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Retro, I'm not missing those Michigan winters. If I was going to do much driving in the snow up there. I would get winter tires. I even put them on my Land Rover when I lived in Michigan. They are just amazing compared to all season tires. I do like being able to run summer tires all year here in south Texas though.
If I didn't have a great job up here with lots of seniority not easily replaced, I'd be out of here, too. Left when I was younger and was foolish to have come back. Should have never looked back!
I don't fancy the nearly $2K yearly car insurance, and $200 per year registration here either!
I just got the car with all-seasons already on it. I am planning to swap out the wheels and tires soon. Will likely install winter tires on the OEM wheels and a pair of Y speed rated all-season tires on the new rims.
Expensive, though. Priced it at about $1800-$2200. I am just a poor boy on an engineering salary. I am always jealous of all the projects here with people putting in tens of thousands in upgrades. You guys want to sponsor my mods?
You must be in Oakland county or so to have such high insurance rates I last lived in hillsdale county. Insurance wasn't bad there.
Grand Rapids, actually.
It's estimated that 1 out of every 5 people on the roads in Michigan are driving illegally (no insurance and/or invalid license.) Not to mention that people are absolutely terrible, terrible drivers here. Amazingly yet, though, I have never had an accident in 25 years of driving. No points on my license and not a single claim at all on insurance. Almost unheard of here.
Michigan has that Catastrophic Claims insurance add-on which takes up the majority of my insurance premium. Used to pay for those people driving illegally with no insurance or underinsured. Of course, it's really just another piggy-bank for the government to steal from.
You may have lived here when former Gov. Engler canceled the MCCA add-on because it was way over-funded. They re-enstated it after he left and jacked it up.
Let's not mention Michigan anymore. Let's just say that I have no love for this State.
Replaced the temperature control unit that I had broken. 2005 Radio installed.
And now I have a spare radio and temperature control unit to experiment with. I would love to find a service manual for this model of the radio so that I can determine the difference between it and the 2003 version. May need to find one of those sites advertising service manuals for purchase that I can trust. Most are really sketchy.
P.S. And yeah, it's getting cold out there. Our first snow is moving in tonight. Guess I will find out how the SC430 handles in the snow.
Congrats on getting it back up and running. That's always a great feeling after having it be down for so long.
It's estimated that 1 out of every 5 people on the roads in Michigan are driving illegally (no insurance and/or invalid license.) Not to mention that people are absolutely terrible, terrible drivers here. Amazingly yet, though, I have never had an accident in 25 years of driving. No points on my license and not a single claim at all on insurance. Almost unheard of here.
Michigan has that Catastrophic Claims insurance add-on which takes up the majority of my insurance premium. Used to pay for those people driving illegally with no insurance or underinsured. Of course, it's really just another piggy-bank for the government to steal from.
You may have lived here when former Gov. Engler canceled the MCCA add-on because it was way over-funded. They re-enstated it after he left and jacked it up.
Let's not mention Michigan anymore. Let's just say that I have no love for this State.
No I only moved out of Michigan a year ago. It does make a huge difference what county you live in. I lived all my life in Michigan except when I was on active duty, and. Past year I have been in Houston .
I know this is a bit old topic in your thread, but did you managed to install the Vaistech? I wanted to suggest another that I found on the web, it was GTA Car Kits. I was trying to figure out what it was awhile back when you were asking around. But the down side I think is the lack of compatibility ie it works well with Apple products (connectors are for Apple) but not Androids. But they do provide Aux cable for use.
I know this is a bit old topic in your thread, but did you managed to install the Vaistech? I wanted to suggest another that I found on the web, it was GTA Car Kits. I was trying to figure out what it was awhile back when you were asking around. But the down side I think is the lack of compatibility ie it works well with Apple products (connectors are for Apple) but not Androids. But they do provide Aux cable for use.
Anyway, how is the Vaistech?
I haven't installed any of those kits. Since I am planning to replace the nav system with a computer, the only thing I need is an aux input to the amp.
I have been looking around at what the various kits can do because they might be useful in my planned system, but I haven't settled on anything yet. Unless I scrap the computer idea, I wouldn't be getting anything that interfaces with the existing nav display/ECU.
Quick question and this seems like the best place to ask. If i installed an aftermarket radio but want to retain the OEM navigation, without buying the beat sonic, can I run power to the plug behind the radio to get power to the screen and navigation ECU? If so, what wires to tap? Thanks for any assistance.
I think that the main purpose in the Beatsonic is to preserve the steering wheel controls and add a couple of features (like Bluetooth or audio input). (I haven't installed it myself though.) So you should be fine with a normal installation but I'm not sure.
Quick question and this seems like the best place to ask. If i installed an aftermarket radio but want to retain the OEM navigation, without buying the beat sonic, can I run power to the plug behind the radio to get power to the screen and navigation ECU? If so, what wires to tap? Thanks for any assistance.
The main problem, I think, is that the head unit is the master on the AVC-LAN bus. From everything I have read, it is critical to the operation of all things on the bus. I seem to recall that when I had my radio removed and on the bench for a couple of days, I couldn't get the NAV to work at all. I assume that beatsonic and the other aftermarket radio modules take the place of that in the system.
The main problem, I think, is that the head unit is the master on the AVC-LAN bus. From everything I have read, it is critical to the operation of all things on the bus. I seem to recall that when I had my radio removed and on the bench for a couple of days, I couldn't get the NAV to work at all. I assume that beatsonic and the other aftermarket radio modules take the place of that in the system.
Thanks for replying! Well, I guess I'm in the market for a used beat-sonic mva-12l or 13l.... Plus the mva-23l for my LS430. Just didn't want to shell out almost$800 for wiring harness.... Great work that your doing, gives me motivation to get back in my dash!
Hey retro, I thought I would share this with you...i found this soldering iron on eBay, built in 1986, the brand is Weller, built for the military. Still in the new wrapper and never opened. I purchased two, one for me and one for my son as a Christmas present... eBay link
11-20-15, 07:01 AM
You guys want to sponsor my mods? 
