After Market Radio's Stop Shop Experience and Alternative

You can ask your Fortuner related questions here. Also feel free to show us the modifications you did on your vehicle.
Post Reply
User avatar
Ex_Landi_Oke
High Range 2WD
High Range 2WD
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2012 8:08 pm
Town: Durbanville
Vehicle: 2009 Toyota Fortuner 3D4D 4x2
Real Name: Mark

After Market Radio's Stop Shop Experience and Alternative

Post by Ex_Landi_Oke »

Hi All,

Apologies for the “lang uitgerekte post”. There has been many posts on this forum and other forums about aftermarket radios. This is my 5c on my experience with my Stop Shop purchase and advise to other forum members when buying aftermarket Radios. Below also listed an alternative seller i have found.

Some time ago i posted that i ordered my unit from Stop Shop and was very excited about delivery. When i received it i could not wait to get it installed. Once installed and setup i noticed that the GPS interface had no functionality and first thought it was something I’m doing wrong. After logging a ticket at Stop Shop and many mails back and forth to try different fixes i decided to remove the radio and send it back to Stop Shop. This was last year September. The radio was removed by the installer and then reconnected as a test to see if removing it completely from battery power won’t sort the issue. When we switched on the ignition and went to the GPS interface it actually worked. I was over the moon and relieved. 2 Days later i was driving to a client using the GPS with IGO maps. When i stopped at the customer i wanted to exit IGO but none of the touch functionality wanted to work. I switched of the car switched it back on went back to the GPS interface and all was fine again. This happened about 3 more times after that until the GPS interface just stopped working altogether and nothing i tried after that worked. SO i got into contact with Stop Shop to start the warranty procedure. After taking the necessary pics i logged the return ticket. About an hour later i got a message back from Stop Shop that one of my pics with the warranty sticker shows that the warranty sticker has been damaged and that they would not be able to honor the Warranty due to this. They noted that they were however prepared to look at the radio on their bench and try to repair but the shipping costs would be for my account. After mailing them back and ensuring them that the unit was definitely NOT opened by me or anyone and that it could only possibly have happened at the factory. I was later mailed back from a VERY irritated author due to the tone of the mail. In this mail I was given a lesson in their T&C and was told that the offer from them to try and repair the radio was "AS A GOOD GESTURE TO ME". I have now also been given the opportunity to take new clearer pics of the Warranty Stickers for them to view. Will I be doing this, well NO. I don’t think anything I do now is going to change their minds and frankly I’m not spending any more cash on this device and will write it off as a bad investment. When I did take the pics of the Warranty Stickers it DID look suspect. But instead of the warranty sticker having a “tear” one would expect it to have when opening the lid of the radio it has a VERY fine straight hear line cut. Even using a magnifying glass you cannot even see the break in the hear line almost if the line should be there as part of making the sticker break easier in case someone tampers with it. BUT, I guess a break is a break a crack is a crack and according to Stop Shop T&C they have a leg to stand on.
So why this LONG and boring post? Is it to let everyone know their Radios are duds? Is it to slate Stop Shop telling everyone to miss them like the plague? Well, NO! Apart from ME getting an out of box failure of my unit’s GPS interface the rest of the radio worked like a charm. This is just MY experience and a heads up for any potential buyers when purchasing from Stop Shop what to expect and what to do and not to do as I will outline below.

Do’s and don’ts
1. Before purchasing ANY products from Stop Shop ensure you read ALL T&C very carefully and understand ALL/ANY additional costs. After the initial cost from the Website and payment I made I had to pay extra import costs to DHL before they delivered.

2. When receiving your package inspect and take some pics of it before opening it. My package and Box the radio was in had quite a few dings and dents and one could see it came halfway round the world. Notify Stop Shop in this case.

3. When unpacking the Radio ensure to check all cables damage and most importantly WARANTY STICKER DAMAGE. Again, take pics and notify Stop Shop if any issues.

4. Get the Radio installed by a proper/reputable installer. One of Stop Shops warranty return policy requirements with “no exceptions” is that they require “Image of the installation receipt including the invoice number and contact details of the installer (no exceptions)”. This one bothers me the most as I read on this forum and other forums of guys that has purchased Stop Shop devices and they post on these forums on how easy it was for THEM to install these Radios. The thing that gets me is that Mark Ashford from Stop Shop comments on most of these posts but neglect to inform these posters of the possible warranty implications doing the job yourself could have on the warranty. I’m almost certain T&C will be quoted if one of these units are returned for warranty claims and the owner does not have the relevant installation information as requested by Stop Shop.

