Hi guys,

Newbie to the Pioneer brand here, and I just got a Z110BT installed in my VW Jetta on Friday.

Disclaimer - My VW dealership was responsible for the install, which they outsourced to a local shop. I guess the guy who did the work wasn't too familiar installing this model in my car because there are several issues that I'm having to return this evening to get worked out. My microphone isn't working, Day/Night Illumination isn't working properly (stays in Day mode even after checking the settings) and I'm constantly getting a "System detected improper connection of Parking Brake lead" error message at startup.

My question - Do I absolutely have to put the parking brake on in order to change the system settings or enter addresses in the Navi? I ask because on my last system I just had to put the car in "regular" park to enter addys and normally I don't use the parking brake unless I'm parked on an incline. Is this the way the system was designed to work or is it somehow related to the error message I'm receiving?

Any info you guys can give me will help me get things sorted out with the installer.

(Besides the issues, I'm loving the unit!)

Check the bypass instruction on this tread and show it to the installer.

viewtopic.php?f=57&t=25867

ok dont take this the wrong way but why did you take it to the DEALERSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

last place in the world I would take for a radio install. And then to have them send it out to a third party.

Tell the dealership you want a complete refund and take it to a qualified car audio shop and have them do it right.

You definitely need to bypass to do what you are trying to do.

Sounds like they did not wire up the illumination wire correctly. This is triggered by the parking lights. The installer may have just missed it or cant find it and just ignored it.

Good luck with the install and I hope they fix it for no charge.

ok dont take this the wrong way but why did you take it to the DEALERSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OT: LOL. I actually really tried to avoid taking it to the dealership. To summarize quickly on how they became responsible for the install:

I bought a loaded 09 Jetta w/navigation from them back in April. At the time they said they didn't have any on the lot but they would install the VW nav when they received the unit. Two weeks later I took it in for the install and they put in some crap, no-name unit, giving me the story of "only the VW factory can install a VW Nav" . I immediately told them that was not what we agreed on and to take that isht out of the car and give me my money back for the nav. Of course, they didn't want to do that and tried to offer me everything under the sun to keep the unit (new iPod, tint, etc.). Of course I said no.

Long story short, three months and a letter from my lawyer later, they agreed to replace the nav with a unit of my choosing. So after reading around and snooping around here, I chose the Z110. I tried to get them to let me take it to a reputable shop for the install with them just picking up the tab, but the GM said no, they'd have to go through their own channels. So here we are...

Back on topic: Thanks guys for your help with the Parking Brake/bypass question. I wasn't sure if that was the way Pioneer programmed it to work. I'll get their installer to at least address the microphone, illumination, and error message issues and I'll get my cousin (another installer) to do the bypass for me. Thanks again.

Please keep us posted, this is interesting.

ok dont take this the wrong way but why did you take it to the DEALERSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

last place in the world I would take for a radio install. And then to have them send it out to a third party.

 

Tell the dealership you want a complete refund and take it to a qualified car audio shop and have them do it right.

This is exactly what my company does. We do aftermarket electronics work for car dealerships. There are many benefits to having something like this installed through the dealer.

1, everything we sell comes with a 3-year warranty. even the Z100BT.

2, if something goes wrong you can take it back to the dealer, they will give you a loaner car, and we will come to the dealer to do the repairs.

3, if something goes terribly wrong the dealer will not claim that the aftermarket work has voided your factory warranty.

we ARE a qualified car audio shop and work on all makes and models of new and used cars. on the same day we may be doing a DVD in a Bently and a keyless entry in a Kia.

plus, you are able to finance the cost of the nav system in your car payments. that is a big deal to some people.

there are a lot of benefits to doing it this way but the biggest concern is to make sure that the company doing the work knows what they are doing.