Hi there

My family has a Roomster 1.9 as a main family car and we love it. My wife thinks of it as the family pet. In fact the only thing we really miss is a nice integrated satellite naviation system. The "official" Skoda one for the roomster does not appeal - we might spend 1000 for the right system but not for the one offered. On the other hand the assorted suction cups window and dash mounts dont seem to work will - our trip through France was frequently nearly derailed with the sat nav unit falling into the gear stick.

Has anyone had an aftermarket sat nav fitted to their Roomster that they are really happy with and that gets close (within reason) to the functionality of a fully fitted Skoda system? I notice Halfords offer some kind of fitting service using vents and things but to be honest that still looks pretty clunky to me. In theory Id be prepared to take on a complete radio replacement/ fold out screen option if it fitted properly..

Any thoughts gratefully received.

Graham

I refuse to pay the amount they charge for a built in one, I can't see what the benefits of such a system are that would outweigh the difference in cost... I just have a cheap one that I bought from Morgans Computers for under £90 with European mapping and use an adapter that mounts onto the right hand centre air vent... If I remember rightly someone on here put me onto the mount, though I got it on fleabay.

I refuse to pay the amount they charge for a built in one, I can't see what the benefits of such a system are that would outweigh the difference in cost... I just have a cheap one that I bought from Morgans Computers for under £90 with European mapping and use an adapter that mounts onto the right hand centre air vent... If I remember rightly someone on here put me onto the mount, though I got it on fleabay.

That might be an option - vents seem better than suckers but i assume you still have a cable running down the front to the cigarette lighter? Id like to avoid that if I could.

That might be an option - vents seem better than suckers but i assume you still have a cable running down the front to the cigarette lighter? Id like to avoid that if I could.

with all the accesories that run off the cigarette lighter socket, it is about time car manufactures provide a few more near common points things are mounted or come up with a new common plug that is neater for sat navs, hands free and phone chargers etc , power only usb socket anyone?

peter

Yes it does have the cable... but tbh something that small doesn't worry me, after all its not as if I'm displaying the car! I suppose you could always route the cable more neatly, but as it doesn't get in the way its staying where it is!

Though moving the 12v socket back where they used to be, up on the dash by the heater controls/radio would be useful, I wonder why they moved it down between the seats.. seems quite common these days...

That might be an option - vents seem better than suckers but i assume you still have a cable running down the front to the cigarette lighter? Id like to avoid that if I could.

I'll take a pic of my install for you. I run Tom Tom software on may smart phone with a Roomster specific Brodit Pro Clip vent mount and active cradle for the phone.

I have made a small hole in the blanking plate to the side of the vent and dropped the cable down behind the exsisting stereo and into a multi cigarette plug thingy. The plug thingy is a temporary measure and I plan to splice the lead onto the switched live for the stereo at some point to get rid of trailing wires.

I found screen mounted sat nav was too far away to operate comfortable due to the rake of the roomster screen.

You should be able to get a Kenwood DNX5240BT fitted for about £700 or if you can afford it the DNX7240BT is about £1100 fitted and they are both significantly better than the standard Skoda unit. That said, you should be able to pick up an MFD3 for under £500 these days and it's very easy to fit. A competent auto-electrician shouldn't charge more than £50 to do it.

You should be able to get a Kenwood DNX5240BT fitted for about £700 or if you can afford it the DNX7240BT is about £1100 fitted and they are both significantly better than the standard Skoda unit. That said, you should be able to pick up an MFD3 for under £500 these days and it's very easy to fit. A competent auto-electrician shouldn't charge more than £50 to do it.

Thanks thats useful advice also VIP thanks very much for the link. Is there a visual walk through of fitting the MFD3 anywhere?

Edited 16 March, 201016 yr by gandt10

Been using TomToms since they first came out (About 6 years) and have never had a problem with the cable. In my roomster I ran the cables over the steering column with little self adhesive clips. Never had a problem with it falling off as the newer tomtom I have has a very good clamp.

Thanks thats useful advice also VIP thanks very much for the link. Is there a visual walk through of fitting the MFD3 anywhere?

AFAIK the VAG MFD3 is not compatible with the Roomster/Fabia II as it does not have full CAN (whatever that means).

