I'm thinking of buying one, and was wondering if it is worth the $$$? I have the factory nav unit now.....what are the features that would make me want the pioneer avic?

 

The ability to tuck away your IPod into your glove box and control it through the AVIC.

NavTraffic.

Greater control over the sound processing.

I love mine...

 

I have the AVIC-Z2, not what I expected from Pioneer. First off, the most important thing to me is the Sirius tuner, WHAT A JOKE. You have this huge 7" screen and all that is displayed is one line at a time, meaning you can't see the Artist and the song at the same time (this is rediculous for a $2,200 unit. Secondly, out of all of the NAV systems I had (Eclipse and Honda's) this is the worste did I spell that right. The time distance is way off, it says at least 10 to 15 minutes ahead so forget about it. One of the funny things about this unit is that certain things that she says is slured, yes, she sounds like she is drunk, no joke!!!. Also, many times it goes off the road and is in the twilight zone, it could be the installers fault but this is the most off out of the 3. Other than that it is a good unit, would I buy another one, no way. The Eclipse worked the best and the internal amp sounded good and loud (I have the 5435 but the problem with this one is no blue tooth. What I would do is wait for the upgrade to make it a Z3 that is for me to do but you could buy the Z3 but if the new Sirius tunner is still the same it is not worth it at all. All of this is my experience so good luck, I am not bashing their products I own a few. And when I was at the Audio store they said this is the best, and I like a fool trusted them without doing my research, It is not by far!!! or I should say for the money!!!!!!!

 

I also have a problem with the navigator. The maps are right but where it places me on the maps is all over the place. I have been running my TomTom as well to double checka nd the TomTom is sopt on every time and the Pioneer has me 2 streets off the road, then on a railway trackm on the otherside of the road!!!!!

I recently was in the middle of a lake apparently so it was lucky I had my snorkel with me! The instal guys are chasing Pioneer at the moment so this could turn into a long thread.

At Easter when we went bush, we were meeting friends in a country town. I had entered the address and then when we got into the town it told me it did not have enough information to continue the directions but I could see the street we were going to on the screen. Jeez there were only 10 streets in town anyway!

I do love the Ipod in the glovebox and the hard drive as it saves scratching CD's on corrugated roads but that doesn;t help if I don;t know what road I am on.

A friend of mine had the Eclipse and was very happy with it on an around Asutralia trip..I think I should have listened to him but was dazzled by the disc space.

Will keep you posted.

 

I have the AVIC-D3 and just love it! My GPS works well, but that was only after I moved the antenna to the roof (it is hidden under the trim just above the driver's door). It has the best iPod controls from all the radios I saw. I also found a cheap rear-view camera ($40 w/infrared enhancement) that worked well with the radio as well. As far as satellite radio, I do not have XM or Sirius. The AVIC series also supports Bluetooth, but I elected to keep my OnStar for phone service since it has much better reception than my cell phone.

For the price (I paid about $600 on sale for my AVIC-D3), I think it is well worth the money. The only feature I miss from the stock radio is the automatic volume control (volume gets louder when speed increases). Also, I choose the AVIC-D3 over the AVIC-Z2 because of the volume **** (don't have to take eyes off the road) and the non-moving screen (I off-road a lot and don't want to break it).

 

I Have had 2 different Eclipses in the last 3 years!! I LOVE 'EM!!!!

 

Interesting that you moved your gps antenna. Mine was mounted on the dash..it is a little block about 3/4" square and it was sitting behind the registration sticker so I moved it along the dash so it has clear line of sight to the outside world. Made no difference but seemed like a really good idea.

 

Pioneer is the way to go AVIC are the best!!!

*Just make sure for Pioneer HU you ground the wire to the chassis of the car rather than using the factory harness* Pioneer's are know for week pico fuses.

 

I have the Pioneer AVIC-Z3 and love it. As far as the GPS it has been spot on from day 1. I have the antenna on my dash next to the drvers side pillar and no problems at all. The XM antenna is anouther matter. I also have it located on the dash next to the drivers side pillar and I loose my signal all the time especially when driving north. I'm going to have to go back and move it to the roof.

 

I have the Pioneer AVIC-D3 and live it, my GPS anntena is mounted outside center rear roof and is right on...the ipod controls are just like the ipod...artist, title, song...etc...I love it and have had no problems with it. With the Onstar interface everything works just like it did before. I have the backup camera hooked up as well...works like a charm
You guys having problems with the pioneer might want to check the install