Installed - Gmx550 Lockpick In 2008 Tahoe

[roger1079]

My Lockpick sucks too. I have the gmx550 in my 07 avalanche and 07 escalade and the sound quality is just as you describe it. Also, i'm on my 2nd unit in the avy. Within 65 days from date of purchase [for the avalanche], my LockPick unit caused my factory nav radio to completely shut off. A full black/blank screen with no digital clock display. When I brought it to the professional audio shop that also sells this unit (I bought mine seperately from Amazon.com from Net Electronics LLC) but installed mine, they tested it out and determined that the lockpick was dead and it singlehandedly shut down my factory nav. Since the radio would only work WITHOUT the lockpick, I took it out. I called Net Electronics and explained word for word what I just said above. They told me to issue a refund/exchange, I would have to call Coastel Tech, talk to a "specialist", and troubleshoot the issue. Once they saw the problem they would then give me an "okay" for a replacement unit. I re-iterated that the unit had already been un-installed which I paid to get done because their unit broke after only having it for a few weeks and that there was no way I was doing all of that. They said: "Well call CoastelTech and try to explain it to them and ask them to give an ok for your exchange". When I called CoastelTech per NetElectronic's instructions, they said "we don't give permission to 3rd party companies selling our product for exchanges"....... I was like WTF? After a back and forth for a few hours, I decided to claim an "A-to-Z Guarantee" through Amazon. Within minutes I got an email from Net Electronics saying that a replacement was on the way. I dealt with all this ASIDE from the unit itself sucking.

So TL;DR -- Aside from unit sucking itself, the vendor, and 3rd party vendor from Amazon (Net Electronics), SUCKS. Their product is buggy and their support is horrendous. STAY AWAY.

EDIT: You also mentioned a firmware update. I had called their tech support once before about my iphone not outputting the video and if their was a firmware update that I could be missing. He said they don't release firmware updates... EVER. So there you have it... no firmware update.. How ****** is that?

After reading that, I'm glad I bought mine directly from Coastal however the post is not reasurring to me as far as getting a fix though. You had to have talked to someone uninformed though since they mention the usb port as being for updates as well as them having firmware files on the site. The odd thing as mentioned before is that they list 1.3 as the current software and mine says 1.4z on the in cluster screen.

At this point, I'm just glad everything is back to working fine with the old Lockpick since I am out of my bumper to bumper warranty and only have powertrain coverage left.

 

[felixgun]

Yea I noticed the USB port... That's why I asked him about the firmware. Yea mines on 1.4 too... I'm hoping there are updates for this thing though bc I am not happy with it.

 

[Faceplant]

From what I have read regarding coastal tech, I wouldn't touch that stupid lockpick for anything. There HAS to be an easier way to override the lockout. In my Jeep GC, it was a simple software hack......

 

[Ripley]

Other Options?

From what I have read regarding coastal tech, I wouldn't touch that stupid lockpick for anything. There HAS to be an easier way to override the lockout. In my Jeep GC, it was a simple software hack......

What about these products? Anyone used these???

http://www.navtv.com/product/163/barracuda.html

http://www.navtool.com/yukonvim.aspx

 

[felixgun]

What about these products? Anyone used these???

http://www.navtv.com/product/163/barracuda.html

http://www.navtool.com/yukonvim.aspx

An install guy at my local audio shop said I shoulda went with NavTV instead of the lock pick :/

 

[Ripley]

Video

An install guy at my local audio shop said I shoulda went with NavTV instead of the lock pick :/

Looks like you control the unit via the side mirror control...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0vZxx74NPM

I wonder how seamlessly it works. I can't do wonky stuff that the GMX550 pulls like dis-engaging NAV etc.

