Yes, as I noted Google even warns me it needs to download data pre-trip as where I am going has poor coverage.

If you download the data in advance, Goggle maps works fine.

It is just kludgy when compared to a dedicated GPS, less kludgy if you always drive in the same area.

 

I highly doubt that you have driven the entire 50 states in the US! Yer just bitching.

A kludge is having to pay for a maps update then spend an hour installing it into your car. A $150 Garmin will age it's mapping data and need to be updated anyway. Both Google Maps and the factory nav will need some internet connection in order to detect real-time traffic. I find Google's real-time traffic much better than the car's and its re-routing is usually superb. And I'm driving between AZ and CA which is one of the more spotty areas of the country.

 

OP, can't talk about the latest Nav Update, I have a 2019. So far it has been pretty good about getting me around. I also have an Android based cell phone hooked to the car at all times. Pre-trip in my home with a couple of fingers of bourbon we (the wife and I) look at the route, stops and stayovers. Using my computer and it's large screen I "send to phone" as we plan our trip. When ever the GM nav gets lost, I simply say "Hey Google" lets go to...… And we're off. For back up and confidence I previously had a Garmin, always travel with my Garmin in the glove box and only pull it out when needed. It always has the latest maps from Garmin, uses GPS not cell, and never, not once has it lost signal, unknown location, and it's the best for getting around new traffic construction and accidents.

I personally will never buy GM Maps Update, when my Garmin has LIFETIME free updates along with Google Maps, there will never be a need.

 

Using just GPS you cannot say "Hey Google, navigate to <X>" because GPS doesn't know what X is. That's what mapping data is all about. I never lose GPS signal either or stated differently, if you were in an area that for some strange reason couldn't get the GPS signal with the car you wouldn't be getting GPS signal in the Garmin either. GPS is not used for locating places, mapping data is. GPS is used solely to say "You're here on the globe". It's mapping data that says "Well if you here on the globe that happens to also be where Dennys/McDonalds/Allen TX/I-5 is". Mapping data needs to be loaded on the device for it to work, be it the car, Google Maps or Garmin.

 

No, but you can say Garmin Voice and tell it to navigate to a place. Nobody can use "just GPS". You have to have a GPS receiver, and the Garmin receiver has the maps and POI data loaded with free lifetime updates.

I think a lot of the troubles with the factory NAV system is not knowing how to work it with all its idiosyncrasies. Once you get it figured out it works well. My Chevy truck does not have NAV so I have a Garmin in it. I prefer the factory NAV in my Corvette to the Garmin, and prefer either of those to the phone. But that's just me. I understand that others may have different - not necessarily better or worse - ideas of what works the best.

I updated my C7 NAV with the 2016 version and did not notice any difference in accuracy or data so I haven't updated since. I will likely get the next version they offer after it has been out for a while and the price reduced.

 

You are technical correct; I have yet to drive in Hawaii.


Yes, for free and there are typically three or four nationwide (and Canada and Mexico) updates each year. You can download them any time you would like. Quick, easy, and you never need to worry about having access to full map data on your device no matter where you go; it is always there.

Of course, use whatever device you would like for navigation. Maps still work, too.

I continue to find annoying how poorly built-in car navigation systems work. They should work at least as well as a inexpensive handheld unit or a free cellphone app, and should include at least yearly free updates.


One cannot do this. You can only download a portion of a state at a time and then only that which is defined by a movable box. It would take hours of kludging around with your phone to download even a limited portion of the country, and even then you would have no way of knowing if you lined up your sections well enough to get everything in that area.

Downloading maps for a specific route works well however.

 

We have a Garmin.
It does not display on the HUD.
It does not mute the music during voice commands.
It is not covered by our 3/36 warranty or GM extended warranty.
It should be removed or covered to avoid inviting theft when parked.
It requires some kind of separate mounting system.

Garmin makes nice gear, but lags behind the factory Nav in some ways.
No Nav system is perfect, all of them are good in some ways and lacking in others.