5. Don’t cut or modify any of the Radio wiring or plugs. This will void the warranty. On the 2009 Facelift Fortuners the aerial plug on my unit does not match the radio socket. I found a company that sell radio components that had a converter that worked a charm.

6. Whatever you do, protect the Warranty sticker on the side. As we all know the material Warranty stickers are made of is very brittle and CAN break easily for obvious reasons. I’m still sticking to my story that my Unit was not opened and the sticker is not broken. Could it have been damaged/cracked due to excessive handling or pressing to hard against the sticker with a finger or two. I don’t know! But be careful.!!

There are probably more do’s and don’ts that can be posted but I think the listed ones above are the more important ones.

Alternative Seller:
When I received my Radio I was looking around my area(Durbanville) for installers. Durbanville being small these were non existent so I checked Gumtree to look for local radio installers. Unfortunately and Fortunately for me I found a gent around the corner from me that actually imports similar model radio’s as well as install them with camera kits, headrests etc for roughly the same price as Stop Shop sell their units from. I contacted the gent and an hour later he was at my house installing my radio for R500. I contacted him last week again to assist me with removing my radio as I had to send it away for warranty claim. He was also kind enough to lend and install me a demo unit while my device went in for warranty. So the pro’s of the alternative is as follow,
1. Personalized Services. Cape Town – mobile- installer comes to you, JHB mobile – installer comes to you and PE – semi mobile – installer has shop. In the case of JHB and PE the Radio seller ships the unit to the installer if chosen to use them.
2. Local Stock Available.
3. Warranties are swopped out locally.
4. Maps for sale for GPS.

Details,
http://www.indashdvd.co.za" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Daniel Karstens
084 522 2263

Cheers,
Mark
Traveler
Monster Truck
Monster Truck
Posts: 5311
Joined: Fri Feb 26, 2010 7:11 am
Town: Springs
Vehicle: Pathfinder 2.5 LE AT
Real Name: Heinrich
Club VHF Licence: X81
Location: Gauteng
Contact:

Re: After Market Radio's Stop Shop Experience and Alternativ

Post by Traveler »

I had one of their units in my Patrol.

Radio reception was not good at all. And the navigation although it works very well, I had to load my own settings on the navigation over and over. It kept resetting itself to the factory defaults.

The unit itself has a very nice interface. I also opted for the 3G version so one could browse Google and other sites and use the info to either dial, or you could also use it for navigation.
Image
Image

Know what you don't know.
User avatar
Ex_Landi_Oke
High Range 2WD
High Range 2WD
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2012 8:08 pm
Town: Durbanville
Vehicle: 2009 Toyota Fortuner 3D4D 4x2
Real Name: Mark

Re: After Market Radio's Stop Shop Experience and Alternativ

Post by Ex_Landi_Oke »

Hi Heinrich,

I see you say "had". Did you get rid of it.? Did you manage to get it sorted.?

Cheers,
Mark
Traveler
Monster Truck
Monster Truck
Posts: 5311
Joined: Fri Feb 26, 2010 7:11 am
Town: Springs
Vehicle: Pathfinder 2.5 LE AT
Real Name: Heinrich
Club VHF Licence: X81
Location: Gauteng
Contact:

Re: After Market Radio's Stop Shop Experience and Alternativ

Post by Traveler »

Sold it with the vehicle and it was still working.
Image
Image

Know what you don't know.
User avatar
Frederick
LR4WD, Lockers, Crawler Gears
LR4WD, Lockers, Crawler Gears
Posts: 1156
Joined: Fri Nov 13, 2009 11:47 am
Town: Hendrina Mpumalanga
Vehicle: 2011 Hilux. 2016 79 Land Cruiser
Real Name: Frederick
Club VHF Licence: X42

Re: After Market Radio's Stop Shop Experience and Alternativ

Post by Frederick »

I had a long and hard look at all these units and decided in the end to spend the exstra money and buy the Kenwood. Yes it is a lot of money but with rear view camera and garmin gps I feel you can't do better. For me it is the difference between a Hilux and a GWM...
My 2cents
User avatar
Ex_Landi_Oke
High Range 2WD
High Range 2WD
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2012 8:08 pm
Town: Durbanville
Vehicle: 2009 Toyota Fortuner 3D4D 4x2
Real Name: Mark

