Giving up (next vehicle will have built-in nav system)

rjrsw comment: I really liked my 760 and the 885T I had but the new Kenwood/Garmin in dash is far nicer and way more convenient to use.
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You didn't mention if this was an after market add-on or it came from in a new car. The POI issue and cost of in dash update was a deal stopper when I bought my 08 cars.

They must have given you the Kia unit because my unit is easy to use and works great. Zero problems and no firmware updates required. My 1490T also works great but does not compare to my four year old built in unit. I will state once again they both have their market niches but if I have a choice I prefer the built in unit. I don't know who makes the Lexus GPS but it is excellent.

My 2006 Corvette GPS sucks as does my brother's Toyota. My cheapo Garmin outperforms both in all types of usage, bluetooth, directions, speed traps, redlight cameras and POI's.

Also had a look at my Dad's Caddy's GPS. We put my Garmin in it and he said "I wasted $2000.

Not Wrong!

YMMV. If you like your built-in, good for you, but for me they are lousy, especially given the price and built-in obsolescence. Complain if you wish... I'll keep my money in the bank and use it for a downpayment on my next car.

Maybe Suzuki has it right ... a built in mount for a portable nuvi:
http://garmin.blogs.com/my_weblog/2010/05/garmin-n%C3%BCvi-c...

farrissr wrote:
They must have given you the Kia unit because my unit is easy to use and works great. Zero problems and no firmware updates required. My 1490T also works great but does not compare to my four year old built in unit. I will state once again they both have their market niches but if I have a choice I prefer the built in unit. I don't know who makes the Lexus GPS but it is excellent.[/quote]

Hey farrissr!

Actually I hear the KIA GPS unit is vastly superior to the 2009 RX350. Go figure.

My apologies to everyone else.

Enjoy!

I suggest that you keep your Garmin. Maybe the factory systems are much better now, I have a 2006 Honda model. I like the garmin because I can load my own points of interest by download and not one by one. I like the that search feature on my Garmin is a lot better than my car navi and the Garmin has traffic that my car navi doesn't have. The big plus is that I can take it with me. Don't give up that Garmin yet!!

This was an aftermarket just released 2010 Kenwood model. I went with it because the navigation interface is by Garmin and so I could still easily load all of the custom POI's with red light and speed camera files I was already using. I can also update the maps and unit firmware easily using the SD card slot. The nav interface is full screen and nearly everything including the menus are nearly identical to the Garmin 885T I was currently using.

The entire system with DVD player capability plus USB connection, HD Radio connection, Sat radio connection and ipod connections plus lifetime traffic ran me just over $1000. After selling the old audio system that was already in the car and my existing Garmin 885T the net upgrade cost ended up running me just over $400. I felt that was very reasonable considering all the gains and was well worth it and would do it again in a heartbeat.

My 2011 F350 Ford navigation doesn't measure up to my Garmin 755T in many many ways.

Internal POIs are much more limited. Can't enter personal POI's.

Drop off the freeway and hear "Entering area of incomplete map information, drive with caution."

The SYNC is great for phone and music, but weak on real life navigation by my measure of Garmin's 755T.

I second this...I love using my GPS when my hubby and I go out riding our bikes. When I carry it with me I'm never afraid to take random turns and go down roads that we don't know very well because we can always find our way home. Plus it's nice to take on vacation, especially to places that you will be doing a lot of walking.

But I found a way to get the house into the car!!!

I think you're asking the wrong question. Why pay $2000+ for an in-dash that does the same thing as my $200 Nuvi? Do you work for the Federal Government or something?

Last time we heard from littleredcat was May 19th, he should be in possession of his new Ford Flex, I want to know what the ending was... did you put the 785t on craigslist?

How do you like the new GPS in the Ford, did it lived up to expectations?

Seeing that my 660 has lifetime Maps and Traffic....
Any Vehicle we purchase with Nav would also have to have Lifetime Traffic and Maps...

Do they? I'll bet Lifetime maps would be hard to install, bringing the SUV into the house to get to the cablemodem.... You know, Garmin insists that the GPS be connected now during updates... I don't think an SUV would get through the doorway........ without some acceleration! !

I too hope to never buy another Garmin, not sure if that will be true. I paid $299 for the 660, which seemed ok at the time. When it was brand-new, it powered off for no reason, others said it happened to them, firmware, blah blah blah.

Now that we have smartphones with FREE navi, time and time again, the Nuvi can't find something that the Droid X can. At the same time, there are times that the Droid X is slower to deliver the turn-by-turn. So is it a valid replacement? Ok, you got the data interrupted when a call comes in, Droid X is not 4G/LTE ready, etc. So probably not at this time. It just feels stupid to have to use the phone's navi because the 660 can't do the job.

