Are built in Sat Nav's worth it?

[FunkyNige]

jonwm said:

I find if the traffic is bad the Audi system just tells me about it, very rarely diverts me, last week when the M1 got shut I flicked in my google maps on the iphone and it guided me all through the countryside down to the M25, my in built was constantly taking me back to the closed M1 grrr.

My A3 diverts me if there's traffic ahead, Mrs SatNav says something like 'traffic ahead, updating route' or something like that. Only time I've heard is was on the Friday of a bank holiday so maybe it needs a lot of traffic to set it off? It also integrates with the buttons on the steering wheel and the little screen on the dash which I use more than the main screen for directions.

I did sit in a poverty spec A1 which had a screen and a button for SatNav but didn't have the SatNav so you ended up with a button that didn't do anything. Not so bad when you have a blank over the heated seats button but having 4 buttons around the screen with one that is an option you don't have is a bit daft.

[Alg123]

Ones factory fitted? Probably not. Aftermarket? Most definitely! Have a fitted garmin with dab and BT in my focus mk3. Comes with accurate traffic, weather and map updates. Had a little laugh to myself when a friend with his Merc said he wishes he could swap nav systems

[Goggy]

Two friends of mine have both ordered news cars (not Lexus), neither of which have gone for the Sat Nav option. One uses TomTom and swears by it, the other uses Google Maps on his smart phone which he says works as well as any other Sat Nav he has used. Both feel the £600 and £950 sat Nav options are simply not worth the money. One said that within 5-6 years 'in car' Sat Nav's will be dead and gone as the smart phone improvements will make them redundant. I think he has a point.

[bad company]

Goggy said:

One said that within 5-6 years 'in car' Sat Nav's will be dead and gone as the smart phone improvements will make them redundant. I think he has a point.

I say that within 5-6 years in car sat navs will become increasingly included as standard in the manufacturers spec and Tom Toms will become redundant.

Your friends may regret their decisions at trade in time. Not everybody likes the dashboard clutter of aftermarket stuff.

[Goggy]

You could well be right. I think the price will have to come down though, I think they will have to. In a lot of cars they are included already, but many base models they are an option, but an expensive one. I think the threat of better smart phone Sat Navs will cause Tom Tom and Garmin more of a problem initially, but car makers will have to adjust prices as free smart phone Sat Navs get better. Right now built in ones are a bit of a rip off, and everyone knows that. However, most drivers still prefer a built in one.

[Sushifiend]

Apparently every BMW will get navigation as of now, and that's bound to be the case for most premium manufacturers in the coming months and all others in the next year or two. Ordering a car without it might make your car struggle to compete on the used market without it.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/bmw/91294/every-bmw-t...

[Dodsy]

bad company said:

I say that within 5-6 years in car sat navs will become increasingly included as standard in the manufacturers spec and Tom Toms will become redundant.

.

Only if they massively improve them. I have an '07 Jag XJ. The satnav is hopeless. Drove a brand spanking new XJ with delivery miles on recently. It still has the same Satnav albeit with some prettier colours on the screen now. The Merc COMAND satnav in my SLK is also hopeless.

My 7 year old TomTom with Live traffic beats both systems easily.

The issue with Manufacturers is they all seem to want to develop their own in house solution and they are IME universally crap, expensive to buy and maintain. Unless they pour significant amounts of cash into development (cant see them doing that) this will continue to be the case and TomTom etc will always have a market.

[bad company]

Dodsy said:

bad company said:

I say that within 5-6 years in car sat navs will become increasingly included as standard in the manufacturers spec and Tom Toms will become redundant.

.

Only if they massively improve them. I have an '07 Jag XJ. The satnav is hopeless. Drove a brand spanking new XJ with delivery miles on recently. It still has the same Satnav albeit with some prettier colours on the screen now. The Merc COMAND satnav in my SLK is also hopeless.

My 7 year old TomTom with Live traffic beats both systems easily.

The issue with Manufacturers is they all seem to want to develop their own in house solution and they are IME universally crap, expensive to buy and maintain. Unless they pour significant amounts of cash into development (cant see them doing that) this will continue to be the case and TomTom etc will always have a market.

I'm not familiar with the Jaguar or Merc systems but the sat nav in my 2014 BMW is brilliant as was the previous Beemer system. I can find where I want to go on my phone and send it to the car remotely. It also takes me round traffic jams etc.

I also have a very old Garmin Nuvi with I use with my TVR or when driving rented cars abroad (currently in USA). Don't know if I will bother to replace it tho as I increasingly use the 'Navmii' app when driving abroad.

[Dodsy]

bad company said:

I'm not familiar with the Jaguar or Merc systems but the sat nav in my 2014 BMW is brilliant as was the previous Beemer system. I can find where I want to go on my phone and send it to the car remotely. It also takes me round traffic jams etc.

BMW system sounds good compared to the Jag and Merc systems I'm used to. But even then you have to consider the long term costs. I typically buy a car thats 3 years old , by that time the maps will usually be out of date and are very expensive to update.

