Integrated vehicle GPS - who has the best?

[+Ellteejak]

I have talked to a few people about GPS units integrated into cars. Lexus has them, and Suburu has them. But who has the best integrated vehicle system?

 

Reason I am asking is that in a year I will be wanting to buy a vehicle, and I do not want the aftermarket ones as they are a magnet for thieves. Plus I always like integrated solutions.

[+Chuy!]

They said that about stereos, then automakers installed them into the dash and now, there are no more stolen car stereos .

 

I got a dashmount for that reason - so it won't get stolen! I can throw it under the car seat or in the trunk. Plus I can move it among my cars or throw it in a rental when I go out of town.

 

Additionally, one indash units I have seen (06 Landcruiser) dosen't have ports to download coords from a laptop or zip drive . I also wonder if you can upgrade the maps.

[+maby]

I doubt that you will get a lot of objective comparisons - integrated SatNav is relatively new and the number of people with in depth experience of more than one implementation will be few.

 

I have a recent high-end Toyota Prius with built in SatNav and it is perfectly adequate for anything I have ever asked of it. Good, clear and generally accurate instructions, large, clear and readable touch screen etc.

Its directions can sometimes be confusing - not far from my house the road bends to the right and another minor road forks left (like a letter Y) - the mapping data does not properly encode the connectivity of the roads and the SatNav always tells me to "turn right" although I am really staying on the same, main road...

 

The biggest difference from an aftermarket GPSr is the inertial navigation - because it can hook into the vehicle data bus and draw on data from the ABS computer which is constantly monitoring wheel speeds, it can make a pretty good stab at navigation for quite long distances without a GPS signal of any kind. I drive in London every day - major "Urban Canyons" with the GPS lock light out quite often. I've watched that navigator track me accurately for not far short of a mile of city streets, turning at junctions and all with no GPS lock at all! I've driven into an underground multistorey car park, gone down two floors, parked all day, driven up back out, driven half a mile or more with no GPS lock ('cos the ephemeris has expired and the reception is so poor that it takes ages to get an update) - and when it finally does get the lock its only a few yards out! You show me an aftermarket unit that can do that!

 

From the map upgrade point of view, its driven from a DVD in a reader under the passenger seat - not difficult to upgrade, but not particularly cheap - not that Garmin is either quite often...

 

Martin

Edited March 30, 2007 by maby

[+Boardslider]

I'm collecting a new car in the UK next week with integrated GPS. When I test drove it, I didn't like it much (being so used to my PDA based Tom Tom), the worst thing being the robotic and unchangeable voice. Other than that it chose the same routes, and could do full postcode searches. A possible downside is that it has an extra CD slot in the dash for the map data and I dread to think how much updates will cost. Also, I have no idea how to go about adding POI's etc.

 

The BIG PLUS and the reason I specified it for my car is the huge colour display, which can be used as a rolling map even when not navigating, combine that with a built in TMS reciever and it looks pretty neat. Of course all of the other dashboard stuff is displayed on this panel, had I not opted for the sat nav, I would have got the default twenty shades of oragne.

 

Since ordering the car I have also bought a TT510 which will be used in it not least as it is my hands free phone now as well as navigator of choice and that is quite important here.

[rwolf]

Had the Infinity FX35 wth the indash nav. I loved it. Very easy to use, had current updates, traveled up and down the east coast. The only issue was two seperate times along the coast. Once in above Charleston and the other time on Tybee island in Georgia. It only was able to use one road for directions, we could not get it to use the side roads.

 

Other than that is is why I bought a portable GPS for my truck. I got very used to using the GPS for directions.

[+Renegade Knight]

From what I hear none of the integrated GPSs are as good as the aftermarket ones. I'd be inclined to only get it as an option in a used car. New I'd consider the aftermarket ones.

 

Jeep has one made by Garmin that comes out of the dash so you can hike with it. That may be an exception to the "not so good integraded rule".

 

That said if you can find a maker who uses Garmin, Magellan, or Lowrance as the integraded GPS maker you would be doing fairly well. all three make good aftermarket Car based GPSs.

[+Ellteejak]

I doubt that you will get a lot of objective comparisons - integrated SatNav is relatively new and the number of people with in depth experience of more than one implementation will be few.

 

I have a recent high-end Toyota Prius with built in SatNav and it is perfectly adequate for anything I have ever asked of it. Good, clear and generally accurate instructions, large, clear and readable touch screen etc.

Its directions can sometimes be confusing - not far from my house the road bends to the right and another minor road forks left (like a letter Y) - the mapping data does not properly encode the connectivity of the roads and the SatNav always tells me to "turn right" although I am really staying on the same, main road...

