RAV4.5 rubbish sat nav.

[Flatcoat]

I have the pre facelift RAV4.5 and the sat nav is utter rubbish. Yesterday while travelling from Filey to the cottage we are staying in, the satnav took us on a 5 mile detour off the A64 just to rejoin a mile after we turned off. This is by far not the first time similar has happened. The village where we are staying, is according to the satnav in the middle of a field with no road access…… again, not the first time this has happened. I shouldn’t have to revert to my phone as a satnav. My 2004 Audi with 1999 standard satnav worked better than this. Simply not good enough especially on a £45k car. 

[Terry10]

Never been that impressed with it either. I find that the voice tells you to turn off at the next junction when you are almost on top of it. In fact I have had to miss a turn off more than once because it would have been dangerous to turn at such a late point. I have actually turned the voice off now and only use the sat nav visually. Was hoping that things may have changed each year when it was updated but never did. Sat nav in the Rav is probably my biggest disappointment to be honest.

Terry

 

[Oscarmax]

11 hours ago, Flatcoat said:

I have the pre facelift RAV4.5 and the sat nav is utter rubbish. Yesterday while travelling from Filey to the cottage we are staying in, the satnav took us on a 5 mile detour off the A64 just to rejoin a mile after we turned off. This is by far not the first time similar has happened. The village where we are staying, is according to the satnav in the middle of a field with no road access…… again, not the first time this has happened. I shouldn’t have to revert to my phone as a satnav. My 2004 Audi with 1999 standard satnav worked better than this. Simply not good enough especially on a £45k car. 

if you think that is bad, our 2017 Ford Kuga with Fords Sync 3 Satnav completely useless it could not find our house or the M1, we still use our old Garmin Satnav with lifetime updates.

[Flatcoat]

49 minutes ago, Terry10 said:

Never been that impressed with it either. I find that the voice tells you to turn off at the next junction when you are almost on top of it. In fact I have had to miss a turn off more than once because it would have been dangerous to turn at such a late point. I have actually turned the voice off now and only use the sat nav visually. Was hoping that things may have changed each year when it was updated but never did. Sat nav in the Rav is probably my biggest disappointment to be honest.

Terry

 

Also had similar. It really should be better. 

[Iain_M]

It is fairly obvious that car manufacturers are fully aware that AA and AC are able to provide drivers with a free, up to the minute map so why would they spend any real cash on trying to improve their sat nav provision. Better screens are what attracts the punter IMO and that’s what is happening with car facelifts and year on year improvements. IMHO I can see the provision of sat nav by manufacturers being a thing of the past soon. They could use the money they save on improving car security!

[Hayzee]

6 hours ago, Iain_M said:

It is fairly obvious that car manufacturers are fully aware that AA and AC are able to provide drivers with a free, up to the minute map so why would they spend any real cash on trying to improve their sat nav provision. Better screens are what attracts the punter IMO and that’s what is happening with car facelifts and year on year improvements. IMHO I can see the provision of sat nav by manufacturers being a thing of the past soon. They could use the money they save on improving car security!

Volvo have now adopted Android to drive their infotainment system and Google Maps for Satnav. Seems a great idea to me.

[Nick72]

On 3/3/2024 at 9:18 PM, Flatcoat said:

I have the pre facelift RAV4.5 and the sat nav is utter rubbish. Yesterday while travelling from Filey to the cottage we are staying in, the satnav took us on a 5 mile detour off the A64 just to rejoin a mile after we turned off. This is by far not the first time similar has happened. The village where we are staying, is according to the satnav in the middle of a field with no road access…… again, not the first time this has happened. I shouldn’t have to revert to my phone as a satnav. My 2004 Audi with 1999 standard satnav worked better than this. Simply not good enough especially on a £45k car. 

Google Maps or Waze 😂

[Flatcoat]

12 hours ago, Iain_M said:

It is fairly obvious that car manufacturers are fully aware that AA and AC are able to provide drivers with a free, up to the minute map so why would they spend any real cash on trying to improve their sat nav provision. Better screens are what attracts the punter IMO and that’s what is happening with car facelifts and year on year improvements. IMHO I can see the provision of sat nav by manufacturers being a thing of the past soon. They could use the money they save on improving car security!

I dont disagree however if and when they do provide factory sat nav is it unreasonable to expect it to work?! 

[Nick72]

Wonder what the cloud integrated new version is like on the updated infotainment.

 

[Nick72]

2 minutes ago, Flatcoat said:

I dont disagree however if and when they do provide factory sat nav is it unreasonable to expect it to work?! 

Definitely not unreasonable. It's pretty garbage compared to all my past cars.

[Torrox]

My old land rover map update costs £180 by the dealer, £99 from eBay so I have been using Google maps from my iPhone instead.

[Rambler56]

Not quite as bad as the satnav on a Discovery Sport!  After updating the Toyota satnav six monthly since 2020 I find I just can't be bothered to do it anymore.  Much easier to use Waze.

[nlee]

20 hours ago, Nick72 said:

Wonder what the cloud integrated new version is like on the updated infotainment.

 

If it's the same as our Yaris, which I believe it is, it is much better, although it still has a few quirks.

[Centaur]

On 3/4/2024 at 10:21 PM, Nick72 said:

Wonder what the cloud integrated new version is like on the updated infotainment.

 

I'm really pleased with the new system.  It's a better screen to start with and the functionality seems excellent.  Certainly, it picks very good routes and dynamically re-routes to avoid traffic.  On the occasions that I have ignored its planned route, I have quickly run into traffic and regretted it - I now don't argue with it and just follow its instructions!  The only niggle is that there appears to be no way to silence the speech directions by default.  I often plug in well-known routes, for which I don't need directions, just to keep an eye on traffic issues but each time I have to manually mute the voice.

