MoonRiverOasis

Have you read this thread, http://www.mp3car.co...ace-ai-net.html ?

I was looking at just using my iriver as a usb storage and not like a player, but this kca620m even struggles to play normal usb sticks...fat /fat 32 / read issues

No I haven't - I found the KCS-620M when originally researching options, but fairly quickly dismissed it as costing too much for too little..

What i meant about the HU was any newer better ones that interface with the touch screen (single din), as you know ours is an old model by todays standards....

Correct - it's 2006 model that was discontinued in most markets by 2008 - it's still current in TH however.. I've searched high and low for alternate signle-DIN head units that'll connect to it, but never did find anything with the additional features I want (bluetooth and USB). Most of the newer Alpine units with USB, bluetooth etc are double-DIN now and/or don't have a DVD player so aren't touch-screen compatible.

If you do manage to find one, please do tell

Can you change the HU display colour, nothing in the manual and i would prefer red to match the car display..

Apparently you can change the LCD color - I found a Thai language forum with instructions for changing the wallpaper a few months ago, but wasn't that interested at the time so didn't bookmark it I'll let you know if I come across it again. It doesn't appear you can change the DVD players illumination color though.

What did you do with the power supply for the WDTV, just find a socket power plug that suited? Where have you mounted your WDTV (bearing in mind remote control operation) ande also wher did you mount your usb drive for ease of access....thanks

At first I just mounted the WDTV under the passenger side glovebox and powered it with a cigarette lighte adaptor (it runs on 12vdc) - which worked fine, but looked a bit too ghetto for me

I've now dissassembled the thing and integrated it into the car, along with a home-made time-delay power supply so it doesn't reset when starting the engine. The remote sensor is tucked into the far left windscreen-dash junction (practically invisible), and the USB ports are under the DVD player in the switch blanks beside the cigarette lighter (for easy access) - the rest of it stashed out of sight behind the LCD screen. I'll take some photos of it all next time I'm in the mood to pull the dash apart

I drive a Toyota vios and get around 650kms from 40litres which last time I filled up cost 1,200 Baht.

But it all depends on where you drive and HOW you drive as to how much fuel you use.

That's more than 38MPG - wow, very impressive driving!

Even hypermiler's are only in the 40-43MPG range with the Yaris, and that's with over-inflated tires, manual shift, no driving > 80km/hr, no air-con, shutting off the engine whenever stationary etc etc.. To get 38MPG in Thailand is no mean feat - congrats!

Sorry if I have offended you. I know that 4X4 drivers need to justify their excessive use of petrol, and they need to justify the fact that 4X4's are harder to park, cost more to service, are harder to wash, but yes they do make your dick bigger.

Isn't a shame that the really big 4X4's aren't available here, so that you can waste space and petrol by the gallon, all for the reason that you believe that a bigger crash is worth it.

Offended me? no way - that's quite impossible

I simply deal in facts - if someone disagrees with them, they are the one's who should be offended

As for your bullet-point list, if you can remove all the generalisations and pare it down to known facts only, I'll be more than happy to respond. Right now there's just too much noise in it for me to respond in a timely fashion.

Edit: If/when you do respond with an edited, factual, scientific list of arguments, please do take the time to cite some references. Unfortunately for many readers here, your credibility may have been tarnished by the over-emotional response posted earlier.Please also quote facts pertaining to the Thai market, road conditions and drivers. Citing data from Australia bears little to no relevance in Thailand.

Usually you and I see eye to eye, but on this one you do realise just how far safety has come since those cars were engineered right?

By 'those cars" you mean the "red one" and the "black one" right \

Seriously, even I'm having a hard time telling what they were. heh

Point taken, however I feel that if you read a report that was done by the Australian car magazine Motor, they stated that although many of the 4X4's that are marked as cars had the 4* ancap rating, their road behaviour was never questioned.

The Ancap rating only deals with what happens after a crash. They do not deal with the fact that a Toyota Yaris will out handle a 4X4 any day of the week. It will turn in faster, tighter, hold its line better, and then to top it off it will stop a heap quicker, as will the Tarago.

This in my book is a safer car, passenger carrying vehicle.

Euro NCAP includes road handling tests, and the star ratings remain consistent with ANCAP. Google for the now infamous Toyota Hilux Moose Test (which has been fixed BTW)... So I guess if you're talking in general terms, there's really only 2/5 pickups that perform like passenger cars in crash testing, so that'll perhaps explain the what was written by the Aussie author of the article (well, that or a predisposed prejudice, sensationalism, or cash-for-comments ;0 )

It's not that all ladder-frame pickups/SUV's are as good on safety as passenger vehicles - the Ford Ranger/Mazda BT-50 and Isuzu D-Max/Chev Colorado fair quite poorly on the frontal offset test (substantial cabin deformation), but so does the Camry Hybrid for that matter..

However, with good engineering it's possible to make them as safe - as demonstrated by Mitsubishi and Toyota. In fact, on side-impact a high-riding pickup/SUV offers magnitudes better occupant protection given the lower-down impact zone.

