djwhyte wrote:

I was at the dealers yesterday and managed to look at a Freelander 2 that had the aftermarket Garmin all fitted in. It looked very smart indeed. The plastic surround/mount was shiny black plastic, which seemed a little out of place being surrounded by the duller dash plastic but on the whole it did look like it was factory fitted as opposed to a retro-fit.

If I could get a hold of one of those surrounds or at least figure out how it is all fitted, that would be awesome. cdn, if you ever do strip down your dash to have a look, don't forget to take some pics

Cheers,
Whytey

I have just received a reply from the dealer to the effect that the Sat Nav in my pending SD4 will be the aftermarket NavMan fitted here in Oz. I'm glad I rea this thread as I will make sure it is fitted with relatively easy access to the SD card slot and the USB for map updates.

CDN - have you been able to test your Garmin out in the bush yet? I'm interested to see how it goes. Only yesterday, I decided to go for a drive (not yet in the FL2!) and had my Nokia with maps & navigation just in case. We headed off the highway, into a small town and then through bush and state pine forests toward a main coastal road.
4 or 5 kilometers into the Pine forest along dirt tracks, the Nokia still showed us on tracks. Almost instantly however, all roads and/or tracks disappeared and we appeared in a massive 'green' blob of nothingness. As luck would have it, the next corner revealed a "Road Closed" sign and we had to wing it as best we could thereafter. No roads headed where we needed to go, so we had to try this track for 1klm then another in a different direction for 2klm and so on and so forth. Some tracks had the signs of lots of traffic and others slowly formed into grass overgrowth zones where nobody had been for years and we had to turn back. Basically, the nav system was useless! Detailed maps in the printed form cost quite a bit of money, are hard to buy and never seem to last long, so I was keen to see how the Navman that comes with the FL2 performed in the "bush"?

Hello jaksbak, I've used the Garmin 1490 in the bush; it will usually show you on a track, sometimes naming the track or, on other occasions showing 'Driving on unpaved road' On a couple of occasions it has shown us driving through a green 'blob' but shows the direction you're going -'E', 'NW', 'S' etc. - but then picks up a more prominent track as it approaches. On one such occasion I selected the 'Home' icon and, a bit to my surprise, it gave a route on bush tracks of varying importance back to a highway and then onto home. Of course, like all computers, they're only as good as the data installed. Garmin use 'Whereis' maps which are, I think, part of Telstra. The final option is that, by touching your car icon, you will get a precise location which can then be easily plotted on any road atlas that has the standard grid. Having said all that, I must add that my travels with the Garmin have only been in the Victorian and southern NSW bush - I can't answer yet for the real outback! As a point of interest, I have just read a road test of the 2011 model - very complimentary incidentally - but it made a specific point of saying that the factory fitted GPS on the HSE model did not perform as well as the dealer installed Garmin on the SE.
Hope this helps.

Hey cdn,

Did you ever get to look at the fascia surround around your Garmin? I called a dealer today and they recommended I call Gold Coast Car Sound since they do 'factory installs'. When I did, I either didn't describe very well what I was after, or they were a little close minded in what to recommend but he quoted prices of about $2500. In the end, we agreed that it might be better for me to go to the store and show them what I was actually after.

I would be happy with just the Garmin install that looks like a factory fit. Hopefully, if I describe that to them, they will be able to make the fascia and fit it for much cheaper.

If you do get chance (and the inclination) to look at the surround and how it all fits together, would it be possible for you to take some photos of how it all goes together, is held in to the dashboard etc.

Many thanks,
Whytey 1st time FL2 owner. 2007 SE i6 in Tambora Flame.

Hey chaps

I'm really interested in the surround if anyone can source it

chicken george wrote:

find out who makes the sat-nav surround, ship a load to me, I will sell them on UK ebay, and share the profits

See me Mr East, I will give you a special vaners rate (If my Aussies /UK trade partnership ever gets off the ground )

In the mean time can I interest you in some finest chicken products? At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

Thanks Egipp. That really helps. I also saw that mention of the factory fit V's aftermarket. If the Navman unit was a bit ordinary, I might hav called the dealer and suggested he discount the price of the vehicle by their "cost" to source and fit the Navman and I could buy another aftermarket unit that suits. I found a "tech blog" that provided reviews for The Navman 1490T and whilst the majority were really good, others weren't so happy with Whereis Mapping. Consequently, I looked up the forest I drove thru the other day via Whereis (on my PC) and it also pretty much showed nothing! It seems the everyday operation is excellent but I'd prefer a GPS mapping system that saved me spending squillions on maps for the bush - where we need to take Freelanders on weekends and holidays!

chicken george wrote:

chicken george wrote:

find out who makes the sat-nav surround, ship a load to me, I will sell them on UK ebay, and share the profits

See me Mr East, I will give you a special vaners rate (If my Aussies /UK trade partnership ever gets off the ground )

In the mean time can I interest you in some finest chicken products?

Not until I see you becoming an "Official Sponsor" and a clickon chicken link at the top of this forum. Plus I don't think I want to know what your "Special vaner rate" is, probably not beneficial to my health.

when i am the only supplier in the country I will be able to adjust my prices according to mood, also please send me your sat-nav so I can tweak its route finding to make sure your vaning routes come nowhere near me  At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

Hey everyone, sorry we've just come back from a long weekend road trip - loving this car!

Unfortunately the dealer's after-sale responsiveness is a bit lacking and I am still awaiting a response to my query regarding the Garmin install.

I will pop the dash off this week however and post some pics of the Garmin install however.

Cheers 11MY SE SD4 in Lago Grey just arrived with a free Garmin thrown in! This could be the start of a beautiful relationship (I'm an eternal optimist, and former FL1 owner)!

Hi,
I'm thinking of installing the Garmin 1490T and wondered if the surround can be obtained in the Uk? Does anyone know?
Also I realise that I need to take the glovebox out to install this. I am sure that the instructions are on the site somewhere but I cannot find them - can anyone help?
Thanks in advance,
Tony

just unhook the glove box lid hangers then the whole box lifts off its hinges, At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

How do you unhook the glove box hangers? I dont want to snap anything?

On the left, it is actually made in such a way that it presses in. On the right, I found I just had to contort the side of the glovebox to pull the lug beyond where it catches (if that makes sense). You also need to unhook the gas piston too, but it all comes apart and goes back together easy.

I took mine apart to fit my Garmin 1490 just today. I was crapping my pants but this car just pops apart and goes back together really easily. It was just like I was playing with a big meccano or lego set  1st time FL2 owner. 2007 SE i6 in Tambora Flame.