 

The biggest difference from an aftermarket GPSr is the inertial navigation - because it can hook into the vehicle data bus and draw on data from the ABS computer which is constantly monitoring wheel speeds, it can make a pretty good stab at navigation for quite long distances without a GPS signal of any kind. I drive in London every day - major "Urban Canyons" with the GPS lock light out quite often. I've watched that navigator track me accurately for not far short of a mile of city streets, turning at junctions and all with no GPS lock at all! I've driven into an underground multistorey car park, gone down two floors, parked all day, driven up back out, driven half a mile or more with no GPS lock ('cos the ephemeris has expired and the reception is so poor that it takes ages to get an update) - and when it finally does get the lock its only a few yards out! You show me an aftermarket unit that can do that!

 

From the map upgrade point of view, its driven from a DVD in a reader under the passenger seat - not difficult to upgrade, but not particularly cheap - not that Garmin is either quite often...

 

Martin

 

Martin, This is awesome!! I was thinking of a Prius, but I think you sold me on one if it has such outstanding design technology. I hope Toyota comes out with a PHEV version next year (PLUGIN HYBRED ELECTRIC VEHICLE).

Edited March 31, 2007 by Ellteejak

[+Chuy!]

I'm still wondering if the new integrated units have ports to download waypoints. My 2720 can hold 2k waypoints plus I don't-know-how-many POIs. One negative thing about portable GPS' is they become missiles during an accident. I still take my chances with them; after all, there many other potential missiles in my cars, like my wife's 100 lb purse .

[+maby]

I'm still wondering if the new integrated units have ports to download waypoints. My 2720 can hold 2k waypoints plus I don't-know-how-many POIs. One negative thing about portable GPS' is they become missiles during an accident. I still take my chances with them; after all, there many other potential missiles in my cars, like my wife's 100 lb purse .

 

The integrated Toyota units do not have any publicised way to upload waypoints. It is possible that it can be done through the vehicle data bus - there is a lot of unpublicised functionality on that. If anyone knows it will be Coastal E Tech (http://www.coastaletech.com/) - they have all sorts of gizmos that hook into the Toyota bus...

 

Martin

[+Team Geo-Rangers]

I'm still wondering if the new integrated units have ports to download waypoints. My 2720 can hold 2k waypoints plus I don't-know-how-many POIs. One negative thing about portable GPS' is they become missiles during an accident. I still take my chances with them; after all, there many other potential missiles in my cars, like my wife's 100 lb purse .

 

The integrated Toyota units do not have any publicised way to upload waypoints. It is possible that it can be done through the vehicle data bus - there is a lot of unpublicised functionality on that. If anyone knows it will be Coastal E Tech (http://www.coastaletech.com/) - they have all sorts of gizmos that hook into the Toyota bus...

 

Martin

 

Am researching the new high end advanced technology package for the 2012 Toyotas and whether it makes sense to get it for their advertised enhanced Nav system option. The Prius forum suggests that the Nav System difference is that AT has a Premium nav Hard-drive instead of flash memory in the non-AT. In the older Prius, you can manually upload coordinates - too laborious for a numbers run. Has Toyota finally given us the capability to automatically upload geocache waypoints into the car Nav system with this AT package? Am already leaning against the AT package on the grounds that I don't want to pay for the other features ... want to check with this community to see if anyone believes the AT package (enhanced Nav System) better supports geocaching?

[+DonB]

Number one they want too much for the factory systems, they wanted $1600 for the factory system in my last vehicle. I have also been told it costs an arm and a leg to update the maps, and there's no way to load custom POIs.

[+Lieblweb]

My husband has an Acura MDX and I have no idea what the navigation system is. But I do know, it's a CD under the passenger seat and if you want to upgrade the maps, you have to pay like $65+ to buy a new CD.

 

Nothing wrong with the aftermarket GPS units. Would you rather have your entire CAR stolen or just the GPS?

 

I have a NUVI 2450. It was cheap AND you can put geocaches on it (can't do that with the Acura). AND - when I'm not using it, I keep it in a console vault in my truck.

 

Go ahead...break my window and steal my GPS. I don't care. I have insurance. But please, don't steal my car!!

Edited February 13, 2012 by Lieblweb

[+Team Geo-Rangers]

Number one they want too much for the factory systems, they wanted $1600 for the factory system in my last vehicle. I have also been told it costs an arm and a leg to update the maps, and there's no way to load custom POIs.

