I just recently bought a "new" car and with it a used Avic-N2 off eBay.

I had the system as well as some accessories and add-ons professionally installed by CarToys.

Here is my setup...

2000 Land Rover Discovery II Series

Avic-N2 Head unit and brain

XM tuner

Microphone and wireless remote

All the above is wired into the car which is factory - no extra amps or speakers, just stock.

I will mention though, that I did bypass the unit with the solder trick and the ground wiring. It is essential to me to be able to make on-the-fly GPS changes -- I do not care about watching movies while driving. Also please keep in mind that I am running the most up to date version of the Pioneer maps.

Now that you know how everything is hooked up here is my question...

I switched from a Garmin Streetmate unit to the Avic-N2. I was hoping that I would get similar features but so far that doesn't seem to be the case. Now I am just wondering if this is normal or I just have something setup wrong.

While driving - when a destination is set I do not get turn-by-turn directions. For example, if I set my home as my destination and drive towards home - on or off the specified route I do not get directions on where to go. If I push the way point icon in the top left of the screen or push the guide button on my remote I get vocal instructions on where to go. However, if I do nothing the route stays on the screen but never actually tells me where to go and when to make turns.

Now, I am pretty certain that this unit is capable of making these directions - otherwise, why would anyone buy it? Do I just not have something setup right or is this a flaw?

My other question is in regards to estimated arrival time.

On my lower left hand side of the screen where my estimated arrival time should be shown I just have question marks displayed or asterisks (**-**) and the time is never shown. Is this because I bypassed the unit? If these calculations are made by taking advantage of the cars current speed I can understand why these wouldn't display.

My third and final question relates to route calculations. Is the N2 supposed to recalculate your route if you go off course? If I go off course - by a mile or 10 it never recalculates. I can manually recalculate but I am used to the Garmin Streetmate that would do this automatically.

My biggest problem right now is with turn-by-turn directions. How can I get them to turn on? Or, is that even an option? Without that option I have to stare at the map to see where I am going which is not very safe at all. Basically, without turn-by-turn directions this system is unusable.

Any guidance you can provide would be very much appreciated.

It sounds like you are not in 3D. If you go to the menu, then hit "Route options" then hardware settings, you will be able to choose a "button" that will show you the current settings. If it says 3D initializing, then your unit will act as you described.

In addition, the nav screen should show you the name of the street you are on at the bottom. If it does not then your unit is not relying on the brain to guide you. Take it back to the shop that did the install and have them reset the unit and try again.

regards

~Marc

Thanks Marc for the reply.

Its odd -- this morning on my way to work I had the screen down and listening to XM - then, suddenly it started to give me directions.

I had a route to go home from yesterday still in the system. Suddenly the system was showing me street names and guiding me as well as rerouting me when I went off course.

Its strange but it appears to be working now...

Has anyone else seen this issue? Is the unit supposed to take some amount of time to initialize after being in the car? It seems like now that I have been driving around for awhile it seems to be working although I guess it could just be a short.

I refer to that situation by saying that the GPS "found itself", and is now talking to the brain of the system. That's exactly what happens, and yes it does take some use before it gets initialized.

regards

~Marc

Way to go, Plummit!!! Someone has been doing their homework!!! Plummit is correct that the unit will work erratically while in 'initializing' mode, and gain accuracy once it gets its bearings and jumps into 3D mode. This usually takes about 3 hrs. of driving time, or 100 miles...' sometimes more sometimes less..