Prius navigation system

[oldensign]

The navigation system is a major disappointment. The one in my 2005 is mostly useless, as is my wife's 2006, as is my sister's 2007. If you already know where you're going, and can ignore spurious directions, it's not quite as awful. If you have to depend upon it, you're in trouble. If you're in one of the many, many unmapped areas of the United States, best bring along some old Lewis & Clark maps.

Given what I now know, I wouldn't waste money on a Toyota navigation system, but get a more advanced external one. Unfortunately, the external ones have much smaller screens. However, the newer external units actually speak the name of the street. I don't know if 2008-up Prius navigation systems do this.

While having it as part of the vehicle is much more convenient, there is nothing convenient about being taken in the wrong direction, constantly having to stop and re-enter the same address, or being taken miles out of the way because the thing has no clue where it is.

My dealer won't replace any parts because they claim to fear that Toyota will refuse to reimburse them if the replaced part proves not to be defective. Wanna bet they won't hesitate to replace parts like mad once the warranty has expired and I'm paying for the parts?

Toyota has "solved" this problem using what I like to call "The Volvo Gambit". Volvo "solved" their excessive oil consumption problem by simply declaring that 1 quart per 500 miles was "normal operation". Toyota now declares that the endless problems with the navigation system are "normal operation".

Previously, my dealer simply repeated that they "couldn't find anything wrong". Driving the car around the block successfully is hardly the same as being told to drive into the Pacific Ocean when the set destination is East.

Eventually the DVD reader (under the driver's seat) failed completely. They replaced the reader and installed a 2006 DVD in place of the 2005 DVD. The navigation system then improved from mostly dead to terribly unsatisfactory.

I guess Toyota has finally realized how horribly flawed the navigation system is by acknowledging the problems and declaring them to be "normal".

I borrowed a Honda Ridgeline for a week and had no such problems with their navigation system, and that was going to places with which I was unfamiliar.

Can we conclude that all Toyota and Lexus navigation systems are defective? Don't know about ALL, but how does 3 out of 3 (so far) sound?

The best thing I can say about the Prius navigation system is that it's not quite as awful as the thing Hertz rents you in Ireland.