SolaraGuy.com

I got a '06 Solara with Navi, and I am a little disappointed with it.

No more 6 disc changer and radio recept seems to be not that good.

There's no voice activation (while all other manufacturer are offering voice activation features)

And the operation seems not as user friendly as other offerings from e.g Honda

The biggest rant is the DVD map disc is dated 2003 (I took the disc out and the date is written on it). I can't believe Toyota is giving people a 3 years old map disc. I already have more than a couple of occation that the Navi gave me the wrong navigation instruction and wrong POI. Having the Navi to show you the wrong way sucks and defect the purpose. Even my old Garmin GPV III+ never tell me to get off the freeway exit that doesn't exist!

Question:

(1) Can I request Toyota to give me an update version of the DVD map data?

(2) Can I modified the unit to play DVD or install a TV tuner? (seems highly unlikely this can be done)

(3) What do I need to do if I choose to take the navi unit out and replace it with a single DIN head unit? Can I still maintain the steering control? Any instruction available online?

Hm... I can just see the hammer dropping down on this guy... everything you've asked has been answered in other posts... just a synopsis...

1) You can probably request it at the dealership, or by calling them, or by making a fuss all over the internet., but is it gonna happen? No f-ing way... the dealerships charge over 200 dollars for a new DVD... Having said that, there was a notice that went out about 6-8 months ago about bringing in your car to get a new DVD (for software reasons)... see what version you have and then compare with one of ours...

2) There are things being worked on, as of now, nothing is shipping... check out vaistech.com and coastaletech.com

3) Search the audio/video/nav for that exact topic. many have changed their headunits, and some even got the steering wheel controls to work for the display...

and some of your other complaints...

there's a microphone kit for your precious voice activation, search around the forums, and you'll see some people talking about it... here and at siennaclug.org.
It's offered here: http://www.newtoyotaparts.com/product/?id=1441

And to answer another post of yours...
The "aero" kit from the SE Sport will fit the SLE, but finding it is going to be really hard. As of yet, we've only heard of one success story, and it was a used set...
Grills, search the for sale section and you should see michaels_arctic_frost selling his custom grills... upper and lower. They get great reactions from people.

stockae92 wrote:I got a '06 Solara with Navi, and I am a little disappointed with it.

No more 6 disc changer and radio recept seems to be not that good.

There's no voice activation (while all other manufacturer are offering voice activation features)

And the operation seems not as user friendly as other offerings from e.g Honda

The biggest rant is the DVD map disc is dated 2003 (I took the disc out and the date is written on it). I can't believe Toyota is giving people a 3 years old map disc. I already have more than a couple of occation that the Navi gave me the wrong navigation instruction and wrong POI. Having the Navi to show you the wrong way sucks and defect the purpose. Even my old Garmin GPV III+ never tell me to get off the freeway exit that doesn't exist!

Question:

(1) Can I request Toyota to give me an update version of the DVD map data?

(2) Can I modified the unit to play DVD or install a TV tuner? (seems highly unlikely this can be done)

(3) What do I need to do if I choose to take the navi unit out and replace it with a single DIN head unit? Can I still maintain the steering control? Any instruction available online?

Pretty hard to believe a 2006 nav equipped Solara still has a 2003 DVD. I bought my car in Oct 2003 and it probably came with a 2003 DVD. I had version 3.1. Then half a year or so ago, I got a letter from Toyota stating that they had found numerous inaccuracies in the DVD and were replacing them for free with new versions. Well I brought it in and got a new version 4.2 I believe. Big difference as all the newest highway changes are now there and it seems more accurate too. Go to your dealership and tell them this and demand a new DVD. If no deal, contact Toyota Customer Service. There should be no way they can refuse you.

As for missing the six-CD player, I don't miss it at all now that I've connected my IPOD to the multi-cd changer port on the back of the NAV radio using the IPOD2CAR. If you have an IPOD, I highly recommend doing the same. Playing thousands of songs randomly with no delay between them makes CD changers seem like ancient technology.

I have totally fine radio reception. Perhaps you have something wrong with your radio or antenna. There was a TSB on poor radio reception you might want to check out. Search for the TSB posts and see if you have the problem it refers to. If really bad reception, have dealer look at it anyway.

Best of luck and hope my recommendations make you enjoy the Nav radio more. I think it's great.

thanks, i will do a search on the IPOD2CAR, that seems to be a great idea

i've just checked this morning

my DVD is ver. 4.2

that sucks big time cause it still gives me plenty of false navigation here in socal

OK, that would explain why I didn't see much difference. I bought the car in May 04, and it already had a vers. 4.x disc.

And, if you think about it, it's not TOO outrageous that a 2006 car still has 2003 disc... I've read that these discs get updated every two years... and being that it is still 2005, I'd give them the benefit of the doubt that these are the newest discs available.

slingshot wrote:Pretty hard to believe a 2006 nav equipped Solara still has a 2003 DVD. I bought my car in Oct 2003 and it probably came with a 2003 DVD. I had version 3.1. Then half a year or so ago, I got a letter from Toyota stating that they had found numerous inaccuracies in the DVD and were replacing them for free with new versions. Well I brought it in and got a new version 4.2 I believe.

wanna trade my JBL 6-disk for your navi?

stockae92 wrote:i've just checked this morning

my DVD is ver. 4.2

that sucks big time cause it still gives me plenty of false navigation here in socal

Very strange because like I said my new ver 4.2 disc had updated road construction that was finished in 2004 near me. It also seems more accurate with addresses and Points of Interest. Some things were strangely dropped from the old to the new DVD like the runways on airports and the entranceway road for my condo complex.