Of the built in nav systems I’ve used, the one in my parents’ Highlander was hands down the worst. You are on the right track spending that $2,000 elsewhere.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
He states, "That disc with tax will be $2,000."

That's more than a little excessive. Holy smokes!

MOPAR regularly comes out with map updates for the Uconnect system in my Jeep. They're normally $200, but, they regularly discount them to $150. I've been popping for one about every two-three years.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeNH:
The update will be shit anyway. Those OE nav units have terrible databases.

Not always. The nav database in my Jeep's Uconnect system seems to be pretty good. At least as good as Apple Maps, anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by SFCUSARET:
Don't know why anyone would buy a vehicle with a built in OEM nav system when there are so many add on nav systems on the market ...

Larger screen. No atop-the-dash clutter. Nothing stuck to my windshield obscuring my forward view. No having to look down in the vicinity of my cup holders. I get turn-by-turn prompts in the instrument cluster.

Yank that sucker out and put in an Alpine.
Initially I was going to get one with their built in NAV but it was almost double the price so I opted for one that does Car Play/Android Auto (what I use) and the NAV is great.
Mine is about 4 years old now and there are other newer models > mostly the same features but in more screen sizes.
Sounds great too and I plug in tunes on a flash drive (FLAC).
Very happy with the choice.
No way $2K for a map> I'd rather give it up with better equipment and to the installers albeit I did mine myself.

Apple Play is great. My Subaru Nav (can’t unbundle the package) is meh at best. Never keeps up with construction that has happened years earlier and it doesn’t recognize even mildly obvious entries. If you misspell anything you are fucked. Apple Play though allows your constantly updated maps, voice prompts, and is intuitive on search. I will never buy a car again that doesn’t allow this or whatever is similar.

There's an app for that.....

I believe that shares the DVD navigation disc that our 2012 Highlander had and they ceased navigation upgrades on the DVD systems.
Here is the last update they made for those
https://www.ebay.com/itm/22528...r=artemis&media=COPY

Every vehicle I have owned with Nav has been a disappointment. The controls are never intuitive and if you make an error you have to start over. They normally do not understand things like "State/County Route 12" and the like either.
I simply plug in my IPhone and use their Maps feature and play the audio through my Apple Play.

The deficiency I found with phone GPS is that sometimes I go where there is no cell reception. Not even off-road. For example, some areas of the Grand Canyon didn't have reception. I had to rely on car nav system (which was also outdated but at least got me on the right track).

I guess with some preparation, loss of cell reception may not be an issue. But it continues to catch me off guard and the only thing left is car nav, as bad as it is. But not worth the hundreds of dollars ($700?) they want for my car....

Just saw the disc on ebay for $48.00. Just put 2011 venza update in search bar.

o5

When I moved here, my neighborhood was so new it wasn't on anybody's GPS. There was no differentiator between the nav system in my truck and Google Maps because of it.

However, after 2 years it was finally mapped plus a bunch of new roads so I decided to order a Nissan SD card nav system upgrade. Nissan wanted $600 and that was for me to install (easy peasy SD card swap). I check eBay and it was $75.

They kept building roads so I upgraded one more time from eBay.

For everyone recommending using your phone...I use both Waze and Google Maps...it works great until you are in a zone without cell reception. I ran into that on the highway driving to Grand Junction CO from northern CA.

My wife recently bought a 2023 Mazda CX-5 which didn't come with the Nav card installed. The saleman actually told her it was pretty useless and recommended using her phone.

But she really liked the way it showed her upcoming cross streets. She was going to order the OEM SD card for $400+.

Luckily I looked on-line first. Using the OEM part number, I was able to find the identical card from the Japanese source for $60. There were cheaper options, but when you're in that price range already, why cut more corners.

Quick delivery and easy install...saved $300+

From what I've seen factory GPS for cars seems to be inadequate compared with stand alone units from companies like Garmin. I have a tom tom GPS that I use that works well even though I've never updated the maps. I often use googlemaps because it will route you around accidents or congestion, its always up to date, its free and its user friendly. Yes it does have some shortcomings if you get into an area without ell phone reception but 99% of the time that's not an issue for me. I wouldn't think about giving any car manufacturer hundreds or thousands of dollars for map updates.

Nissan e-mails me every year about updating my navigation database . $99 since 2018 . I've never updated .

quote:

Every vehicle I have owned with Nav has been a disappointment.

Your list didn't even include the lockout when moving. I'm not saying I should be plugging address in at 80mph, but if someone is with me they should.

For our Infiniti G35 we were able to find an aftermarket workaround for that. Pretty easy to install, but did require some dash disassembly and wiring.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
^^^^^^
It does…will need to look for those. Thanks!

When you search on Crutchfield, do so by the make, model, year, trim, JBL, and you can spec the type of unit, and backup camera, or, call the 800 number while you are on the phone and they will help you pick one out.

Copy all......

I recently got a new (to me) Ford Escape. Nav system database updates are free to download, or $40 to get a pre-loaded USB stick by mail. I just did the free downloaded last week, everything went smoothly until I plugged my USB into the vehicle and was rewarded with error code "ERR05." The old (outdated) database still works. I'll have to contact Ford's tech support as soon as I have time, to find out how to correct the error and install the update.

I do have the ability to use any of the Apple nav apps, which will display on the Ford's nav screen with Car Play, but the native app has one real advantage. The fancy trim level in this Escape includes a HUD (Heads-Up Display) with significant data projected on a panel on the windshield. The information shown includes the action to be taken at the next waypoint on the active route, including distance to the waypoint, and what needs to be done (like for instance, 3.9 miles, turn right on Maple Ave). That nav information is displayed for the native Ford nav app, but not for other apps like Waze.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
The deficiency I found with phone GPS is that sometimes I go where there is no cell reception. Not even off-road. For example, some areas of the Grand Canyon didn't have reception. I had to rely on car nav system (which was also outdated but at least got me on the right track).

I guess with some preparation, loss of cell reception may not be an issue. But it continues to catch me off guard and the only thing left is car nav, as bad as it is. But not worth the hundreds of dollars ($700?) they want for my car....

I’m having a hard time understanding your comment. If you are truly using your phone’s GPS you don’t need cell reception.

When we travel to any remote place we use the free app “maps.me” It works similar to GIAA gps if you’re familiar to it. You can download areas of the world in the comfort of your living room and when you travel you can use the detailed maps.me map. It works both on and off-road. They update their maps every few months and it literally takes a minute or two to download them.