Factory-fitted Satnav - worth the money?

[Vee4]

With some reluctance, I am considering a replacement for my 1997 100SWB non-turbo. Looking at factory-fitted options for a new van I see that Ford is offering what looks like a Blaupunkt TravelPilot FX at GBP1000 (!). Does anyone have experience with one and think it's worth the money?

Any advice will be appreciated. I must say that I have learned more about the pros and cons of the Mk7 by reading posts on this forum than I did from the Ford dealer or the brochures. The discussion about 6-speed gearboxes was of particular interest.

[BigNeil]

Well if you want to spend £1000 on something which need updating by specialized dvd or cd roms which probably cost over £100 then go for it. With Satnavs being so cheap now why bother ?

But then the choice is yours of course but I could think of better things to spend £1000 on !

[jacko1611]

if its the ones ive seen then there not even in colour! Dont bother

[Scotty86]

The ones that came on the first mk7's ie (base/lx/glx) were crap, I had one and it was slow, was not in color and it didn't have the full 7 digit post code finder only 4 digit, so I changed it to a kenwood/garmin one. The newer vans (base/trend/limited) ones have newer color sat navs that support the full 7 digit post code finder but i've never used one so can't really comment on there performance.

1st ones looked like this (the one I had)


new ones look like this

[evans88]

Why pay £1000 when you can get a better Tom Tom sat nav for less than £100. When you come to upgrade the maps in a Blankput they will cost you a fortune.

[ake]

save your money and buy a tom tom

[lostpaul67]

Save your money and get a Garmin or Tom Tom and put it here...

[coconut]

Nothing but trouble, get a tom tom

Go for a 6 speed aswell, much nicer than the clunky 5 speed gear change

[Vee4]

Thanks to everyone for your comments and thanks to Scotty and lostpaul for the pictures. This really is a great forum!

My old '97 is still going strong after more than 260,000 trouble-free miles but it will not qualify for the London Low Emission Zone from 2010. Then there's the inevitable rust and wear of major components. When trying to choose a replacement, I've been frustrated by the lack of detailed information provided by Ford. If I'm spending that kind of money, I want to make an informed choice. For example, the dealership would not tell me the gearbox ratios (trade secret), and they had nothing on the satnav. At least on these two items, I think that coconut summed it up quite nicely!

[ake]

I thought the LEZ had been scrapped

[pipestrangler]

Save your money and get a Garmin or Tom Tom and put it here...

I was just thinking about mounting mine up there!! great minds think a like,

[Vee4]

I thought the LEZ had been scrapped

Thanks for pointing that out, ake. It is 'on hold' (see http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/n ... 11096.aspx). I had heard about the scrapping of the Western Extension to the Congestion Charging Zone, which made the national media, but I guess the LEZ plan did not because it only affects van drivers.

I wish I could keep the old van for ever. I only had it towed in once in 260,000 miles, when the gearbox failed as I was taking it for its 100,000 mile service, so I was already on the way to the dealership. I probably could have done a better job at getting to the Moon than Apollo 13 - if only I could reach escape velocity! 76PS is not quite enough.

I just don't believe that the new Transits will be that reliable - too much complication. Who needs HLA, ESP and all the other acronyms? Aren't they just a substitute for good driving technique?

I have already started down the new van road, so I may continue anyway ...

[superdan]

I've been looking at satnav for a while, but due to parking in "nice" areas a lot, I'm a bit worried about getting a tomtom and mounting it anywhere where it might leave a sucker mark.

My Ford radio died ages ago, but Ive been looking for a slideoutpopup touchscreen type thing to sit where the radio would normally, or something like this:
http://www.icebuyer.co.uk/kwnt7000bt-sa ... 13445.html

but havent found any for tomtom type prices, it cant be 7 times as expensive to fit the satnav kit in a bigger space can it?

[Scotty86]

I've been looking at satnav for a while, but due to parking in "nice" areas a lot, I'm a bit worried about getting a tomtom and mounting it anywhere where it might leave a sucker mark.

My Ford radio died ages ago, but Ive been looking for a slideoutpopup touchscreen type thing to sit where the radio would normally, or something like this:
http://www.icebuyer.co.uk/kwnt7000bt-sa ... 13445.html

but havent found any for tomtom type prices, it cant be 7 times as expensive to fit the satnav kit in a bigger space can it?

Similar to mine

[Vee4]

Scotty, can you say how easy it would be to replace the standard Ford radio with a satnav like yours? Is it 'plug and play'? Does it need a GPS antenna if not already there (as in your case you were replacing the older Ford satnav)? What model of satnav do you have?

It looks as if this could be a good compromise between the overpriced Ford unit and a loose TomTom floating around.