Best deal on an RNS510

[poyta]

Hi, I posted on the Golf 5 forum but got little response so thought I might post here. I refuse to believe that there aren't any RNS510 owners out there that can't offer me some advice.

Looking to buy an RNS510 for my GT. Can anyone recommend the best place to get one? There's no shortage of them on ebay so I'd like to buy from someone or somewhere that's reputable and I know I won't have any issues. Seems to be a choice of either someone in Lithuania or someone in London

At the moment this one seems a good buy

VW RNS 510 SAT NAV RNS510 Version C LED GOLF PASSAT | eBay

I like it cause it seems to have the new LED screen, the Australian maps and it has the video in motion too.

Can someone let me know who the best person to buy from would be? Is there anything I should look for or ask prior to purchasing?

[Transporter]

I can only suggest that, don't buy when the seller says "no returns accepted". But, that's me.

[poyta]

I can only suggest that, don't buy when the seller says "no returns accepted". But, that's me.

They all seem to offer a refund but I'm pretty sure it will cost me to send it back to them so either way I'll lose money - unless I find one that offers to freight it back free of charge. All of them seem to have a 100% positive feedback

[warnabrother]

I ordered this unit last Thursday night and it arrived today (Monday)... but came from Lithuania ????
Must be the same seller, just a different name
Will install tonight.. woohoo

[Ebo]

I bought that unit from the same guy in "UK" about a month ago. It seemed a bit dodgy because he tried to avoid ebay, and said the unit will come from Europe (because its faster postage system). I cant imagine Lithuania's postage system to be faster than the UK, but decided to take the risk anyways.

He gave me his name and email, and that was also different from the ebay email address. He had a very eastern european name (Although one cant say where you from by your name anymore)

Having said that, the unit did arrive within 5 days from Lithuania. Well packed, and working perfectly. I was very impressed.

So I think he's from Lithuania, but uses his "UK" alias to sell the units to us. Maybe we "trust" british sellers more, I dont know.

I can recommend him. Im very happy.

[poyta]

I bought that unit from the same guy in "UK" about a month ago. It seemed a bit dodgy because he tried to avoid ebay, and said the unit will come from Europe (because its faster postage system). I cant imagine Lithuania's postage system to be faster than the UK, but decided to take the risk anyways.

He gave me his name and email, and that was also different from the ebay email address. He had a very eastern european name (Although one cant say where you from by your name anymore)

Having said that, the unit did arrive within 5 days from Lithuania. Well packed, and working perfectly. I was very impressed.

So I think he's from Lithuania, but uses his "UK" alias to sell the units to us. Maybe we "trust" british sellers more, I dont know.

I can recommend him. Im very happy.

Yeah sounds like its the same guy with multiple accounts really. No one has had any bad experiences?

[borbor1313]

I have a story for you
Prior thread of someone recieving a rns510 that had been dropped on the ground with bent case about 2 years ago.Was from a seller in lithuanian.I dont know if there is only one or several different sellers so i bought mine from a UK seller with a good rating.
Anyways turns out to be the seller from lithuania anyways.
My unit had a faulty card reader.i contacted the seller and he said
No problems send it back for a replacement.Which I did for $120
He was not there on delivery and was apparently away on business trips.I emailed his numerous times
He emailed me several times saying he was back and going to pick it up the next day.
End line was he never did and they ended up posting back my damaged RNS510.
By this time the ebay time to complain had elapsed. I think it was his way of getting around the issue the scumbag
I wrote to ebay in desperation and luckily they reversed a portion of the funds so it ended up costing me $100 and $120 in wasted postage.
I ended up fixing the card reader myself(incorrectly seated ribbon connector) so in the end I won and he lost
but i was lucky.
My advice is go ahead and buy but lodge a dispute in ebay straight away if you have any problems

[aussietig]

Here's my feedback on our Lithuanian friend:
http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/f78/...tml#post672606

Generally speaking, he is the cheapest for RNS510 and don't be afraid to haggle!

