Today, I decided to take a short ride into an adjoining county to see some property. I had a specific address that I wanted to see. The house and road were built in 1999, so they have been around for some time.

I entered the address into the factory GPS, which was a bust. Address was not found.



I then entered the same address in my $150 Garmin Nuvi which found the location and started to spurt out directions from my driveway.

Following the Garmin directions, I was brought to the front door of the property. Cool!

OK, now for the return trip, I hit the home ICON on the factory Navi. It told me to proceed to the highlighted route. Hmmm, if I knew how to get to the highlighted route (4 miles of left and right turns and in and out of communities), I wouldn't need a GPS!



So, now I tried this on the Garmin. The cheapo GPS gave me specific turn by turn instructions and easily got me out of the back roads and onto the highway.



The Garmin has a 2009 route map and the GM Navi has a Version 5 (2010) disk, so the GM Navi should be more up to date. Yes, I have read the tutorial on the GM Navi front to back several times (thanks Talon!) but in my experience, the GM Navi is terrible! Sure it can handle voice commands but it can't navigate itself out of a 11 year old development.

Sorry to be so negative with regard to the GM Navi but in my 'vette, it is merely eye candy with very limited functionality. My cheapo Garmin Nuvi outperforms the GM Navi...hands down.

 

This is the reason I removed the factory navi and istalled a Kenwood 6960 with Garmin. I dont use GPS often but when I do I need it to work and better yet work with ease. Garmin is almost idiot proof.

 

Thats what I need...something thats IDIOT proof. How hard was the changeover?

 

I've never missed with my stock NAV. What's the address and I'll enter it on mine and see if it gives me a "shot" at it.

Elmer

 

Get ready for the factory NAV is great, you just have to learn how to use it posters. I have pretty much hated mine from day one.

Check out this screen shot I took, I was a little east of Birmingham, AL and put in my home address. It said the normal route was west to Birmingham, north to Chattanooga, TN and then south to Atlanta, GA, 281 miles. The quick and short routes were just east to Atlanta and only 163 miles.

 

What do you have set as your route options? It picks from your settings.

 

I know what the problem is.....you have XM set on 8. The Nav has "acid rock" on the brain....

 

Yea, I know...there are quite a few posters who like the GM Navi...we all know that...so there is no need for them to post "I Love it" replies.

And to the previous poster who wanted the address to see if it works in your GPS, send me a PM and I'll reply. But honestly, today was only one example of the GM Navi's ineptitude. This darn thing couldn't even find its way home, which is a known location! Also as I mentioned in the original post, I have version 5 of the Navi disks so it 'should' contain roads which are over 11 years old.

If it weren't for the limited HUD display functionality, I'd rip it out today. It is virtually useless and to quote a pilot friend of mine, "you should rely on your instruments".

With the GM Navi, this is simply not possible.

 

Changeover was neat and tidy.

 

It told me to proceed to the highlighted route. Hmmm, if I knew how to get to the highlighted route (4 miles of left and right turns and in and out of communities), I wouldn't need a GPS!


Ran into the same problem with a 08 tahoe, if there is a solution to this problem I need to know it.

 

Here is another example.

What did I do wrong to get this result?



Bowling Green, KY to Cumming, GA
quick 331
short 307
normal 438

 

Not an "excuse" for the factory nav, but a possible explanation for your original problem:

If you are in a "non-detailed coverage area" (usually, out in the boonies), the system may display the roads but be unable to actually calculate a route along them. My "work-around" is to expand the scale enough to see where the route begins, then shrink the scale back down to show the local roads and follow them "manually" until I'm on the calculated route. Annoying, but it works.

FWIW, we also have two Toyotas (2005 and 2011) with factory nav. Both of them are slightly better then our C6 nav, but they too sometimes screw up.

We've taken several road trips of 2k+ miles in the company of other cars using Garmin and Magellan nav units. Again, they sometimes do better than our C6 but sometimes they do worse. Certainly not enough to make me want to switch.

 

Exactly why we didn't want Nav, I had tried it before in a friend's vette and I did not like it. My cell has GPS and we have a seperate GPS that I can also transfer to each vehicle.

 

Kenwood DNX7100

 

Thanks for the input and yes, I have also followed that procedure. As for being in the boonies, I can also understand that the GM Navi might have a problem but the very same boonies are no problem to a cheap Garmin Nuvi.

I have taken the Garmin on board the vette to some very remote corners of NC and the Garmin has always been on the mark, while the GM Navi's results are dismal.

The GM Navi does a fairly good job with Interstates and 'main roads' but doesn't hold a candle to my 'lil Garmin. And I am sure the Kenwood is a better unit as well.

I really don't want to beat a dead horse on the board, so I simply summarize 'my' feelings. The GM Navi is terrible!

 

Somehow that doesn't surprise me.

Except for the HUD integration, I saw no benefit to getting the on-board nav...the price was ridiculous - around $1,500? I would only be able to use it in 1 car, and if I do want to replace it someday I'd have to rip into the car vs. just buy a new one and stick it on the windshield. Built-in nav? Not for me, thanks.

This kind of gadget goes through a lot of changes in a short amount of time - they get faster, better at routing, more features, and less expensive. For example, the Garmin I just bought puts my 5 year old model to shame.....and it costs much less than what I paid for the first one. Actually the price on the new one dropped $50 since I bought it a month ago. It's just one thing I would definitely not want or pay for in a new car.

 

I'm not so sure about interstates and main roads either. On a trip from the Chicago 'burbs to Gettysburg, PA, the factory nav wanted me to get off the PA Turnpike on a "service Road." I didn't discover this until I was two miles away and the Nav said "Exit right in two miles" and there were no green exit signs. To its credit there was a service road where it wanted me to get off, but it was locked -- and looked like I would bottom out the vette on it. It did adjust when I went past the service road, but I think I should have exited sooner.

 

Geez, you guys are starting to make me reconsider getting the factory Navi in the Vette. I have the factory Nav in the Caddy Sport Wagon and it's fantastic.

 

I don't personally know anyone with an aftermarket nav installed in his dash, not sure if thieves go after them. To me, having the factory built-in unit that no one will try to steal, is a huge advantage. But you may not care.

 

They won't try and steal it because they don't want to get lost trying to make their getaway