More vaporware from Coastal Dave

My courteous email to Coastal got a courteous cancellation of the UPS shipping and my credit card was credited back. At least they're on the ball here, but zero reply to itemizing that $130.

 

how hard is the EV mod that Coastal tech offers to install?

efusco's solution sounded really hard, is Coastal's much easier?

 

Coastal's involves only minimal dash disassembly, careful pin insertion, and preferably small hands (sorry, ladies).

 

i just got charged for $85 on my amex on 1/29/06

i think it's the nav kit....but no email from them, no shipping confirmation, nothing....

emailing them of course had no reply...

i'll wait a couple more days and see what happens.

my ev mod took about 4 month to come...and the nav kit is now about 1 yr or so...

 

Hopefully, they've already shipped your Nav Kit. If not, you may be waiting more than a few days; evidently they will be closed for the next two weeks (take a look at their website).

Rick S

 

Late in the day on 1/26 I ordered the NAV enhancement kit, a few hours later, actually by then it was 1/27, I received UPS shipment notification with estimated delivery of 2/1/2006. On 2/1/2006 I received NAV enhancement kit. Went to the garage to install the item. Total elapsed time from opening the driver door till install was ten minutes. I had never been under the drivers seat before. Then there was an additional minute or two while I started the car via instructions and the NAV rebooted or whatever it did. Seems to be working exactly as advertised.

So maybe Coastal Dave, as everyone knows, was out of product, was not so great for a while at customer relations, is probably a great engineer, but eventually got things straightened out and .........

....... his billing practices are exactly as advertised and his product is exactly as advertised.

 

First, let me say I've been only impressed with the products I've received from Coastal Dave. I got my Prius in Feb 05 and ordered the following on Feb 19, 2005:

o Electric only mode kit
o Auto Door Lock
o Power Outlet Mod
o Prius Mudflaps
o PRE-ORDER: Navigation Destination input and i agree remover

I immediately received an email order confirmation and all products except the pre-order Nav kit were shipped and delivered to me within 2 weeks and I did get a email confirmation of the UPS shipping number.

The quality of the parts and the especially the great instructions made me a happy buyer!

While wating for the Nav kit I send two emails to customer service:

1) Asking if they still had my order and is the Nav kit shipping yet
2) Asking about adding Bluetooth kit to my pre-order

I got email responses back to both emails I sent to their customer service. Not immediately but within a couple days of each message. I decided not to order the Bluetooth as it would likely delay the Nav kit.

On Jan 27, 2006 (11 months after pre-order) I got a notification from QuantumView that my order was shipped. DISCOVER card was charged $85. Order arrived via UPS on Feb 6, 2006.

Early video I saw of Nav kit showed that pre-production model was disabling speed sensor to Nav unit but production kit simply presses the "I Agree" button and does the "secret" override button presses when you first press Dest which I had been doing manually for some time. Not quite what I expected but the installation was a breeze and I like the modification a lot.

I just ordered a CAN-View V3 so we'll see if the Nav kit interferes at all with CAN-View.

Just wanted to post at least one positive experience (albeit a long wait)

SalsaMike

 

FYI: New updated on Coastal's web site dated 2/28/06</span>

<a href=\'http://www.coastaletech.com/\' target=\'_blank\'>http://www.coastaletech.com/</a>

<span style=\'color:red\'>Hello Fellow Prius Owners!!

Please Read Below New information Regarding the Navigation Kits

Navigation Enhancement Kit Update 2.28.06

We have finished the initial shipments of the Navigation Enhancement Kits for those customers who had asked to be on the preorder list. If you were on the list, but still have not received your kit, your information may have changed making us unable to complete the transaction or ship to your current location. If you would still like your preorder filled, please resend your information on our order form and let us know in the comments section that this is an update to your previous preorder. We have kits in stock to get your order out quickly.

Navigation Enhancement Kit W/ Bluetooth Option Update 2.28.06

We have finished the initial shipments of the Navigation Enhancement Kits W/ Bluetooth Option for those customers who had asked to be on the preorder list too. Again, if you were on a list for this product initial offering and have not received your kit or an UPS email letting you know it is on the way, please resend your information on the order form with your updated information and note that this is an update in the comments section. We have kits in stock to get your order out quickly.

Although we have not offered the navigation kits for other model cars, many have ordered the Navigation Enhancement Kits for applications other than the 2004-2005 Toyota Prius. These kits are not compatible with the 2006 Prius and select other 2006-2007 Toyota and Lexus vehicles. If your Toyota or Lexus has a screen which tilts down, the navigation kit is not designed for your vehicle and cannot be plugged in.

 

Yes, it all depends on whether they have it in stock or not. I ordered the Auto-Lock and NAV kit in April '05. I got the Auto-Lock in September and the NAV kit in January. I ordered the EV mod last month and it arrived 8 days later (including shipment from Florida to California).