Edit: Another factor not to be overlooked is that > 50% of the vehicles on Thai roads are pickups or SUV's.. That means in a side-impact in a Yaris, Camry etc you've got a very, very high chance of being dead. Best to bring a gun to a gunfight I say :-P

On a different note i may just stick a sh1t load of mp3`s or wma`s on an audio dvd and not worry about the mp3 player, but i would like a media player option as dvd`s (concerts etc are a pain to carry arround though)...

Yes, while the DVD player has a search feature, it's impossible to use while driving!

Have you looked at newer replacement HU`s that would mate to the screen, are there any reasonable options?

Plenty of options, but they all mean installing a double-DIN unit where ths screen is now, and that means a new dash fascia - this is available OEM but it looks awful IMHO.

oh, and looking into the SWRC option too, i see this seems to be a good option, even if you change HU`s http://www.sonicelec...xxess+ASWC.html or http://www.sonicelec...+SWI-JACK-.html

Have already done SWRC mod, using the locally made Skott audio interface: http://www.skott-audio.com

Done a bit of reading on the KCA-620M, it seems to have issues with ipods let alone my iriver (so that option is out)....

It appears there may be some confusion - the KCA-620M plays MP3's direct from USB flash drives, and offers a secondary vanilla analogue AUX-in. It doesn't have any type of control connections for portable media players.

unless some good firmware upgrades have appeared, the menu system on the WDTV sucks

Sounds like you've got the 1st gen unit - they were horriffic to use and awfully slow. The V2 and the Live variants are much, much better.

The KCA-121B ( a lot cheaper on fleabay) seems to be just for L/R audio, is there a video in plug in the back of the alpine ~(yellow},is that what you use to feed in your WDTV?

Connect the WDTV's composite video out to the TV-in at the back of the LCD screen, and the audio to the DVD using the AUX-in adaptor. Alternatively you can add the PXA-H701 processor and go Toslink from the WDTV to it, and have it decode 5.1 DTS/DD.

also bearing in mind i want to retro fit a reversing camera(will it work in tandem, or does it have it`s own connection, oh, and does the reverse camera switch on the display automaticaly, if it`s off when you select reverse?

Yes, there's a separate input for the reversing camera, and the display will automatically switch on with it.

The quality and customer service can vary hugely between places under the same brand, so I'd take Moonriveroasis's remarks about Chevy with a pinch of salt.

Yes, please feel free to do so

However I will note that my beef with them is not at a dealership level at all, it's with head office.

Id' hazard even lower than Kata, seeing as it's an MT being discussed.. It will lose 30-35% in the first year depending on K's travelled.

It all depends on how long you intend to keep it really - at 5 years old it will have done pretty much all of it's depreciation (by then worth 230K +/- 20K), so no major losses after that.

That fits with my experience too - my wife's 1.5L Toyota Yaris (more fuel effecient than Jazz/City) costs the same to run as my 2.5L Pajero Sport, and more to run than my 2.5L Isuzu pickup.

2008 Mistubishi L200 (Triton = Pajero Sport)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mGvInhDDbU

2005 Toyota Hilux (=Fortuner)

Check for yourselves. Check the European (safest cars in the world) crash reports of these vehicles, and see what they say.

Pajero Sport (aka Challenger and Montero Sport) gets 4/5 stars on both Euro NCAP and ANCAP. Toyota Estima (aka Torago) also gets 4 stars BTW, as does Fortuner, Vigo, Camry, Yaris etc etc etc.

The only 5/5 star cars in Thailand are luxury European makes and the top-model Mazda 3, as nothing else has the requisite amount of airbags and VSC.

Here's some video links for those interested

2008 Toyota Estima (Torago)

They said they will refund my prepayment. I'm sure they will get around to it someday.

It;s not a pre-payment, it's a pre-authorization. The money is locked up until they cancel the transaction, confirm it, or 33 days elapses (with neither a cancellation or confirmation), but it hasn't actually been transferred from your CC account and doesn't need to be 'refunded' per se.

In any case, the deposit is just standard practice in Thailand, you won't get different milage with any of the other rental co's either. And yes, sadly, card imprinters do still exist - in fact they're still more wide-spread in TH than EFTPOS terminals..

I'm driving around in a Pajero at the moment (its the G wagon I think) ..... its about 4 yrs old (so the older model) ..... and it is aweful!

The G-Wagon is a 1999 design, released in Thailand in 2001 - very old tech. Compare it to the old Hilux Surf and it's reasonable, but a lot has changed in diesels in the last few years alone (let alone the least decade) so both of the aforementioned are in a different class to what's out there now.

A deposit is always necessary when hiring a car - the only exception to that I've seen is when you've rented repeatedly off a smaller rental company and have built a personal rapport with them.

Just let them do an imprint of your Credit Card instead of giving the cash.

look at the HTML address of the Fortuner, it is the 2007 model..... 3 - 4 years ago

Fortuner was released in November 2004, with a minor change in August 2008 (new front styling, new wheels and VSC added). Since then there's been a few special edition models (Aperto, Sportivo) but no changes to the base product.

Pajero Sport was released in August 2008, with a minor change in October 2009 (added cruise control, new wheels, slightly different front grille).

it is cheaper and the specs are around the same.... you r not considering resale value.... i guess Pajero Sport will be a better choice.

