**IMPORTANT** Exeo Pioneer Unit Issues

Wildie

Active Member
Jun 29, 2011
137
0
i can answer that with a defo n0, they was suppose to be replacing our unit on the 25th and did not even ring up to tell us it`s not happening, we still got a unit that turns off by it`s self and reboots and missing its knob, they said they will not replace the unit with a proper one it cost to much yeah well going to cost them in the end after all been told the new updated ones with new firmware for our cars has it`s own issues and they suppose to be worst than what i am having.

given up on using it for anything, it does not do what it`s suppose to do WORK in any form in our car and dam right dangerous to use as a nav unit, playing mp3`s or using radio or nav pointless as it turns off same with blu tooth not so hands free seeing the controls on the wheel do not work for answer and hang up or voice.

Going to give someone a call and use the full weight of the law to get this put right it`s been 12 mths and 1 day now, they had their chance and given time to sort it and have failed every time..
 

tone locco

Guest
Wildie , what you gonna do?
I feel like I am just starting down the road you are on.
another question i have!...
Is the USB and Aux supposed to work on our cars? or are they just for show?
 

tone locco

Guest
I have an update on my Pioneer problems.

Hobins of Preston carried out a software update on Monday 9/7/12. They also fitted rear mudflaps and a rather sporty looking exhaust trim.
Trim and flaps look great. Radio not so great. Less than one week later the thing turned itself off again.
They agreed to look at it again and have kindly rented a car for me from Enterprise while they look in to the fault. CURRENTLY DRIVING A BLACK LEON ECOMOTIVE. VERY NICE.:)

I have since heard back from SEAT UK cust services that a new Pioneer unit has been ordered and will be fitted to my car. Great! me thinks.
I rang Hobins today and was told that the new replacement unit had arrived. I asked how long it would be before I could have my car back and was told that they had rec'd the new unit with the all the interfaces and they would be looking at it on Monday to check out all the interfaces and see what the problem is...:confused:
... When i asked why they were doing this, as they had auth'd a replacement, why not just fit it and let me have my car back? they said it was not that straight forward!!??.
in the words of TOP GEAR... "How hard can it be". surely if a replacement has been authorised then just replace it. I thought the idea of having my car was to check what was wrong. I thought the fault had been identified as the unit itsef and that was why a replacement had been authorised.
Still if they want to keep paying Enterprise for the cost of a rental then fine. I just hope that it is right when I finally get it back, if it is not I will have to consider Litigation for the cost of the original SEAT unit. :handbags:
 
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tone locco

Guest
Guys if you are desperate for a replacement unit that does what the original SEAT RNS unit was supposed to do, search the Wibbly Wobbly Web for the ZENEC ZE-NC3141D.
By all accounts it does what it says on the tin. German made so quality and reliability should not be a problem.
Only one thing-it might not give turn by turn instructions to the DIS. Everything else should work incl parking sensors etc. it is advertised as a direct replacement for the Audi A4 (b7) and Exeo 2009 onwards.

Halfords are selling them £800/900 each plus fitting.
If anyone does go for one can they post and tell the rest of us poor buggers what they are like.
T.:cartman:
 
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Wildie

Active Member
Jun 29, 2011
137
0
the replacement unit wont work even with it`s updated firmware they got dif issues and they worst so we been told, we still without a working unit and they on the wrong side of the consumer law now, well have been for a while it`s outta my hands now it`s gone down the legal route, only way for us.
why cough up 800 to 900 quid when it`s not a working unit.
 

tone locco

Guest
Thanks for the reply.
i will wait and see what happens when they give me my car back.
If it does not work or has other "issues", i will notify them there is a fault and then just send them a solicitors letter. no biggie, wife works for a rather well known local firm with a top notch Litigation Dept, already given us plenty of advice and support.

T.:D
 

tone locco

Guest
Just a quick update.
i collected my car yesterday from Hobins of Preston after they had replaced the Pioneer unit for me with a new fully tested and working unit. i drove away and found that they had not connected the steering wheel controls up.
Worse still i have just done a 10 mile drive home and the unit powered itself off and on again 3 minutes From home.
looks like I am back to square one. Hobins went to the expense of renting a car for me for about a week and a half and the new unit is doing exactly the same as the old one. LOL NOT!!!
I will ring them tomorrow and let them know about the fault and see what they are going to do about it.
litigation might be the way forward as i have been told by a third party that Seat is no longer covering the Pioneer units under warranty. Not so sure that is legal as the radio was fitted before collection and therefore come under the 3 yr warranty for the car.
i don't think i will accept a 2nd replacement Pioneer unit from them! No longer trust or have faith in the brand.
 

exeo

Active Member
Apr 21, 2012
35
0
I spend 30-40HRs in mine every week and really don`t find it that bad. (have had factory fitted Nav in all of our cars for the last 10yrs or so, so plenty to compare it to).

