I have a 2007 Mustang with the Shaker 500 and here are my questions about getting an Avic F700BT

1. Everyone is talking about boot time? When I turn my car will I be able to immediately be able to listen to music?

2. Besides music what is the point of an SD card reader, can I upload pictures to the Avic?

3. My car has factory Sirius with the antenna permanently mounted on the trunk, can I still use that or do I need this: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_122 ... SC-C1.html

4. Does the navigation antenna mount under the dash like the stock ford one's or does it need a clear view of the sky

5. Is HD radio worth getting? I live in the Washington D.C. area and they are quite a few HD stations

6. I have my windows tinted with regular 35% 3M tint will that affect the performance of the Sirius/navigation antennas if they needed to be mounted on the inside rear shelf against the rear window?

7. A local store called Tweeter quoted the install at $300 is that reasonable?

$300 install? jesus...i would still be looking at mine in the box if that were the case!

i just poked my head in here...i dont have the 700bt...sorry...but i'm sure it's similar to the 90bt i have

music does take a little bit to start listening to...depending on what you listened to last...i think iPods start up quicker than discs...or it may be the other way around...either way...it's not THAT bad...

you can reuse the factory sirius antenna, but you just need to remove the plastic from around the antenna plug in order for it to plug into the pioneer tuner. your sirius tuner is in the trunk...i believe on the passenger side behind the liner. my 07 stang didnt come factory with sirius, so im going off of what i remember from other stangs. the install should be about 200 dollars at most. 100 for install, 50 for the sirius tuner, and the the other 50 for parts (at the highest price). i have my gps antenna under the dashboard...just make sure there are no metal pieces above the antenna otherwise it will block the signal. the sirius antenna needs to be on the outside though.

1. Music starts playing for me in about 5-10 seconds on the f900.

2. Yes, you can transfer images to use as a startup splash screen. You can also store custom POI's on an sd card, if they ever get around to releasing the avic feeds software. You can also log your driven routes to the sd card for later review, if you want.

3. offroaderf150 was kind enough to cover that one...

4. Under the top skin of the dash works fine. Factory nav antenna location would be great. Instrument cluster is a piece of cake to remove.

5. Only you can answer this. I personally like HD radio. Go check out some standalone hd radios at a local store and see what you get, then decide if you want it.

6. Tint shouldn't be a problem.

7. $300 sounds a bit steep. Depends on what kind of service/materials you are getting. If they are using a canbus harness to do the install, that could be around $140 right there.

Does the F-series have enhanced control of the HD radio tuner? What I mean is, does it display full titles and have easy to use controls, NOT as an external device (EXT1, EXT2, etc) which only displays 8-characters of text and has really clunky controls?

I get a couple of lines of scrolling/varying text on a few stations. Songs/talk show name and staion name.

Absolutely nothing on some others. Different broadcaster and all.

Station names at least on most.

HD tuner is vastly improved. Seems mostly like regular tuner. Actually shows FM1 FM2 FM3 and AM (1 & 2 maybe, don't remember). Presets still have issues. Mine show up blank. They do remember the station, though.

Thanks, bob. Sounds like that must be enhanced HD tuner control. Anything more than 8-characters has to be enhanced. That's definitely a plus in favor of the F-series.

Just took a couple of shots with a crappy phone camera. Sorry, full sunlight.

Got station name, artist, song title.

only 1 line of text at at time... But it scrolls!

Was confused because it shows up at the top of the display and in the middle of the screen. The "Disp" Button right under "scan" will cycle though the info.

ok, thanks everyone

So I do not need this: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_122 ... SC-C1.html

steveo555,

youll still need the pioneer sirius tuner but you can still use the factory antenna only. the antenna thats included with the pioneer sirius unit can be replaced with the factory antenna, but you still need to buy the tuner. the ford tuner will only work with the ford radio.

offroaderf150

thanks that is what I was wondering

I have an factory Ford Sirius antenna on my Mustang but my car didnt come with Sirius.. I think you're going to need an adaper cable but maybe it's the same at the other end of the factory setup.. I had to have a cable made to go from the antenna to the Sirius box. A guy over on Sirius Backstage made it for me.

I have a 2007 Mustang with the Shaker 500 and here are my questions about getting an Avic F700BT

 

7. A local store called Tweeter quoted the install at $300 is that reasonable?

that seems like alot for just install. is that price including install and parts? im getting an F90bt put in my Yukon on Saturday by tweeter and i was quoted $150 for install, so you might want to look into that.

The unit isnt that tough to install in a Mustang. I did my own.. it took me about 2 hours, however I didnt have to run the speed sensor wire because it was there from my Eclipse unit.

Couple of things you need to know if you want to take it on yourself.

1 - The Metra harness actually works well with the Pioneer. It was awful with the Eclipse as the bass really slammed the door speakers way too much.

2 - You gotta go all the way out under the hood for the speed sensor wire.. to the PCM. I forget what wire it is but if you need to know, I can look it up.

3 - You need to put a voltage regulator on the amp turn on or you will get a pop everytime the amps come on.

If you want to hook the dimmer up (I cant tell it actually does anything), you need to grab it off the back of the switch.

Thats about all I can think of right now.