One thing to be sure. Make certian that the Map you are using is as up to date as the road. If the road has changed since the map was made, the system will look dumb.

 

9K miles on 05 and have had very few problems with the data base.
I have most of these miles in Northern Ca. but have also taken trips to Palm Springs etc. using the Nav for directions. I have been delighted with its general accuracy and ease of operation. It really became a more user friendly piece of gear after I read the manual. That has been my experience. I have also found the interface with the HUD to be most helpful. Bottom line for me is that most of the time when I have tried to outthink the unit I have found that I was wrong. Not always but most of the time. IMHO

 

I have upgraded to the 2.0 disk hoping that it would improve my results. It hasn't. I live in the Pacific Northwest and travel to cities along the I-5 corridor. During my last two trips using the NAV it had problems.

If I had bought this unit from Costco or Best Buy I would have returned it and got my money back 6 months ago.

 

The streets may not be new to you, but maybe to the NAV system. There sure are a lot of streets out there. Maps aren't always correct either.

 

The data disk is formulated by guys who drive around and record Long & Lat at locations of interest. Now we have the same problem with these guys who do this as we do with the guys who work on our cars. The guy sees a shopping center and spots a Del Taco. When he pushes the button on his recording device if he is in his car the recorder records the location of the car not the Del Taco.
I know one of the software guys who develops software for the Nav systems. He just got back from Germany and Italy doing work for Ferrari and Mercedes with their Nav systems. We have a street that used to have a jog in it about two blocks long and he personally recorded that jog. Now the jog has been replaced with a straight road but the Nav still tells you to turn and follow the jog. I asked when that would get updated and he said probably never unless a lot of people complained.
This guy also validates the data taken by the folks who drive around and record stuff and he does this by looking at a coordinate map and see the location of the road. if the data points arent in what appears to be an offset from the road he will report this and when enough data errors are found they go and verify the locations and then update the data.
All systems are not the same, for instance the Lexus uses a hard drive and when new info comes out they swap out the hard drive.

 

I have the Toyota Nav in both my 4runner and Sienna minivan. Always perfect. When I test drove a C6 with it's NAV, I could not put myself down and buy the Nav option. It was worse than the older BMW navs (with **** controls). I bought the non nav C6 and got a Roadmate 760 portable nav unit.. i have it in the trunk for the times I need to go somewhere new. That seems to work very well. A fellow C6 owner (and a member of a local club) says he actually has the NAV in the C6 but uses the Roadmate when he is out on business. It's that bad.

However, to be fair, there are a few people who think the NAV works great. I wonder if those people have ever driven with other NAV units?

 

Just got back from a 6700 mile drive across the country on mostly rural, scenic roads. We drove from the NCM to Seattle via Alberta and BC. I found the Garmin we were using to be about 99% accurate. Its so accurate that you come to rely on it exclusively and that's when you get into trouble. The best practice is to have a general idea of where you need to turn, backed up with road maps, and keep your common sense turned on. When it tells you to turn somewhere screwy just ignore it and wait for it to correct the route as you drive on. Sometimes the data base it uses will lead you astray! (I should have known better than turn down that gravel road in Alberta!!!)

 

The experience I have with my '05 C6 Nav unit has been perfect. Listening to all the people complain on this forum almost prompted me to buy my car without it. Had it not been for a few folks local to me that have the Nav and love it I would have passed. Very happy I didn't. I also have a Garmin C330 for my other cars and a Garmin Street Pilot III+ prior to that and prior to that Pharos GPS units for my Casio and Toshiba PDA's. The folks having success (like me) aren't idots and I'm betting that more of us than not have had other units to compare to. I for one believe that the area we (meaning those of us having success with the Nav) must live in areas with a farily recently updated set of streets and coordinates. Nothing more, nothing less.