It powers off sometimes but reboots again - this can be a pain if folowing the nav and I`ve not been paying attention to where I`m turning next or if I`m mid way through a phone conversation but I guess at some point I`ll pull the unit out and see where the loose conection could be (I want to do the video bypass anyway).

It`s a pain not being able to adjust the phone volume from the S/wheel but you can answer the phone by pressing the VR button on the S/wheel (It wont hang up from it tho).

It`s also annoying waiting for it to reboot if you stall when pulling away.

On the plus side, full postcode entry is fantastic, IPOD control is the best I`ve used,it`s easier to connect aftermarket components up and the sound quality to me is as good as the RNS-e.

I guess both units have the plus`s and minus`s, just wish it would stop turning itself off !!
 

Wildie

Active Member
Jun 29, 2011
137
0
been back some nice ppl from pioneer are coming out and sorting it out car by car bases they given up replacing them as they showing other faults far worst :p so if you got a faulty one get back to the dealers and theywill sort it out for you.
 

andyjh27

Guest
I had this problem on my Pioneer unit and it turned out to be the type of USB drive I had connected to the unit. I was using a USB hard drive as opposed to a memory stick. Since changing to a memory stick it hasn't had the issue again. Can only think it was the power being drained by the USB drive that was causing the issue.

Hope this helps.

AJ
 

tone locco

Guest
just thought i would update you guys on my problems with the Pioneer unit.
i had a new unit fitted by my dealer and it has failed to turn on once and turned itself off on another occasion.
i have asked SEAT to sort it and they rang me last Thursday and offered me a Bose Concert Audi radio, a bolt on bluetooth unit and a new SAT Nave to stick on the windscreen!!! hardly a fair trade for the Seat RNS. I told therm politely it would not be good enough.
The Customer Services lad said he would ring me on Friday and didn't. i rang them on Friday afternoon. Again no one rang me back.
I spoke to him this morning and was told to book my car in to the dealership W/C 15/10/12 and the technicians would look at it. He then said he was ordering me a new Kenwood all in one DNX521DAB unit. the only reviews i can find seem to be in German, except a review by Auto Express which give it 4 out of 5. looks like it does as it says on the tin.

NB Seat wont put in the OEM RNS unit as according to Seat Cust Services its too expensive. Took 28 hrs to do as they had to replace the wiring, head liner and dash??!! plus the cost of the unit. So it looks like it is a cost saving exercise and not that they cant get hold of the units now.

Still undecided as to whether or not to take the Kenwood option. Pretty sure it wont work the dash display or do voice dialing from the steering wheel. If it had those functions i would be more than happy.
Any suggestions??
 

MasterKey

New Exeo owner
Nov 26, 2011
50
0
Gloucestershire, UK
Kenwood's own page says the steering wheel controls can be used with it, doesn't look like it does anything else though. You may want to push for the ZENEC ZE-NC3141D that tone locco suggested since it looks like a much closer feature replacement (I'm quite tempted to upgrade my non-Nav unit to it TBH, if I can persuade the better half).
 

tone locco

Guest
Further to my post of 24/09/12.
I emailed SEAT to get some clarification of the spec and functionality with the EXEO. Reply I got was not making me a happy bunny. Seems that 1/2 of the stuff shown on the Kenwood website wont work with my car- No display for heater controls even though my car has the dual zone climate control and no display for the parking sensors even though they are fitted front and back. I have emailed them back asking for further clarification on the spec and why I basically got a take it or leave type deal. Seems I either have to take the Kenwood or accept a Audi concert radio cd system with no in built SAT NAV or Bluetooth, a seperate bolt on bluetooth kit and a seperate stick on the windscreen SAT NAV.
The idea is to have an all in one unit not three on the dashboard. P***ed off with the attitude. Asked for some one higher up to reply to me. I am not putting up them de-valuing my car further by replacing the Pioneer with a Audi non sat nav/bluetooth unit. To do that I
could have gone to Halfords bought a sat nav and bluetooth, stuck them in then gone to SEAT and just bought the SE TECH badges for the doors of a cheaper model. There you go a money saving tip from your own consumer watch dog!!!
Has anybody else had the wiring loom excuse for not giving us the original SEAT unit, or am I just getting jerked around?
I'll keep you posted. Every body else seems to have gone quiet. Have you all had your radios replaced?
 

