Freehand

I'm seriously considering trading my 3LT 2013 GS Vert C6 for a 2015 2LT in the next few days.

The only real complaint I ever had with the C6 was the ****-poor navigation system that GM placed in a $70K car.

I've been told (by the dealer) that the navigation in the C7 had a major make-over, but I've yet had the opportunity to experience if that's really accurate or not.

I consider most of the Garman Navs to be pretty user friendly.

MY QUESTION: Has the C7 navy been significantly improved? Is it up to the Garman standards?

Thanks
Freehand

Steve Garrett

Very subjective topic.....

I'm fine with the Nav. It would be best for someone to answer this who had a C6 and now owns a C7.

Philr56

The C7 navigation display is a significant improvement over the C6 unit ( owned 2 C6s, both with nav). The biggest disappointment with the C6 was it lacked updated maps and of course, the display wasn't worthy of Chevrolet's iconic halo car. Can't say if the C7's maps are good or bad since I rarely use the unit but the display is crisp, much more intuitive than its C6 predecessor and easier to use as you can type the entire destination address on one screen versus the C6 which placed address elements on separate screens. Did I mention that the display is light years ahead of the C6?

WICKEDFRC

Can't comment on the new C7 Nav, but I can confess in all of 16 months of owning a C6Z, I've used the vehicle Navigation a total of 1 time. Everything else has been Smart Phone GPS.

If you plug in a 3.5 mm cable to your Smartphone and the other end to the vehicle 3.5 mm input, you will hear all directional commands through your sound system.

It may not be the answer you were hoping for, but it is an alternate method of navigating that works flawlessly.

KOMCZYK

I owned a C6 for eight years and agree with your assessment of the nav system. As a result of years of flying and using Garmin units, I am partial to their products for use in the air and on the road. Garmin seems to set the standard for the industry. I currently have a 2015 Z51 with the nav system. It is somewhat improved over the C6 but I continue to be disappointed with several features. I feel it is an over-priced option which does not perform as well as a stand alone after market GPS unit. Don't let the improved screen image obfuscate the shortcomings of the C7 unit which is not up to Garmin standards.

Oldfalguy

It works ok but I really prefer to use my IPhone/Pad and just listen to directions. Nice to know can pipe it thru the car speakers but sometimes it talks too much so not sure would use it unless I was real near my destination, rather have uninterrupted tunes most of the way. One thing I like on my Lexus was the ease of "Mark"ing a spot, almost like dropping a pin on a phone then editing memory later to name it.

alienranch

Much improved over the C6. Faster, higher resolution, easier to navigate. It's better, but only because all nabs have improved significantly over the last 8 years or so.

mpuzach

I owned my C6 with navigation for nine years. While I never really had any complaints about the nav system, it was unquestionably "adequate" at best. The C7's system is MUCH better IMO. I haven't used the nav in my '15 a lot but there's no question that the graphics are a vast improvement. Is it overpriced? Yeah, no doubt. It does include the PDR, though.

Larry/car

I use my Navigation system all the time. Even when I don't have an active route I have the navigation page in view. I have used the displayed information to pick my way through city streets avoiding heavy traffic areas, without creating a route. Traffic advisories through XM is another great aid. XM weather is helpful avoiding severe storms, would like a higher resolution though. I have used iPhone, iPad navigation and Garmin versions, I prefer the C7's system (there is more reading/studying [trial and error] involved to get the most out of the C7's system).

Heidemarie

The above quote says "improved over C6" which I agree (display quality much better than in our C6). However, it also states "easier to use as you can type the entire destination address in". Our GPS works great with POI destinations but does not respond to complete address type-in. Each time we enter "complete" addresses (which are located on State/ county roads (not private roads) the GPS searches and responds with "no search results available". However, I can enter the same addresses on my computer on Google and get search results. So question is: Has anyone encountered the same and how do you fix this without me having to return to dealer, who fixed the "Red X problem" in our Vert. in Jan. 15 Would appreciate any helpful guidance .
Heidi SAVE THE WAVE!!!!

cheapthrills

I have really just started playing with the nav as I take some excursions to find lunch as far away from my home as possible . I'm overall pretty disappointed in being able to use the screen as a map to plan an drive. If you pan out even more then a couple of miles all the roads disappear and your little C7 just seems to be sitting in a pasture in the middle of nowhere. I'm sure it's good at getting you to a destination but don't attempt to plan a trip in the unknown based on looking at that screen.

