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Sat 25 Apr 2020 20:24

Any - Unrealistic car parts prices - elekie&a/c doctor

A friend of mine has a 10 year old Nissan Qashqai , where the radio / nav system has failed. He called the dealer for the cost of a replacement. A staggering £ 2500 . Just about the value of the car !

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Sat 25 Apr 2020 20:43

Any - Unrealistic car parts prices - Ethan Edwards

£360 on eBay. Any audio shop or mobile guy would fit it for you. Its plug n play.

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152958692375

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Sat 25 Apr 2020 21:01

Any - Unrealistic car parts prices - daveyjp

30 years ago a 10 year old car would be rusting away nicely. Manufacturers knew that and would sell new cars on the back of it.

Now that has been sorted in built obsolescence has been fitted.

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Sat 25 Apr 2020 21:53

Any - Unrealistic car parts prices - groaver

Capitalism 101.

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Sat 25 Apr 2020 22:18

Any - Unrealistic car parts prices - Ethan Edwards

I had a 2012 QQ and the Satnav would work fine for a while. Then it would progressively report false positions ending up on the North Sea. They fitted three head units under warranty. All failed after a week in the same manner. I did some googling and decided it was the GPS aerial at fault. The dealer, a Nissan main dealer told me it didn't have one. He told me it was incorporated in the radio aerial. I went away did hours more Googling and told him that was rubbish. It did have one, produced a picture of it and told him to replace it. All under warranty. They took one out of a used vehicle on the forecourt and fitted it. Worked perfectly after that. I assume they ordered a new one for the used car that was up for sale... my car worked so I was done. Now your friend might have a similar situation . You could spend cash to change the head unit and it might be an ancillary item. What are the symptoms?

Edited by Ethan Edwards on 25/04/2020 at 22:19

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Sat 25 Apr 2020 22:25

Any - Unrealistic car parts prices - elekie&a/c doctor

Don’t think it’s an aerial fault . The complete unit will randomly work perfectly or not switch on at all . No radio or anything. It can suddenly switch on while driving . Probably going the repair or s/hand route .

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Sat 25 Apr 2020 23:12

Any - Unrealistic car parts prices - Ethan Edwards

So its an intermittent loss of power either external to the head unit or within. That's a tough thing to find. Best of luck with that.

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Sun 26 Apr 2020 09:52

Any - Unrealistic car parts prices - Steveieb

My hairdresser has had similar problems with her Karjar and the dealer has had five attempts to fix it . But I learned that the Renault dealer keeps one of these in stock as they are so much in demand. But it's a lot of money to have on the shelf.

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Sun 26 Apr 2020 13:58

Any - Unrealistic car parts prices - Terry W

Most electronic kit (domestic or car) is outdated at 5 years and obselete at 10.

If you are fortunate it will soldier on for several years to come.

If it fails no manufacturer really wants to stock 10 year old obselete components. Nor will they want to amnufacture the limited number required.

So second hand is the route to go. What slightly surprises me is that no one has taken remanufacture of the parts using a more innovative approach - the complex obselete bit is often the electronic module whose processing capability could be easily managed by a cheap smartphone.

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Sun 26 Apr 2020 19:48

Any - Unrealistic car parts prices - Miniman777

The sat nav/infotainment system on Qashaqi's and Juke's is a known weak spot.

I had a Juke 1.5d on lease for 4 years until Nov 2019, car was great (other than the chaffed a/c pipes mentioned elsewhere) but from April 2018 (car then 2.5 years old) until it went back to lease co, the infotainment unit would just 'die' spasmodically.

It would cutout, no reason at all. Radio or phone call gone, then come back as if nothing had happened. Other issue was it would re-boot itself for no reason, with a loss of call, and also route instructions. Some days it was constant, other times you could go 4 weeks without it failing Was a pain in the A, but I simply didn't have the time nor wherewithal to book it in, take to dealers, collect in the evening only to hear they'd not been able to replicate the fault. Stuck it until the Juke was replaced - now someone else's problem.

Dont know who makes the head unit, but they need to be more reliable.

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Mon 27 Apr 2020 06:24

Any - Unrealistic car parts prices - madf

The sat nav/infotainment system on Qashaqi's and Juke's is a known weak spot.

