satellite reception, but I think it's another SD card issue.  Car going back to dealer this week to have this looked at....  Anyone got any advice?

[ffox]

Kenwood will supply an aerial booster which will fix the traffic problem.  They only supply it to dealers - you can't order it yourself.  

 

My wife's Polo has never had any problems with satellite reception, so the dealer will need to have a look at that.   

 

The official Garmin/Kenwood sites say that map updates for the GVN60 have ceased, but I believe that some time spent googling might come up with an alternative solution.

 

Another post on here somewhere has mentioned a self-install with the unit velcroed to the underside of the glovebox.  Personally, I think that the dealer should source the map, charge you for the SD card, then perform the update for you with no labour charge.  Good luck with that!

 

[Guest]

See this thread about getting to the SD card slot and updating the maps.

[ajw1100]

The dealer installed the Kenwood with an extension ribbon cable extended into the cabin by the USB/AUX sockets, but as said I could not get the Kenwood to recognize the SD card with my POi's.

Both ribbon cables, one from ebay and one from Amazon were tried in the Kenwood, neither worked properly. Both were intermittent. The ribbons on both were very flimsy.

With the Kenwood out and having the SD card inserted directly seemed to work and accepted my POI's.

So I could access the Kenwood myself the dealer 'installed' - and I use the word lightly- it under the left lower side panel of the center column. There is a main, upper section, with the hand  brake and gear lever and under this a panel each side with a screw in the front and clips along the top where it meets the upper section.

The side panel can be pulled away far enough to sort of clip the Kenwood behind it held in place with the rear Kenwood case lugs sitting/resting on the top edge of the carpet. To access the Kenwood its just a case of removing front screw, pulling panel away, sliding fingers behind to allow you to release Kenwood and drop it down thereby giving access to it and the card slot. This is obviously far from perfect and very Heath Robinson but seems to work as it has not caused any problems so far. At least the card slot is accessible but it is a bit of a faff having to grovel around the passenger foot-well in order to carry out the job, just hope I don't have to do too often with my dodgy back!!

 

A good torch and a mirror is helpful to see what is behind the panel when pulled away and where/how to 'secure' the Kenwood.

 

My next task will be to ask the dealer why they recommended an out of date unit with out of date maps and without the ability to update said out of date maps!

Edited 21 May, 2018 by ajw1100

[teraja]

Seems a bit difficult - wouldn't Android Auto and Google Maps be a better option?

[MaryV]

Thank you ffox, BeckiKeiko, ajw1100 for your advice and all the links.  I will wait and see what transpires in the dealer later this week, but I think I'm going to have a battle over this - sadly I think it may turn out to be a case of 'consumer goods act here I come'.  I really like the car (the ride, the engine, and a few other things which stand out positively) but because of some of the work I do, plus some of my hobbies, a reliable satnav has become a 'must have'. (What did we do before them?)  I actually thought I was getting the satnav shown in the Fabia brochure, although admit that that was never explicitly said, so was sad with what I've actually got even before I discovered its failings.  I've been told now that the one in the brochure, which is fully integral, only comes when it's fitted in the factory pre-delivery (which is an option I was never offered).

Think I may end up asking them to take the Kenwood/Garmin out and refund the full amount of the extra money I paid, and end up using Android Auto & Google Maps as teraja suggests.  Interestingly, that's what the salesman suggested pre-sale, but I said I wanted a fully integrated one as well as one that wouldn't use so much of my mobile data allowance each month.  Trouble is, as much as I already really like the Fabia, I wouldn't have bought it with such a poor satnav....

Edited 21 May, 2018 by MaryV

[AGFalco]

With Android Auto you can cut down on your data by downloading a home area map.

You download via Wifi at home and the map is updated every month.

This can then be used offline.

I live in a area with almost no mobile signal so this is useful to me.

I also download an area map using wifi at home for when travelling abroad.

 

Thanks AG Falco

[vc-10]

Google Maps via Android Auto is phenomenal- far superior to the factory Amundsen system. The cost of the Garmin satnav will buy you a lot of mobile data