 

Posted this thread to find out if anyone that geocaches has the AT in a 2010 Prius or later and has attempted to kluge a way to make the nav system work for them in a way other than manually uploading geocache coordinates ... older prius nav systems allow this. How about it Alamogul? With the bluetooth and autorouting, it may be possible, one at a time. If your smart phone is routing to a location (a geocache) and it is connected to the vehicle NavSystem via bluetooth, then apparently the vehicle will sense it and route to that location. Granted, no little treasure chest overlay on the 7" wide map display, but it does open up the possibility of using a smart phone app to route to the next location ... possibly useful for the driver on a power trail. GPS handheld receivers are much cheaper than a built-in car nav system so having several in the vehicle dedicated to specific tasks is how it is currently done.

 

The nav systems do have a default POI database. Another thought is to substitute your geocache POI pocket query with their default database if they provide access to load it? Would have to translate the .gpx file format in whatever format they use ... if everything is on Toyota DVDs like the maps and cost $250 a piece, forget it. Like the geo-mate experiment, load it once but the database loses currency after a few days/weeks in most urban areas. After routing to a few disabled or archived caches, then it's no longer beneficial. Maybe someone that geocaches and works as a Toyota Nav Engineer would like to comment?

[+Team Geo-Rangers]

My husband has an Acura MDX and I have no idea what the navigation system is. But I do know, it's a CD under the passenger seat and if you want to upgrade the maps, you have to pay like $65+ to buy a new CD.

 

Nothing wrong with the aftermarket GPS units. Would you rather have your entire CAR stolen or just the GPS?

 

I have a NUVI 2450. It was cheap AND you can put geocaches on it (can't do that with the Acura). AND - when I'm not using it, I keep it in a console vault in my truck.

 

Go ahead...break my window and steal my GPS. I don't care. I have insurance. But please, don't steal my car!!

 

A few comments on your post:

 

Those CDs are cheaper than Toyota last time checked.

 

Don't want anything stolen or damaged, so the prius will be alarmed and the GPS receivers will not be left on the car seat to invite a thief to break in. It's the law to have insurance in CA and who really wants to have to use it and the inconvenience implied by the time lost. Again, no one argues the point of what works best now - handhelds win. However, there is an opportunity for a car manufacturer to figure out that an open Nav System is one way to attract a new market segment - geocachers! Sign us up as pathfinders for the beta vehicle!

[+New Jersey TJ]

 

That said if you can find a maker who uses Garmin, Magellan, or Lowrance as the integraded GPS maker you would be doing fairly well. all three make good aftermarket Car based GPSs.

 

I have a Grand Cherokee, which uses a Garmin GPS. It works fine for navigation, but it honestly can't hold a candle to an Oregon or other handheld unit. There are times, both when I am and am not navigating, that I like to zoom out and pick my own route. Despite the much larger screen size than a handheld, zooming out quickly causes the map to loose street detail, and there is no "zoom level" tweaking that can be done. Additionally, screen redraws when zooming are painfully slow. Also, panning requires generation of a new "page". Both the page generation and the panning are also much slower than would be on a handheld.

 

I find that when I need to do the pans or zooms I described above, I most often get out my Droid 3 and use Google maps!

Edited February 14, 2012 by New Jersey TJ

[robertlipe]

We recently bought a 2012 Prius V. The only one they had was equipped with their $1000 nav system. It's laughably bad.

 

The text labels on the map are incredibly small and not ghosted so they're impossible to read. It doesn't mute the stereo when it speaks, so it can't be heard. The map is just plain ugly with little contrast to different roads. Most of the features are disabled when moving, so your copilot can't find a pizza place while you approach the city. The bluetooth address book just plain doesn't sync right. The Pandora/Bing tethering intergration thing works about one time in ten.

 

It was the car my wife wanted and the car itself is amazing in a number of ways, but this particular component of it is an embarrassment.

[+TeamPennyFinder]

The wife and I have a 2007 Prius. We love it. But the one thing that we do not like is the Nav system. Not user friendly at all. Way to many steps to program it. So for Navigation when going on a trip we use the TomTom One.

[+Team CowboyPapa]

 

A few comments on your post:

 

Those CDs are cheaper than Toyota last time checked.

 

Don't want anything stolen or damaged, so the prius will be alarmed and the GPS receivers will not be left on the car seat to invite a thief to break in. It's the law to have insurance in CA and who really wants to have to use it and the inconvenience implied by the time lost. Again, no one argues the point of what works best now - handhelds win. However, there is an opportunity for a car manufacturer to figure out that an open Nav System is one way to attract a new market segment - geocachers! Sign us up as pathfinders for the beta vehicle!

Roger that!

 

(I always agree with TGR, it was one of his hides that was my first find which convinced me to keep going.)