Car Radio Upgrade

silverr0b

Hi,

I've Just bought a brand new car , one of the extras my wife wanted fitting was Sat Nav £999. Its a kenwood unit and as I drove home I noticed that the maps were out of date.

When I went to update it Garmin wanted £50. So I rang Kenwood to see why it was out of date only to be told that they had stopped making that stereo 2 years ago and its been superseded 4 times. So in effect I've paid the money for a 3 year old stereo. ( just to add this was in a brand new £23k car)

The garage have offered me 4 options.

1. I pay out £700 for the current Kenwood headset and they will refund me the money. This is money I cannot currently afford to pay out and I return the stereo in the car.
2. They will refund me £200 if I keep the current stereo.
3 They will put a newer Kenwood stereo in but again this one has been superseded 3 times
4. They will remove the Stereo and refund me £800. can they do this . Should i be intitled to a full refund.

Hope you give me some pointers in the right direction on what i should do.

Kind regards
3. They will replace it

FZwanab

If it was me I would take the full refund if possible and buy a garmin sat nav on Amazon with lifetime maps included. Are stereos that expensive to get installed, check halfords as an example, they supply and fit them.

AdrianC

A brand spankin' new car with an off-the-shelf OEM-branded head unit? What is the car?

Sounds like you're talking about a dealer-fit sat-nav, not factory-fit, so your issue is purely with the dealer. What was specified when you placed the order?

silverr0b

yes the car was brand new . I just went through the brochure and picked out the sat nav upgrade. Assuming you would get an up to date device , would'nt we all?

Cheers so far for the replys

AdrianC

What car, and what - exactly - did the brochure say?

silverr0b

ssangyonggb.co.uk/pages/new-ssangyong/turismo-details

Kenwood touch-screen Sat Nav, DAB MP3 CD/DVD with iPod and Bluetooth connectivity


Cheers again

AdrianC

OK. So no model number or anything else is given, but there is this image used :-


Is that the model you've got?

It doesn't look like it's any of Kenwood's current range.
http://www.kenwood-electronics.co.uk/car/nav_mm/nav/

silverr0b

this is the radio fitted

caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-kenwood-dnx-4210dab_p-27608.htm

if you look at the bottom of the page it gives you a link to the alternative radio I've been offered

caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-kenwood-dnx-4230dab_p-28190.htm

as you can see both are discontinued

this is the current model

caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-kenwood-dnx-4150dab_p-32660.htm

When buying a brand new car, should'nt the latest in the line of stereo be fitted or are they in there rights to fit older generation models? Seems a bit out of ordered charging current prices for discontinued stock

Cheers

AdrianC

You have equipment that meets the description - and, I presume, the image - in the brochure. You paid a price you were happy with when ordering. If the precise model was important to you, you could have verified it before purchase.

No, I wouldn't have said that there was any kind of onus on a vehicle manufacturer - especially one on the very lowest rung of the price ladder for the type of vehicle - to ensure that all bought-in components were the absolute latest-spec from the OEM manufacturer.

Strikes me this is the current closest equivalent to yours :-
http://www.kenwood-electronics.co.uk/car/nav_mm/nav/DNX4250DAB/
I really can't see much in the way of spec-sheet bingo differentiating the two, tbh.

Take the £200, upgrade the maps, and keep the other £150 for future map upgrades.

molerat

They did not specify what unit they were going to fit so not much comeback - if it was a factory standard generic ssanyong model how old would it be ? The problem with these units is that updated mapping is rarely free. I would try for a larger amount for keeping the unit and buy the map updates - just because it is not the latest model does not mean it is not a good unit and again, how old would a generic unit be. If you bought the latest unit you would still be in the same position next year.

almillar

I do understand that when you get a brand new car you'd want a brand new, up to date stereo, and critically, with up to date maps - why would you want to drive out of the garage with navigation that mightn't be right?
Notwithstanding that the rest of the car isn't exactly the latest tech, I'd take option 4 - the £800 refund.
You'll be left with a hole in the dashboard, and £800 to choose a stereo with which to fill it! It's very easy to fit one here, because you're replacing an 'off the shelf' unit. You should have ISO connectors (industry standard, for speakers and power), an FM aerial, and probably a DAB aerial. If you have steering wheel controls, they'll fit any new Kenwood, and can be adapted for other brands I'm sure.
If you can literally plug all that in and slot the stereo in, you'll be happy, otherwise maybe the garage would fit it for your as a gesture of good will? Otherwise... Halfords...