More vaporware from Coastal Dave

efusco detailed this a few months back. I bookmarked the page but haven't gotten around to doing the mod yet:
http://www.priuschat.com/forums/kb.php?mod...8f5ab6afacc0e18

 

It appears to be a Toyota factory switch that is used to activate EV mode in other countries. It is a black button that fits in the blank space next to the lighting dimmer (to the left of the wheel).

Sigma Automotive sells them for $52 currently. They look like this:



It does take a bit of effort to install, though. The instructions are somewhere on this forum.

Dan

 

Ah yes, I'm familiar with both Evan's article and this switch. I thought you might have found one on eBay for less. Thanks!

 

If I recall correctly, it cost about $35 in an auction.. plus shipping. Less than Sigma, but not significantly less. This was back in the summer, sometime.

Dan

 

My sentiments exactly! I beat you to it. Cancelled my orders for the ViewTech2010 and Rearview Camera several weeks ago. (Kelley informed almost a year ago that I was the first customer on their list to receive it. She forgot to mention to not hold my breath. In fact it was to be released in less than a month.)

Lies, lies and more lies. Of course I got no response about the cancellation. I took no chances and cancelled my credit card account that they had on record. I doubt if pursuing any legal action against Coastal Dave will do much good since he's "legally insane" (apparently). He could only get away with his business practices in America!

I've posted over ten negatives relating my experiences with his "business". Venting should be more of a productive activity I would think.

Once again, "TO ALL BEWARE - IT'S VAPORWARE!"

 

I check the Coastaletech web site periodically to see if the information on the nav I Agree kit has changed and a couple of weeks ago, they were taking orders for them so even though I ordered one in February of 2005, I ordered another one. The next day I got a note from someone named Paula saying the following:

"If you ordered this previously then this would be a duplicate and you may receive 2 orders unless you cancel this one. We have your first order for a nav kit and a viewtech kit. The nav kit will ship soon as this item is now available. Please email me as to how you would like to proceed Happy New Year!
Please let me know if I may assist you further Paula"

I e-mailed back saying that I only want one. So far I have no further e-mail and the kit has not shown up. However, I have not been charged for anything. Previously, I ordered the XM radio from Coastal when they were offerring one year of XM subscription included in the cost. I got the radio quickly and the one year subscription was included without any problem.

 

For how many years have we heard that one?.... :angry:

Don't hold your breath!

 

Well surprisingly on Monday, I got a confirmation from a QuantumView that my Coastal order was confirmed to ship.

Of course, never got an order confirmation from Coastal, it's been almost a year now since I placed the order, and I have no idea what the order is composed of because the charge is more than the $50 that I semi-remember for a NAV kit, and more than $99 for the current price.

Not even sure how they charged my CC since it's been canceled/changed since I made the order. Emailed them to cancel the order/shipment or I'll just return it back to them. Waiting for a response.

So there you go for another data point.

 

On the 12th there was a message on my answering machine from Kelly asking me if I still wanted the NAV Enhancement kit. On the 13th I called and said yes. It arrived yesterday (the 23rd) and it's installed. What was odd was that I got the email from QuantumView giving me the tracking information the same day it arrived. :blink:

 

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. Never bought anything and after reading these posts I decided to never buy from "Coasting" Dave. Besides their customer service sounds horrific.

 

I guess for the items you can get elsewhere, it makes sense to not buy at Coastaletech, however, I haven't seen anyone else offerring the nav and bluetooth kit so if you want it, you will have to deal with the lack of communications. Sorta like the Woot web site -- (http://www.woot.com) -- everyone complains about the poor site performance and screwups, but it still gets lot of customers.

 

Very odd about the EV mod taking so long. I ordered the EV mod less than a month ago. It shipped the day I ordered it and it's now installed in my Prius which I picked up in October. I seriously doubt they have a shortage of EV mods.

 

I've got the NAV override kit (sans Bluetooth addition) that I received from Coastal right after I got the tracking information for the CAN-View-for-NAV kit that I ordered from eflier.

I'd like to sell it by PayPal to anyone who wants it.

Send me a message if you're interested.
EDIT: It's SOLD

 

I ordered the EV mod & it arrived within a week or so...

 

Coastal Dave ships things together, so he probably didn't ship the EV mod because he was waiting for the other stuff... save on shipping costs. This is a common practice, but usually only slows orders down for a couple of days... not a year!

 

Really? I use Woot all the time, and have never had a problem.

 

I too am quite dismayed at the lack of product from Coastal Etech. I ordered the video/audio input that never materialized. Not going to buy from them again.

I do have good news, though. I bought a dual video input from G-Net Canada. Check them out, good line of products. I have one extra, with an optional remote and I even have a factory backup camera if anyone wants them.

Dual video input - $349 plus $30 shipping
add TV, DVD, playstation, computer or backup camera to your factory screen
included free ultra-slim remote

I also have the backup camera if you want it.

Ryan

 

Me too! Got a notice of shipment for the Navkit on Friday, Jan. 27th, after being on order for one year. Never mind that I cancelled the order about six months ago via email when the override feature was discovered. Guess I'll send it back. Someone, I'm sure will want it.

 

Me, three -- got a notice of "billing information given to UPS" (not shipment) on Friday; today, I checked the tracking number and saw "billing information cancelled". My credit card had expired during the previous year; no one has contacted me to ask for a new card, or even to ask if I still wanted the unit, which, as far as I can tell from reading the FTC Rule, is required.

I actually wouldn't mind getting a Nav/Bluetooth combination kit, but I don't need a Nav-only box now that I know about the Nav override.

 

I to have ordered from Coastal. The only thing I have ordered so far has been the EV mod which I recieved only 3 days after ordering it. It is the customer service that is lacking. I have previously send emails to them asking questions but never had a reply, but I get this from a lot of companies. It is lacking customer service, especially since you know they are there since the items get shipped and their site gets updated (as it did this week with the coming of a new child) but hey no one else out there is coming up with these products so what are we supposed to do?