I am going to try and get a new Eclipse AVN- 2454($2.299). And need to find some post on it. I have some questions about the back up camera ($239.). I am looking at $3,000 from Good Guys Labor $350.( OTD) Thanks :santa:

 

Sounds pretty high to me, you can get the unit off Ebay a lot cheaper...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW
If your sceptical about buying online let me just say that I have put together 5 complete systems off Ebay and have never had a problem and have saved a ton of money.

As for the installation it is not that complicated...really no different than a regualr CD player, just a couple more conections to make. I sure hope the install is a lot more than the head unit for $350. And let me just say that the installs I have seen come from Ciruit City and Best Buy (no Good Guys around here) are far less than what I would do in my own truck. If you aren't capable of doing the install thats one thing, but if you are I would do my own and take the time to do it right. Buy off Ebay and do the install yourself and you will save over $1000. Just my .02 worth!

 

Thanks RamSS/T ..I did look at E-bay. but with the camera hook up and the 7 year warranty for $200 and they could do it in 1 day, I thought that Good Guys might be the way to go. I was wondering if the Back up camera is in black and white or color ??

 

7 year warrenty is pretty tuff! As for the Camera I have a Pioneer and its color...I am sure almost all quality ones are color. I haven't installed mine yet...Christmas present...but what I am curious about is how it looks at night.

BTW...the back up camera is 4 wires....power, ground, RCA Video plug and a wire that connects to your backup lights that turns it on when the come on...very simple.

 

does the Eclipse have a "Clock" in it ? and How do you make the 1/2 inch frame to fill in the gap around the unit ?

 

I dont know about the clock (I would think a high end unit like that would), but you will need a double din adapter to fill the gap. I got mine (I have a DIN sized Pioneer P6600 DVD and a full DIN size Pioneer DEQ7600 EQ/Sound Processor...thus needing a double DIN adapter) from Crutchfield for about $15, but I am sure Good Guys will have one too.

 

AVN2454 has a clock. The time is automatically set with the GPS function. It is a nice unit. I had one in my 04 F-150 until I replaced it with the Alpine unit. I sold mine on e-bay 2050, but that was 7 months ago. You will be very happy with the unit. Get the install kit from Circuit City..it is the nicest one.

Philip

 

99% likely that Eclipse will not honor the warranty if you buy one off eBay. However, it might be worth the risk for the savings. This unit is the Same size as the Kenwood NAV7015 unit I installed in my truck. I used the Metra double din install kit to fill in the space around the unit. It worked great for the Kenwood and should work for the Eclipse as well. In my gallery pics you can see the Kenwood unit and the double din piece. Also, you can see where I located the IR emitter for the PAC-SWX stearing wheel controller. fwiw

https://www.f150online.com/galleries...y.cfm?gnum=5082

 

Wireless the link doesn't work...I am interested in some info on the PAC-SWX. First off did you install it yourself? How complicated was it....was it pretty straight foward? Where did you get it from and the price? And finaly if you can fix the link to the pic of IR transmitter...or at least tell me where you put it. THANKS!

 

I would shop it around a little bit more, especially if you want to get it installed by a shop. One of my co-workers had the unit installed in his suburban for $2200 otd at a smaller stereo shop locally. If I remember correctly, he has a 3 year warranty with it because they are authorized by Eclipse. A full 7 years sounds great, but I don't think that I have used the same stereo in any vehicle of mine for more than 4 years. Also, I think that Eclipse provides an automatic 1 year warranty on their products if you do a self install.

 

Sorry for the bad link. I got the Kenwood NAV7015 from a local dealer. It goes for $2400 on crutchfiled. One local authorized dealer wanted $2400 for the Kenwood unit. I was able to get another dealer to sell it for $1800. I think the list price is $1600. The local non-authorized reseller actually bought it for me through the other authorized dealer at a big discount and only charged me for the install cost $100. So there are deals to be had. The Eclipse unit is supposedly better and has a 3 year warranty vs. 2 years on the Kenwood. There were two major features the Kenwood had that sold me over the Eclipse. The kenwood support Satellite Radio (Serrius) and the Eclipse has no sat support. Also, the Kenwood has a seperate DVD drive/brain for the GPS. That way you can use the head units DVD drive while navigating.

I did not install the PAC-SWX. The cost of the unit was like $80 plus $60 for the installation. If you are experienced at stereo installs you could probably do the PAC yourself. I am not. Although I have more experience now. I ended up taking the HU out and relocating the IR unit for the PAC.

try this link to my gallery for pics
http://www.f150online.com/galleries/....cfm?gnum=5082

 

Picture of AVN2454 installed in the F-150..