But the one on eBay does not mention what firmware version it has installed.

My advice is a C unit should be on FW 2760 (and not anything lower).


FWIW, I have also commented in two threads arleady that there's no point buying a D unit at this stage, given limitations with the Australian map which do not allow you to utilise the additional functionalities on a D unit (running on FWs higher than 2760).

[Jaap74]

The Lithuanian guy, Tadas, has said he will send me a replacement screen for my damaged one. He says he's getting new stock in this week and will post to me. Lets hope he's going to follow through on this promise. I suspect he will.

[poyta]

But the one on eBay does not mention what firmware version it has installed.

My advice is a C unit should be on FW 2760 (and not anything lower).

Firmware? Can you explain what you mean?

[aussietig]

Firmware? Can you explain what you mean?

The one you posted as a "good buy" only mentions that it's a C unit (with LED screen).

But they've left off the details of which software version (i.e. firmware) it has pre-installed on it.

My advice is that a proper C unit (with LED screen) should be running FW version 2760. So ask them to confirm FW version!


That is the latest version of software that a C unit can officially handle. However in practice, I am (as an example) running FW version 3930 at the moment which is technically reserved for D units and supposedly not compatible with a C unit.

Whilst it's easy for the seller to load any software version on it, it's just a tad more encouraging and reassuring to buy a RNS510 unit with the correct pre-installed software version on it.

Anyhow, I'm only throwing caution to the wind!

It's akin to coming across a computer for sale which has the latest Intel core i5 or i7 processor, but pre-installed with Windows XP.

I'd suggest you'd think twice about buying it based on little worrying signs like that!

[Maverick]

But the one on eBay does not mention what firmware version it has installed.

My advice is a C unit should be on FW 2760 (and not anything lower).

FWIW, I have also commented in two threads arleady that there's no point buying a D unit at this stage, given limitations with the Australian map which do not allow you to utilise the additional functionalities on a D unit (running on FWs higher than 2760).

The Australian maps are being updated later this year so buying a later unit is preferable as it gives you more options especially with the 4xxx firmwares coming out soon. The V3 maps work and all you loose is the POI's which can be manually added in the interim with the 3xxx firmwares.

2840 is the latest version that works with the old POI databases.

[Maverick]

My advice is that a proper C unit (with LED screen) should be running FW version 2760. So ask them to confirm FW version!

That is the latest version of software that a C unit can officially handle. However in practice, I am (as an example) running FW version 3930 at the moment which is technically reserved for D units and supposedly not compatible with a C unit.

2840 is the latest for C revisions. 3810 runs fine on revision A headunits as well and gets rid of Regensburg syndrome that occurs in the 2xxx firmwares.

[aussietig]

The V3 maps work and all you loose is the POI's which can be manually added in the interim

Could you please confirm or clarify this process?

Do you mean all the POIs that are on the map disk can be manually loaded or just personal ones?

So far my own testing on a C unit running FW 3930 has resulted in no POIs other than those created and saved as SD destinations.

FW 3xxx don't seem to accept modified map disks with personalized POIs, but problems with say FW 2760.

Furthermore, importing POIs via SD Card created in the .db3 file format using POInspect0r loads onto the HDD, but are not visible when trying to search or use them.

Note: Out of sheer luck I did upgrade to 3930 by first doing incremental upgrade to 3810 from 2760. So I don't think it's partitioning problem I just noticed you've posted on your website re POIs under FW 3xxx.

Also some of us got excited over recent revision map labelled CD_7360 and thought it's a V4 map.
The fact that POIs don't work on this map either running FW 3xxx suggests that it isn't!
Can you confirm what is this map version?

Would appreciate if you can shed any light on all these issues as the SME!

Thanks!

[Thaiger14]

So is there much of a difference in the LED Version C compared with the non LED version C? I mean is it a noticable differance with the LED screen? What does it have to offer over the LCD?