Hey everyone, new to this place and I'm ready to buy a camry hybrid...I think. But the question I have is that is the navigation system worth getting? Overall I've read some post on how horrible and outdated the navigation program is. While I've hear you can't get as much gas milage without monitoring your engine/synergy on the screen? I thought it also had another meter infront of the odomter that tells about regenerative breaking and such? Please help me clarify this problem and I thank you all.

 

I would not buy the NAV just for the consumption screen. That is an added bonus.

The maps are somewhat outdated, but not enough to make me not find my system very usefull for travelling. It's NOT horrible, but it may not be as up to date as some of the stand alone units. Considering the other features it offers besides just the mapping I am glad I was "stuck" with this. It is my first NAV system and I am enjoying the features very much.

 

I've been driving my car for 4 days now and I love the NAV screen. I find that I switch between the consumption screen and the NAV mostly for normal use. I've used the guidance twice so far; once while driving home from the dealer (about 80 miles) and once while coming to work on Monday just to see if it would tell me to take the way I normally go.

I would say that it’s really a personal preference but for me I “had” to have the NAV screen for the simple fact that I’m a computer nerd at heart. I already had a $900 Street Pilot GPS that I was using in my old car but it’s much better IMO having it all integrated. Yesterday I synched my Blackberry via Bluetooth during lunch and I was making and receiving calls via the NAV screen on the ride home just for fun. If you’re into gadgets you gotta do it.

If you are thinking about NAV or no NAV only without thinking about getting leather seats and a sunroof then you may have trouble finding a vehicle unless you can get a dealer to add NAV afterwards as an option by itself. ALL of the TCH Hybrids that I’ve seen so far have been in only two flavors; “Loaded” with everything including NAV (which I held out for) or “Base” which has cloth and no NAV or Sunroof. Just something to keep in mind.

Good Luck…

 

I agree with the last poster!.. It IS worth it and I can't imagine my TCH without it. We have used it a number of times already and it is definately a great thing to have.
Only the newest places, Points-of-interest, roads etc. are missing. If you take a little time with it, read through the extensive manual, and begin to use it, you will love it.
I have a hand-held Magellan GPS but this is a whole lot better. There will still be times where the portable is the only option, but as far as automotive use, it is superb.
My wife discovered she can locate clothing stores in unfamiliar areas with it.. (This could be a bad thing, I suppose!).
I plan a long western trip in the fall, so will really try it out then.
FYI it is a DENSO system, (Japan) version 5.1 meaning 2005 version 1.

 

While I have an HCH, not a TCH I can definitely say that a nav system is one of the best investments I've made in a new car. More accurate and convenient than my mobile Garmin unit.

 

I LOVE my Nav system. For instance, the boyfriend and I were stuck as to what kind of restaurant to eat. So, I entered my nav system, did the POI category search, chose current position, went into restaurants, chose the different categories of restaurants we might have been interested in for the night and searched. It pulls up a bunch of info on the restaurants including their telephone number and address.

I also love the little quirks with the Nav system. For instance, we drove to this new development a little outside of the city near my boyfriend's parents' house. We set their house as the destination, but purposely drove through the new development. As we approached it, you could clearly see that the Nav maps lacked the new street, so there was white space. As we drove onto the new street and onto the white, the Nav system started beeping at us, very "Danger Danger Will Robinson." It stayed on the whole time we were in the new area, but the cursor was just floating through white space.

The Nav system has a lot of wow factor and I think it's great. It is a fantastic part of the vehicle and there's so much you can do with it. Don't just think about the maps. Think about how much cooler your sound system controls are, the Bluetooth functions for your phone, the touch screen, the consumption and energy screens, the radio stations. On almost all radio stations, the Nav screen will tell you the name of the station and its genre. On some of the radio stations, the Nav screen will tell you the above information in addition to the name of the song!

IMO, very, very worth it. The geek value is great and I can't live without it now.

 

I also love the little quirks with the Nav system...you could clearly see that the Nav maps lacked the new street, so there was white space.

After paying $1200 for the system few would find the love in this "quirk". It should be as up to date as is available, not a 2005 issue (and even then several years out of date in some cases).

 

I had thought that that the TCH came with bluetooth w/ or w/o the navigation, am I right?


Thanks.

 

This is one of those decisions that is very personal and it depends on your personality. The Toyota/Lexus Navi system is the second best on the market (for manufacturer-installed systems...behind Honda/Acura), by almost all accounts. Most cars will come standard with the Navi within about 5 years, is my guess.

If cash is important to you, don't get it. But most people who get it use it and like it.

 

I understand the frustration and have felt it myself at various times (I'm a long-time GPS owner, and a small-time Garmin stockholder,) but it's a mapping software issue/deficiency not a NAV system issue/deficiency.

The world changes daily, whereas the world captured on those navigation CDs/DVDs is frozen in time. Discrepancies and missing data are a fact of life in any GPS system, high end or low. New disc sets are available for purchase, or should be -- they are in all the portable GPS units I use and I've read they are available for the Ford Escape Hybrid's stock NAV system as well, so I'm assuming they are for the Camry Hybrid and other NAV-equipped vehicles. The data discs generally aren't cheap. Something has to pay for the time, cost and effort of getting cities, counties and states to provide accurate data on any new roads, lanes, etc. built in the past 12-24 months.

Write to the manufacturer of the Navigation CDs. If they're like Garmin (which they may not be), they have an online form where you can report data inaccuracies/missing data and get that in their list of "to do's" in the next version of the map CDs/DVDs. For example, one year ago a new turn lane was put in near my home and my third party GPS unit (which I also use in my hybrid) kept telling me I was off-route. The next version of the mapping software? It knew about the double lane turn lane. Same with a Dairy Queen (fast food) that had morphed into McDonald's when we routed to it a year or two ago. Now? It's stored properly as a Dairy Queen.