Don’t buy a NavTool! Major bug makes it useless!

[lschwarcz]

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.â€

 

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.

 

[LP Rover]

That company is horrible. I bought one on November 28, 2020, and could not get it to work after wiring it with Robert.  The vehicle was wired correctly, but the unit does not work.  They told me I could return it, but then refused to give me an RMA, and their customer/tech support was horrible/terse. I challenged it through my credit card company and they reversed the charge b/c navtool just ignored them.  I'd recommend posting your story on the L322 Facebook forums as well.  They may actually see the complaint and have more concerns if it's on FB. 

[lschwarcz]

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.

[LP Rover]

Don’t waste your time. Challenge it through your credit card company — including their extended warranty coverage. Do not send them more money for a faster exchange. And good luck getting them to allow you to return through and RMA.

[DHappel]

I seem to remember trying to contact them years ago about something for my LR3 but it never came together.  Sounds like I got off easy!

[LP Rover]

After getting a refund from my credit card company on the first purchased NavTool unit, I gambled and purchased another. The second one worked no problem. Robert pointed out your problem is different from mine.  

[lschwarcz]

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.

[LP Rover]

I'm pretty sure they're waiting you out -- to either challenge the charge or give up. Google them, check out the BBB, etc., they simply don't do customer service and IMHO you're wasting your time thinking they will begin to care at some point. Just my two cents.  

[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.