lschwarcz

UPDATE: I finally got a replacement and it's now working! I really wasn't sure if I'd ever get one given their lousy customer service. All I have left is to neatly hide all of the wiring. I'm going to copy Robert Dingli and replace the 12v cigarette lighter in the center armrest with a USB port to connect to the NavTool. I also don't like those clip on microphones and I'd like to make it hidden. I popped off the small panel that holds the cars OEM microphone in the roof console. This little panel can hold the mic on either the left or right side. I'm assuming this is for the left and right hand drive markets. I moved the original mic to the right side and then bought a replacement mic to use with the NavTool. One small issue with this, the OEM mic has such a low output that I have to yell right into the mic for anyone to hear me. I happened to have a spare mic for my computer that does work. I cracked open the small OEM mic housing, removed the mic and replaced it with the computer mic. If all goes as planned, I'll then have that in the left spot in the roof console and the mic will be fully hidden! This is my first time using CarPlay so I'm still learning. For example, I still haven't figured out how to play a playlist of podcasts. I can see the playlist but when I select it, it's empty even though there are episodes in there to play. My opinion on this device is if you're lucky and get a working unit, it's great! If you get a broken one, be prepared to spend months trying to get ahold of them to make any progress on getting the issue resolved. It took me the better part of 5 months to get a working unit. From any good company this would have taken a couple of weeks to get fully resolved. Overall, on a scale of 1 - 10, I'd rate the unit at 7 (not including the whole installation process), ease of installation 2 and customer service and all interactions with the company at 0. Good luck everyone! Larry.

You can watch it online here: https://play.fyi.tv/specials/all-you-need-to-know-overlanding/full-special Larry.

So yesterday, after not hearing anything from them in a while, I asked on the chat window, "Hello??? Is anybody out there? Been waiting more than 3-days for a return phone call." Someone immediately replied, "Yes we are here". I then ask, again, when the online return form would be fixed. Silence. But, at least today someone replied, "should be done today they ar upgrading server still". Now, is that true or are they just stalling while they continue to apparently do nothing? Who knows. What they obviously don't understand is that when they don't reply, even if they are working franticly around the clock, from the customers perspective nothing is happening. They don't seem to have a clue about setting expectations and keeping the customer informed. All I want is to have this unit working. The biggest issue is that since I had to splice their harness into the car harness removing it isn't as simple as just unplugging the device. If they had spent the extra few dollars for the OEM connectors they could have made this a total plug-n-play solution. I'll keep everyone here posted on the progress! Thanks, Larry.

The latest update is now they are telling me that I just need to exchange it for a new unit! UGH! Why did they keep telling me it's just a software update when it's really a hardware issue? And when the unit is disconnected, the navigation doesn't work. It just displays, "Navigation not fitted." They do have the option (Advanced Exchange) where they send you the replacement first and you give them a deposit. Great! But the online return form doesn't let me return it. I filled in all of the fields and click for the next step and get the message, "Item ... cannot be returned." WTF???? So what about the lifetime warranty? So far it's appearing that this company has a slick website, lots of good video's, nearly no printed documentation, nearly unresponsive customer service and a product that if it works, is really good, but if it doesn't you're in for a nasty ride. Basically a chrome plated turd that might have a pearl inside. Chat and e-mail support take days for a reply. Telephone support is better but you can't get directly through. You have to call and follow the options for them to call you back. The return call could be in minutes, hours, days or not at all. Since it's best to be somewhere that you can take notes so it's best to be near your desk. Basically once you request a call-back you're tethered to your desk or risk missing the call. Once again, I'll keep you updated with any changes. Thanks for letting me vent! Larry.

