Hi,

I'm looking for some help to find an aftermarket GPS that will integrate with the in-dash screen of the 2014 FL2.

I've been a Freelander owner since 2007. I'm on my second one now, a 2011 SE SD4. As the lease is about to run out I'm considering a number of options including buying the vehicle outright and keeping it until the next major update of the Freeander, replacing it with a 2014 Freelander or maybe moving across to a Jeep Grand Cherokee as it is a similar price but with a far better accessories list.

One of the things that I am really struggling with is that the GPS is a $3,200 factory fitted option in the new Freelander. I was fortunate to get one of the MY11 models that had the Garmin GPS installed in the dash. I've gotten used to the conveiience of having the GPS permanently fitted in the dash rather than mounting it on the windscreen. But I'm really not prepared to stump up thousands of dollars for a factory fitted one when you can by a TomTom at JB HiFi for under $100.

The new electronics set up in the Freelander means that the old "cubby hole" in the dash where you could install an off the shelf GPS like the Garmin has been filled. The Freelander SE that I'm looking at comes standard with a reversing camera but not a GPS. So that screen is there but not the GPS functionality.

I've come across www.hitv.com.au who offer integration with the existing screen in the MY14. Does anyone have any experience with HITV or any equivalent products? Reflect on the past and plan for the future. But, above all - LIVE FOR THE MOMENT!!!

Update and correction - the factory fitted GPS for the freelancer is actually $2,500. The dealer confused the price with the GPS for a Disco.

I also got a price to have a HITV supplied and fitted. It was $2k. Not that much different to the LR factory fitted unit. Reflect on the past and plan for the future. But, above all - LIVE FOR THE MOMENT!!!

Personally, I've found OEM fitted satnavs to be mostly next to useless - badly designed and dated, very expensive to update, with really useful features such as real time traffic alerts and permanent connectivity only really a feature of portable units. I would never consider an OEM sat nav again. In fact, the fitted system in my current Freelander is never switched on; I use a TomTom 1005 instead.

I would either buy your current car at the end of the lease or, as I've just done, track down a very late / low mileage 2012 car and (in your case) refit your Garmin sat nav to the cubby hole.

John.

Don't get me wrong, I love my 2011 HSE dearly, but the standard (for HSE) LR GPS sucks so badly it's beyond words. Here we have an alleged 4WD that performs "well above its weight off road", yet get to a dirt road and the lady in the dash packs up her bag and leaves, with a heartening message that if you're lucky enough to find your way to a place she recognises along this unknown road which will thenceforth only be indicated visually by a thin, unnamed straight line (if at all), then she'll start talking to you again. Spitting the dummy because you're leaving the blacktop, fine behaviour for a 4WD GPS indeed.

Now this may be OK in the UK where the dirt might only run for a few miles, but here in Australia we might be talking hundreds of kilometres. Getting lost here can mean (and has often meant) death.

So I now have my hand-held $325 Garmin 62s Map GPS that I use for bushwalking sitting in a dash-mounted cradle to show me where to go, and the large LR screen is simply an annoying Land Rover advert or pathetic fake analogue clock which needs to be manually turned off *every*bl@@dy*time* you start the car. This GPS being part of the mandatory $8,500 HSE kit of flashy power seats, 19" wheels (for which A/T rubber is still impossible to procure after three years) and whatever other doo-dads bump that spec up, and one can't even opt out of it (or those *exclusive* wheels).

The other thing I'm still fuming about was the optional "sound connectivity" cable, which promised coupling with an iPod as well as USB and mini-RCA cabled sound units (which nobody has made since Noah beached his ark). So you get to make the iPod louder or softer, (which you could do anyway if it were simply plugged into the accessory input of the stereo), go forward or back one track at a time, or select to shuffle or not. Menu of tracks on the console screen? - no way. Fast forward or back? No way. For this afterthought thing bolted to the top of the inside of the glovebox frame in a position impossible to reach unless you crawl around the footwell I was ripped of $1,000 at the time of purchase of the new car.

Lesson is, as far as LR goes, buy aftermarket gear rather than factory spec model upgrade stuff wherever possible. First and last HSE anything I buy from LR, next time SE or less will do, and I'll fit it with better aftermarket accessories. I bought HSE mainly for the GPS, nobody warned me what a complete dud it would be.

