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Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

money.cnn.com

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Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#41

Post by j45 »

jbob2000 wrote: post #12
RankingMember wrote: post #2

It never made sense to me why you'd want to have a built-in GPS these days when modular devices are available that are A. generally better-designed and B. replaceable. People buying used cars in the coming years will be stuck with these big-screened dinosaurs in their dash that are essentially wasted space.

My car has voice-control, so I press a button on the steering wheel, speak my destination, and I'm good to go. It works really well. I can't do this easily on a smartphone while I'm driving. The "big-screen dinosaur" is incredibly helpful for showing routes and directions, much better than the dinky smartphone screen.

It's possible to speak to the phone using the buttons of the car. Specifically pressing the dial or command button. If your car has bluetooth phone audio, or bluetooth "music" audio connection it becomes a lot more possible.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#43

Post by WorldMaker »

jasode wrote: post #11

Another reason not mentioned by the article is map updates . Lexus charges $169+ to update the map data and requires a dealer appointment. A smartphone with google/Apple maps is always more up-to-date. If you're buying a new car today, the reason to get navigation is for the LCD screen and not for the GPS. The LCD is used to see the rear view camera image for parking. Also, playing music shows the song titles.

Right, the way map updates are priced it seems best to me to update roughly once every five years or so. My habit is to try the car nav first (because there are some things about it that are more convenient, especially the next turn information on mine below the speedometer) and if it doesn't find an address or the route looks somewhat off switch to my phone.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#44

Post by baggachipz »

gambiting wrote: post #38

Because built-in GPS is terrible . I recently bought a 2016 Mercedes-AMG vehicle that has sat nav as standard(on non-AMG models it's a $1000 (!!!!!!) option). The satnav is made by Garmin, and it's just awful. Truly horrible in terms of speed, usability, and it only gets updates once a year(you get a new SD card when you go for the annual service). In the meantime, my TomTom 5000 satnav is still unbeaten - free lifet…

2016 Audi here, same experience. Google Maps + Bluetooth Audio is far superior in every way.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#46

Post by mikeash »

grecy wrote: post #42

Out of curiosity, are there any Tesla owners that can chime in about their experience? Do you use the in-built GPS, or just use your phone? I would think if anyone has it right, it would be Tesla.

I use the built-in GPS about 99% of the time. I keep a mount in the car just in case I need to use my phone for navigation, but that almost never happens.

The built-in navigation isn't great. It lacks some pretty obvious options (it doesn't offer multiple routes, and you can't give it intermediate waypoints) and its routing is occasionally stupid. Although the big screen shows Google Maps, the actual routing is done using an onboard database which is not as good as Google is. But it's good enough that the convenience of just using the big screen in the car outweighs the superior results I get from my phone.

It is getting better, which is one thing most cars can't say. We recently got the ability to have it avoid toll roads, for example, and while that really should have been there from the beginning, it's pretty cool that it can be added after the fact.

Navigation is one of the top complaints from Tesla owners in my experience, and I agree with a lot of those complaints, but it's not bad enough to have me going for my phone except in rare cases.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#47

Post by acl »

grecy wrote: post #42

Out of curiosity, are there any Tesla owners that can chime in about their experience? Do you use the in-built GPS, or just use your phone? I would think if anyone has it right, it would be Tesla.

100% built-in nav on the Tesla. Why:

* voice commands for navigation actually work. Recognition is quick and accurate.

* Should you need to type in an address, Tesla treats you like an adult, and lets you do it while the car is moving. All the other recent cars I've driven won't even let the passenger enter an address unless the car is stopped.

* Map display is fluid and uncluttered

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#48

Post by joezydeco »

coldpie wrote: post #32
RankingMember wrote: post #2

It never made sense to me why you'd want to have a built-in GPS these days when modular devices are available that are A. generally better-designed and B. replaceable. People buying used cars in the coming years will be stuck with these big-screened dinosaurs in their dash that are essentially wasted space.

Yeah, it's pretty sad. I was ready to buy a brand-new Subaru a couple years ago, but they mandated the shitty touch screen in the dash on all new models. Ended up with a used Mazda3. I was very interested in the new ND Miata, but they mandate the dumb LCD screen in the middle of the dash. Nope, not doing that. Seems early 2010s are the last of the good, pre-technology cars. Hopefully the self driving ones come soon b…

The GPS navigation feature on the new Mazda Connect systems is a $400 SD card that plugs into the dash. That's it.

For $400 I'll stick with my phone. If only Mazda got CarPlay working on their dashboards as they've been promising for two years now.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#49

Post by swiley »

jameskilton wrote: post #5

Volkswagen wants to charge me ~$250 for an update to my in-car GPS. Yeah, no. My phone's GPS is free (effectively) and constantly up-to-date.

OSM is free too, it's strange that they don't just let you upload maps yourself.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#50

Post by acl »

Zelphyr wrote: post #45

My wife just bought a brand new Toyota Highlander and I can confirm that the nav system is terrible. I can only imagine how much that turd increased the purchase price.

I just got the new Highlander, and can only conclude the nav (and most of the rest of the car UX) was designed by a committee of angry monkeys.
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