TPAbnz

Has anyone had dealer installed V60 w/o factory prewire? I’d appreciate what you were quoted including the phone and cradle w/o voice assist. Thanks.

SAguirre

I don't know if my car was pre-wired or not. But I had my dealer install the Motorola V60i on my car along with linguatronic. The dealer owed me some things so they paid for it, but the complete bill was about $1,400.

I think that I would have paid for it myself if I had to. I find the phone integration system and the voice recognition to be incredibly useful and much safer than driving with one hand on the phone of an ear piece.

I picked a TDMA phone because I still get the best coverage with this kind of cell system. My other GSM phone does not have very good coverage. I am interested in upgrading the phone a cradle in about 2 years, but I would like a phone like the new Razor.

I am very happy with the way that my V60 works, people who I talk to don't even know I am on a speakerphone!

Steve

TPAbnz

Thanks, Steve. Does the phone voice recognition feature also allow radio controls?

SAguirre

Yes, it controls the radio, CD changer, CD single slot MP3, Weather band, and the phone. I find the Linguatronic to be very useful since you can dial without looking away from the road. Not to mention, people think it is amazing!

Steve

ATS

I am sorry but that price for a phone is way too high..

SAguirre

Well, that is your choice to make. A lot of people also think that paying over $55k for a "car" is also way too much. I did not pay for it, but I like it enough that I will pay whatever it costs when I get a new car.

Steve

TPAbnz

I agree but that's less than the $2200+/- that three local dealers quoted me.

cte430

The topic that makes my blood boil lately I purchased the phone option when I ordered my car and came with the 60i. In fact, it was in my E500 and then transferred to the E55 now that I think about it. The phone and system always worked great. About two months ago the phone stopped working in the car, but worked fine out of it. I brought it in and the dealer attempted to fix it. Still didn't work. Brought it back and they told me that the 60i was not 911 compliant so they replaced it with a 60s. THIS PHONE SUCKS!!!!! I can't believe how much worse the service is than the 60i. Nothing else has changed: still Verizon, haven't moved, etc.

When not on the road I work out of my house. The phone is basically useless at home. It will routinely drop calls with 3 bars of service. The old phoen worked, my daughters phone works, and my wife's phone works. The dealer has replaced the phone 3 times!! None of them work nearly as well as the 60i did. I can't believe there can be such a difference. I've called verizon, motorola and no one has an answer.

I hope some time soon MB will come out with a new system that I will be able to retro-fit to my car. In the meantime I guess I have to decide if I should just go get a new phone. And then have an option that I paid for and can't use.

jschade

Unlike Steve, I paid for mine (about the same $1400 that Steve paid). I am with Steve, the integrated phone will be considered a mandatory accessory in all future MB's, as long as they continue to offer it. It is the most useful feature in my car, and worth EVERY penny (or dollar) that I spent on it.

TPAbnz

Wow. That's less than I was quoted by our board's favorite after-market installer (whom I consider to be reasonable/honest).

Was your car pre-wired? Did it include the cradle and V60s phone?

jschade

It's been about a year now since installation, so I went and checked my invoice. $1700 installed at my local dealership. Yes, my car was pre-wired (I think all MB's have been pre-wired for phone and CD changer for several years now). I was insistent on getting a v710 phone, which wasn't released at the time of the install. They gave me a v60s phone and cradle to use while I waited for the v710. When I got the v710, they told me to just keep the v60s because they didn't want it back. So my $1700 included all installation, voice control module, two phones and two cradles. My wife uses the v60 and I use the v710. Both phones work perfectly in the car. Just a quick cradle exchange in the armrest.

Barry45RPM

Don't forget with Verizon, you're supposed to dial *228 <option 2> about once a month (on the phone itself while listening to IT, not the dashboard phone) to reprogram the phone to learn where all the local cell towers are. The service will vastly improve. When you do that the phone is supposed to turn off & turn back on by itself after you hear "Phone Programmed Successfully"

Barry45RPM

When you buy a new cell phone without initiating new service, the cost for a good one can be $300 or more. To have a built in phone integrated so well with voice command controlling the entire audo system too is well worth the price. Is it an expensive option? Yes but everything about the car is "expensive". So is any replacement part for the car, Thats what it is...

