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D3: The first navigation unit I bought that cannot navigate.


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For $1000, you would think the damn thing would navigate from point A to point B without the stupid icon drifting off the route I am driving and into the ocean. Otherwise, it drifts off and then occasionally puts me in the middle of Manhattan and freezes there (while I am in Long Island, Staten Island, Brooklyn, or Queens). On a good day, if I go to settings - modify current location, and just move it a bit, it will find me again for 5 minutes or so.

I had returned this thing to Pioneer for this issue 5 months ago and all they did was press the reset button and send it back to me.

I wish I would have thought of that!

With this thing in my car, I am actually finding myself shopping for a TomTom.

This is just insanity. And with all the issues that the F series is having, it is time to write Pioneer off for good.

If you are even considering buying a Pioneer, run the other way.

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I'm going to be blunt.

 

Most of the bitching about the accuracy of these units is because they aren't installed correctly or completely.

 

If you installed it, then double check your connections, also make sure all of the wires are connected properly, including VSS. If you didn't install it then take it back to whomever did the install.

 

I read this forum for 2 weeks before I installed mine and it has performed flawlessly. The unit has its quirks no doubt, but it works as advertised.

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Basically if the unit is installed properly, the accuracy of the GPS system is incredible. If it's not, something is wrong. Be that a bad antenna, pinched antenna wire, poor satellite signal due to antenna placement, putting the antenna on a non-metallic surface without using the supplied metal pad, improper VSS and reverse connections, or even unstable voltage in the power supply wire.

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sorry guys. I was a bit cranky last night. I did not do the install. I had BestBuy take care of that. I am not sure if they hooked up the vss cable. When I look in 3d calabration, it says simple hybrid and speed pulse is always on zero. Left and right turns are full but distance is 3/4 full with over 4,000 miles since I got it back from Pioneer. When the car drifts off the map, there is no signal. The antenna is on the dashboard by the windshield. It seems like some days it is fine but some days it will go from all satelites to no signal in a seconds time. Then it will come back again.

When it shows my car in Manhattan, it has a signal and it reports my driving speed and the car icon turns when I turn, but it just does not move.

It worked fine when I first got it. Not sure if an antenna can go bad.

Any advice is appreciated.

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Your sat signal could be getting blocked by the buildings briefly in New York. The VSS compensates for this. Take it back and get the VSS wire hooked up. Also did they use the metal pad that came with the unit under the gps antenna ? These antennas need to be placed on a metal surface to work correctly. Best Buy has a reputation of doing a poor job of installation.

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problem is that when it says I am in NY, I am actually in Long Island on the highway with a wide open view to the sky. The antenna is on the dash in a small square magnetic plate that I assume came in the box. When I brought it back to BestBuy, they made me return it to Pioneer who just sent it back to me with all data erased. It actually did work fine for a few months after that but it is starting again.

How can I tell if the VSS cable is connected without ripping it out!

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I would get a new antenna, or disconnect the VSS if it is hooked up, just to test and verify. be sure to do a complete reset also.

I doubt Best Buy would be able to exchange it, the D3 is closeout. Sending the unit in for service will do nothing, it's one of those two things.

What year, make and model car is it in?

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Do you guys have the problem that if you are on a highway with a route plotted and the nav tells you to get off an exit, but you keep going, the nav thinks you got off the exit and does not realize that you did not get off the exit if the service road runs parallel?
Yea , I don't think your going to fix that problem . Pioneer's GPS chip is out dated and less sensitive (only 8 sat compaired to 20 some satellites for most portable nav units ) . When you have a route plotted it tries to hold to the route a little too much , I think to make up for its poor tracking . I like my unit but will also be taking my TomTom out of the drawer and on vacation with me . It just does a better job. :wink:
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