In car SatNav

[rdjohn]

I bought a new Alfa Giulietta last year. It came with a Mopar U-Connect 6.5 unit, but it is firmly in the “JUNK” category.

If I bought a new Garmin and the maps were not up to date, I could return it to Halfords, or Amazon. Alfa just think that I bought the car, the SatNav was free. I could replace the dual DIN head unit but there is also some ECU software on board.

Just been looking at https://www.navtool.com/carplay.aspx which claims it can upgrade any car to Apple CarPlay, but sadly not FCA junk.

The more I ask other people it seems that it is common not to use the in car equipment. This seems odd, so I am curious to know what others on PH think.

[oilslick]

I just use Google Maps through Android Auto, it's miles better than the OEM nav.

[okenemem]

I use in car sat nav for long unfamiliar journeys.

[anonymous-user]

I use the in car because I have a 3 year subscription for updates and TomTom traffic.when that runs out though I'll probably revert to Google maps

[FlossyThePig]

My car is 5 years old now. I still use the built in satnav which hasn’t been updated. In the last few weeks it helped me get to hotels in Oxford, Sheffield and Chester.

The question is how often do roads move?

[bluezedd]

I always wanted a car with its own built in navigation until I actually used one and really thought about it. The Saab 9 5 I drove didn't use full post codes, so when we went on a hiking trip it took us miles away from the destination (my fault in retrospect).

Also, car manufacturers seem to charge crazy amounts to update the navigation, or don't make the update available to the user.

I'd much rather a standalone sat nav unit that costs less than an update for a built-in one, and has lifetime updates included in the price. If I want it fitted nicely, I'll get a brodit mount for the navigation rather than sticking it to the windscreen (this is what I did).

The nav updates just seems like another opportunity to put something in that ends up outdated and obsolete.

I've also heard of some manufacturers offering full postcode navigation as an optional extra you have to pay more for. WTF?

[Down and out]

FlossyThePig said:

My car is 5 years old now. I still use the built in satnav which hasn’t been updated. In the last few weeks it helped me get to hotels in Oxford, Sheffield and Chester.

The question is how often do roads move?

They don't, but new ones get built.

[robcollingridge]

I'm always disappointed by pe-installed satnavs in cars, not least because the updates are stupidly expensive. I've been using a TomTom 6200 for last 6 years and it has lifetime updates and world maps, speed cameras alerts/updates. All done over Wi-Fi, so no need to every plug it in to a computer. It has dynamic re-routing and live traffic updates, so it's paid for itself many times over. I've used it in France, Austria, USA, Greece, etc. It also survives silly temperatures, such as our trip through Death Valley.

The app allows you to store all the key places you are going on holiday in advance, so it makes stuff much easier once you arrive. I can also lend it to my children, something you can't do with a phone based satnav. I bought my wife the same model and it's made potenitally stressful situations with road closures and diversions, pretty much painless. I trust my TomTom to get me through any traffic issues quickly.

I can also use it in any of our 6 cars!

[Cylon2007]

I have used mine a couple of times but as I have a TomTom Rider with lifetime map updates I use that or Googlemaps on the phone normally.

[Mike335i]

Despite being 2013 maps, the iDrive nav works most of the time. Mostly I don't actually use nav.

I do use Waze in rentals or the wife's Alfa and that is ace, but crap to use on the go as it is obviously all on a touch screen.

[AJB88]

I updated my Porsche to 2019 maps which in reality are 2016 maps, I use both built in and Waze.

[rdjohn]

FlossyThePig said:

My car is 5 years old now. I still use the built in satnav which hasn’t been updated. In the last few weeks it helped me get to hotels in Oxford, Sheffield and Chester.

The question is how often do roads move?

Changes are being made to the highway network all the time. Changes in speed limit - speed humps etc all impact on the calculated journey time.

Last night I had a 2-hour drive and in a large town there was a road closure without an adequately signed alternative. I was using Waze owned by Google, but for some reason they choose not to use Google's navigation algorithm. When I checked, Google Drive would have taken me along an adequate route, whereas Waze was in a complete haze, continuously assuming I had taken a wrong direction and trying to correct that error.

Real time routing has to be the future of navigation, without it, autonomous cars will never happen.

[croyde]

My Mustang had Sat Nav as a £900 option. It was a dinosaur and I just used my mobile on either Waze or Google.

[Car-Matt]

With the advent of Carplay i'd rather have this than a built in option that requires updating.

My wife currently has a Skoda Fabia with Carplay and a great touchscreen, its way better than many much more expensive vehicles i've used in the past

[tigamilla]

Car-Matt said:

With the advent of Carplay i'd rather have this than a built in option that requires updating.

My wife currently has a Skoda Fabia with Carplay and a great touchscreen, its way better than many much more expensive vehicles i've used in the past

I bought a VW golf with the stock navigation headunit - apart from looking nice and OEM, it was shockingly bad. I have replaced it with a Pioneer unit
that works with the steering wheel controls and also has all the Android Auto features (e.g. Google Play Music, Waze, Google Maps etc) - the USB cables come into the glovebox where the phone lives while I'm driving. It'll even read out messages as they come in if I so chose. Nothing OEM comes close in terms of functionality and convenience.