Travato Navigation/Radio System Issues?

[wincrasher]

Almost all the built in systems have the lockout. The Pioneer I installed in one of my cars also had to have a wire connected to the emergency brake switch.

Most will let you pick a new location from your address book while moving, or cancel a route, or ask for a new route/detour, but that's about it.

[obgraham]

Das Becker in das Schprinter also makes it bloody difficult to enter a route, and nothing at all while moving. Useless piece of rubbish. Mine sits idle while I run the Garmin next to it.

[booster]

That is the silliest thing I have heard of. Nearly all of us have a copilot to handle the GPS, so there is no risk at all in those cases. There has to be a workaround.

One of the things we use the most on our Garmin is the "what's ahead" to find gas stations or rest stops, does it lock stuff like that out also?

[avanti]

Our Becker Audio 15 (OEM Mercedes) allows one to enter addresses while driving using voice commands only. This would be awful with most systems I've used, but this one actually has a decent voice recognition hit rate, so it's not so bad. The Becker is certainly idiosyncratic, but we have come to like it reasonably well. Certainly less hassle than fumbling with a phone or iPad. I especially like that it shows the current speed limit and can be set to gently remind you when you are exceeding it by a certain amount. The fact that it is integrated with the little display in the center of the dash is nice, too.

Most third-party systems can be hacked to defeat the lockouts--there are little hardware devices that fake the necessary sequences. Much harder with OEM.

[RTVATO]

Originally Posted by RTVATO

Given the issues I was having with the Tom Tom nav system anyway I figured I'd go ahead with the update rather than waiting for a trip to the Promaster dealer. Took about 5 tries and two different browsers to get the files from Uconnect downloaded and installed on my flash drive. Turned the key on and inserted the drive in the usb port next to the steering column and watched the radio screen go through it's sequences finding the files and starting the update. Nice screen telling me that it could take 30 minutes with a progress bar chug chuging along pretending there is something good happening. In about 20 minutes the screen showed a big red X, and a #114 error message. After a couple of more tries it is clear that the status is FUBAR. No radio/nav/backup camera - nothing. I called the Promaster dealer and scheduled an appointment for next Tuesday morning. (I asked that he have a replacement radio on hand since that seems to be the only fix noted on the Promaster forums. Any bets that they will do that vs having to make a second trip?) Film at 11:00, as they say.

Well, here we are almost a month later and the update is NOT good. RAM Dealer did not have replacement radio on hand. Had to confirm for them selves that the radio was FUBAR and then ordered replacement. ETA - one week.
One week later, radio not in yet but scheduled install visit the following week. In the meantime I figured out that the dealer had been using an incorrect VIN number (actually for a White 2500 instead of a Silver 3500) so when I went in as scheduled I showed them. Wrong VIN number = wrong radio ordered. They corrected all of their records and ordered the correct radio. First estimate will have in one week. Quickly changed to "on back order, ETA "maybe" Sept.3. When asked for further definition of terms in layman's language - Chrysler does not have a replacement radio, waiting to get them from the manufacturer.
I'm in awe of this situation in a vehicle primarily made for business use.
One of the main reasons I went with the Travato was the theory that I would be able to have the RAM vehicle fixed promptly anywhere in the US of A easier than trying to find a MB dealership to work on a Sprinter. Apparently this is a flawed theory.
Anybody have any suggestions on how to get a replacement radio to my RAM dealer? I have written to my Service Advisor at Winne to see if their Promaster buyer can help but haven't received a response yet.

[Jostalli]

Find a new Ram dealer. Mine in San Diego is great. Make sure it's a BusinessLink dealer.

[RTVATO]

UPDATE: It's a miracle! My RAM dealer called this morning and said he has a tracking number and he will have the replacement radio tomorrow morning. He was comfortable enough with that to make an appointment to do the installation tomorrow. Can this really be coming to an end?

[ds10]

Watching this thread carefully. I think I'll refrain from doing software updates on ours until winter time when we won't be using it for trips. I'll use a NuviCam unit (have one in my Subaru) for real navigation, but having the backup camera function would seem kind of important.

[eric1514]

It went smoothly when I did it to my radio, but after reading about some of the problems people have had, I think I'll let the dealer perform any further updates. That way it's their problem when things don't go well.

[RTVATO]

EUREKA! RTVATO has been to uConnect 5.0 Hell and is now in uConnect 5.0 Heaven. The RAM dealer service advisor, mechanic, and replacement radio were waiting for me at the scheduled appointment time. 50 minutes later I drove out with working radio, Bluetooth connected phone, working NAV system (still sucky Tom Tom), and back up camera. Our work is done here Batman.

[eric1514]

Eric