tone locco

Guest
Quick update.
i got a call from Simon at Seat UK who told me that the kenwood guy was off sick but i should still take my car to the dealership on 15/10/12 so the SEAT tech guy can rewire the stereo as it may fix all faults. I reluctantly agreed.
Dropped car off at 9.40, drove in to town. about a hour later got a call from dealership- tech guy was replacing PIONEER with Kenwood. Something I had not agreed to as I had not had replies to a list of questions sent to Simon at SEAT UK. Picked car up at 2.30pm. Lovely Kenwood but not the one i thought i was getting!!!!! seemed to work fine, but the techy guy had hidden the USB bit of the Ipod lead (2 Stage effort) behind the dash, thinking i would only want IPOD. can't put speed camera stuff on without it.This will be sorted by the dealership on Saturday.
Got a call from Simon and I asked for compo for the trouble i have had, being mislead and for the lack of good customer service shown to me by SEAT UK. I asked that they either, take out the kenwood and replace it with the VW SEAT SKODA specific model shown on the KENWOOD website or an original SEAT RNS unit. He said they would not do that. I asked for cash difference between the original RNS unit and the Kenwood unit fitted and was told i could not have a cash settlement, but i should look at the accessories available and choose one for them to consider. Maybe I should ask for a RNS unit. LOL.
Any suggestions guys.
By the way the Kenwood is OK but i will now have to pay for the speed camera info and yearly update. DAB radio works well apart from the reception of "Kerrang radio" which drifts in and out, probably as they are in Birmingham, but I thought that DAB was supposed to overcome all that.
 

tone locco

Guest
Hey guys, Guess what?

Yeah that's right the bloody new Kenwood unit turned itself off this afternoon.
Not happy. Back to square one. same fault but on a different unit from a different manufacturer.
Local dealership informed and an email to Seat UK.
Looks like litigation might be the answer as it is now clear to me that it is a fault with the car not any of the units fitted to it. Probably as a result of the change in wiring and spec at the build stage due to the shortage of SEAT RNS units in June 2011. The car has not been right since I picked it up. I have kept all emails and a track of all visits to dealership etc. Here we go. Oh it's on baby!!
 

Dave_

Active Member
Jul 7, 2011
286
0
Hertfordshire
Sounds like a total nightmare! I rely on my nav so much that I don't know what I'd do if I was in your position - I also wouldn't have time to knob about going backwards and forward to the dealer.

You guys must be well pissed about it... I'm actually glad I insisted on holding on for an RNS equipped car first time around :(
 
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Wildie

Active Member
Jun 29, 2011
137
0
ours is going in again on the 2nd nov the guys from pioneer are going to do some work on the unit and wiring, yes its the new way they wired up the cars the canbus has a dif layout as the guys who fitted the tow bar found out took them 3 weeks to turn the rev sensors off when hooked up and then had to use the vcd`s to find the bugger.
 

tone locco

Guest
The kenwood unit has now turned itself off three times in 2 weeks. That is more frequent than the Pioneer unit. I think that the explanation in the above post is bang on it is all todo with the way the vehicle talks to the sarnav. The canbus doesnt like anything that iz not SEAT. I think that any third party/aftermarket unit is going to give us hell.
 

tone locco

Guest
Hi guys, looks like the Kenwood unit is officially more unreliable than the Pioneer. It has now failed 6 times in a month and a half (only been in since 15/10/12). SEAT UK now want it booked in to the dealership for software updates and testing and god knows what. They won't commit to what they will do if it faults again. Numerous phone calls and emails. Still waiting for an answer. There has been talk of throwing more technicians at it and possibly driving it for up to 2 weeks to see if it faults! i am not happy at someone driving my car for up to 2 weeks, racking up mileage, burning my fuel and "ageing my car". They may even take it to HQ in Milton Keynes for testing. I wish they had rewired the audio system as promised in Oct rather than fit the Kenwood. Having This Kenwood unit fitted has put me back at square one, with the testing etc. Wildie what was the outcome of your last vivit to Seat on 02/11/12?
 

exeo

Active Member
Apr 21, 2012
35
0
My Pioneer still randomly turns itself off and reboots, annoying as **** if your half way through a phone conversation or on a roundabout and can't remember which exit you need.

Haven't pulled the unit out to look at the wiring but I'm guessing it has some kind of adapter to go from VAG wiring to standard ISO connector for aftermarket radio ?

If aftermarket stuff can work reliably in MOST bus cars, CAN bus shouldn't be a problem at all.
 
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