I'm a newbie, so be kind.

I bought my Z1 in October of 2006. I love all the bells and whistles, but, because of a disability that affects my eyes, I rely on the Z1's navigation.

I live in Long Island, NY and am limited to about a 40 mile radius. In that small radius, I have found quite a few blatant mistakes. Roads are supposed to be there are not, and roads that do not exist are shown on the Z1. Now, I'm not talking about new developments, but houses and roads from the 50's and 60's. I have been complaining about this to Pioneer Customer Service since about December 2006 when I first got lost with it. They assured me an update was coming, and it did...for $250!!! My point is that the maps that came with the Z1 were wrong and/or outdated and they should provide me with the update at no charge. They didn't agree. I'm wondering if we could get a bunch of us together, chip in (depending on how many of us agree), and get one update and circulate it around. I think it's very unfair of Pioneer to ask for such a ridiculous amount of money for this. I have a Magellan Roadmate 700 that they have update for me for FREE and their maps have been accurate since I bought it in 2001. I've compared the maps and where the Z1 has been wrong, the 700 has been right EVERY TIME.

Any thoughts?

In a little while people will start attacking you for thinking of copying the cds.

Um...

There's a sticky thread in this very forum providing a free upgrade / help upgrading to the Z2, which comes with the upgraded maps. This *is* the $250 disc.

As for the disc itself, it requires a unique key on each Z1 to run, so the Z2 image/upgrade is the only way of distributing it.

I totally agree with you on the unreasonable amount of money that pioneer is charging for a map update. If you buy a car from ford or chevy...they give you free map updates for as long as you own the car.

Pioneer should be supplying free map updates with the very costly z1 and z2 units. They are very poor business people for doing this. If they supplied free updates for the z1 and z2, they would sell alot more of these units. There greed is overpowering their thinking.

One way to update the Z1 with a new map is to purchase one of the pre-loaded HD's on ebay. However, some of these HD's are not rated for automotive use. So if you buy one of these...be carefull. To find these hard drives on ebay...go to ebay type into the search field...Avic z1 update......and you will find them.

Mike,

Yes, they are very poor business people. The Customer Care people I dealt with on the phone actually sounded annoyed. They opened up a dispute (finally), and gave me a number, but said I had to send a WRITTEN complaint to their office, WITH specific instances of where the map was wrong. I finally have 3 or 4 instances and will send it to them after I print them out. But how annoying is this, that they won't take an email or a phone complaint?

Like I said, the Customer Service people at Magellan not only notified me of an update, but actually gave me a choice of either downloading the update from their website, or mailing them the unit and having them do it FREE OF CHARGE. I only paid for the shipping TO them in California. Now that's a company that cares! They not only updated the maps, but upgraded my 700 to a 760 with their software, again AT NO COST!

Chris

i totally agree with you here CORLANDO.. i just recently purchased a car myself with the Z1 unit.

it came from california and i live in las vegas, nv. where construction and change is virtually everywhere!

i have definitely noticed wayyyy more incorrect streets, direction and what not than correct ones!!! it is annoying and is disappointing after my initial excitment over this Z1 unit.

i'd love to have a easy change too.. such as the $250 disc you can just put it and be done with.. not like the HARD DRIVE you have to SWAP out!

(how hard is it to get to anyway- the hard drive)?

let me know what i can do to pitch in a complaint, that sounds pretty stupid and rude of pioneer.

When you fold the screen down to put a disk in, the thing that looks like a hard-drive with screws holding it in is indeed the hard drive with screws holding it in

 

(how hard is it to get to anyway- the hard drive)?

 

Tuning Haus,

Well, you can probably start by calling Pioneer Customer Service and complain about their maps. They will ask for specific instances, give you a case number, and ask you to write a letter via snail mail stating your problem.

Personally, I don't even know if their new map disk will fix the streets I'm sighting, because these are not new developments...they've been around since the 1950's and '60's. I think they need to get their maps from someone else, not whomever they are getting them from now.

I have a protable Magellan Roadmate and I consult with that because it's much more accurate. I've even taken it along with me because I didn't trust the Z1. The 2 voices telling me where to go drives me crazy, though. It's like going somewhere with my daughter and my wife!!!

Chris

Can u please give me the link to the free map upgrades for the Z2, i cant seem to find it. Thanks

Um...

 

There's a sticky thread in this very forum providing a free upgrade / help upgrading to the Z2, which comes with the upgraded maps. This *is* the $250 disc.

 

As for the disc itself, it requires a unique key on each Z1 to run, so the Z2 image/upgrade is the only way of distributing it.

Can't find it? Look for the sticky AT THE VERY TOP of the Z-series hacks/mods section

Can u please give me the link to the free map upgrades for the Z2, i cant seem to find it. Thanks

 

anyone have any experience with the EBAY sellers that offer the HARD DRIVE upgrades from z1 to z2 (updated maps) ???

i know there are a few and it's under $120-180 which is cheaper than the $250 cd disk offered by pioneer.

such as this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pioneer-Avic-Z1-Z2- ... dZViewItem

AND THIS:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pioneer-Avic-Z1-Z2- ... dZViewItem

what do you guys think???