[cheshirecat7]

We recently took deliver on a new 2004 Prius with option 9. I am most disapointed with the Nav system. (I own other GPS systems from Magellan, Delorme and Garmin) The Toyota/Denso system only seems to be able to provide city to city assistance with a very poor street level to street level routing. Frequently, it does not start at street address (shows map and "prompts" you use closest roads to get to start point) and ends sometimes miles from the destination street address) and again "prompts" you use map screen to nav by best possible method.

I have never had such a low level of routing detail calculations! I have written the vendor that supplied Toyota with the maping software and was assured that using the same database software, other brands of Nav Systems are able to provide instructions to the street level ! They suggested that "if the system only works to the level of major roads, it must be something in the Nav systems algorithm for ploting route.

I had my dealer try a few addresses on another Toyota vehicle (not Prius) and he had the same result, yet to date, Toyota USA has no answer for this glaring deficiency in what is otherwise a wonderfully high-tech car!

We love the car, but compared to my Garmin Streetfinder III, the Prius Nav system about 5 years behind the competition.

Has anyone else had similar observations and if you reported same, what was the outcome?

 

[john1701a]

> Frequently, it does not start at street address (shows map and "prompts" you use closest roads to get to start point) and ends sometimes miles from the destination street address) and again "prompts" you use map screen to nav by best possible method

Where do you live?

My guess is location is an influence on the amount of detail available, since that is definitely NOT the behavior I have experienced. Start & End points are typically within spitting distance for me, no prompting needed.

 

[mrv]

We recently took deliver on a new 2004 Prius with option 9. I am most disapointed with the Nav system. (I own other GPS systems from Magellan, Delorme and Garmin) The Toyota/Denso system only seems to be able to provide city to city assistance with a very poor street level to street level routing. Frequently, it does not start at street address (shows map and "prompts" you use closest roads to get to start point) and ends sometimes miles from the destination street address) and again "prompts" you use map screen to nav by best possible method.

I have never had such a low level of routing detail calculations! I have written the vendor that supplied Toyota with the maping software and was assured that using the same database software, other brands of Nav Systems are able to provide instructions to the street level ! They suggested that "if the system only works to the level of major roads, it must be something in the Nav systems algorithm for ploting route.

I had my dealer try a few addresses on another Toyota vehicle (not Prius) and he had the same result, yet to date, Toyota USA has no answer for this glaring deficiency in what is otherwise a wonderfully high-tech car!

We love the car, but compared to my Garmin Streetfinder III, the Prius Nav system about 5 years behind the competition.

Has anyone else had similar observations and if you reported same, what was the outcome?

Depends on the coverage level where you live.
Around eastern MA, the start point and end point are usually within a 1/4 mile of the actual location (often spot-on).
When I traveled to ME to visit some relatives, it could get me only as far as the intersection of a major road (US rt. 1) and the road to the person's house. I could see the road on the map, but it did not have Nav guidance for the smaller roads. The Nav system pretty much said that you're on your own to find the final point... or on the return trip home I had to return to that starting point in order to get guidance. That never happens when I travel around eastern MA, which has complete street-level mapping/guidance.

 

[Joel]

I had a Garmin StreetPilot III Deluxe in my last vehicle and I thought it did a heck of a lot better job planning a route than the one in the Prius seems to be doing. I thought it was just my own experience driving around po-dunk Texas.

 

[Phoenix]

Aftermarket GPS

I have a 2002 Prius without the NAV system. I am interested in an aftermarket GPS that will work on streets, and that can also be used in boats. The Ford dealers here are including a Garmin unit with all new cars. Is this a good unit, or does anyone have recommendations on a better one?

 

[extex]

Suggest you check out the site http://www.gpspassion.com which has extensive reviews of GPS solutions (mainly for PocketPC).

I have a Dell Axim X5, Copilot compact flash GPS with aux antenna and use CoPilot, Mapopolis, and Deluo Routis. All have their advantages and disadvantages, but my experience has been pretty good with Routis and Mapopolis. Copilot is somehat quirky and the proprietary mapping is not too good in some areas.

Both Routis and Mapopolis use Maptech map data.

 

[extex]

Suggest you check out the site http://www.gpspassion.com which has extensive reviews of GPS solutions (mainly for PocketPC).

I have a Dell Axim X5, Copilot compact flash GPS with aux antenna and use CoPilot, Mapopolis, and Deluo Routis. All have their advantages and disadvantages, but my experience has been pretty good with Routis and Mapopolis. Copilot is somehat quirky and the proprietary mapping is not too good in some areas.

Both Routis and Mapopolis use Maptech map data.

 

[LMSellers]

I decided to choose a vehicle without the option Nav Package ... and ended of adding a Magellan RoadMate 700. It's fast. It's got the entire United States on the built-in hard-drive. It doesn't need an external antenna ... period. And, I can carry it from car to car. Found a local dealer who gave me a good discount. Nope, don't have the "voice activation" but that just means I'll have to converse with other passengers in the car instead <grin>.