I use it, and love it... every day. It is permanently installed in the cradle. I don't walk around with it. I carry a regular Samsung Camera Phone which shares the 450 minutes with the car phone on my Verizon plan. I dont have wires hanging from my ear, I dial by calling out "Dial Name" even if a CD is playing (no need to press the Phone button first), and if I have to dial by calling out numbers I simply call out the numbers as they are printed. "Dial Number"..."516, 555, 1234" It makes no mistakes, I dont have to scream out the numbers one at a time like I do till I have a stroke in my GM Onstar Phone.

Flawless, Perfect. Silky Smooth... Just like you would expect a Mercedes should be.

Worth every penny.

Too expensive? say "No Thanks". If enough people do, they'll cut the price. Or not.

ATS

Yeah they will.. I bet the next set of phones will be bluetooth and will be built in like the current set.. It is a way for them to make a lot of money on the wiring that is included in all the cars. If 1 out of 50 get the phone (which it probably is) - you can see why it is so expensive.. You guys are paying for my phone pre-wiring. Same goes for the CD players (which I bought)..

Barry45RPM

You are paying for it too, but WE have the phone. (All previously lived in homes in the US have preexisting phone wireing in them thruout the house right to the Central Office, but the phone company charges a big set up fee when you get a new number & move in. Technically speaking, all you have top do is bring your phone & plug it in!) So the fee structure is not quite like Cost of Goods + A Reasonable Profit= Customer Cost. (Just think what an Accountants expenses are for some blank paper, pencils with erasers, and Government supplied forms, and what he charges you...

Dont forget, bluetooth uses the handset's antenna. MB's System uses and externally mounted antenna. Reception is better with an outside antenna. Bluetooth has its advantages, but so does MB's.

The phones are expensive (partially) because MB pays Motorola to create programming within these phones to communicate/integrate with the Comand... and because everything is expensive about these cars. If the individual parts used in the car were inexpensive, how could you justify the car costing so much? LOL. MBs take is that the car is so expensive because all of the parts used to build them are.

Thats the price, take it or leave it.

cte430

I've done the *228 so many times it's not even funny. ON all 3 phones LOL.

shorthair

*228 updates the Perferred Roaming List for Verizon. It has nothing to do with learning where the local cell towers are.

Here is a more complete explanation:

CDMA companies (Verizon, Sprint PCS, etc) use what is called a Perferred
Roaming List.. PRL for short.
This list determines what systems your phone works on, and lets your phone
know what type of system it is with an Enhanced Roaming Indicator (ERI). So
it knows to display "Verizon Wireless", "Extended Network" + Flashing
Triangle, or "Roaming" with a solid Triangle.

The list sets priorities for each network, so Verizon gets the best roaming
rate possible.. and your phone knows what network it should use to know if
Verizon has an agreement for roaming with that company.
For instance, Sprint PCS is usually the first preferred network in most
areas. And, Verizon gets a better rate from Sprint than say, AT&T Wireless
for roaming... So your phone knows to use Sprint first, then another network
if it cant find a Sprint signal. It's more complicated than this, but it
works the same.

Doing a #228 updates your "Roaming Capability" (Verizon's term)/PRL list in
your phone, if a newer version is available it will benefit you so your
phone always knows what systems it can use... and you know if your paying
roaming fees or not according to your billing plan (America's Choice).

cte430

shorthair, it's never made sense to me when they kept telling me to do *228. My problems have nothing to do with roaming. Guess they had nothing else to suggest. All I can tell anyone here who has the 60i don't lose it, and hope it keeps working for a while! Don't let the dealer swap it out for the 60s without telling you.

shorthair

Unfortunately most of the phone support folks don't really understand and that is all they know.

I agree - the V60s has awful reception.