So, I finally decided to install the Naviplus. Installation went without a hitch. No broken parts and no extra parts left over after the install either (that's always important).
Unfortunately, my experience with Naviplus has been pretty disastrous. I have three ongoing issues and wanted to share my experience to see if my case is an isolated incident. I am using an iPhone 12 Pro, but I've tested with an iPhone 11 and an iPhone 7 as well, all with the same exact results. Here's my list of issues, in order of annoyance:
1. USB connection is non-functional. I have tried multiple Apple-branded USB-Lightning cables but I get no connection at all.
2. Occasionally, the music will stop playing and the screen will go blank. After a few minutes, it will come back to the Naviplus home screen (the black background with the huge red icons), at which point I will be able reconnect to Carplay. While the screen is blank, all of the buttons on the head unit are completely unresponsive. I pushed HOME, NAV, etc. and nothing works.
3. Sound sporadically drops out and distorts. Reminds me of buffer underruns on my 1980s DiscMan where it will skip a few frames. It is completely random, as far as I can tell. Sometimes it will do it every 10 or 15 seconds, sometimes it does it every 30 seconds and sometimes it will be fine for a couple of minutes. This makes the unit unusable for listening to music. I suppose it's fine for navigation, but definitely not for music.
Immediately after installing the unit, I reported issues 1 and 3 to Naviplus support. Issue #2 reared its ugly head a few days later. After a lot of back and forth with technical support (I suspect it's just one cranky guy working out of his garage), I am at a crossroads. I sent them a video of issue #2 where the screen goes blank, and their response was something to the effect of "you're doing something wrong because our product doesn't do that." Finally, they have "graciously" offered to repair it if I send it back to them. I said, well, no. I don't want a repaired unit, I want a new unit, especially since I don't really believe they will repair it. I suspect they will maybe test it for 10 seconds, declare it "A OK" and ship it right back to me. After I asked them to send me a new unit, they did say they'd be willing to send me a new unit if I pay an additional $400 deposit which I suppose they will refund once I ship them the defective unit back.
Now I have to decide, do I double down and stick with this obviously flawed product and pay $130 for shipping back to them plus an additional $400 (which may or may not be refunded), or do I just cut my losses and buy the EC Offroad version and throw this piece of junk in the garbage.
I would greatly appreciate any advice, especially from those that have the Naviplus and EC Offroad units.