I drove 180 odd miles yesterday to take Miss Z to dinner (no special occasion, just a mutual day off).
On the way to the restaurant the sat nav gave me a turn instruction far too late.
Miss Z reminded me about the Vaxhall Mokka we had from new in 2013, one of the first to be sold.
It had a Bosch SD card based sat nav which would often stutter to the kid's great amusement (T, t, t, t, turn l, l, l, l, left at the next exit).
It would also occasionally start giving instructions in very stern German "Nehmen Sie im Kreisel die dritte Ausfahrt"
Of course none of this happened when trying to demonstrate the fault to the dealer!
Last edited by: zippy on Wed 23 Nov 22 at 11:25
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I use Waze via Android Auto. I have it set to Kate, an English lady. Quite often she gives the first part of an instruction command then another English lady voice takes over for the second half. I've did once try resetting it but it doesn't bother me really - but amuses any irregular passengers.
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Often amused by Google maps, where they have clearly taken place names from road signs on google street view.
Going to Tring for example, the M25 exit sign says Hemel Hstd.
The google voice says "take the exit to Hemel H S T D"
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I can be hilarious hearing mine try to pronounce Welsh names.
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Two weeks ago I binned my Mio PDA and that was the first Sat nav I ever had.
Had TomTom maps on an SD card. Memory says it was very slow and regularly lost GPS signal!
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I have a Tom-Tom in my Peugeot. I have a subscription for traffic and camera alerts so I am clearly connected.
So why do I need to manually update maps - surely the system should automatically download updated map data for the area covered by the sat-nav display, and for any destination routing.
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>> I have a Tom-Tom in my Peugeot.
>>
>> So why do I need to manually update maps - surely the system should automatically
>> download updated map data for the area covered by the sat-nav display, and for any
>> destination routing.
>>
My Hyundai has a built in SatNav and uses a phone connection for live traffic and speed cams. If not connected it uses some other technology for live traffic.
The reason it doesn't download new maps is due to their size. Not all users have generous data allowances on their phones.
But the car has WIFI to connect to the phone to share data (but not for Android Auto or Apple Car) and it could connect to a home WIFI. I guess it would need more memory etc. to store the files being replaced until the new files were downloaded and shown to be correct which adds a little to the individual car but many ££££ to a production run.
Also, Hyundai make a point that I get a free update if I take my car to a dealer for a service and thus trying to tie you in to their servicing / dealer network.
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Peugeot sat nav update has a helpful message informing you that a dealer will be happy to do the updte for you - at a cost.
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I cant see any conceivable reason why people are not using Google Maps (or Waze if you are still feeling childlike)
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My car doesn’t have Apple Play and I can’t get it retrofitted without huge costs and inconvenience.
My Heads Up Display shows the car satnav instructions which is very handy.
Up till this year I paid for the annual map update and Real time Traffic but now BMW have split this as two separate packages I haven’t bothered.
If I end up going a driving holiday or suchlike I would maybe pay to upgrade them. But anytime I do need satnav nowadays with traffic info I use google maps on my phone in a holder that attaches to my right dashboard vent. And then just glance at it when appropriate.
My next car will definitely have Apple Play.
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tbh mine has Android Auto and it's another nice-to-have gadget but the "old-fashioned" method you mention is perfectly adequate and I wouldn't really miss it that much.
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Away for the weekend and as mentioned previously, I gave up on my real time Traffic info from BMW.
Interestingly it must have stored all the last traffic info that was current at the time my subscription expired. Driving up to Blairgowrie and it was trying to re route me away from incidents that were obviously now non existent!
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>> Away for the weekend and as mentioned previously, I gave up on my real time
>> Traffic info from BMW.
>>
>> Interestingly it must have stored all the last traffic info that was current at the
>> time my subscription expired. Driving up to Blairgowrie and it was trying to re route
>> me away from incidents that were obviously now non existent!
If you dont have a current subscription, turn off TMC
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..The Smart has a TomTom-based Media system with Nav (shared with Renault!). Both the maps and real-time system updates are (separately) chargeable, with the former being an off-line update and the latter an offline purchase, but activated in the vehicle. Map update availability is somewhat irregular.
OTOH, the XC40 has a proprietary Volvo multimedia/nav system. Map updates are available free, "for life" on roughly a monthly update basis. Real-time traffic is also available free*.
Full Europe mapping is available, but is large, and is an offline update by USB device. You can, however, designate a "home" area (e.g. UK and Ireland (plus Iceland!)) and then this area can be downloaded and installed over-the-air automatically or manually*. During such download the navigation system remains available, the new mapping being rolled in at next engine off after download.
*The online services depend on a user SIM. Volvo provide a free Vodafone 1year starter, which most user switch to a cheaper alternative after it has expired.
Frankly, under most circumstances I find the inbuilt navigation systems entirely adequate, and rather more easy to manipulate quickly than those on a 'phone.
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The Sat Nav in both recent Volvos were poor compared to the old BMW. I resorted to using maps from my phone via Apple Play. The UP has a VW app which I haven't used - Google or Apple maps work the best for me. I may have mentioned that I used my Tom Tom Rider within the UK for my trip to the Netherlands last summer - worked fine, especially as I could select routing which actually worked very well on the way into Harwich as it gave me a very scenic "biker"'s route into the town..
I used my phone in Netherlands as I'd had a Google route e-mailed to me - that worked really well far better than TT's for that task which was mainly autoroute. Off to France next year - TT in the UK and I'll have prepared a Google route for the French bit as it involves landmarks between Bolounge and Dunkirk
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Satnavs - apropos of nothing - smokie