Total cost of ownership is better for Pajero Sport at 1 year old and beyond - e.g. Fortuner 3.0L V 4x2 loses 220K Baht in the first year (1.27M to 1.05M), while Pajero Sport GT loses 200K baht (1.1M to 900K). From there on the Pajero Sport's TCO keeps on improving against Fortuner. (prices based on current valuations for 1year, 20,000KM, and As New condition).

seems like pajero is a better choice, but is the 5 years 150,000km still available?

Yes, it's a standard thing, not a promotion.

I need a car that I can sell quickly if needed and that does not loose to much value within the first 3 years

Ease of resale is the same, as the market sets the price the market wants to pay, and there's plenty of buyers for both models. Total cost of ownership is higher for Fortuner no matter how you look at it though, given it's price premium at the dealership.

Here's some measured differences, if it helps:

0-100km/hr:

Fortuner 2.7V 4AT 4X4: 15.12

Fortuner 3.0V 4AT 4X4: 13.28

Fortuner 3.0V 4AT 4X2: 12.71

80-120km/hr:

Fortuner 2.7V 4AT 4x4: 11.35

Fortuner 3.0V 4AT 4x4: 10.3

Fortuner 3.0v 4AT 4x2: 10.14

Top Speed:

Fortuner 2.7V 4AT 4x4: 160 @ 4,300 rpm

Fortuner 3.0V 4AT 4x4: 185 @ 3,500 rpm

Fortuner 3.0v 4AT 4x2: 185 @ 3,500 rpm

Highway Fuel Economy (@110km/hr):

Fortuner 2.7V 4AT 4x4: 9.02 km/l

Fortuner 3.0V 4AT 4x4: 10.63 km/l

Fortuner 3.0v 4AT 4x2: 12.37 km/l

The Auto Lock options are able to be set (if available) using the diagnostic tool (BCM). Usually there's a few different options including speed-sensing, in/out of Park and ignition on/off. You'll need to talk to your dealership about what options the March/Teana support and to get them to do it for you - that is, if you can find someone there who understands the question

I recently had this option enabled on my Pajero Sport.

In the spirit of your exciting news thread, the next generation Colorado pickup will be getting a front-end styled like that of the current Captiva. Riveting stuff

Cannot afford a Fortuner! but is this the new GM pickup with the 2.8L lump??, Where is that engine being developed ? - USA, as I understand they will not be using Isuzu again!.

GM have just spent a tidy sum on refitting their dealership here, big party etc so confidence is on the up!

Correct, Isuzu will be based off the Chev Colorado this time around (end of next year, that is).

Facelifting dealerships is one thing, but I doubt that will fix their customer support issues, as that's all policy / attitude related. I also doubt they'll ever get above 10% market share here in LOS no matter how hard their marketing go at it, but Aussies will keep the Holden badged version of the Thai-built Colorado battling the Hilux for top-spot in that market - and that's almost enough to justify the investment alone.

The Marketing department at Lamina films seriously need to go visit Top Charoen optical and get the 2-for-1 deal.

Either that or their marketing dept is full of post-menopausal women.

In the spirit of your exciting news thread, the next generation Colorado pickup will be getting a front-end styled like that of the current Captiva. Riveting stuff

white cars seems to turn yellowish after a few years.......

aint i right?

My experience in Thailand is that they tend to go gray from all the diesel/soot that sticks to them. Well, unless you're talking about the pearl white on the MU-7 which is yellow to begin with

Washing/waxing isn't enough to remove this fully in my experience - and I wash weekly, with wax every 6 weeks. You really need to use a chemical paint cleaner to get it off properly/safely. Use this stuff on your white car after 6-12 months in Thai traffic and you'll be amazed by the difference. In fact, use it on any color car that's been driven for 6 months or more and you'll see the difference - even on black cars (just to a lesser effect).

The Alpine unit in the PJS GT can support an analogue AUX input, so no problems adding the player of your choice.

If you're not going to install a CD or DVD Changer, use the KCA-121B (about 800 Baht at any Alpine dealer) - if you want to install a CD/DVD changer plus have an AUX input you'll need one of the more expensive Alpine adaptors - I don't have pricing on these however.

KCA-121B

Thanks for the reply MRO, i was thinking more along the lines of USB, so i can list and select songs on the touch screen, is that possible with the installed head unit ?

For USB you have two options:

1) The Alpine way - the KCA-620M connects to the Ai-Net bus (same connector as the AUX adaptor above) and will play back MP3's with full integration with the DVD player and screen. No support for video formats though, and it can't do lossless audio.

Alpine KCA-620M

2) The custom way - using an external USB media player like iPod. I have integrated a WDTV into mine - this supports playing back all audio and video - including MP3, lossless audio, AVI, MPEG, and MKV video up to 1080P HD. No touch screen controls however, but the combination of remote and on-screen menus works for me. You'll need the AUX in adaptor for this though.

Western Digital WDTV

Both options are about the same price (5K Baht), but you'll have to hunt around to find a KCA-620M for sale.