Radio Suggestions - 2003 V8 LS

[erwinsto70]

Ok, LS has been parked in the garage for several years, I'm bringing it back out now that my son is coming of age to drive and we will need another car. I'll be driving my LS again and am actually pretty excited about it. Love this car. I put new wheels on it, prior wheels were chrome and started corroding, tires would not hold air so I replaced with fairly cheap but decent looking wheels in the picture.

Unfortunately, I made a previous decision to put an app radio in the car, works fine, but I want to upgrade to something more in line with the times (incl. Nav). Any suggestions? I was able to get the app radio in and working with the original speakers (they said they couldn't do it, so I figured out a way to do so myself and let them clean it up after I showed that it worked. Have to dig up where I put all of those wiring diagrams). I really want to keep the original sub as is in the car. Factory radio was THX with Nav.

Took it out last week and it is running pretty good, will require minor maintenance after sitting for so long.

Think I'm at about 210k miles on it.

 

[erwinsto70]

BTW, if I choose something soon enough, maybe Santa will bring it for Christmas. Ha ha ha.

 

[joegr]

Price range?

 

[erwinsto70]

Probably $600 and below at this point.

 

[joegr]

Probably $600 and below at this point.

I think that narrows it down to the lower end of the Pioneer AVIC NEX units, unless you go used.

 

[soduka]

Do people still spend all that money on head units with navigation? Seems like a waste of money to me when even a $30 prepaid phone from Walmart has navigation abilities now.

 

[joegr]

Do people still spend all that money on head units with navigation? Seems like a waste of money to me when even a $30 prepaid phone from Walmart has navigation abilities now.

There are some advantages to built-in navigation. If they are worth the cost is a matter of opinion.

1. Always knows which way you are pointed. With a phone you have to start moving before it can figure out which direction you are going.
2. It is a bit more accurate on actual position. This can help where there are exits next to each other.
3. It continues to fairly accurately track position (including any turns you make) when you are in a tunnel system or when the clouds block GPS reception.
4. It mutes or attenuates the music when it speaks.
5. Works without using any of your data.
6. Works in areas with no internet.

 

[LS4me]

There are some advantages to built-in navigation. If they are worth the cost is a matter of opinion.

1. Always knows which way you are pointed. With a phone you have to start moving before it can figure out which direction you are going.
2. It is a bit more accurate on actual position. This can help where there are exits next to each other.
3. It continues to fairly accurately track position (including any turns you make) when you are in a tunnel system or when the clouds block GPS reception.
4. It mutes or attenuates the music when it speaks.
5. Works without using any of your data.
6. Works in areas with no internet.

7. The screen is MUCH bigger!!!

 

[soduka]

There are some advantages to built-in navigation. If they are worth the cost is a matter of opinion.

1. Always knows which way you are pointed. With a phone you have to start moving before it can figure out which direction you are going.
2. It is a bit more accurate on actual position. This can help where there are exits next to each other.
3. It continues to fairly accurately track position (including any turns you make) when you are in a tunnel system or when the clouds block GPS reception.
4. It mutes or attenuates the music when it speaks.
5. Works without using any of your data.
6. Works in areas with no internet.

The phone will work without using data as well. They don't need to be activated with a plan, the GPS signal is independent of that nowadays and it'll work right off the shelf. You could use wifi at home to download the maps onto the phone and then simply activate the application in the car to work off the preloaded maps. That's what I do with my motorcycle for clip-on navigation and speedometer through GPS. No big deal if a $30 Walmart phone gets broken or something.

 

[erwinsto70]

All great points. I took that approach with my previous head unit and was not satisfied depending on the phone. Frequently struggled to get accurate position, overworked the battery (was always extremely hot), and just did not like depending on it. With that said, I'm all for minimizing investment in a head unit. Thanks for the comments and thoughts. I really don't want to spend that much but I want dependable functionality.