Nav stinks...

Honestly, I think you'll find a lot of manufacturers all use in-dash crap just the same as Toyota. Sure, Entune sucks, but I'd say other brands use head units that are just as bad. The problem is you can't easily update them to keep up with technology. Think about the design life of your smartphone (<3 years with constant OTA updates) versus the design life of the average vehicle (~10+ years with no connectivity other than USB).

 

I've never used an OEM navi that has been great.... My biggest gripe is that Toyota won't let you input a destination while moving. They need to put a switch on the passenger seat (like the airbag sensor) that allows for such a thing by a passenger. My Honda never cared whether I was moving or not.

And forget about broadcasting your iPhone on the screen. That's called CarPlay and Toyota is the only manufacturer who has specifically said (and I'm paraphrasing) "Nope, never."

Based on looks, I believe the unit in the taco is the same that's in my wife's '16 Sienna and if that's the case, it'll do just fine for me.

 

CarPlay is great and all, but it also sucks. Really only supports the Apple apps, and a few others. I just want a screen mirroring option (without having to add all the nonsense). Why can't manufacturers do that? Then they can keep up with ever-evolving technology by not having to do anything!

 

You'll have an appreciation for it when you are without cell service and can't add a destination on your phone. On a recent hiking/camping trip thru northern PA, had no cell service in 95% of the time. If I punched in a destination when I had cell service, the phone was fine. We had no preset destinations and it would have been impossible without the factory NAV to find any place without it.

 

Random tip of the day for anyone planning on going somewhere without cell service: If you get the Google Maps app on your phone then you can download a whole area of maps for offline use which can be used for phone navigation. I use it all the time for hiking when I go out to Colorado and driving around those back roads, comes in pretty handy.

 

I hear ya there. I think it's a liability thing preventing it from happening that way.... that and I'd guess Apple has their stuff on lockdown pretty good and would certainly want a piece of the pie.

I don't really know... but it would be nice to just have the phone screen in-dash.

Nonetheless, I'll take Entune. I always said my next vehicle would have CarPlay... then Toyota said "nope, never" and I was bummed... then we looked for a 3-row and I was sure it'd be a Pilot w/carplay. Joke's on me... no carplay in the Pilot at release. Oh and then as it turns out, the transmission on the Pilot sucked. And it was riddled with minor issues. No thanks. Tried-and-true 2016 Sienna XLE AWD fit the bill even better than the Pilot would have.

Just sold my Civic Si and I'm now Honda-free for the first time in my life (unless you count the 2004 Saturn Vue V6 AWD that has a Honda J35 in it.... I don't count it though).

But I digress....

 

The traffic information is coming from HD radio. HD radio is all over but there are some areas that do not have it or it cannot be picked up. It is updated automatically. I believe all new vehicles are coming with HD radios.

 

My wife's Civic has Android Auto and Apple Carplay, both are so much nicer. They are updated independent of Honda so they will always have the latest maps and features. The Toyota engineers just need to take a trip and get a rental with something that just works. Then maybe "Nope, never" will turn into "WTF am I doing with my life?"

 

^^This^^
They are ridiculously priced, hard to use expensive to update, you can probably buy a cheap gps for the price of the update on some.

I have a top of the line but ancient Tom-Tom I bought years ago that can still function and estimate distance when no GPS signal is available, a Nuvi with free lifetime updates, my Google on Iphone and all together they cost less than the factory unit and are easy to use and can be used even while moving by the navigator.

What's not to love!

 

How is the navigation system updated? Is it?

 

It doesn't usually take the fastest route, but it always gets me where I need to go in an unfamiliar area.

 

You need the new SD card. Entune/the OS is updated through a USB stick at the Toyota dealership.

 

fixed it for you...

 

I also hate our nav system. I only use it zoomed out for general area awareness when I travel. Google map rocks!

 

I'm not the OP but here is my list of issues with the navigation.

I've mostly only used it to test in various situation compared with my phone.

1. It is difficult to initiate. On my Android phone I say "navigate home" and it moves to navigation and gives me live traffic updates and reroutes me if there is a faster way. The on board nav takes a few steps to get it to start and so far it has never rerouted and while it gives some traffic updates they have generally been wrong.

2. It's difficult to search. I tried to find a car wash the other day and it took several attempts for it to even understand what I wanted (was using voice commands) and then didn't show the closest one that I was trying to get to. I knew the general area but not the specific address or how to get there. It was one of if not the closest at the time of the search but it didn't show it. After I got there (by memory which wasn't as faulty as I thought) I searched again and then it showed up 0.1 miles away. Why not when I was 2 miles away.

3. It is slow to reroute. Driving from Grand Lake, CO to Loveland over Trail Ridge road the navigation wanted to send me a completely different way even though I was already on Trail Ridge. I knew the way but wanted to know the ETA. It was about 1 hour off compared to my phone and kept telling me to make a u-turn so I ended up just turning it off. On another trip I turned onto a dirt road cutoff and again it kept telling me to make a u-turn. I've driven the road before and knew where I was going but the nav couldn't figure it out. It's also a very heavily used cutoff so not some random tiny road. Google maps worked fine.

4. It's too many clicks to turn off. Why not just a single exit button like on Google Maps?

It's not totally useless, but if you have a smartphone I don't see much value in the on board nav. It seems about as good as the Garmin units 20 years ago.

I think the only real use is when you don't have data on the phone. In a remote area you would at least have some functionality (at least I think you don't need a phone connected to use the nav).

TLDR: Yeah, it sucks.

 

I guess I'd just have to resort to a Map.

 

I never use the built-in Navigation. Phone is way better.

 

No different than any other integrated nav I've used. The "shortcuts" are garbage but at least it gives you an option. Had a blast taking my car on and off the freeway repeatedly because it was "faster". Nearly jumped my truck but that's half the fun.

 

I find mine to be useful when i'm in areas without cell service.
Otherwise its Waze.

 

^^^Agree with all of this. The constant U-turn is crap, then can't turn it off. This is exactly my frustration. I don't recall the Acura (Honda) system doing that. That's a big reason I stick to Waze.

But, like I said, navy just came with my TRD Pro package. I did not pick it out. I don't need or even want any Entune apps. Movie Tickets??? Who uses that crap. Wish Toyota would have put a moonroof option on Pro's. Probably wouldn't use that either (got a baldness issue too). But I'd like that more than Entune/Navigation. I also listen to sports radio almost all the time. So no need for JBL stuff. I bought my Taco b/c it is the best light truck on the road. Toyota can keep all the computer stuff.