johnsonca2

I'm torn between this unit and the Advent offering.. While the Koolertron nav would be the cheaper option, the Advent seems to be a more solid unit, I spoke with Walt regarding the Advant, he offers all the support u would ever need.. My other thought would be to just purchase the Koolertron nav and see what it's all about.. Amazon is like Wal-Mart for the web, they'll take anything back.. Hmmm... Decisions....decisions....

mamonti

I was looking into this myself only to see how they would work out! I don't have a factory nav so I am not sure how they are wired however these look to be a replacement type unit,,, meaning they have the same connectors you WOULD have if you had the nav system. So I doubt it would work without doing some mods for us without the nav. That being said the unit looks to have some great features and then again not so great features. The nav itself seems to be an off brand which may mean no updates, they are made in china and will come with little to no warranty and I can bet the instructions will be lame to say the least! Of course I am only guessing! I have done some creative things with audio before and in my truck as I have the stock sync, radio setup installed in my console and run a kenwood nav using the aux line input. For people wanting to run a nav system that didn't get the factory one Kenwood does make a model that is suppose to work with sync and the steering wheel controls but again I haven't investigated it! I hope I see someone move forward with this unit though as I am interested with the outcome!

johnsonca2

Sounds like you had quite the task in your efforts to retain your factory sync. I am trying to retain mine as well- but without having to relocate any of the stock components.
I've done some digging on Koolertron, and it seems to be a legit offering. Amazon states that they WILL warranty the units and that they DO retain your factory sync. My biggest concern is that It may be more of a plug n PRAY vs a plug n PLAY! I'm not ruling it out yet though; if u dig around on-line you will see that they offer several vehicle specific type systems, Porsche, Mazda and ford are just a few. They have been in business for 4+ years and they specialize in OEM type NAV solutions. If I go this route then I will definitely be posting a write-up for everyone to see.

mamonti

I did notice they had other vehicle applications which tells me they are a replacement type system which means if you have the nav and it goes bad you could just plug this unit in its place. if so then you have to already have the nav wiring connections and there are a couple more than for the factory non nav HU... That's my guess and it is not to say I couldn't get it to work however I already have mine done so I am not interested other than if my nav goes bad. If you do consider doing it shoot me a PM and I will happy to see if I can help if you run into anything you can't figure out! BTW I have had some of the cheapest audio / video stuff that turned out to be better and lasted longer than the name brand stuff!! So it you don't like it you can return it. See if you can get updates for the GPS although I can tell you me myself only update every other year or so! I doubt it is worth doing it every year but it would be nice to know you can at least get one down the road! Good Luck!

johnsonca2

Lol!! I totally agree, I too have bought some third world items that turned out to be best thing I ever owned.. Ie, this unit has wifi and 3G capability, I don't believe ford offers that yet, I could be wrong? I've seen a few other ones that run on windows and have internet explorer loaded for web access. I'll def follow up once I make my decision. And thanks for your input, I really appreciate the help offering, everything helps.

Cheers, Clint

marshallpulham

Has anyone tried this yet? Can't find any info

mamonti

what type of info are you looking for? other than if someone has done this?

Nightowl802

I went to install this unit this past weekend got it all in and the unit blinks and beeps then powers down... Any ideas?