[MadrasTurbo]

Originally Posted by junky

In the picture above i do see an A/C off button, is the pic from the 2019 model or am i missing something?

Even I thought that was for turning off the A/C, but it is just toggles between Fan and A/C. I meant there is no way to turn the blower off.

[su1978]

Firstly, congrats on your new possession. Secondly, sorry to hear about your ordeal. You have huge patience. Had it been me in your place, my first step would have been an FIR at the nearest police station and then a court case and then i would have talked to the dealership.

Your post is also indicative of the fact that these companies think of taking advantage of lax laws and judiciary system in India by bringing in faulty products which are marred by defects. Another point that these companies want to cash upon is the fact that India is one of the emerging markets of world and has a huge population. Even in the worst case scenario, they will be able to sell some good numbers. Since most of the aam janta buying the cars is stupid, they will never take it to the courts and the service centers will easily be able to take them for a ride.

the other point that comes to my mind is that most car companies are eyeing india as a manufacturing hub due to lower input costs and mostly focus on exports to other countries. Whatever "B" or "C" category products they are able to manufacture, they sell it in India.

Your car is a typical case of company handing you over a similar product. They thought that they would get away with this but you were a tough nut to crack. Hence, they resorted to various 420 type stunts by changing your registered mobile number and closing complaint all on their own. Keep your eyes and ears open and never leave your car with them whenever you get your vehicle serviced.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by MadrasTurbo

[b][u]

Attachment 1883336

Great car, and greater endurance by the buyer

I would strongly urge you to replace the "3D" mat in the driver footwell with a normal one; have known a case where the accelerator pedal got stuck between the mat and the carpet and it created a scare for a friend.

Alternatively, please move the mat a little back and fasten it to the carpet using some velcro.

[atlantis0965]

Hello
Congratulations on your car . ! It really is one of the nicest looking cars around !
Thanks for the very well written review.Kudos for your perserverance in tackling the issue of the "left pulling" .
Just wanted to know whether these authorised service centres or for that matter how many "wheel alignment centres" really have the correct software for the wheel alignment of these cars ?

I am asking because on one occasion i have seen an authorised service centre using the settings of the vw polo for my vw vento! I asked him about it ; only to receive a typical vague response!

Ofcourse i did not stop at that and had the alignment rechecked again in the mrf tyredrome who i believe are pretty professional.

So the question is ; " could it be a case of many of these dealers simply using wrong settings to make the alignment adjustments which only compounds a simple problem ?"

Sorry if it seems completely offtopic !

[SideView]

First of all a big thank you for your efforts in penning this detailed and brutally honest ownership review.

Originally Posted by MadrasTurbo

[center][b]


About Turbo Lag in Second Gear
The turbo lag in second gear was bad. It was so bad, you had to rev the engine at least to 2500rpm before shifting. On the T-BHP official review thread, BHPian anilntny had mentioned about a software update done at the A.S.S. I had mentioned about the same during my first service and after the update, there is no turbo lag at all. It made a world of a difference.

I wonder if this software update is provided also for duster/terrano 110 variant where the same issue exists and is basically the same engine with minor tweaks.

I doubled checked this with ASC for terrano upon getting info from one of the facebook groups but they mentioned there is no such thing. On the hindsight, maybe i wasnt pushy enough and trusted their words “ It is there for all 110 vehicles , Saar”.


If existing customers of renault/nissan dont vouch for product, maybe not the product but the ASC experience and exorbitant spare cost, it will only be couple of years before i see them too going the GM way. They better pull their socks up and treat existing customers better.

[MadrasTurbo]

Originally Posted by vigsom

I would strongly urge you to replace the "3D" mat in the driver footwell.
Alternatively, please move the mat a little back and fasten it to the carpet using some velcro.

The mats are already completely secured with Velcro. As I had mentioned, the mats will be changed very soon, so this should not be an issue.

Originally Posted by atlantis0965

Hello
Congratulations on your car . ! It really is one of the nicest looking cars around !
So the question is ; " could it be a case of many of these dealers simply using wrong settings to make the alignment adjustments which only compounds a simple problem ?"

Thank you, Atlantis. Though it might be an issue with some dealers, I doubt that is the case for the most part. I never had an issue with the alignment values with any other dealer. But, yes, it is better to get the report when we do the alignment, even if it is an A.S.S.