That said THIS thread appears to be making some progress with it.

Don't know if this is useful or not, but the facelift Fabia/Roomster is available (in Europe at least) with the Amundsen sat nav, it's a nice looking unit but don't know of it's capabilities or price:

http://ws.skoda-auto.com/download/4all/Documentation/en/Octavia/0609/navigation/A5FL_Octavia_Amundsen_NavigationSystem.pdf

Here is the TomTom active mount from my old vRoomster

A brodit mount for the top vent and as I hate loose wires I drilled a small hole into the duct for the air vent, passed the power cable through that and hardwired it to the fusebox on a switched live.

AFAIK the VAG MFD3 is not compatible with the Roomster/Fabia II as it does not have full CAN (whatever that means).

That said THIS thread appears to be making some progress with it.

I tried it before the Canbus simulators where available and it worked but did not record that you where moving :(

All that said though, I did get a Witson unit which worked well and went to Pete then Steve but in the Roomster it's mounted to low, I found I would be looking down for confirmed directions. The Brodit mount and PND was imho the best option.

I have done the same on the Superb and hardwired a Nuvi 1690T in on a brodit vent mount, the MFD1 is great for music with the speaker upgrade and dsp package but the nav was tedious after having TomTom Live etc before.

Thanks all - what a helpful bunch of people - at least I can see a few options to explore and the phones of the tomtom installation show it doesnt have to be untidy - Im curious about the new Skoda system on the new look cars - does anybody know anything more about it - should it fit an old style Roomster or are there lots of other changes in the new style cabin? Reharding some of the aftermarket suggestions like the Kenwood does anybody know if it will take the signal from the rear parking sensors and produce a display?

Edited 17 March, 201016 yr by gandt10

Another option is a "Bean bag" mount, it sits on top of the dashboard and my TomTom 720 mount attaches by suction on a plate. I got it for about £12.00 from a company called Blue Unplugged and have used it for about 3 years in two cars and it never moves. another advantage over the screen mount is that iot's much closer to you, particularly in the Roomy with a steeply raked windscreen. I just loop the cable round the grear lever to stop it flapping around although neater solutions are possible if you don't mind messing around with the trim.

I would never consider a built-in one as they are very expensive and can't normally be updatged with new maps etc, although it might be possible with the new Renault one. I work with someone who has a VW with a built-in sat nav and she uses a separate one as the VW one is so poor.

Another option is a "Bean bag" mount, it sits on top of the dashboard and my TomTom 720 mount attaches by suction on a plate.

I looked at one of them before I got the vent mounted one, it looked pretty good, the downside was that it was above the level of the dash, I prefered it just on the level of the speedo so I got the vent one... only trouble is that you lose the air from that vent... swings and roundabouts... its best to see which you prefer and get that... the two options are both good!

HI everybody I started this topic and thought Id update it - on Monday (29th March) my local car audio specialist is coming to install a Zenec 2010 which they, their distributors and zenec themselves seem to think will work perfectly and fit exactly in the Roomster.

Info in various places but a summary is here:

http://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-zenec-ze-nc2010_p-23719.htm

(Ill let you know if there are issues but it looks like it should be a perfect fit)

Graham

HI everybody I started this topic and thought Id update it - on Monday (29th March) my local car audio specialist is coming to install a Zenec 2010 which they, their distributors and zenec themselves seem to think will work perfectly and fit exactly in the Roomster.

Info in various places but a summary is here:

http://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-zenec-ze-nc2010_p-23719.htm

(Ill let you know if there are issues but it looks like it should be a perfect fit)

Graham

A bit different cost to the £100 plus that you can get a TomTom for though.

A bit different cost to the £100 plus that you can get a TomTom for though.

And...it didnt work.Installer guys despite having checked with everybody and his dog couldn't get it to work..back to Kenwood probably...

Try one of these instead, as they're actually designed for Skodas (the Zenec unit you tried specifies VWs and SEATs):

http://www.zenec.com/index.php?id=305&L=1

http://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/zenec-zemc5600-bluetooth-monitor-ipod-p-10222.html

Looks like you'll need to marry it up with one of these, though, if you want navigation as well:

http://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/zenec-zena2000-navigation-compatible-with-zenec-zemc2000-p-10227.html