I'm sorry to hear you are having problems, that seems frustrating.

I have the kremersino unit in my T2's RNS-510... likely the same basic hardware box itself as your unit. I've tried contacting them through their website and they don't reply at all- it does seem to me that they are unwilling to even help customers unless it is, e.g. through a system that will force a refund if they don't.

The main problem I have is that I cannot use the volume rotary knob on the RNS-510 itself anymore- it works briefly, but then crashes the entire RNS unit, which can only be solved by pulling the main fuse, even letting the car sit overnight won't do anything. However weirdly the volume control on the steering wheel still works fine. This might be somehow my fault, because my RNS-510 is a homemade hybrid between a newer Golf/Jetta unit, and the old T2 unit faceplate and screen, where I soldered my own adapter to get them to connect. My factory RNS failed, and I could only obtain a non-Touareg replacement, which are newer and work better anyways.

Overall, I think this unit is still worth purchasing... some people can't get it to work at all, and others have serious bugs to work out- but from what I've read it actually works better, integrates better, and is easier to install than the competing units.

Having had a bunch of newer VW dealer loaners, interestingly the carplay systems on those are all actually incredibly unreliable- lots of disconnects and crashes, that also usually can't reconnect without pulling a fuse or shutting off the car. Ironically, the kremersino unit, despite all of its problems, works better than VWs factory carplay systems. One of my favorite features is you can control the entire UI from physical buttons, and then don't actually need to use the touch screen, which can be hard to work on a rough offroad trail.

Your unit is likely either defective, installed/wired incorrectly, or somehow incompatible with your unique vehicle configuration- because other people on here have one and aren't having this issue. Personally, despite its flaws I would still recommend someone getting one. It is pretty amazing to keep the factory unit working while still adding carplay, and keeping the high quality buttons, etc. from the factory unit rather than a cheap aftermarket unit that doesn't match or integrate well with a Touareg.

 

Thanks for the reply casioqv! It is possible that not all units sold by this seller have my issue, and maybe others out there have worse problems. I was just hoping to get a bit more use out of it than 4 months. The biggest frustration for me was the dead battery, and not be able to use the touareg for weeks, as I was messing around with charging the battery. Luckily, I work from home and I have a second vehicle. I can't imagine someone going through this issue and have to solely rely on their touareg for their daily commute.

The seller on the other hand totally ignored my frustration and kept insisting on me cutting the yellow wire, he referenced ClubTouareg and that others have successfully did it. Thats fine, but then the plug and play advertisement is no longer valid, and their faulty units cause customers more money and lots of frustrations. At least acknowledge what we are going through. On their website they have 2-year warranty so why don't they just send you a replacement? Totally poor customer service in my opinion.

As far as the volume knob, my 2014 had been acting up on occasion as well since 2016. On random occasion it would not operate the volume from neither the know, or the steering wheel. I would need to shut down the car completely, wait few minutes then start it again. That was always strange, it hasn't been acting up for few months now so hopefully it stays this way.

 

I'm just not upgrading my RNS lol it is a ****ty box that can barely handle the software already running on it, let alone adding unplanned peripherals. Sorry to hear about your problems. Carplay is overrated anyway. We made it how long? without it? I find it superfluous.

 

I find it superfluous.

I get how you feel, I didn’t even want the RNS when I bought my Touareg, wanted just a simple radio with no screens- and I kept the stock Becker in my old Boxster.

For me the killer feature here is GAIA GPS for offroad navigation, putting routes into the RNS is awful, but possible. I also like that with two screens I can completely avoid tickets on road trips with WAZE on the RNS and V1 Driver on my phone itself. Also the voice control for calling and NAV actually works, so it is safer- less to no screen touching while driving.

 

Another thought- you can wire the RNS back up as factory, and split the harness so only the Kremersino unit is switched with the ignition. This should stop the power drain, while still starting the RNS like it is supposed to. I think this is how it is supposed to be wired- they may have put your harness together wrong.

 

Bummer to hear that not only is this "upgrade" failing spectacularly but that the seller seems desperate for a workaround that apparently isn't working.
This is why I leave my head unit alone. I use the SD card slot, have only done the Dynaudio coding, and use my phone for NAV. I know it's an old outdated unit but I only use it for music when I'm driving.

 

Sorry you had that experience. I have had the same unit for over a year and I am very happy with it. In my experience it was plug and play. Has been a significant upgrade to the vehicle audio.

 

Thank you so much for giving a such nice information..