The maps suck

All factory navigation units fall flat, this Toyota one is leaps and bounds better than previous iterations. Try using a 2006 Sequoia nav unit, its fucking awful.

 

And it does not help to have so many streets missing....even old ones.

 

Looks like the Entune nav map can be updated, but Toyota will charge you. See page 261 of the Nav PDF.

http://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/omnav-s/OM04007U/pdf/OM04007U.pdf

I rarely use the Nav feature, but when I do it generally does a good job getting me to a unfamiliar destination.

 

I did a Nuvi update about 6 months ago and it really screwed up the directions. Both fastest and shortest routes ALWAYS were the same. It would not take interstates at all. I did another update 2 weeks ago and it seems to be better. I won't know until I take another trip. The Taco nav is light years ahead of my Nuvi.

 

*shrug* Works for me as well as anything. Not perfect but gets the job done. I've had inbuilt nav for better than nine years in different vehicles. Mostly I like it for situational awareness and traffic info.

It did a fine job a couple days ago on a 350 mile trip, routing me around a closed section of I85 *and* avoiding the majority of the backed up traffic on the official detour.

Nobody's clairvoyant, whadya expect?

Easily fixed....

 

I always have a Rand McNally atlas with me. It never fails.

 

SCANDISK is a MSDOS utility, typically still available in Windows.
SanDisk is a flash memory manufacturer/vendor.
SecureDigital is a specific type of memory card often referred to as an SD card or for the smaller format, microSD.

Good luck finding a "better chip" - the head unit looks for a proprietary data set and the microSD cards are not copyable. Folks have tried. Your best bet will be to replace the headunit.

 

I believe Toyota only updates the maps once a year. You can buy the SD card with the updated maps from the parts department at many Toyota dealers and install it yourself for ~$150 or have the dealer install it for ~$250. In either case not worth it IMO.

 

On android phones and tablets Google maps allows you to store offline areas. I have the whole state of Michigan saved offline on a 10" tablet that I bring with me on road trips while using a dash mount kit. Its way better than any radio nav or killing my phone's data plan/battery. I have the state split into 4 zones/files totaling around 700mb.

 

Yes, I have to use old fashioned forest service maps. To bad those don't show my location in real time via GPS.
Yes, the maps work great if I'm going to the mall. But once I hit dirt, pretty much useless.
There just isn't enough detail for offroad use. What did they do? Buy the rights to 2008 TomTom tech?

 

So how does that show your location in real time?

 

My nav has been functionally ok. The data seems pretty accurate, and I'm fine with the directions it's given me. I like Entune Traffic overlay, and I'll adjust myself and let the nav recalculate my route.

My biggest gripe is about the actual graphics of the map. Zoom out one level, and major roads disappear. To view street names, you must zoom in so much that the map is borderline unusable.
I'm constantly zooming in and out. It's a usability and interface problem for me, the underlying data seems fine.

(I'm a software developer, so my view is all things can be solved with better code.)

My wife has had a 2010 Murano and 2014 pathfinder, and the nav interface on those is 10x better. Nissan has done a great job with their maps, but seems like all nav systems are nowhere near google or waze.

On the bright side, I've been impressed with the Entune voice commands and recognition.

Maybe I just need to spend more time leveraging my new phone with the truck, but it really feels like Entune could work on the software side and put out an update pretty easily.

 

GPS doesn't require cellular connectivity to identify your location. Phones and tablets only need the connectivity to get the map data. Load it up locally and you're golden.

 

Everything is done via the google maps app on android it works exactly the same as if you were downloading realtime directions over 4G or if you have the area zoned and saved for offline use. The only thing it cannot do is give real time traffic and reroutes if you're stuck in bad traffic. Last summer I used it to find our buddy's camp site using GPS long/lat Cords which was right off a forest service road here in MI (Huron National Forest).

 

Ok. So I am going to have to learn how to download a map for offline use. How do I do that?

 

Keep in mind you're not downloading a Map/directions offline. You're downloading areas/zones of the state you'll be traveling.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMHdatCsBSM

 

Very true. Anyone that follows a GPS blindly is going to have problems.

Good example: Going from Boston to New York on my last road trip. Google maps, toy gps and iphone wanted to go George Washington Bridge. Now that is not smart in the middle of the day. I programmed in an address near the Tappan Zee bridge which was about 30min longer but when you factor in the common sense of shit happens all the time on the George Washington it was probably much quicker and less stressful. Tech is only as smart as the person using it

 

Agreed. I'll use GPS but have usually looked up the route previously to ensure it's aligned with what makes sense.

Woman Follows GPS, Drives Car Into Canada's Georgian Bay

 

True, also depending on time hitting the tap zee, go a little further north and take 684? I think it is, just dumps you a bit north of where the zee leaves ya.

 

I use mine all the time and don't have any complaints. Its far better than any other factory ones I've seen.