Hi Alan 7140, I'm sorry that this is going to be of very scant comfort, but is it an option for you to remove the OE satnav screen and replace it with a Garmin Nuvi 2797, a 7" unit which exactly fits in the original position? You can then purchase Australian Topo maps on a micro SD card which will fit in the Nuvi - albeit at a fairly hefty $250 - but then you will have the addition of very comprehensive off road tracks, as well the original Navteq city and urban maps which also have free map updates for life. I have found the combination to be pretty effective on our travels. There are pictures of the unit in the 'In Car Electronics' section of the forum.
Hope it helps.
Cheers, Graham.

Thanks, egipp, I had thought along those lines, but I've read elsewhere that the OEM screen is integral with the sound system fitted. Changing out the screen somehow has an effect on the sound system, apparently. There is also some interconnectivity between the satnav DVD player under the driver's seat and the sound system, although again, in real life, the two have nothing to do with one another operationally. That DVD satnav player is a rather sore point as well - placing it under the seat is apparently largely why the FL2 can't swim very deeply - get the DVD player wet and apparently the whole car can shut down (hearsay again, maybe someone can confirm this).

However placing a 7" Garmin screen over the existing unit had also come to mind, and is something I will investigate further. The Garmin units are excellent for Australian use, as my hand held unit attests.

I was given info on interconnectivity along the above lines when I further enquired about having a reversing camera fitted, as the standard sonic indicators freak out with such "dangerous" things as tufts of grass, which makes reversing off-track a squawking noisefest with no real indication on whether one is about to bump into something solid or merely run over some more grass. Next to useless, and instantly curable with a reversing camera, but simply not available OEM for a 2011 HSE. I'd have to get aftermarket, which is OK except I'd want to fix everything else as well at the same time as well then.

Had I not paid so much extra for the HSE model I'd more seriously consider ripping out the whole entertainment/GPS setup and start again with aftermarket (SE models had a 6-month wait at the time, and I think this all indicates why the HSE was available and not the SE - others are obviously smarter than I am), but it's annoying contemplating spending more on what should have been top-of-the-line anyway.

The last hurdle to non-OEM modification has also been the warranty period, but that is nearly over and I'll be able to tackle some rectifying works free of threat of warranty invalidation by LR. With luck I'll be able to source an auto-electrician with some Land Rover nous to help work this all out.

maybe moving across to a Jeep Grand Cherokee as it is a similar price but with a far better accessories list.

Before i bought my MY13 FL2 i was seriously considering the Jeep Cherokee. That is until i came across what they call the Moose Test or Elk test which requires the vehicle to complete an evasive maneuver. The Jeep Grand Cherokee fails miserably and dangerously. Have a look

The inclusions with the vehicle are awesome for the money...but i wouldnt pay a penny for a 4 star rated dangerous vehicle. "I'm a fuel injected suicide machine"

Grand Cherokee is out. A lot of fun to drive over a short distance. Loads of standard features but not for me. For such a big car it felt cramped in the drivers seat. The transmission tunnel is very wide and takes up a lot of room. The foot operated park brake got in my way every time I got in and out of the car and rear vision wasn't great. I couldn't imagine driving long distances in it. Yet the rear seats had acres of room. I could barely reach the back of the driver's seat when I was sitting in the rear seat. Luggage space ok but not great for such a big beast.

LR are trying to tempt me into a base model Disco, and I am being tempted. It's a toss up between one of those and an optioned up Freelander SE SD4

As for the GPS. The after market options that integrate with the screen seem to be the way to go. I was pleased to find out you can update them using maps downloaded from the web onto a memory card. Importantly, they use maps from Navteq. Reflect on the past and plan for the future. But, above all - LIVE FOR THE MOMENT!!!

Just closing out the thread from my perspective.

I didn't go the aftermarket GPS path in the end. The local installer in the ACT was very nervous about installing the aftermarket GPS unit in a Disco or a Freelander and also gave me a quote of $3k for the unit installed.

I'm going to go with a RAM bracket and my iPad for the times I need the GPS. Don't know which bracket yet as there are several choices.

Also, I have given into temptation and I'm moving into a Disco. My dealer gave me good price on a new "poverty pack" Disco TDV6 upgraded with leather seats, upgraded stereo and reversing camera at $5k less than a fully loaded Freelander SE SD4. So I'm going to play with the "big boys" for a while to see how I like it. Reflect on the past and plan for the future. But, above all - LIVE FOR THE MOMENT!!!