Factory Nav System

[jkg]

This is probably beating a dead horse... Is there a solution that costs less than $5K to replace or repair the factory navigation systems on the 06 vintage LCs?

I have an 06 now and the Nav system just died. I'm sure the same issue is relevant for at least the 07s, but they are still under warranty. Luckily for me, Toyota stepped up and is giving me the part for free ($5400 quote) because my 06 is only a couple thousand miles out of warranty. Because the factory Nav system is the brains of the entire dashboard, I don't have a choice but to fix it.

Are there alternatives to a $5-6,000 repair bill? Can a non-Toyota unit (e.g., Alpine, Kenwood, etc) be hooked up to control the ac, etc? Has anyone figured out how to effectively strip out the whole nav system and go back to old fashion dials and knobs like the Nav system option had never been there in the first place?

It seems like there has to be some alternative. It makes absolutely no sense for a component like a nav system to cost more than replacing the whole engine.... It's not that complicated a part (think about how powerful a computer you could buy for the cost of replacing the factory nav...).