SMFCPACFP

I very much enjoyed the Nav system in my 2007 Z06. It was accurate and always got me to my destination. I used it all the time as I often travel to unknown destinations. I have the latest update.

I will have my new Z06 on Wednesday with Nav, but I do have a top of the line 2014 Chevy Silverado PU with Nav and it looks like the one in the new Vette. Quite frankly I am not fond of it for one reason - it reports highly inaccurate times to destinations. It is a 5 hour drive to my daughter's house driving the speed limit, yet my truck's Nav says it will 7 hours. As you get closer to your destination it is still off. It is also very awkward to save people's data. Turn by turn information is fine but it was also in the C6.

Does anyone else notice the inaccuracy issue?

sanantguy

These days Google maps navigation is near flawless. I think it's a waste to drop 800 on an in car navigation.

DAFFYDRUNK

After I retro installed the factory nav in my 15 I tried a few destinations. Seemed to direct me around town reasonably, but I did not try a specific address yet. Maybe I'll do that today and see how it fares. I mostly wanted it as I like the birds eye view of stuff around me as I drive. Works great for that, except a nearby new road that opened about 6 months ago does not exist in the map.

Haven't looked yet but is there a way to turn up or adjust the mix of the computer voice? If you're driving with the top down and the music up, it mutes the music for the voice but the voice needs to be a little louder so I can understand "her"...

VetteGirlMA

I own multiple vehicles with built in Nav and at this point I have sort of given up on it and decided to just use my iPhone. It has nav built in and works with a cars bluetooth. Never had a problem using it yet.

If I were worried about phone signal I would just do a garmin. Last year I was driving up to Vermont to visit a company that builds log homes and took my Jeep and used the built in Nav in the Jeep. When the Nav told me to get off the highway not even halfway through the trip, and I believed it and next thing I know I was on dirt roads and it just ended at a river. That was the Nav saying to do this, and like a fool I believed it. I switched to my iPhone and made it the rest of the way with no trouble. That's why I am not a big built in nav fan, especially considering how much they charge for it vs. how little in functionality one gets back.

red2012

It's not so much that the C7 nav is good it's the fact that the C6 nav sucks so any system is better. Get in a Dodge and look at their info/nav system, that's what GM should use in their cars.

stevestig

I had a 2008 C6 with factory navigation. while i never had a problem with the navigation leading me astray, the graphics and interface was pretty crappy.

I now have a 2015 and the 'wow' factor is much better with the new system. I've only used the new navigation twice, but the integration with the Onstar app and being able to search for a location and sending it to the nav unit is pretty nice. the graphics and responsiveness seems ok.

Mval09

What type of "retro" install did you do? I am regretting not ordering my 15 with the PDR/navigation and the only the only place that I've found that can provide navigation is oemautopartsco.com and I think $1200 is a little steep for a GPS splitter and a reprogrammed HMI module.

jriley9922

Sort of an unfair comparison... the C6 navigation unit came out in 2005. That was a very different time in mobile technology. The problem was they never upgraded it... as we hit the 'smart phone revolution'... that really drove screen and mobile computing development an an incredibly fast rate.

In 2005 we all had motorola RAZR phones with a 1.5" screen and it played snake and tetris and we all had 50" TV's that were a foot thick and weighed 200 pounds.

So if you bought a 2005 C6, it would have been high tech. If you got navigation in a 2012 C6, it would look horrible from day 1.

the 2014/15 system is up to date with today's tech and what we're used to with our smartphones. Let's see how it compares to the technology in year 2021.

DAFFYDRUNK

They are actually $1295 shipped from that company I think. You get the IO6, a splitter and 2 cables. I tried it the way they show in the video and found it much more difficult than the video demstrates to run the cable behind the dash. It can get stuck halfway, and then you're really screwed. Instead I did it with a dedicated antenna mounted under the hood. This might be a nav red x fix as I think u would get 2x the signal with a dedicated antenna, and the hmi module provides a source of DC voltage for the antenna. Then you get rid of the splitter stuff behind the glove compartment and hook the factory antenna up directly to the OnStar module. The dedicated under hood antenna is easy to route into the car without doing much invasive spooky stuff. I'm kinda thinking about becoming a vendor on here and selling kits to do it my way after I test it some more. Not sure how much cheaper it would be than those guys, but at least $200 better. I'm making my own instruction vid and would provide everything to do it. So far it works exactly as if you ordered the car with it. Only drawback is an unused PDR icon, but I simply moved the unused icon to another page beside the home page.