Originally Posted by SideView

First of all a big thank you for your efforts in penning this detailed and brutally honest ownership review.


I wonder if this software update is provided also for duster/terrano 110 variant where the same issue exists and is basically the same engine with minor tweaks.

Thank you, SideView. I am not sure about a similar software update for Duster/Terrano 110, but I know a some owners who have opted for the Pete's remap and are very happy. Even some BHPians had got this remap done. Refer: post (Renault Duster : Official Review)

[MadrasTurbo]

The ultimate Android HU upgrade for Renault Cars.


Image Source

If you have a Renault Kwid, Duster, Lodgy or Captur, fitted with MediaNav or MediaNav evolution, you might want to seriously consider this upgrade.

As I had mentioned in my review, the stock MediaNav Evolution system that came with my Captur was so pathetic, I definitely had to upgrade it.

Even though I am an audiophile, I have never had an expensive audio setup in any of my cars. The fear of screwing something up in the process always kept me away from it. Refer this on point post by GTO. (The Downside of High-End Audio Installs). I wanted to keep it simple, and wanted to upgrade the HU alone keeping the speaker setup stock. I could either go for a good Pioneer/JVC/Blaupunkt HU with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support or go with an Android HU.

The only reason why I did not go for a Pioneer/JVC/Blaupunkt HU is because of the poor fit and finish. Refer post (Installed! Pioneer AVH-Z5090BT in my Honda City). It straight away looks aftermarket. I did not want to make the already ugly looking interior, uglier.

The only option I had was to go for an Android HU to get an OE fit and finish. The biggest advantage for me was that, all Renault cars(except the now launched Triber) have the same HU. So I thought if I could get a compatible HU for the Duster, it would be a perfect fir for my car. So I started looking at the available HUs' for the Duster and came across a few models(Hypersonic, some other generic brands). The issue was that, all the CANBUS readers that came with the units said "Renault/Dacia Duster". CANBUS readers are very car specific and I did not want to risk having a wrong CANBUS reader as then that would mean, losing steering controls and vehicle information. No one had a CANBUS reader for the Captur. The other disappointing fact was that the 4GB RAM variant was not available at all. The best configuration that I could find locally was the 32GB ROM/2GB RAM variant. The 2GB RAM variants get laggy/buggy after a few months of use and the boot times for these units were around 100-150 seconds. Though this might not seem like a lot, as the memory gets filled, the boot takes forever.


I then started looking at websites like AliExpress, Banggood for compatible HUs'. I was shocked to see HUs' ranging from INR 8,000 to INR 30,000 and they all looked exactly the same. Then I started contacting a lot of sellers to know the exact specifications and to check the compatibility of the product. Since the Russian Kaptur is pretty popular, I was able to find a compatible HU easily. Also, I wanted to know how quickly each of these sellers responded to my messages. Almost all the sellers were pretty responsive and were very helpful. I chose a seller called ZNY, as he/she was very quick to respond and shared the entire specifications with component level details, which most other sellers did not. The product also has 4G/LTE support out of the box.Link to product.

The seller was also very honest in letting me know that the company fitted camera may not be compatible with this HU, and gave a free camera with the kit.

After a lot of thought, I went ahead with the purchase. The order was promptly shipped via DHL.

What I like
↪Extremely Snappy
↪Customization Options
↪Android Auto/ Apple CarPlay
↪OE Fit
↪Sound Quality
↪Complete OE compatibility
↪4G/LTE Connectivity with WiFi hotspot feature. So with a SIM installed in the HU, the car becomes WiFi enabled.

What I dislike
↪Poor out of the box radio reception
↪Need for various connectors for complete OE compatibility
↪Requires a lot of settings if the seller has not taken care of it.

The $$$

I had no intention of spending 40 grands for the HU to be honest. My budget was 25k. A stretch to 27k was okay, but at the end of the day, I ended up paying way more than what I wanted to, but as of now, no regrets. I was going through a thread by five46 (Budget Android Player Setup for 14k (head-unit, speakers & camera)) and was mighty impressed.

[MadrasTurbo]

Installation,fit and finish

The packaged was delivered in just 4 days, and DHL did an excellent job with the delivery. Strangely, though I selected ship from China in AliExpress, the package was shipped from Singapore.