Re: After Market Radio's Stop Shop Experience and Alternativ

Post by Ex_Landi_Oke »

Ja ek hoor jou Frederick. Ek was gewaarsku maar wou nie hoor nie. :oops:
Mikie
LR 4WD Full Lockers
LR 4WD Full Lockers
Posts: 771
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:15 am
Town: Kyalami
Vehicle: Hilux 2006 3.0D4D 2x4 DC
Real Name: Mike
Location: Kyalami

Re: After Market Radio's Stop Shop Experience and Alternativ

Post by Mikie »

I am with Fred as well
User avatar
ronnie
Low Range 4WD
Low Range 4WD
Posts: 184
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2009 2:19 pm
Town: Durbanville
Vehicle: Totota Fortuner 2006 4.0 V6 4x4; Long Range fuel tank; AmadaXtreme suspension; C-Tek D250S dual battery system
Real Name: Ronnie
Club VHF Licence: HC 141

Re: After Market Radio's Stop Shop Experience and Alternativ

Post by ronnie »

For my purposes the list of do's and dont's could be reduced to one:

1) Do not buy a unit from a business who treats customers this way.

Whenever I deal with someone who jumps to the Ts&Cs before they even consider whether their product is junk I lose it....thanks for the heads up; I will never buy something from them
Die$eL
LR 4WD Full Lockers
LR 4WD Full Lockers
Posts: 907
Joined: Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:57 pm
Town: Midrand
Vehicle: 06' Hilux 3.0 D4D 4X4
Real Name: Nishan

Re: After Market Radio's Stop Shop Experience and Alternativ

Post by Die$eL »

i have one of their units in my bakkie

the "Band" button got stuck and the bluetooth stopped working

i sent it in. they came back saying that the buttonw as stuck coz it was glued in place and glue also got on the circuit board.
i replied saying i never did that and it must have come from the factory like that.

I then had the matter escalated from the repair centre (which is outsourced) to stophsop themselves.
eventually they contacted the manufacturer in china and said they will send the unit there for them to check and repair as the model is discontinued and there are no spares

long story short, it cost me more than R1000 in shipping and customs but they replaced it with a brand new unit of a newer model
so far its ok (touch wood). oh wait, it changes radio stations on its own but i think that maybe a setting
after my initial experience, i video recorded me opening the box and checking everything, just to be safe... lol

my bro also has one of their units. his bluetooth doesnt work + changes radio stations itself and doesnt read USB sticks anymore. his is out of warranty unfortunately.

end of the day, buy a kenwood or pioneer or something local. you may spend more, but the sound quality is WAY better and its reliable!
Real drivers use three pedals
Image
Mikie
LR 4WD Full Lockers
LR 4WD Full Lockers
Posts: 771
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:15 am
Town: Kyalami
Vehicle: Hilux 2006 3.0D4D 2x4 DC
Real Name: Mike
Location: Kyalami

Re: After Market Radio's Stop Shop Experience and Alternativ

Post by Mikie »

Die$eL wrote:i have one of their units in my bakkie

the "Band" button got stuck and the bluetooth stopped working

i sent it in. they came back saying that the buttonw as stuck coz it was glued in place and glue also got on the circuit board.
i replied saying i never did that and it must have come from the factory like that.

I then had the matter escalated from the repair centre (which is outsourced) to stophsop themselves.
eventually they contacted the manufacturer in china and said they will send the unit there for them to check and repair as the model is discontinued and there are no spares

long story short, it cost me more than R1000 in shipping and customs but they replaced it with a brand new unit of a newer model
so far its ok (touch wood). oh wait, it changes radio stations on its own but i think that maybe a setting
after my initial experience, i video recorded me opening the box and checking everything, just to be safe... lol

my bro also has one of their units. his bluetooth doesnt work + changes radio stations itself and doesnt read USB sticks anymore. his is out of warranty unfortunately.

end of the day, buy a kenwood or pioneer or something local. you may spend more, but the sound quality is WAY better and its reliable!
Mine also changes stations by itself, its the RDS, Stopshop says there is a antenna power wire that needs to be powered for the RDS to work proper and not change stations like that, I am waiting for mine to come back after its screen replacement, damn postal services
Die$eL
LR 4WD Full Lockers
LR 4WD Full Lockers
Posts: 907
Joined: Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:57 pm
Town: Midrand
Vehicle: 06' Hilux 3.0 D4D 4X4
Real Name: Nishan