Imho there's no excuse for the Garmin to not have an address for a town that's been in existence since 1724. Example: Toni's Pizza in This Town, NY. Nuvi can't find it based on the postal address, but in POI, come to find, it's Toni's Pizza, Three Towns over, NY. Three towns over is absolutely, positively, totally, 100% incorrect. But the "new" map has it as such. Those are the times that I want to throw it out the window!

when I have a $2000.00+ in my car, Me!! I do! and have several of them!! Nothing worse than a built in GPS that is out-of-date, you'll find out...

you get $150.00 for it...put the money in an IRA!!

buying a Ford, you'll love it. Ford didn't take the fake! Bought 3000 shares at $1.80 a share, thank you very much!!

my luck!!

200 dollars a year omg no way.we take our portable tomtom with us on every trip regardless if we fly drive or rent a car. it takes the hassle of asking local's how to get there because after all most of us have a nice state map book but that does not have much detail or details!! can't do that with an in-dash and besides if my tom tom brakes (it has before) I through it away and buy another off e-bay!!

Having a built in unit and a portable (rentals and second car) is the way to go if you can afford it....driving my car with the built in unit is so easy and worry free...using my Garmin in the second car (when needed) and for vacation rentals works out great. I guess some use there GPS all the time...I very rarely need on if driving around locally...

You can't take your ford gps with you when you Fly somewhere, and the rental cars charge $10-20 per day for a gps. Also use the garmin in the ford see if there is much of a difference?

Option for dash navigation was REMOVED from 2011. Honda wasn't selling enough of them, because most people were just buying dashtop units or upgrading CD/XM radio to 3rd party dash units.

Checking the Honda USA website, every model I looked at for 2011 shows a NAV option.

I would keep the extra unit to use in a friend's car or rental car when appropriate.

I have always liked the manufacturers custom installations for looks and ease. but... At least for me they are very pricey, especially if you have a number of vehicles. With the kids, we actually have 5 cars, it's nice to be able to grab a Garmin for whatever car you are going to drive. I also travel quite a bit, (not like years ago) and the convenience of taking along the Garmin, at least for me, pays for itself. But, I have to admit, I still like the clean custom look of the factory install, it just does not work for me at least for now.

When I bought my new Ford Taurus, back in May, I made sure to get one without the built in GPS. I saved a bunch of money and I had previously tested my Garmin against some built in units and the Garmin won (faster and just as accurate). The ability to update/upload POIs was also a factor.

My son has a 2009 Honda Civic and the factory system isn't too bad. I like more becasue of the Superior BlueTooth on the built-in.

But the big drawback is the inability to add your own POI's and do firmware updates and tweaks.

Maybe whoever gives Garmin the maps expects "Toni's Pizza" to pay for the "advertisement" in their maps. My local church has been where it is since the 1700s as well, but only "newer" (read: large denominations) churches show in the map. I wouldn't blame Garmin directly on this one.

Regarding accuracy, well that's another thing. A few times I've found my Garmin "insists" an address is where it shows me in the map, when I'm standing at the door AT THE RIGHT ADDRESS half a block away.

The look is great but the cost to update is high (cost of new DVD). Also not portable, which is a drawback

I would say no car GPS system would rival the ability to upload POI's on the fly like I can with my handheld GPS. Just my 2c though.

don't get rid of the Garmin yet since you won't have lifetime traffic plus the map updates will cost 200 per year

I got a Ford Escape with a Nav system a few years ago. Unfortunately it was not operating when I did the test drive (Disks still sealed in the owners packet) and I didn't insist in seeing it in another car before I committed. Biggest piece of junk I have ever used. I tried it for a few days and it hasn't been used since. I'm hoping what they are putting in now is better.

I agree, having a back up gps unit, even map, wouldn't hurt.

Honda Element 2011 not offered in NAV model as it was in 2010 and previously. If you think it is, please provide URL to 2011 Honda site, and I will accept your statement.

always plan ahead at home, not sure if factory one can do that

Let me tell you I have that same Ford GPS and it is ok. It is much better that GM and Dodge built in GPS. There are certainly things I wish each had that the other had. Hope you like your new Ford.

Do the built-in Ford navigation units dead-reckon when satellite lock is lost? With the unit installed in the car, you'd think they'd be hooked up to the speedometer, and have a magnetic compass. That's one thing the portable units don't do, but I wish they did (though I know its probably technically very difficult to implement)

Has a flip up tray built in for my 750. When I park, just flip down and no GPS showing. It will take any 7XX Garmin

http://automobiles.honda.com/tools/build-price/models.aspx

You are correct about the Element. It appears that the Element may be the only one that *doesn't* offer a NAV option. But every other model that I looked at: Accord, Civic, CRV, Odyssey, Pilot, Ridgeline all offer OEM Nav.