[drewman75]

Hi All,
Hope everyone is well. Soliciting opinions here before I visit the dealership. So my little son got loose when I was trying to get him into his car seat and he got upfront and managed to hit and crack my nav screen on my 2011 Outback. Obviously prepared for the worst which is probably a new unit. But wondering if anyone else has had this happen. Can they simply replace the screen glass or is it for sure a full replace? Obviously not something covered under warranty, so going to be out of pocket. Which is quite the bummer this time of year. Anyhow. Thanks in advance for any input you may have.

 

[lashlee]

Depending on what the dealer has to say you've got a few options. One being a new one from the dealer, a used one from ebay or craigslist, an aftermarket or sending it to a place like united radio that repairs radios. They may or may not be able to repair it (depending on the availablity of the parts) but I would go aftermarket. The new nav unit will be up to date and you can get parts to make the OEM steering wheel controls work and possbily some extras that weren't available from the factory.

 

[drewman75]

Thanks Lashlee for the reply. Much appreciated. The dealership basically said the only option is replacement which is $2950 just for the unit. Which was roughly the price of the option when I bought it. So I assume they probably make a little money off it? Or maybe not. Labor would only be about $150 he said. I looked on ebay and couldn't find anything. I guess my questions regarding an aftermarket is that I then have a bunch of buttons on my console that would then do nothing. Which oddly kind of bugs me. It doesn't seem like the factory one really does anything with the car aside from the actual nav, bluetooth and radio. So I don't really lose any functionality like pulling info from any other part of the vehicle. Thought about doing the send away repair thing, but honestly the idea of removing a unit like this and sending it away for repair makes me quesy. Would be much more likely to do it if I could simply find a local shop that would do it and I could just drop the car off. But doesn't seem like there is any place here locally. The actually unit seems to function perfectly. Its just that anything that happens to be on the left one quarter of the screen doesn't respond to touch due to the crack. Any idea if there is a place to maybe find a part number for just the LCD for the unit? Really eats at me that I am basically looking at thousands of dollars just because of essentially an LCD. :-(

 

[Novablue]

These days the LCD is usually a permanent install on the unit. You would need to have a professional to look at it. There have only been a handful of them on this board and most were chased off by people who prefre a stock look to thier OB> *grumble *grumble

If you go after market you can get a unit that will work mostly like the factory and all buttons on the steering wheel should work. It's possible the the only thing you would lose is that nice lady telling you "this function is not available while driving."

 

[drewman75]

Thanks NovaBlue. I think I am at least now convinced that I need to look into the aftermarket option. My biggest concern as I mentioned was having a bunch of useless buttons. But if its possible to get my rear-cam and steering wheel controls to work with an aftermarket, than that probably eliminates a couple of my main concerns. Can anyone recommend an aftermarket option? Should I stick to Kenwood for compatibility sake?

 

[Freelancer]

For what it's worth,

I just paid to replace the screen in a C90-W display for the Raymarine GPS/Radar/Sounder on my boat. I took the high impact of a fishing weight to the bottom of the screen and it sent a spider web crack right up through the center of the screen :1pat:

I wound up paying a little over half of what it would cost for a whole new display, just for the screen and the installation. Keep in mind that the unit screws into the dash and comes off so it’s not a permanent fixture like the unit in your Outback.


I'm thinking labor to install would be considerably more in terms of the overall repair. Also keep in mind that though Subaru has replacement screens for such repairs, I would guess that there are many more entire units in stock than there are replacement screens. Lead time for the part may be a consideration.

In my case, the cost was so high, I had to do an insurance claim. Trust me, this ain't no $500 job, its more.

Have you considered that route? What the heck, you may want to just ask and see if your insurance may cover some of it, it was an accident. Right:29:

 

[rasterman]

Should I stick to Kenwood for compatibility sake?

No need to stick to Kenwood. The audio & video signals to/from the car are the same with any brand. Steering wheel controls are only slightly trickier- most aftermarket stereos depend on a translator box sold separately to do the integration. All of the big stereo brands have adapter boxes to fit all major car makes. Focus on the navigation features & update costs, that will probably lead you to the best unit for your needs.