[Nick72]

4 hours ago, Centaur said:

I'm really pleased with the new system.  It's a better screen to start with and the functionality seems excellent.  Certainly, it picks very good routes and dynamically re-routes to avoid traffic.  On the occasions that I have ignored its planned route, I have quickly run into traffic and regretted it - I now don't argue with it and just follow its instructions!  The only niggle is that there appears to be no way to silence the speech directions by default.  I often plug in well-known routes, for which I don't need directions, just to keep an eye on traffic issues but each time I have to manually mute the voice.

Does the volume knob not work on the sat nav voice?

[philip42h]

7 hours ago, Nick72 said:

Does the volume knob not work on the sat nav voice?

No - the built-in sat nav voice guidance volume is controlled from the sat nav screen ...

(And, possibly, via the voice guidance volume via the set-up screen)

[CrazyCatman]

Funny enough I don't seems to have such issues with our Camry which I believe should have the same sat nav; I mean it does depend on which route setting it is on (Eco, Short, Fast I think they are called). But I've never had any crazy detours. I had on Waze but they was due to a que in Germany where it took me on a long detour but I saved a lot of time compared to hear sitting in idle. And the route was really beautiful.

I do hate that it sometimes want to be very specific in it's locations - down to village names, which are not necessarily in the address so if you aren't familiar with it it can be tricky finding the location: The same goes with our old Yaris (TNS 200 with TNS 300 DVD) - which obviously extremely outdated and are missing many roads.

I have a Garmin unit I bought cheap with life time map updates that I used for our Honda Goldwing although it is a car GPS that I quite like, but actually never use, and my preferred navigation software on phone is Waze but without the official AAAC update available I don't find it working so well in the Camry unless I use it as a phone - but then I won't get to use the HUD in the Camry (I rarely look at the Touch 2 screen but mainly the HUD).

[Strangely Brown]

I have never had any problems with the Nav and , TBH, I quite like it. Never had any wild detours and the mapping is no more than 6 months old (2 releases per year).

If the map looks like the road you are on does not exist then try zoom in on the map. I have mine set at 100m resolution and all of the roads show just fine.

Sometimes the answer is PICNIC.

[Flatcoat]

1 hour ago, Strangely Brown said:

I have never had any problems with the Nav and , TBH, I quite like it. Never had any wild detours and the mapping is no more than 6 months old (2 releases per year).

If the map looks like the road you are on does not exist then try zoom in on the map. I have mine set at 100m resolution and all of the roads show just fine.

Sometimes the answer is PICNIC.

The road disappears and is not to be seen. I am not an idiot. When I say the road isn’t there, it isn’t there. Having had numerous cars since 1999 with factory satnav I have plenty of comparisons. To add to the rubbishness of the set up is the map updating needs a degree in software operating. 

[Centaur]

On 3/30/2024 at 11:34 PM, Nick72 said:

Does the volume knob not work on the sat nav voice?

I think that the volume button works if the sat nav is talking at the time.  However, I would like to just either mute it or have it at a normal volume.  Most of the time I don't need the instructions, so mute by default would be handy.  If I overlook to press the mute button whilst selecting a destination, I have to go back into the destination entry and recalculate the route.  That just seems a bit long-winded.  A mute button on the sat nav screen may be a better solution 

[porbeagle]

Just plug in your phone (I connect mine with Android Auto) and use Waze.

Manufacturers have been getting their knickers in a twist for years about Sat Navs. They saw them as another way to make money, charging more for an update than a whole unit would cost.  Eventually they will realise their folly and, as has been said elsewhere, invest in better security. 

 

[Roy124]

The newer Smart Connect is a better map than Touch to Go but still has drawbacks.   Its colours are bland and lack definition.   Some very visible features that help you orientate, such as railways, are barely visible and level crossings can be a surprise. 

There is a 3rd option, trust me, but barely noticeable.  However compared with Google it has some useful soft hot keys for fuel, coffee,  parking etc.  When approaching a speed cam it will display the limit and your speed.   This is a true speed and lower than the instrument speed. 

As for routing, if you set the criterion as distance it can be littoral.

Mapping is by Mapbox and you can report errors directly to them.  In London MB displays 30mph.  I have reported this and they have address the problem. 

It remains to be seen if they have corrected the whole of London and not just Park Lane.

 

[Jimota]

Car play all the way for me.

[Terry10]

Well, I have just had a trip from Plymouth up to Shropshire for a wedding and the Toyota satnav was the last straw. Took me off the motorway about 70 miles short of my destination and up through Wolverhampton ect. into a total traffic jam . Absolute joke. Spoke to people who lived locally and they couldn't understand how the hell a satnav would bring anyone that way.Car will be 4 years old in December and no way am I paying for any sort of pathetic update.Coming back I used Waze and it was quite frankly a breath of fresh air. So easy it isn't true!  So for me it's problem solved! Why didn't I go over to Waze earlier.

regards Terry.

[ColinB]

On 3/30/2024 at 7:28 PM, Centaur said:

I'm really pleased with the new system.  It's a better screen to start with and the functionality seems excellent.  Certainly, it picks very good routes and dynamically re-routes to avoid traffic.  On the occasions that I have ignored its planned route, I have quickly run into traffic and regretted it - I now don't argue with it and just follow its instructions!  The only niggle is that there appears to be no way to silence the speech directions by default.  I often plug in well-known routes, for which I don't need directions, just to keep an eye on traffic issues but each time I have to manually mute the voice.

My new Yaris Cross will have the new cloud based nav, I'll give it a go but am wondering what the renewal fee will be after the first year(s). It will have wireless AA so will probably keep to using that.