Sub-dash modifications?

I was just on the Crutchfield site browsing in-dash GPS navigation receivers, and after stating that I was looking for ones that would fit a 2013 Outback, there was an installation note that said, "Modifications to your vehicle's sub-dash are required." What does that mean? What's a sub-dash, and by "modification," do they mean "cutting a larger hole"?

Patty

Reply to
Patty Winter
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I think it's a module stuck into the main dash. My 1998 has an ash tray, blank, receiver. Actually I have no blank since additional receiver was installed. Modification could be anything, including buying pre made faceplate.

Greg

Reply to
gregz

Speaking of in dash gps's, my son has one in his Mercedes. It is really nice and with voice commands and Blue Tooth he never takes his hands off the wheel for directions and phone calls. But, system went down and he had it repaired under warranty. Dealer said that if not for the warranty it would have cost him $3,000.

For about $200 you can get these features in a Garmin Nuvi with somewhat smaller screen. Plus you get map updates.

Reply to
Frank

Agreed.

The new top-of-the-line Garmin nuvi 3597LMTHD has a five-inch high-definition display, lifetime maps and traffic alerts, voice activation, Bluetooth, a Smartphone link, and more. It is also rather pricey at $380, but Garmin makes a wide range of other, less-expensive GPS's.

One of the benefits of a standalone -- versus an in-dash unit -- is that you can take your GPS with you. I've used my five-year-old Garmin in my own car, in rental cars all over the U.S., and for exploring Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula (directions are in English, not Spanish); it has worked great. I load it with destinations and points of interest from my desktop computer before leaving home. I have a GPS travel kit with a 12V power cord, GPS mount, and a small Radio Shack amplified external speaker.

A few years back, Garm> >>> I was just on the Crutchfield site browsing in-dash GPS navigation

Reply to
Ben Jammin

I have a Garmin eTrex 20, so that isn't an issue for me. I want a combo GPS/radio in the car.

Patty

Reply to
Patty Winter

eTrex is not a car gps. I have a different model eTrex and use it for hunting. You can put road maps in it and use in a car but it does not give voice commands, speed, traffic and all the other stuff you need for hands free operation. In the car, you'd have to be looking at it or have a friend use it for you and tell you when to turn.

For my Subaru, I have a Garmin Nuvi 1450LMT bought a couple of years ago for less than $150. It has a 5 inch screen. I seldom use it but it has saved me from getting lost or misdirected several time. The LMT designation means lifetime maps and traffic. Map upgrades were pricey at the time, maybe $90.

My wife has a different older model. She uses hers more frequently than mine to avoid speed traps as the unit will alert you when you exceed the speed limit.

Then there are the people that just use their smart phones when they need a gps.

Reply to
Frank

Perfectly understandable.

If you have a Best Buy > >>

Reply to
Ben Jammin

Uh, I know. That's why I said I want a different one for the car. I was responding to Ben's posting and explaining why I don't need a car GPSr that can also be removed for handheld use, such as a Nuvi.

Patty

Reply to
Patty Winter

I do have a BB near me and might check with them. But I've dealt with Crutchfield in the past and found them very knowledgeable and helpful, so I'll probably buy something from them. They include the necessary Subaru mounting kits free with the navigation receiver.

So other than Greg's guess, no one here has any thoughts about what a "sub-dash modification" might entail? Guess I'll drop a note to Crutchfield.

Patty

Reply to
Patty Winter

I guess it is good for you to consider the options. I have no idea what a combination dash gps radio costs myself. I do know that I keep cars as long as I can. My 2003 10 year old Forester is running fine and I may keep it until cost of repairs exceeds book value.

Trouble with things like gps's, digital cameras and computers is that they are almost antiques after 10 years. A new map may not even fit in the memory of an old gps.

I had an old eTrex and an old Invion gps that I just gave to my brother in law as replacement with modern units was so cheap.

Reply to
Frank
[extraneous quotage deleted]

Subaru charges $2,600, because their navigation system requires that you also buy the moonroof. Oh, and you can only get that option on the Limited edition, so there's another $4,000 over the Premium. So if I wanted to buy one from Subaru, it would cost me over $6,000...

By contrast, I can get a nice major-brand nav system from Crutchfield for less than $1,000, although I may go for one that's a bit higher. Certainly no higher than $1,200.

Well, I've got 10 years on you: my Legacy is a 1993. And it's the younger of my two cars. :-)

Patty

Reply to
Patty Winter

Another benefit is that you can easily update it to a newer model. In-built ones are often difficult to impossible to replace. The good ol' days of the standardised car radio size are long gone, and most makers these days stupidly have custom-made systems.

Reply to
Your Name

Here in New Zealand over recent years the importing of second-hand cars from Japan has become popular by many small car dealers ... but the problem is that the car radio doesn't have the same receiver bandwidth to tune into most New Zealand radio stations (a relatively easy fix with the purchase of an expander), and the in-built navigation / touchscreen control systems are often only in Japanese (which, as you say, is hideously expensive to replace properly).

Reply to
Your Name

I've had my non-Subaru car for almost 15 years (and it was four years old when I bought it) and it's still going fine. :-)

Just a few fairly minor repairs - a bit of rust and a new starter motor being probably the two most expensive, although it's coming up for a cambelt replacement in the next year or two. It's only had two new batteries too.

Some anonymous *beep*ing *beep* in a parking lot dinged the side only a few days after I got it back from the rust rapairs! :-(

Reply to
Your Name

Personally I have no use for an electronic navigation system at all. I use these old fashioned things called "printed maps" - much easier to use, they work properly (without telling you to drive down a one-way street, through a lake, etc.) and most thieves aren't interested in stealing them. :-)

Reply to
Your Name

Good for you. My first Forester would have been 15 years old but a PT Cruiser did not like it and destroyed it. My wife's Forester is only 5 years old.

I'm wondering if they even had gps's 20 years ago. I remember my computer at the time had a 40 mB hard drive. This one has a 1 terabyte hard drive. That's 250,000 times the storage capacity. With Moore's law in force, I don't think I'd buy a car with a built in gps.

Reply to
Frank

I seldom use my gps and same with my cell phone, but I have both for back up use and emergencies. Unlike a paper map, if you get lost the gps will reroute you. Paper maps won't tell you when a bridge is out for repair but gps with map updates and traffic will tell you.

I mentioned my wife using hers to help obey speed. Its those areas where the speed limit drops to maybe 25 mph and that's where they set up the speed traps.

Reply to
Frank

88 New Yorker bought at 6 years, kept for 12 and sold as a running vehicle. Current 1996 Ranger purchaced with 308,000k last july? for 2500 - likely own it for another 6 or more years. 2002 Taurus purchaced last summer with 54000k - likely keep it for another 10 - by that time my wife will likely not be driving any more.
Reply to
clare

Interesting. I see you drive on the left side of the road there. I had a friend that was trying to import Japanese cars into the US and they had there driving sides switched. He gave up because of the paperwork morass which required complete documentation for each and every car vs importing a fleet of cars with only one documentation.

I understand keeping a car in Japan beyond a few years is prohibitively expensive because of mandated work that must be done and cars are traded in early and sent out of Japan.

Reply to
Frank

I bought a Garmin 2610 GPS when it was the top of their line. The list price was about $1,000 and the street price that I paid was about $800. A year later they changed the map format and renamed the unit the 2620. A few years later they stopped supporting my map format.

I would never buy another Garmin product. They can't be trusted. I now have a couple of TomToms, an expensive one that I keep in my car and a cheap one that I use in rental cars when I travel.

Reply to
John Varela

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