 

[roger1079]

So I sent an e-mail to Coastal Tech this afternoon and got a response in a couple hours asking for a phone number to contact me at. It was part of my original e-mail but no big deal. I got a call back about 2 hours ago telling me they want to troubleshoot and that I will need to remove the lockpick. Apparently he missed the part of my e-mail where I mentioned that I had already removed it. He insisted that the pink wire (Bluetooth connection) which is fully insultated and taped by me before the install and surrounded by nothing but carpet was grounding out. I explained to him that when I was troubleshooting last night I not only had the wire taped, but the unit sitting on the seat and he still insisted the pink wire was grounded somehow. I told him I couldn't pull my truck apart at the moment because I was not home and he wanted to give me a callback number to get back to him on. I asked him to e-mail it to me because I didn't have a pen and he said he would. I am still waiting on that e-mail. So it looks like I will be pulling my dash apart again tomorrow for no good reason to troubleshoot the lockpick. That is, whenever I get the e-mail with his number. The annoying part is that I am 110% certain that there is no way on God's good earth that any wires were shorting out or grounded or anything of the sort, yet I need to pull my dash apart again and do things I have already done to satisfy this guy. I am debating taking a video of me recreating the problem tomorrow and sending it to him to cast aside all doubt that there is something wrong with the unit. He also never even asked about the poor sound quality from my iPod. I guess I will mention that as well whenever I get his contact information. For $350 plus shipping and tax since i live in FL, I had hoped for a bit more in the quality control and customer service department. Oh well.....lesson learned. Hopefully when I prove to this guy that the GMX550 is malfunctioning I can just get a refund rather than a replacement.

 

[Ripley]

"Unlike any other interface produced in the world today you will not loose GPS function while using NavTool interface for VIM (video in motion) NIM (navigation in motion) CIM (control in motion)"

That's what I want to hear!

http://www.installer.com/item/display_item.php?it=GMVIM

 

[felixgun]

So I sent an e-mail to Coastal Tech this afternoon and got a response in a couple hours asking for a phone number to contact me at. It was part of my original e-mail but no big deal. I got a call back about 2 hours ago telling me they want to troubleshoot and that I will need to remove the lockpick. Apparently he missed the part of my e-mail where I mentioned that I had already removed it. He insisted that the pink wire (Bluetooth connection) which is fully insultated and taped by me before the install and surrounded by nothing but carpet was grounding out. I explained to him that when I was troubleshooting last night I not only had the wire taped, but the unit sitting on the seat and he still insisted the pink wire was grounded somehow. I told him I couldn't pull my truck apart at the moment because I was not home and he wanted to give me a callback number to get back to him on. I asked him to e-mail it to me because I didn't have a pen and he said he would. I am still waiting on that e-mail. So it looks like I will be pulling my dash apart again tomorrow for no good reason to troubleshoot the lockpick. That is, whenever I get the e-mail with his number. The annoying part is that I am 110% certain that there is no way on God's good earth that any wires were shorting out or grounded or anything of the sort, yet I need to pull my dash apart again and do things I have already done to satisfy this guy. I am debating taking a video of me recreating the problem tomorrow and sending it to him to cast aside all doubt that there is something wrong with the unit. He also never even asked about the poor sound quality from my iPod. I guess I will mention that as well whenever I get his contact information. For $350 plus shipping and tax since i live in FL, I had hoped for a bit more in the quality control and customer service department. Oh well.....lesson learned. Hopefully when I prove to this guy that the GMX550 is malfunctioning I can just get a refund rather than a replacement.

Thanks of your post Roger. I'm glad you posted this. It shows that their service and their product sucks... I've yet to hear one good thing about them. If you want your iPod/iDevice to sound good, you basically have to run 300+ kbps bitrate audio which is pretty much unheard of unless you are directly ripping a CD into iTunes and leave it as un-compressed as possible.

 

[jeremyp]

"Unlike any other interface produced in the world today you will not loose GPS function while using NavTool interface for VIM (video in motion) NIM (navigation in motion) CIM (control in motion)"

That's what I want to hear!

http://www.installer.com/item/display_item.php?it=GMVIM

Now THAT'S what I'm looking for! In doing some research on this device, I came across their outlet store on ebay. They have it for $249.99 shipped. At that price, I'm going to give it a try.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GMC-YUKON-N...eo&vxp=mtr&hash=item588bb7c155#ht_1634wt_1163

JP