Updates for the new in car Garmin SatNav

[alboy]

I asked a dealer yesterday about how you update the Garmin SatNav installed in the new jazz and if you get lifetime updates and I was told that you get 4 updates which are done by the dealer and then you will have to pay for future updates.
Considering that you can get a Satnav even from Garmin with lifetime updates from about £100 this seems daylight robbery as the in car version cost about £600 and yet another way of holding the buyer to ransom.
I will not be buying the in car unit as I have a TomTom with lifetime updates and traffic updates included.

Alboy

[John Ratsey]

I completely agree.

My TomTom seem to have updates on a monthly basis. Waiting up to a year to get an in-car satnav updated with maps that are probably already 6 months out of date isn't a competitive alternative.

[VicW]

I think this applies in general to all in-car satnavs going back some years.
Many drivers, apparently, prefer to use their free standing satnavs because they are easier to see without taking your eye too far off the road and, as mentioned, free to update for life, like my Tom Tom.
I'd rather put the money towards other extras.

Vic.

[culzean]

I suppose the perceived  value in a built in satnav is that the same screen is normally used as a phone / reversing camera etc - but personally I prefer free standing satnav because new ones have large screens and will talk to bluetooth etc and  have come down in price a lot in last few years and map upgrades for life are cheap and it is easier to upgrade the unit and also can be moved from one vehicle to another.  And as VicW points out you can mount the satnav screen where you prefer it,  not low down on the dash in centre of the car.

My Garmin gets updates 4 times a year.

[RichardA]

It's common for manufacturers to only offer limited free sat nav updates (if that); Mazda for example only offer free updates for to three years.

[mylesm]

With the almost universal use of Smart phones which have built in GPS modules I feel that the Sat nav industry is really going to feel pain and they are already promoting apps for phones

I use sygic on my Smart phone and I find it great no need for an internet connection while using it as you download maps onto phone and use internal phone GPS unlike Google maps which needs a Data connection

I recently used it on a holiday to France and it worked flawlessly I also used it in America perfect

Its I think £19 for all Europe but I purchased the world edition I think it was 60 and they always update the maps and you have a lifetime license

I have no affiliation just a satisfied user
mylesm

[John Ratsey]

I would also give OpenStreeMaps (OsmAnd for Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.osmand, not sure about the Apple version) a mention. It also uses pre-downloaded maps and doesn't need a live data connection. The first so many map blocks are free. However, I haven't tried its navigational capabilities and have only used it to track where I am. If I could have this mapping displayed on the car's screen then the need for a proper sat-nav would be much reduced.

[Sidot]

My five year old grandson has downloaded openstreetmaps onto my smartphone, he loves doing such things!  It's usually games.
Thank you for the suggestion.  I have tom tom sat nav and use it on holiday etc, but as you say it would be good to dispense with it and get mapping onto the car screen if this is possible.
Thanks for your research and keep up the good work.

[guest1372]

I would also give OpenStreeMaps

Great for real maps, but for nav, directions, crowd-sourced traffic speeds & real time re-routing, you can't beat Waze, free except for the fairly minimal amount of data used (19.21Mb over 30 days, and starting outside the house probably using wifi anyway), and Google Maps is also very good and now caches maps & routes offline. Have been perplexed (and ignored it) when it wanted me to leave the motorway only to join the back of a 1 hour standstill; the more recent versions at least give you a clue why.

I use sygic on my Smart phone and I find it great no need for an internet connection

For France I used and recommend the 14 day free trial of Sygic so no data used at all, but it does not benefit from the dynamic data of other map users.

The premium for Navi editions, makes me believe only ex-demo cars will have it, even £60 for a TomTom seems steep compared to smart phones considering they are likely to be with you, playing podcasts or BBC catch-up over the bluetooth, and acting as a phone.

Jump in a six year old Jag with DVD maps and it seems antique.

Incidentally, Waze GPS 70mph = 74mph on the clock.
--
TG

[guest907]

My last Jazz EX had the premium pack including Garmin Full Europe dash mount sat nav. Worked great for 12 months then stopped "Cannot Unlock Maps"...WHY? Eventually Honda customer Services rang me back to tell me 12 month licence only and I could buy another licence for £75.

At least the car (not Jazz 3) I have now uses SD card which may become outdated over the two years I have the car bit won't suddenly stop...and free traffic included!

[jasonevans]

I use Co-pilot on my phone and it works great. Free updates and it's got me round europe for the last 10 years when I go to Spa in Belgium and the ring in Germany plus the odd trip to Italy ( France,Germany,Belgium,Italy ) and it works faultlessly. Maps are off-line so are stored in SDcard or phone memory so only needs gps on your phone and no data useage. 

[guest4324]

I use the HERE navigation app for android which is from Nokia. It's now available free for all android devices (don't know about apple) and you can also download as many maps as you want to use offline, or use it online and have traffic info. So far I've used it all over Switzerland as well as parts of France and Germany with no faults.

[jazzaro]

Surfing some american websites about the 2015 FIT, I've found an interesting page:
http://www.hondapartsnow.com/parts-list/2015-honda-fit-5dr-ex-ln-leather-navi-ka-6mt/navigation-system.html
Look at piece nr 4: there is a SD card, and it's price lets me think it contains the whole maps (in this case, maps about USA and CANADA).
Garmin devices usually store additional maps inside a SD card, and the path is named /garmin/gmapsupp.img; I own an old Nuvi200, with OEM maps of Italy and Greek, but I also have a 4GB sd card where I put updated maps about the whole Europe; I simply set the sd card file as  the default map, disabling the OEM 2008 map inside the device. The device is a bit slow and basic, but it's a good backup system when the smartphone stops working.
Maybe this trick can be done also for the new Jazz Navi system: could anyone gently check if the SD card contains a standard filesystem, a folder named GARMIN and a file named gmapsupp.img?