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Jim, new radios do not have a Vin in them, they marry to the car the first time it is started . If you have a radio that was already installed you use a Tech II to wipe the vin and then the radio will marry once again to the car it is in
I think you are correct, dealerships are just accustomed to asking for the Vin
Dave
This reminds me of when I first bought my car new, I broke my transmission after I installed my Procharger, the car had 1600 miles, I went to the dealer to buy a new ZR1 transmission, they will not sell me it, they asked me for a vin, I said give me a few minutes, went outside into their lot, wrote down a vin from the new cars sales lot and went back inside with it, the parts salesman said are you crazy, this car is still on our lot, I said well you needed a vin so I gave you one, he eventually sold me a transmission.
He then said to me, your car is on warranty and they can replace the transmission, I told him if he want to get a replacement I will take it but I don't want to install it into my car, he did got me a new TR6060 which I sold to absorbed the expense of the ZR1.
I know this seems too simple but are you putting the map disc in the correct slot?
The compressed air blown into the slot works to solve some map reading errors but it sounds like the unit is defective and the laser may have been damaged when the car crashed.