Ok, so I received my Nav unit today from OEM Auto Parts Co. on Ebay. Very professional guy, and very straightforward. He sells them for a little more than the going rate, but he includes a 2010 map disc, an antenna and most importantly, saves you the trip to the dealer by sending them pre-unlocked.
Unfortunately, the antenna that is included is NOT the OEM version that clips in, but rather a knockoff that appears to work just as well, but has to be put in place with double sided adhesive OR magnetically stuck to metal somewhere. And this stupid antenna is the source of all my frustration because removing the defroster panel, under which the factory location for the OEM antenna resides, is a royal pain in the ass.
Thanks to Chris (rippypartsdept) I discovered that the A-pillar trim must be removed to access pry points to begin lifting up on the panel. Unfortunately, even with this information in hand, I STILL managed to crack the panel in two places because it is attached so well, and because the sun (my truck came from FL) tends to make it brittle. My advice? Don't bother making it factory perfect. There are PLENTY of other hidey holes where you can get the antenna up close to the surface of the dash. Unfortunately, I didn't realize until after I removed the panel that I wasn't getting signal because I was directly in the shadow of an apartment building. Once I moved out in the open, it didn't really seem to matter where I held the antenna, so long as it wasn't too deep in the dash. For the magnetic antennas, you can even get away with just letting it magnetically adhere to the back of the center channel speaker grill, toward the windshield side, which allows you to snake the cable in through the defroster opening and down toward the radio. This arrangement also gives the antenna the most unobstructed access to the sky.
If you MUST put this antenna in its proper location, I recommend going to stereo shop to purchase some kind of hooked tool and pulling up carefully from the center outward. The thing is a bitch no matter how you slice it. Also, the ambient light sensor will pop right out of its perch as soon as you pull up on this panel, and getting it back in there is also a pain. Again, my recommendation is just to stick the antenna outside the car (it looks just like an XM antenna), on the speaker grill, or tucked up in the dash close to the surface.
Now, a couple of observations between the base radio and the nav radio...
Sound quality: Believe it or not, despite being attached to the same amplifier and speakers, the sound quality of the Navigation head unit is MARKEDLY superior to the base unit. It's a little clearer and what makes it PARTICULARLY nicer is the Surround function which to my ear, provides far better separation and soundstage than the "Centerpoint" function on the base radio. I don't know if they are supposed to be the identical function (isn't this sound system called the Bose Centerpoint 5.1 Channel system?), but the surround in the Nav unit is MUCH better.
CD/DVD/MP3 Changer: One of the most frustrating annoyances of the base radio in case no one has noticed, is that if you use the included CD changer, the idiotic piece of crap doesn't recall your playback setting after you turn off the car. So if I had "RANDOM TRACK" selected before I shut off the car with the base radio, it goes right back to linear playback when you restart. Completely poorly engineered idiocy. The Nav headunit remembers all previously selected playback selections even after you turn the car off.
Nav unit dialpad: A great deal has been made out of the fact that the Nav unit shows some kind of dial pad when you have a bluetooth phone paired. Well, given the slow response of the nav screen, this is more of a novelty than anything. In fact, with voice dialing available, I may not even use it. And as a result of that, I may not even bother to install my lockpick and just get a SimpleTech iPod connection instead.
XM: You will not need to change Radio IDs. The XM module is elsewhere in the car.
Rearview Camera: If you do not have a rearview camera (why would you, you had a base radio that doesn't support it), and do not PLAN to ADD the rearview camera, make sure to have the seller or the dealership disable the rearview camera functionality. I only remembered about this AFTER he shipped it, so I didn't have the opportunity to ask and so now I get to stare at "SERVICE CAMERA SYSTEM" every time I back up. Guess I have to install a camera somewhere now, or have the dealer disable it.
That's all I can think of for now. If for any reason anyone wants the worthless base radio I pulled out, cover my shipping and I'll gladly send it to you.
Unfortunately, the antenna that is included is NOT the OEM version that clips in, but rather a knockoff that appears to work just as well, but has to be put in place with double sided adhesive OR magnetically stuck to metal somewhere. And this stupid antenna is the source of all my frustration because removing the defroster panel, under which the factory location for the OEM antenna resides, is a royal pain in the ass.
Thanks to Chris (rippypartsdept) I discovered that the A-pillar trim must be removed to access pry points to begin lifting up on the panel. Unfortunately, even with this information in hand, I STILL managed to crack the panel in two places because it is attached so well, and because the sun (my truck came from FL) tends to make it brittle. My advice? Don't bother making it factory perfect. There are PLENTY of other hidey holes where you can get the antenna up close to the surface of the dash. Unfortunately, I didn't realize until after I removed the panel that I wasn't getting signal because I was directly in the shadow of an apartment building. Once I moved out in the open, it didn't really seem to matter where I held the antenna, so long as it wasn't too deep in the dash. For the magnetic antennas, you can even get away with just letting it magnetically adhere to the back of the center channel speaker grill, toward the windshield side, which allows you to snake the cable in through the defroster opening and down toward the radio. This arrangement also gives the antenna the most unobstructed access to the sky.
If you MUST put this antenna in its proper location, I recommend going to stereo shop to purchase some kind of hooked tool and pulling up carefully from the center outward. The thing is a bitch no matter how you slice it. Also, the ambient light sensor will pop right out of its perch as soon as you pull up on this panel, and getting it back in there is also a pain. Again, my recommendation is just to stick the antenna outside the car (it looks just like an XM antenna), on the speaker grill, or tucked up in the dash close to the surface.
Now, a couple of observations between the base radio and the nav radio...
Sound quality: Believe it or not, despite being attached to the same amplifier and speakers, the sound quality of the Navigation head unit is MARKEDLY superior to the base unit. It's a little clearer and what makes it PARTICULARLY nicer is the Surround function which to my ear, provides far better separation and soundstage than the "Centerpoint" function on the base radio. I don't know if they are supposed to be the identical function (isn't this sound system called the Bose Centerpoint 5.1 Channel system?), but the surround in the Nav unit is MUCH better.
CD/DVD/MP3 Changer: One of the most frustrating annoyances of the base radio in case no one has noticed, is that if you use the included CD changer, the idiotic piece of crap doesn't recall your playback setting after you turn off the car. So if I had "RANDOM TRACK" selected before I shut off the car with the base radio, it goes right back to linear playback when you restart. Completely poorly engineered idiocy. The Nav headunit remembers all previously selected playback selections even after you turn the car off.
Nav unit dialpad: A great deal has been made out of the fact that the Nav unit shows some kind of dial pad when you have a bluetooth phone paired. Well, given the slow response of the nav screen, this is more of a novelty than anything. In fact, with voice dialing available, I may not even use it. And as a result of that, I may not even bother to install my lockpick and just get a SimpleTech iPod connection instead.
XM: You will not need to change Radio IDs. The XM module is elsewhere in the car.
Rearview Camera: If you do not have a rearview camera (why would you, you had a base radio that doesn't support it), and do not PLAN to ADD the rearview camera, make sure to have the seller or the dealership disable the rearview camera functionality. I only remembered about this AFTER he shipped it, so I didn't have the opportunity to ask and so now I get to stare at "SERVICE CAMERA SYSTEM" every time I back up. Guess I have to install a camera somewhere now, or have the dealer disable it.
That's all I can think of for now. If for any reason anyone wants the worthless base radio I pulled out, cover my shipping and I'll gladly send it to you.