I had a Juke 1.5d on lease for 4 years until Nov 2019, car was great (other than the chaffed a/c pipes mentioned elsewhere) but from April 2018 (car then 2.5 years old) until it went back to lease co, the infotainment unit would just 'die' spasmodically.

It would cutout, no reason at all. Radio or phone call gone, then come back as if nothing had happened. Other issue was it would re-boot itself for no reason, with a loss of call, and also route instructions. Some days it was constant, other times you could go 4 weeks without it failing Was a pain in the A, but I simply didn't have the time nor wherewithal to book it in, take to dealers, collect in the evening only to hear they'd not been able to replicate the fault. Stuck it until the Juke was replaced - now someone else's problem.

Dont know who makes the head unit, but they need to be more reliable.

Sounds like a poorly soldered PCB

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Mon 27 Apr 2020 11:35

Any - Unrealistic car parts prices - Falkirk Bairn

Car parts pricing is always mad - 2nd hand & repair is the only ways an older car can be fixed.

25 years ago the ECU went in a son's Rover 216 - lots of money for a new one - the local mechanic took it out and handed it to a unit just along the road £30 - £1 for component & £29 for diagnosing / soldering in new component.

My starter motor went the following month - another unit in the same wee estate stripped it & the total IIRC was some £50. Today if you go to a main dealer it might be £300-£500 for a new one - no attempt to repair.

Today if you go to my Indie he would order a refurbed alternator /starter motor etc and return the old one for credit - not quite as good as 25 years ago when it was refurbed & returned in a couple of hours.

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Mon 27 Apr 2020 20:04

Any - Unrealistic car parts prices - Ethan Edwards

Miniman777 wrote

Dont know who makes the head unit, but they need to be more reliable.

From memory I believe its Panasonic.

Edited by Ethan Edwards on 27/04/2020 at 20:06

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Mon 27 Apr 2020 20:13

Any - Unrealistic car parts prices - Steveieb

If Panasonic make the head unit , it can’t be their fault. Must be the Renault/Nissan interface

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Tue 28 Apr 2020 15:53

Any - Unrealistic car parts prices - concrete

Don’t think it’s an aerial fault . The complete unit will randomly work perfectly or not switch on at all . No radio or anything. It can suddenly switch on while driving . Probably going the repair or s/hand route .

Repairs to this type of equipment are difficult to accomplish. A second hand unit sounds ideal. Look around in the usual places. There must be someone who specialises in Nissan reclaimed parts. When the heated mirror glass on my XC60 got smashed the main dealer wanted over £250 to replace it. I got one from a reclaimer in Nottingham, online for £35 plus P&P. Came in nice box, well packed and clean as new. Fitted it in minutes. Must be the same for Nissan parts. Good luck.

Cheers Concrete

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Tue 28 Apr 2020 18:31

Any - Unrealistic car parts prices - Engineer Andy

I bet they could get a replacement unit that isa different system, made by another firm and retailing for a lot less, but that just fits the space and internal electronics/power systems of the existing car.

I was once considering getting a new combined ICE and Satnav system for my 2005-build Mazda3, and I could get (from the US) systems that had a decent sized touchscreen and ICE system all-in-one for a considerable lower price than the £1500 DVD SatNav System that Mazda3 sold for the car. One of the members of the Mazda3 owners forum has one and it works very nicely.

I wouldn't be at all suprised if they produced similar head units for other makes as well for UK models - might be worth a look for the OP. They also have the added bonus of DAB and smartphone connectivity.

Once I found a decent vent-based mobile phone holder, I just used my phone for the satnav and kept my (otherwise working) ICE system.

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Tue 28 Apr 2020 12:32

Any - Unrealistic car parts prices - Engineer Andy

A friend of mine has a 10 year old Nissan Qashqai , where the radio / nav system has failed. He called the dealer for the cost of a replacement. A staggering £ 2500 . Just about the value of the car !

I remember asking, back in early 2006, when I bought my gen-1 Mazda3 how much their satnav system (DVD based) cost, and that was a whopping £1500. I suspect that many of these parts arn't kept in the UK, maybe not even in the EU central stores and have to be specially shipped from Japan.

Rather like one of my old mini hifis needing a new motor (the size of a couple of sugar cubes) for the cassette player about 15 years ago, which cost me £75 to have replaced.

I suppose the rarity of people wanting such parts replaced and ongoing storage costs mean that prices will be high.

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