AVIC-D3 - just installed, what a beauty!

[flymuck]

Hi all,

We bought the Pioneer AVIC-D3 (just came out in March '07) and had it professionally installed at a custom shop (Power Station in Reseda, CA, if you live in SoCal and want the same thing done).

The installation was very professionally done -- they cut and fiberglassed the existing console cover to make a very nice double-din opening. The AVIC-D3 is a great nav system, and affordable, too!

I have pictures, but I'm not sure if this forum lets me upload them (I think I'd have to host them somewhere else). What to do, what to do?
[mod note: Yup, that's how the img function works]

-fly

[RobMason]

flymuck,
Upload pics to a free hosting service like photobucket, and then place the links to those pics on the forum. Would love to see the system.

[flymuck]

Done and done!

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s206 ... deview.jpg
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s206 ... ntview.jpg
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s206 ... omview.jpg

[mod edit: Removed img function (the pics are viewable by clicking one of the links ) Please consider our dial-up members and review the rules regarding pic size & number(s)]

(Address blurred for security reasons... call me crazy, but then again, I seem to be the only person on the planet who has had one of these cars stolen!!)

[trunkout]

Holy Crap that is a nice install!

[Rick]

Nice dude! Someone finally did almost what I've been describing for years as to how to properly do a double din unit in an Insight.

I cheated though, I just bought my Civic hybrid with factory Navi.

[flymuck]

Yes, it is truly amazing how well they did the install -- and it was cheap, too. For just installing the Nav (in other words, the price went up with all the other accessories we had them install), labor was $250. The unit itself retails for $1000, but they were selling it for $750, and selling them like hotcakes!!

[Braxus]

Wow that's a awesome double-DIN install with the fiberglass. Wonder if they sell aftermarket double-din kits.

[flymuck]

Originally Posted by Braxus

Wow that's a awesome double-DIN install with the fiberglass. Wonder if they sell aftermarket double-din kits.

I don't think they do. In this case, they cut the existing console cover, fabricated a frame for the new double-din opening, and glassed it (we saw the work in progress -- it was very cool!).

But at least it proves that it *can* be done!

[flymuck]

Two years later, I guess I should report on our status with the AVIC-D3.

We still like the AV portion of the unit, but the navigation logic is completely lame and frustrating. Sometimes it gets really, really lost, and there seems to be no way to correct it (lost, as in it thinks you're about 20 miles away from where you actually are). Also, sometimes it decides to route you off, then back on, the freeway for no apparent reason, even when it doesn't seem to be lost.

It's annoying that the setting for choosing local routes vs. freeways is a global option, not something you pick per route. The point of interest stuff is absolutely retarded, but I've noticed this with other systems as well. Finding a store by name is painful and useless; if we don't have the address, we don't even bother trying to find a place by name.

When you start to enter a street address, unlike my lovely Alpine in the Ridgeline, this one does not narrow down your options to existing addresses, and you *have* to know whether or not the street is a St., Ave., Blvd., as well as direction (N, S, E, W). You can end up with a list of potential matches to your address, and as you click thru them, it will ask you, "Address does not exist. Do you want to continue?" Grrrrrr, no, I would rather you filter out the addresses that don't exist, or the addresses in Nevada, etc.

I'm a computer programmer, so I am very, very picky about UI. This stuff seems really basic; I think Pioneer either did a quick & dirty job, or hired morons, or both.

OK, so that's kinda harsh, but really, having the Alpine to compare it to, this one is lame. I have held off buying a double-DIN for my other Insight because I have found so many things wrong with this one, and there are not many choices for us out there.

Has anyone else found something that works, as a double-DIN, and isn't completely stupid?

-fly

Note: we still have the original CD for the unit. It's possible, but not likely, that an updated CD would correct *some* of the problems I've listed above, but I doubt it could correct the logic for entering an address (narrowing the choices), and since this is the most frustrating bug, we just live with the old data.

[02insight]

since you already have an opening, install a touchscreen lcd, and install a CAR-PC. Possibilities with a carpc are endless.