Don’t buy a NavTool right now! There’s a major bug and they are totally useless until this is fixed. I bought my NavTool directly from the company back at the end of Nov 2020. As of today, March 8, 2021, it’s still not working at all. I do fully believe that eventually they’ll get it working properly. And, from what I’ve seen, it’ll be really good. But in the meantime, I’m out hundreds of dollars and still can’t use CarPlay. The issue is that when I activate NavTool (hold down the navigation button) all I get are horizontal lines across the screen like this. (Tried to upload image file but kept getting error, "This upload failed.") They told me the workaround for this issue is to activate/deactivate 5 – 7 times. Once it worked after only 3 tries but most of the time it doesn’t work at all. I’ve tried this activate/deactivate cycle dozens of times and it still won’t work. In addition to this, until the NavTool device is fully booted I get a flickering on my display and it thinks that I don’t have navigation fitted. Once the NavTool has booted, a minute or two, my navigation works fine and the flickering stops but I’m still unable to use the NavTool. Here’s a short video of what it looks like first turning on the car and what the screen looks like when trying to activate NavTool. http://www.casincat.com/FTP/Range_Rover/NavTool_Bug.MOV What makes this issue even more frustrating is the horrible communications from the company. If you try to use chat, it takes hours for them to give any reply. Often the replies are terse and ambiguous. And don’t even try to ask more than a single question at a time. I once asked two at once and their reply was, “yes.†They keep saying that they hope to have a fix in a few weeks and that this is affecting all units sold recently. If you also have this issue or are considering buying one soon, keep checking with them for when this’ll be fixed. Larry.

Yea, but that's the "HSE" and has many differences from my '09 including an engine that needs a very expensive timing change job every 60K or so. I don't know how to derive a fair value from that to my RR. I know a lot of this is personal preference but I would rather have my '09 Autobiography than this '10 HSE. To me, mine is worth more but to someone else... well maybe not. This is why I'm no so sure how to come up with a fair value if something horrible should happen. Thanks, Larry.

Fortunately my Range Rover is fine. I'm trying to figure this all out before any issues arise. But if I call Hagerty to get an agreed value policy, I think it would help if I knew the value! I bought it for $17K this past Nov and have put a few thousand in repairs in it and a few accessories (clear bra, NavTool, etc.). With less than 39K miles (I've put on a lot since buying it) I'm guessing I may have one of the lowest (if not the lowest) mileage example in the USA. I'm guessing this is worth more than the $20K I have it. If a meteor were to fall on it today I doubt I'd ever find another like this. With Hagerty, how did you come to an agreed value when you setup the policy? Thanks! Larry.

Hi Everyone, I'm trying to find a good estimate of the value of my Range Rover for my insurance coverage. I've check sites like KBB and NADA but I don't think they have have good data for a car with such low sales figures. I have a 2009 Range Rover Autobiography. There were only 2,370 Range Rovers imported into the USA in 2009. Of those only about 142 were the Autobiography edition. The KBB and NADA sites don't even ask if I have the Autobiography edition when giving used car values. Since there are so few out there, how can I get a good idea of value of my car for my insurance? I think it's worth a lot more than what I paid or what various websites claim. Of course, I could be nuts. But then again, I may be right or wrong about my car value and also be nuts, but that's a whole separate topic. So, any suggestions on how to get a good idea if my car is actually worth more than the online guides would suggest? Thanks! Larry.

Hi Everyone, I've been a member for a little while but I just this past week found my Range Rover. I had been looking specifically for a 2009 Range Rover (L322) Supercharged or, better yet, Autobiography. I guess over half a year of checking websites multiple times a day finally paid off! After searching 49 separate used car websites many times every day I saw the ad for a 2009 Autobiography about 10am this past Wed, by 4pm I was landing in Scottsdale, AZ and was at the dealership an hour later and driving the car off of the lot by 7:30pm. Spent the night there and drove home on Thurs. While the car is 11 years old it only has 35K original miles on it! Aside from a few minor niggles it’s in excellent condition. It has a Bournville exterior with an Ivory interior. I also learned from my neighbor who's from London that the name, "Bournville" is from Bournville, England where Cadbury Chocolate is made. They founded the city even! Now to find the roof rails, a ball mount of the right size, trailer wiring harness and get the radio/navigation display fixed (the common flickering screen issue). And now for my first official question for the group. Any suggestions to integrate either my iPhone or my iPod? For the rare calls I may make and for navigation from my iPhone I'm fine with my Jabra hands free device on the visor. But I'd really like to listen to my music and podcasts through the stereo and be able to control it through the main interface. I have the iSimple Gateway on my '06 Honda Pilot. While it's not perfect it's good enough. I'll contact them tomorrow to see if they have one for Range Rovers. And I've seen for $550 I can buy a device to give full Apple CarPlay. But, I'd like to see if there are any other, perhaps less expensive, options. Thanks everyone! Larry. Nov 24, 2020: Updated to correct the interior color. It's Ivory, not Parchment.