 

One can do this. Yes, it would require multiple “boxes” to cover very large areas and you can change the size of the boxes to select larger areas than the default. It does not take “hours of kludging around” and I have no problems selecting multiple areas. I have my home state and adjacent states downloaded with only a few “boxes” of area selected. It is a one time exercise to select the regions (“boxes”) that you want to download... it isn’t like you have to reselect the areas every time that you go driving.
Again, the point is that many people don’t seem to realize that you can download maps and that a constant mobile data connection is not required. A majority of people are not traveling the entire country every week as it sounds that you are doing, so it would be even lower effort.

 

I use my android phone, google maps and waze.

On longer trips, I usually use the in car nav to do the major routes and phone to navigate locally as it does interface nicely thanks to android auto. The nav updates are always lacking and get out of date too quickly for localization.

 

One would think that buying a $60K+ vehicle that free map updates for 5 years or so would be included. At least my new BMW does include OTA map updates for 4 years at no cost.

 

I'm still using the original disc (yes, I know, but I'm making a point) on my '05 (250,000 miles). Only twice in fifteen years has it not been able to find an address. Both times were early enough that my phone couldn't either.

On my '14, it has not ever been able to find an address. Sure, it's clunky inputting an address (learn how it works, folks), but I only ever use the OnStar app and input it via phone. It works great. Even when driving in remote areas, once the address is put in, it is not relying on any outside input, and it always gets me there.

 

I used the voice command to find my address on the gm nav while driving it home after buying it. That experience pretty much said I _hate_ the gm nav system.

The gm nav is a representation of the utter pettiness gm has to its customers. Charge for a sw update for a product which is inferior to free solutions, sure its integrated with the car hud, if you have hud, and it can mute the music to issue directives and has _some voice commands_ but overall it is NOT worth the 2K charge they ask for.

With an google maps say "directions to *address, city" is usually enough to get you a location and a tap of start gets it going on navigation. With android auto, you can do it all from voice with more intuitive voice commands. If connected to andoid auto, you get the sound muting too...

 

How did you get google maps thru your nav screen

 

This is how I manage as well

There are some apps that feature off line maps, for example Maps.ME - where you can download 5.5 GB of data (with just one click) that covers the entire USA.

My experience with Waze is it will cache enough data to get you thru dead zones where cell coverage drops out. For example I drove from Phoenix, AZ to Santa Ana, CA a few years ago (rental car w/o nav) and was offline for maybe 2 of the 6 hours it took to get there. The loss of data didn't really matter as your just cruising I-10 West pretty much the whole way.

 

Thxxxxxx

 

Navtool has a connection to the iPhone and displays anything that shows on the iphone. So, I can run google maps or anything the iPhone can run and it appears on my Nav screen.

I also have a front camera via Navtool. The 14s and 15s didn't get the front camera.

Elmer

 

Your smart phone is smarter than Debbie, or whatever you call your car!
😆

 

yeah, but does it V8?
🙂

 

I also doubt you've driven the 49 states either.

So then you mainly just dislike the price... I agree with you! I just use AA and have never been extort... err paid for a map update.

I assure you - I DO!

Why give out free updates when it's abundantly clear to me from this very forum that there are a ton of suck... err... people who would shell out good money for the update?

You might not be able to do this but I assure you, I just did. No, I didn't' download the entire country and my argument to you is you don't need it. You just need to know where you are going and then download those areas along with your intended route. It does not take a kludge at all and really, it does not take that long either. Just about any hotel I've been to or friend's house that I've stayed at, hell McDonalds and gas stations usually gives you enough connectivity to update your offline maps on the fly should you decide to change your directions en route. For example, recently I was in Tijuana visiting a friend of mine and I checked Google Maps to see if I still had offline maps for my trip back to Phoenix. I found some of those offline maps expired so I simply downloaded/updated them from my friend's WiFi connection. No problem.

 

Right but beware Google is now aging your offline maps and expiring them. I think (but have not verified) that if you plan a route going over an area that you previously had downloaded an offline map for that Google would ask you if you wanted to download it again. It would be the smart thing to do.

Yeah, I don't know why people don't understand this. Some of us get a new update to an app and look around to see what's new while others just remain ignorant of any new functionality, and some even brag about that ignorance (often with a pining of old methods like paper maps/check book/etc.