They are copyrighted by Tom Tom and GM.

 

EXACTLY. We have a 2004 Toyota and a 2008 Mazda, both with Denso factory navs that are very similar to the unit in the C6s. All use a similar system to input addresses and display destinations, and all have similar graphics. It sure seems they all use a similar database on their DVD discs.

The cost to replace the discs from Toyota or Mazda are right in line with the GM prices. So I don't think GM is out of line with what they are asking, although they are all too high. That said, I bought an update for our Toyota on EBay for $80, and have never updated our Mazda.

I actually like a factory nav but at this point I see no reason to pay for any more updates. Very little changes from one disc to the next, a brand new Garmin is cheaper and the GPS on my phone is free.

Of course eventually all this will become a non-issue as the DVD based navs are already obsolete technology.

 

A little off topic but any ideas on Non Map DVD error message on nav. Same discs. It works about 40% of the time.

 

That would be news to GM. As I recall, teh only other car that shared the C6 nav was the Cadillac. The nav is an expensive unit and if GM sold 10,000 a year I think they would be overjoyed. Some years they would have been overjoyed to sell that many C6s! If they don't sell 10,000 hardware units they can't be selling 1,000 disc updates.

No, they don't and aren't. The vast majority of owners couldn't tell the difference between a new disc and a 5 year old disc. The differences are minor. People complain that streets aren't on the disc but that is because people don't report the errors. You will often see people complaining here about streets that aren't on the brand new discs that have been in use for years. And a brand new Garming with an update generated just minutes ago is going to have the same issue because there are only 4 databases and GM and Garmin use the same one.
Not specific but almost specific. Go try to get a disc and the first thing you are asked for is the vehicle it is for. The OP's 2008 C6 needs disc 22944166 while the more popular 2008 Silverado needs 23128606. The cost of the database can be spread out but the cost of making all those different discs for all the different nav units can not.
On that we can agree. But I would point out that GM marketing people are not total idiots. If they are making customers unhappy with a disc update price and they could cut the price, don't you think they would? Even "last years" model only goes down 25% when they are trying to unload them. They discount the cars more than that. Clearly the profit margin on these discs is very thin.

 

We also need to understand that just as GM is not an oil refiner or a steel producer, carbon fiber maker or glass manufacturer, they are not an automotive electronics manufacturer. They do not produce NAV DVDs. Like most parts of the car, these are made by suppliers. The NAV system is made by Denso, which has a relationship to Toyota that is similar to what Delco had to GM. The product cycle of automotive electronics is much longer (slower) than that of consumer electronics. Garmin has the luxury of making a product that works all by itself, whereas the Denso NAV unit had to be made to interface with a C6 in 2005. To do this, it had to be fairly well finalized a couple of years before that...maybe in 2003. Does anyone remember what a handheld GPS from Garmin looked like in 2003. It certainly did not look like the slick little units that we have today. Even voice recognition technology was pitiful in 2003 compared to what Google and Siri do today.
Kenwood and Pioneer are both way ahead of our NAV unit, but neither of them has to interface with the C6 in any serious way, other than physically fitting in the dash space. They don't have to talk to the data bus, they just have to output to amps and speakers, turn lights on or off etc. This makes it easier for them to move at the faster speed of consumer electronics, rather than the slower one of automotive electronics.
Even our vaunted CANBUS data network that is controlling our cars is sadly slow compared to the gigabit networks that our home computers are currently using. The CPUs in our PCM and BCM are far less capable than the Nvidia and Qualcomm CPUs that are in every other smartphone that a 14 year old kid carries around every day. This is simply indicative of the difference in development times between automotive and consumer electronics. Too bad, so sad.

 

If the disc is actually an authentic commercial map DVD and not a burned copy, then the problem is likely dust on the laser lens or dust or a scratch on the disc itself.

 

Bought the car second hand. I think it's a copy. Tried the canned dust off stuff.

 

Mine dose that error a lot with a brand new disc from GM.

 

If Garmin can roll back their price on their disc why in the world can't GM roll back their's?

 

Garmin knows they have competition. If the price of the disk is too high, people can just buy a new unit. The unit might not be a Garmin so they risk losing customers. GM feels they've got us by the ***** because replacing the built in unit is expensive so they figure we'll bend over and take their price gouging.

 

My understanding is that the C7 does not use a disc, the data is downloaded into the unit at the factory or updated at a dealership.

At first, that sounds good. But on the C7 you won't be able to save money by buying a slightly outdated disc, or borrowing one from a buddy.

Unless some outside person figures out how to do the nav downloads, the C7 nav will be the real "bend over" system. At whatever price GM wants to charge.