Getting ready to add navigation and a reversing camera to my wife's 2013 Volt as her birthday gift this year, following some of the instructions in a couple of threads on gm-volt.com (the nav system thread is not specific to a MyLink Volt, so I had to pick the wheat from the chaff):
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?49513-How-To-Add-A-Factory-Navigation-System-W-Pictures" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?103313-How-To-Add-backup-Camera-to-MyLink-equiped-Volt-%28not-for-pre-MyLink-cars%29" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
She doesn't care so much about the nav, that's really for me (if not both of us), but she's apparently really missed not having a reversing camera, even though the only experience she's actually had with one is the rare occasion she's used my LEAF - her old car certainly didn't have one!
It's been a bit of a hard slog to get this done at reasonable cost. I missed out on a deal last year for a brand new nav head unit already programmed due to my wife's heart surgery and email that was supposedly responded to but never actually received at my end (not even on my server), and ever since I've been looking for a reasonably priced used one that I could send in for reprogramming. Unfortunately, they're a bit thin on the ground in the secondary market, but finally this last week one popped up on eBay and I snagged it:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181689040121?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There are two head units for the 2013 MyLink Volt with Bluetooth - part numbers 22993877 and 23121306. The latter replaced the former in 2014, and I'm rather hoping it didn't because there was an inherent flaw they redesigned out, because 22993877 is the part number of the one I've purchased.
Since used head units are locked to a particular VIN, they need to have the old VIN cleared before they can be used in a different car. Dealers can do this, but most are pretty clueless as to how. Instead I'm going to be sending mine to an outfit called White Audio Media. Their programming is similar to lockpick, but is done in the head unit itself rather than via an add-on box. It's a bit less than lockpick and a bit more than simply having the dealer clear the donor car's vin, but you get some features inherent in lockpick so (IMHO) it's the better value.
http://www.whiteautoandmedia.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
One of the things I could have had WAM do, to save myself a bit of cash, was make all the nav functions available in the car's touch-screen, and not worry about changing out the control panel to one with nav buttons. I gave this a lot of consideration due to cost, but since my wife has already managed to scratch her control panel up some, and since one that was manufacturer's surplus came up at an affordable price, I decided to splurge:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261576373331?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Then I needed a camera. I had already decided that $90 for the OEM camera was just too much. I also liked the idea of being able to fit something without drilling out the rear bumper. I finally decided on this Chinese camera, supposedly a CCD, built into a knockoff Malibu style license plate lamp. The Volt and the Malibu use the same part number for license lamps, so it should fit just fine. The quality of the camera is yet to be determined, but I'm obviously keeping my fingers crossed. If it's no good, $20 including shipping is not a lot in the big scheme of things:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/331416301123?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Finally I needed a GPS antenna, and again generic aftermarket was the order of the day:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400293518159?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The camera will take a while to arrive from China, but I can get everything else done in the meantime and still check the install for camera readiness with anything that can provide video via a composite cable.
Wish me luck!
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?49513-How-To-Add-A-Factory-Navigation-System-W-Pictures" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?103313-How-To-Add-backup-Camera-to-MyLink-equiped-Volt-%28not-for-pre-MyLink-cars%29" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
She doesn't care so much about the nav, that's really for me (if not both of us), but she's apparently really missed not having a reversing camera, even though the only experience she's actually had with one is the rare occasion she's used my LEAF - her old car certainly didn't have one!
It's been a bit of a hard slog to get this done at reasonable cost. I missed out on a deal last year for a brand new nav head unit already programmed due to my wife's heart surgery and email that was supposedly responded to but never actually received at my end (not even on my server), and ever since I've been looking for a reasonably priced used one that I could send in for reprogramming. Unfortunately, they're a bit thin on the ground in the secondary market, but finally this last week one popped up on eBay and I snagged it:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181689040121?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There are two head units for the 2013 MyLink Volt with Bluetooth - part numbers 22993877 and 23121306. The latter replaced the former in 2014, and I'm rather hoping it didn't because there was an inherent flaw they redesigned out, because 22993877 is the part number of the one I've purchased.
Since used head units are locked to a particular VIN, they need to have the old VIN cleared before they can be used in a different car. Dealers can do this, but most are pretty clueless as to how. Instead I'm going to be sending mine to an outfit called White Audio Media. Their programming is similar to lockpick, but is done in the head unit itself rather than via an add-on box. It's a bit less than lockpick and a bit more than simply having the dealer clear the donor car's vin, but you get some features inherent in lockpick so (IMHO) it's the better value.
http://www.whiteautoandmedia.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
One of the things I could have had WAM do, to save myself a bit of cash, was make all the nav functions available in the car's touch-screen, and not worry about changing out the control panel to one with nav buttons. I gave this a lot of consideration due to cost, but since my wife has already managed to scratch her control panel up some, and since one that was manufacturer's surplus came up at an affordable price, I decided to splurge:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261576373331?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Then I needed a camera. I had already decided that $90 for the OEM camera was just too much. I also liked the idea of being able to fit something without drilling out the rear bumper. I finally decided on this Chinese camera, supposedly a CCD, built into a knockoff Malibu style license plate lamp. The Volt and the Malibu use the same part number for license lamps, so it should fit just fine. The quality of the camera is yet to be determined, but I'm obviously keeping my fingers crossed. If it's no good, $20 including shipping is not a lot in the big scheme of things:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/331416301123?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Finally I needed a GPS antenna, and again generic aftermarket was the order of the day:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400293518159?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The camera will take a while to arrive from China, but I can get everything else done in the meantime and still check the install for camera readiness with anything that can provide video via a composite cable.
Wish me luck!