 

[lashlee]

One other thing that may be an issue that you brought up earlier, the factory camera may or may not work with the aftermarket. If the wiring is behind the radio you may have to adapt over to a standard video RCA tip to work with the aftermarket, or add a second camera. I'm not 100% on how they did it in MY11 but my MY12 does not have the camera signal behind the radio, but I have the screen in the mirror for my camera.

And to add what Rasterman stated, find a unit that you find easy to work, appealing to look at and with the features you need. Something that matters to me may not matter to you. I would stop by your local specialty shop and see what they have to offer. Generally they will have a few on display so that you can spend some "quality time" with the unit before you decide to buy it.

 

[drewman75]

Thanks for the input everyone. After some exhaustive Google searches I finally found the part number and a supplier for just the touch panel of the display unit. Not sure how the touch panel is connected onto the unit itself. But going to take it out and see what I can do. I figure if that part cant be replaced, I lose the unit anyway. So worth a shot. I will update how it goes just in case anyone else has the same issue in the future and searches the forum.

 

[lashlee]

Most of the time, it's not as hard as you think. The screen should be bolted to the front plastic panel and use a ribbon cable that is connected to the main board. The ribbon cable connector is going to be the hard part since there are many variations on how they are secured to the circuit board.

 

[drewman75]

Thanks Lashlee. That is where my concern is as well. Hoping I dont have to take too much apart to attach the cable. Is it typically a straight connection or could it potentially have to be soldered?

 

[lashlee]

More than likely it fits into a socket with a flap that should help secure the connection. I would try to flip up the connector before giving it a slight tug. If it is supposed to move it will easily, though it might not be a connector that is designed to move so just be ginger. It should only fit one way and should be bent or folded to fit around the board or DVD transport. Just take your time and it should go well!

 

[drewman75]

Well, an update for everyone in case anyone else encounters this at some point. Posted a small update to another thread, but figured I would to this as well in case anyone searches in the future on a cracked nav screen. I was able to find the touchscreen. It was only $120 and just had a simple ribbon cable that connects to the back of the nav screen itself. That was the easy part. Everything else is a mess. You basically have to pull out the entire radio/nav unit to get to it. And have to basically disassemble the cage holding the radio to be able to pull off the nav unit. Baffling why they did it this way. If I could have disconnected the entire thing in the back, it probably would have been a success. But I had zero room. I could not even fit my entire hand behind the unit when pulled out. So I had to work with it connected and it became a mess. Everything is connected together by these new flimsy ribbon cables that are held in place by fragile black plastic clamps. And when you are moving things around trying to pull it apart and remove the gazillion screws, a couple of these are bound to work loose. As luck would have it, the one that wiggled loose on mine was way back behind the CD and nav DVD drives. Basically impossible to get to. I bought every plier and tweezer product under the sun to try to get to it and reconnect it, with no luck. If I could have gotten the unit out, I probably could have pulled the entire thing apart. Which would have been a nightmare anyway. So I am taking it to an audio shop to see if they have better luck. At least maybe they might be able to get the unit out. How they reconnect it again with no room, I have no idea. I now understand why the dealerships want no part of trying to replace a single $120 part and just say they need to replace the entire thing. They probably don't want to be on the hook for the issues that arise from pulling the thing apart and the inevitable ribbon cables coming loose. What an absolute mess. Done quite a few of these types of things before and never encountered a mess like this. My recommendation for anyone that encounters this is to buy the part, take it to an audio shop, and if they are willing, let them take on the responsibility. Or if you can get a dealer willing to replace the part (mine wouldn't), let them have at it.

 

[lashlee]

Where are you located, bring it to me and I'll get you fixed up!

 

[ronrehl]

Thanks for the input everyone. After some exhaustive Google searches I finally found the part number and a supplier for just the touch panel of the display unit. Not sure how the touch panel is connected onto the unit itself. But going to take it out and see what I can do. I figure if that part cant be replaced, I lose the unit anyway. So worth a shot. I will update how it goes just in case anyone else has the same issue in the future and searches the forum.

Please post the supplier and part number. Thanks

 

[z28dug]

Please post the supplier and part number. Thanks

You do realize this member has not posted since 01/13.