As an example, the Merc update to 2013/14 maps is £150. And thats just a one off update which needs to be repeated annually. The Jag they stopped providing updates with the 2012 map , its £169 to upgrade to that version.

My TomTom maps are updated 4 times a year for £50, plus I think its another £40 annually for the live traffic. Until the update costs come down then I'll be sticking with my TomTom.

[bad company]

Dodsy said:

BMW system sounds good compared to the Jag and Merc systems I'm used to. But even then you have to consider the long term costs. I typically buy a car thats 3 years old , by that time the maps will usually be out of date and are very expensive to update.

As an example, the Merc update to 2013/14 maps is £150. And thats just a one off update which needs to be repeated annually. The Jag they stopped providing updates with the 2012 map , its £169 to upgrade to that version.

My TomTom maps are updated 4 times a year for £50, plus I think its another £40 annually for the live traffic. Until the update costs come down then I'll be sticking with my TomTom.

I take your point. If you have an iPhone try Navmii, the maps are up to date and it's free.

[Dodsy]

bad company said:

I take your point. If you have an iPhone try Navmii, the maps are up to date and it's free.

Oh I also forgot to add, neither Jag nor Merc have speed cameras on the maps. I update my tomtom from pocketgpsworld. Built in satnavs still have a long way to go in terms of features and price compared to stand alones. Not sure how the BMW does live traffic, the jag doesnt have it at all and the Merc uses TMC which always seems to lag well behind the traffic. The TomTom updates are much faster and more accurate.

I sound like a total TomTom fanboy, Im not - I just works and its cheap.

I'll have a look at Navmii, I tried Waze but its not a patch on TomTOm - but then its free so I wouldnt expect it to be but I have used it when in the car with friends who dont have satnavs,

[TurboHatchback]

My A6 has a built in Satnav, I never use it. I bought a TomTom for £200 which has a 6" capacitive touch screen, live traffic/road closures etc (lifetime subscription included in price), free map updates for life etc and it's superb. The only subscription I pay is £20 a year for mobile cameras. I actually prefer satnavs stuck to the windscreen as they are in your peripheral vision as opposed to built in ones which require looking down away from the road.

So in summary no, I think the built in ones are dreadful value for money.

[waremark]

Dodsy said:

I sound like a total TomTom fanboy, Im not - I just works and its cheap.

I'll have a look at Navmii, I tried Waze but its not a patch on TomTOm - but then its free so I wouldnt expect it to be but I have used it when in the car with friends who dont have satnavs,

Don't you resent TT charging you £90 pa for map updates and live traffic which are free for life on many new TT and Garmin units?

What are the poor aspects of Waze? I have heard that its journey times are the most accurate, particularly in the city.

[Dodsy]

waremark said:

Don't you resent TT charging you £90 pa for map updates and live traffic which are free for life on many new TT and Garmin units?

What are the poor aspects of Waze? I have heard that its journey times are the most accurate, particularly in the city.

Well yes I do resent the charge a bit, but when I bought it all those years back this was the norm, and its still way cheaper than the manufacturer updates. And I can do just one update and use it in all 4 of my cars, if I had to update all the cars every year I'd probably be looking at up to £1k to get systems that are very poor. I also like TomToms smart routing whereby it knows where the roads are busy at certain times of day and picks routes accordingly.

I have toyed with the idea of getting a new tomtom but as mine just works and from what I hear the new units dont do itinerary planning any more which I use a lot I'll just stick with what I have for now.

Waze is good but like all these free systems as I understand it they rely on users putting info in about traffic delays and thats a critical thing for me. TomTom covers the whole country and its traffic is brilliant.

[Mr Trophy]

I had one in my TTs and if I am honest it was pish.

However, in the S7 it seems to be unbelievably good, which I don't understand.

[Sushifiend]

Dodsy said:

Waze is good but like all these free systems as I understand it they rely on users putting info in about traffic delays and thats a critical thing for me. TomTom covers the whole country and its traffic is brilliant.

All Waze users contribute to the knowledge pool just by using the app. If the app detects that users are moving more slowly than during quiet periods, then it updates the transit time for that section of road automatically. No deliberate user input is necessary, although it can be given to speed up the process. On one occasion the app popped up with a query saying something like "Traffic appears to be moving slowly at your location. Are you in a traffic jam?", and I was given the option to confirm the jam. You can also elect to report this information pro-actively. Similarly, users can add information on obstacles, speed cameras or police presence manually.

[bad company]

I liked Waze but it ate all my data so stopped using it.

I use Navmii when travelling, like right now in USA.

[bad company]

I am in the USA. I'm using Navmii which works without data tho you need to put in any locations while you have wifi. Waze does not work at all without a data connection.

[Dodsy]

My options are limited as I have a company iphone with only 16GB. I've got about 100 photos, some music and a couple of apps on it and thats it memory full. Navmi needs about 800Meg as far as I can tell so no go for me.

[bad company]

I have Navmii Spain on mine, 519mb. The USA one depends on how many states you want.