I wanted to get this HU professionally installed. I did not know anyone as like everyone else, I always had got these kinds of job done at GP Road, but then the way they handle the dash panels and the hasty job that they do with the wiring kept me away from these shops. I reached out to the guys at the detailing shop, who did an excellent job with the ceramic coating and other jobs, and they were happy to help me with the installation. I knew it would be double the amount of what I would have to pay outside, as these guys take a cut too, but as long as I got someone to patiently do this job, I was okay.

I reached the place at around 12 p.m., and left at almost 12 a.m.

The installer, took was very patient and carefully using the plastic pry tools, he opened the center fascia and then proceeded to remove the old HU. He then did the wiring for the new HU and was checking if everything was working before screwing the HU. Everything worked except for steering controls and stock rear camera. I told him these two features are very important for me and I needed these to work. We tried with the camera that the seller had included and it worked fine. But I was not willing to drill holes on the car and also did not want to remove all the panels to bring the wire to the HU. So he told he will get a connector and come back. So he went and came after 4 hours and the connector still did not work. He said there is another connector that is used by the Authorized Service Centers to install certified accessories. I told him I will wait and worst case, I also asked him to bring a good quality camera which can be placed in the bumper instead of the number plate camera that was given by the seller. He was gone for another 4 hours, by then I had figured the CANBUS settings and the steering controls worked perfectly. The installer was back with the connector, it was 11 p.m., and Voila, the stock camera worked like a charm. At least it was worth the wait, I thanked the guy and paid and left the place at almost 12 a.m.

Before installation of the HU:

After installation of the HU:

The fit and finish was exceptional. Better than OE, in my opinion. The best part was, though we needed additional connectors, the camera, mic, GPS, radio antenna that were already in the car were all working with this HU, so no hanging wires at all.

[MadrasTurbo]

The UI

Everyone having an Android HU, do check this application called Agama Car Launcher. It is excellent.

The Homescreen

The default homescreen has this huge Renault logo and has all the other relevant options around it.

I was not a big fan of the huge logo in the center screen, so I was going through the settings, and boy oh boy, the amount of options to choose from, really surprised me. There are a total of 7 options to choose from.

Let's go one by one.

The clock
There is a neat analogue clock with the words "Renault" in it.

The Speedometer with a trip meter and a fake Rev-meter
This is my personal favorite as it looks really cool. This works based on the GPS signals.

The music widget
Extremely pleasing to look at and the track length is displayed too.

The logo
Though some might dig it, I am not a big fan.

The compass
Looks cool, I find no use for it.

Navigation mode
Since the vehicle was stationary while taking these screenshots, I tried, but could not get a proper screenshot. Basically, the navigation direction would be displayed in this widget. Completely useless as I prefer using Google Maps application while navigating.

Auto mode
In my opinion, the best is the Auto mode. It basically switches between the previous 6 modes based on your settings. My choice of settings(the default one) are as follows:

Your favorite apps can be set to open at one touch and a slide from the left gives you four choices that can be custom set, as per your preference.

The Notification bar

Like our smartphones, a swipe from the top reveals the notification/quick settings panel.

The Radio app

The radio application is clean and simple. 18+18 FM programs can be stored.

The Music app

Being an Android, any streaming application can be installed from the Play Store. I have JioSaavn, Amazon Prime Music installed and they both work like a charm. For songs played via Bluetooth, an A2DP application is inbuilt.

The A2DP app is very basic, just like the stock HU.

Amazon Prime Music works well,

so does JioSaavn.

Navigation

One of the main reason I got an Android HU was to be able to use GMaps without a mobile phone and hands down the convenience the native app offers can be matched by no other app.

The dialer app

The dialer app is integrated into the bluetooth setting application. No complaints, works as intended.

Android Auto and Apple CarPlay

A connector dongle is to be purchased for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to work. Link to the product.
An application called AutoKit is to be installed in the HU. Link to the application. (WARNING: Clicking on the link directly downloads the .apk file)
After installing and opening the application, the app instructs to plug in the device(dongle)

After connecting the dongle, the app instructs to plug in the phone.

And after a few seconds, AA is started.

The DSP Audio EQ app

The EQ app in units with the DSP have a few more bands and some more options than the regular Android HU models.

TPMS- External

I did not want to remove the tyres to install TPMS, so went ahead and bought the external sensors. Link to the product. It was a straightforward installation, just like installing valve caps, had to screw these sensors and secure them with a spanner. Works really well and alerts if any kind of leak/ low pressure/high pressure is detected.