 

[cheshirecat7]

Re: Aftermarket GPS

I have a 2002 Prius without the NAV system. I am interested in an aftermarket GPS that will work on streets, and that can also be used in boats. The Ford dealers here are including a Garmin unit with all new cars. Is this a good unit, or does anyone have recommendations on a better one?

Yes, I have both a Garmin Streetfinder III which is primarily fo cars and a Garmin GPSMAP 168 Sounder w/Mapsource Fishing Hot Spot which I use in my boat (has fishfinder/depthfinder) and my other car as road nav. Has same excellent routing as the Streetfinder III. (wish my Prius was half as good)

 

[cheshirecat7]

> Frequently, it does not start at street address (shows map and "prompts" you use closest roads to get to start point) and ends sometimes miles from the destination street address) and again "prompts" you use map screen to nav by best possible method

Where do you live?

My guess is location is an influence on the amount of detail available, since that is definitely NOT the behavior I have experienced. Start & End points are typically within spitting distance for me, no prompting needed.

It is not a issue "where I live", I have run comparisons with Magellan and my Garmin units (Streetfinder III and GPSMAP 168 Sounder w/Mapsource Fishing Hot Spot ) and they all start at my EXACT address and thus far, have NEVER FAILED to route me to the EXACT end point (including mountain cabin roads in NC)! BTW I have homes or travel to homes in East Palatka, FL, Durham, NC and Zionville, NC all routed flawlessly by the other products!

 

[Steve Goldenberg]

You may not have set the map area to your area.
There are 13 areas on the map DVD. You must set which one you are in to get the street level detail. It's in the setup section.

 

[Nomax]

It seems the Prius Navi Hardware can do even 3 D !

Have a look:

http://gazoo.com/nvis2/prius/kaze/img2/1_2a.jpg

I would like to have it !

Nomax

 

[Dion]

Where is there photo from?

It seems the Prius Navi Hardware can do even 3 D !

Have a look:

http://gazoo.com/nvis2/prius/kaze/img2/1_2a.jpg

I would like to have it !

Nomax

This looks cool but is it real? What is the source of this photo?

 

[Brian]

But also look to the left, it is in japanese. That feature might only be on the japanese model.

 

[cheshirecat7]

Prius GPS poor nav routing

You may not have set the map area to your area.
There are 13 areas on the map DVD. You must set which one you are in to get the street level detail. It's in the setup section.

:?:

Steve,

I would have to be very stupid not to set my local area in the system. That was the first thing I did after reading the instruction manual. If you follow the threads above, you will see that I have made comparisons to other products, contacted Toyota and had my experiences verified by my Toyota sales person and much more that I did not list. Note also above that one respondent says his system "frequently gets within 1/4 mile of destination except in ME"! OUCH, my Garmin takes me door to door with audio and screen instructions.

I have yet to find an address that the Garmin cannot locate and the exact opposite with the Prius system. Unless the destination is on a major highway, you are left some distance away, but at the closest (line of sight/as a crow flies) point on the "approved road" to the desired address. In the case of my house, that point is at closest 2 miles from the nearest crossroad that could lead you to my address.

 

[cheshirecat7]

Latest on Prius Nav system

Well after many Emails to Denso, Toyota USA, GDT, and Toyota Japan, I finally "clarified the problem" or rather the "reason" why the 2004 Toyota Nav system is so poor at door to door navigation. It seems that the folks at Toyota decided to use "detail" map data ONLY in major cities and not in lesser locations! So if you are navigating to an address that is not in one of the "chosen" cities, you will get the "horse-shoe" (close but not exact) navigation routing. The system will take you as near as the closest (by airline miles) point on a "known" (street, road or highway that is defined as a routable path) to your start or ending point. The sweet voice will then advise you that "route guidance is ending" and that you should use the maps to proceed to your destination (why shouldn't she????).

So that's it gang. Until Toyota decides to issue DVD map data with more detail routing, we are stuck with the system helping us to find the area, but leaving us to drive the last few miles with old fashion map reading instead of the use of our $1000 toy!

The moral for now, if you don't know how to get there, bring a better nav unit with you like the Garmin Streetpilot III, Delorme or Magellan!!

Cheshirecat7 (still luvin the Prius though)

 

[NoWr2Go]

Nav Unit - asks for detail streets

I am very satisfied with the navigation system however there is one major annoyane in my opinion. The system needs the very specific street address. For example, when I put in a location and push list, it comes up with the same stree (i.e. Sunset Blvd) but asks you to put in whether it is E. Sunset Blvd, W. Sunset Blvd, Sunset Blvd, etc......I actually had 8 choices to choose from and didn't know which one to use...so you have to experiment with this. In other cars, including the Acura's, the system does not require this. Does anyone know a workaround or am I stuck with this type of detail to know.

 

[BIF]

But also look to the left, it is in japanese. That feature might only be on the japanese model.

Look at the buttons along the right-hand side of the MFD...aren't those Japanese symbols too?