Re: After Market Radio's Stop Shop Experience and Alternativ

Post by Die$eL »

kewl mike. do you have a description of exactly which wire?

i know i had to ground one wire to get the DVD to work while driving.
Real drivers use three pedals
Image
Mikie
LR 4WD Full Lockers
LR 4WD Full Lockers
Posts: 771
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:15 am
Town: Kyalami
Vehicle: Hilux 2006 3.0D4D 2x4 DC
Real Name: Mike
Location: Kyalami

Re: After Market Radio's Stop Shop Experience and Alternativ

Post by Mikie »

Die$eL wrote:kewl mike. do you have a description of exactly which wire?

i know i had to ground one wire to get the DVD to work while driving.

Not sure, I received mine back today will reinstall winthin the next 2 days, will tell you then
Mikie
LR 4WD Full Lockers
LR 4WD Full Lockers
Posts: 771
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:15 am
Town: Kyalami
Vehicle: Hilux 2006 3.0D4D 2x4 DC
Real Name: Mike
Location: Kyalami

Re: After Market Radio's Stop Shop Experience and Alternativ

Post by Mikie »

Check where the blue wire goes, mine went to a spare plug that didnt connect anywhere, bridged it to the Yellow wire and RDS seems to search more now, doesnt auto tune to the next station it finds
User avatar
JEEPIE
Monster Truck
Monster Truck
Posts: 2052
Joined: Sun Sep 30, 2012 7:36 pm
Town: Roodepoort
Vehicle: Official hilux 4x4 club recovery vehicle
Real Name: Shaun
Club VHF Licence: X 43

Re: After Market Radio's Stop Shop Experience and Alternativ

Post by JEEPIE »

only one man to deal with
oom eric from repcom
service is good and there is backup and a smile
OFFICIAL HILUX 4x4 RECOVERY VEHICLE

if you want to change this to recovered , first recover me - and have a relevant picture / foto to prove it !
ADVANCED 4x4 DRIVER COURSES DONE : US 254135 / US 254154
(STILL AWAITING SO-CALLED TETA CERTIFICATION VIA THE SERVICE PROVIDER AFRICAN OFF-ROAD ACADEMY - WHAT A JOKE)
User avatar
Family_Dog
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 12692
Joined: Tue May 22, 2007 10:09 am
Town: Klerksdorp
Vehicle: Hilux DC SFA, Hilux 2.7 DC, Hilux 2.7 SC, Prado 95 VX
Real Name: Eric
Club VHF Licence: HC101
Location: Klerksdorp, NW
Contact:

Re: After Market Radio's Stop Shop Experience and Alternativ

Post by Family_Dog »

Thanks Shawn, but the OP is referring to a domestic radio with GPS, we only do two-way radios.

But your kind referral is appreciated :thumbup:


-F_D
Image

White Fang: 1999 2.7i DC Raider 4x4
Bull Dog: 1987 4Y-EFI 2.2 DC 4x4
Pra Dog: 1998 Prado VX 3.4
Hound Dog: 2000 2.7i SC 4x4


One Staffie, One Jack Russell, One Ring Neck Screecher, 17 Fish of questionable heritage


Image
Mikie
LR 4WD Full Lockers
LR 4WD Full Lockers
Posts: 771
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:15 am
Town: Kyalami
Vehicle: Hilux 2006 3.0D4D 2x4 DC
Real Name: Mike
Location: Kyalami

Re: After Market Radio's Stop Shop Experience and Alternativ

Post by Mikie »

OK So I got my radio back, and I connected the blue wire as I was told to, to power the antenna, its a little better but still not perfect, it still retunes to other stations, not as much but it does.
The touch screen works now though after they replaced it.
My opinion again? stay away from these cheap pieces of shit radios, go spend the little extra and get the better brand with a decent reputation
Die$eL
LR 4WD Full Lockers
LR 4WD Full Lockers
Posts: 907
Joined: Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:57 pm
Town: Midrand
Vehicle: 06' Hilux 3.0 D4D 4X4
Real Name: Nishan

Re: After Market Radio's Stop Shop Experience and Alternativ

Post by Die$eL »

at least u getting somewhere

i'll mess around with mine over the weekend or so and see what i can come up with
Real drivers use three pedals
Image
Post Reply

Return to “Toyota Fortuner 4x4 Forum”