[MadrasTurbo]

Incoming call popup

Google Assistant

Works flawlessly, every single time. Even if the audio is pretty loud, "Ok Google" command is instantly picked up by the system. A steering button can also be programmed. Though initially I thought it would not be of much use, I find myself using the Google Assistant to reply to messages while on the go more than I ever imagined. Also, the assistant reads the news if you ask her/him to.

Reverse Camera

The stock reverse camera's quality is very poor, just sufficient.

Google Play Store

YouTube application

Audio Output

Most people decide not to get an Android HU mainly because of two reasons.
1.Chinese Product.
2. Poor audio output.

I strongly believe all Chinese products are not of bad quality. At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. About audio quality, I know the locally available HU's audio output is very poor, but if you can afford the time and money to import a good quality HU with a DSP chip from China, trust me, you would not be disappointed. If you are an audiophile, you most probably would not even be considering an Android HU, but the ability to read a 500GB hard disk, the sheer number of playable formats, might make you thing again.

Honestly, I completely agree to the fact that these HUs' can never match the audio output of Pioneer/JVC/Blaupunkt, but I feel they are not far behind and in a few years time, if not better, would perform equally well.

Final Verdict

Extremely satisfied with the upgrade. 100% would recommend to all potential customers.

In other news,
Have completed 5300 KMs with the car and I am very happy that things have been going well with the vehicle after the ordeal we had to face. Will keep this thread updated. Cheers!

[MadrasTurbo]

7000 KMs up in 4 months.

Fortunately no issues at all. I completely enjoy driving the vehicle and the vehicle has been extremely fuel efficient.

Update regarding the tyre wear: 7000kms is too less to judge but nonetheless, the wear is even with all 4 tyres.

[sachin_nair3]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Great car, and greater endurance by the buyer
====
Alternatively, please move the mat a little back and fasten it to the carpet using some velcro.

The mats that you get with the car can be clipped to a protrusion that is available on the floor on the driver side. The accelerator getting stuck happened to me once. That when i found out that you can actually clip the mat to the floor.

[Godzilla]

Thanks for this post @MadrasTurbo. I read this post before I bought my new Nissan kicks. Unfortunately, I am facing the same left pull issue. The right side camber is out of specs. I got into this sticky problem, the ASC are not positive about solving this. They keep repeating that this is normal. I have attached a sheet here from Nissan repair procedure which states the tolerances for the left/right pull. This is my first car and I can understand how much painful it would have been for you to sort this out with patience. I have raised a formal complaint aswell.

Issue: Left pull

Root cause: RHS front Camber out of spec? Tyres?

ASC response: Not positive, they are trying to convince me this is normal.

I have attached the third party alignment report, Nissan Specs for alignment, Repair procedure from Nissan (the Service advisor was kind enough to share this)

Any suggestions would be helpful.

[Durango Dude]

Congrats on your Captur, good that you stuck to your guns and made Renault solve the issue. Coming from an Innova it must have been a harrowing experience for you and your family: why is it that we always change the music system and within a year we sell the car: happened to me with the Accent. When buying a car, it pays to stay with the "herd". When we stray from the herd we experience issues like what you've mentioned. "All's well that ends well".

[MadrasTurbo]

8 months and 14000 KMs.
70% highways, 30% city.

Second service was done at 10,000 KMs in November and I was surprised to get a bill of just Rs. 3300. Excellent service experience from Renault Kattupakkam. Gave special care to all the mentioned niggles. Checked tyre wear, and it was even. *Phew*. The car drives like a charm and as reported earlier, FE is top notch.

Last month we took the car to Vythiri and back and the car did not break a sweat on bad patches of roads.

Additionally, the ceramic coating has been reloaded, sunfilms removed, and got the interiors deep cleaned. Car is as good as new now.

Originally Posted by Godzilla

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Congrats on your new car, Godzilla. I was busy with work, so could not check TBHP. I just learnt from your latest post, that your issue has been resolved. Hope the car remains hassle free.

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

Congrats on your Captur, good that you stuck to your guns and made Renault solve the issue. Coming from an Innova it must have been a harrowing experience for you and your family: why is it that we always change the music system and within a year we sell the car: happened to me with the Accent. When buying a car, it pays to stay with the "herd". When we stray from the herd we experience issues like what you've mentioned. "All's well that ends well".

Thanks, Durango. Yes, its either new tyres, or a new music system.