Nav in Northern VA?

[Kerensky]

I've heard some comments about the '04 DVD navigation system not being very accurate, especially compared to non-intergraded standalone Magellan and other systems. It's been said that Toyota will release a fix for the problem, but I was wondering if anyone living in the Northern VA area could tell me how accurate they've found the Prius nav system to be? I appreciate any help.

[joanclare]

I live in Falls Church and have found it to be pretty good. Very occasionally it's off, but not by more than a block. I'm directionally challenged so I use this more than others might need to.

[rflagg]

Originally posted by Kerensky
I've heard some comments about the '04 DVD navigation system not being very accurate, especially compared to non-intergraded standalone Magellan and other systems. It's been said that Toyota will release a fix for the problem, but I was wondering if anyone living in the Northern VA area could tell me how accurate they've found the Prius nav system to be? I appreciate any help.

I too live in the NoVA area, and have had no problems with it. Driving this weekend in a tiny, tiny town in Ohio showed me that sometimes the NAV can't figure out how to get you to a location, so it just has an arrow pointing in the general direction you need to go, and how far away it is.

That being said though, I've never seen this in this area. I dunno about the mixing bowl in regards to it, but pretty much everywhere else has been dead on.

-m.

[KathyY]

I don't live in Northern VA but drive down to Fairfax several times a month to see my grandkids. The system works great. It had a little trouble finding Lounden County Hospital when I was trying to get there to meet my new grandson but I found the hospital. I can find a McDonald's or similar for my granddaughter with no problems.

[Tempus]

I live in DC and it's pretty good.

Because of the way it calculates house numbers, once it gets you in the right block, it won't match up to the actual house numbers, but it gets you close.

However, it's odd what is missing.

The new Air and Space Museum Annex at Dulles Airport isn't on it. I just drove off the highway into a field when I parked there a couple of weekends ago

[DC Fat Cat]

I live in DC also and I find it works very well.

I haven't tried specific house numbers but I made one trip to the Hoffman 22 theater in Alexandria and one trip to the Delphane (sp?) Strawberry Festival way the hell out on 66 in the country and both times it worked fine. It also had no problem locating my apartment building in DC when I drove home from the dealer.

I like to see what route it wants to use. It already has helped me figure out an alternative way to get on 66 while downtown.

[rflagg]

Originally posted by Tempus
I live in DC and it's pretty good.

Because of the way it calculates house numbers, once it gets you in the right block, it won't match up to the actual house numbers, but it gets you close.

However, it's odd what is missing.

The new Air and Space Museum Annex at Dulles Airport isn't on it. I just drove off the highway into a field when I parked there a couple of weekends ago

Haha! I didn't have the car when I went there, but for future reference, if you get there at 4pm or later, they waive the $12 parking fee. Granted the museum closes at 5:30 - but it's still 1.5 hours at no charge!

-m.

[aaron-aggie]

No major problems here

[GWithers]

I've been driving in the DC area for over 40 years and I find that I often know a quicker route than the three suggested by the Nav system. I also note that in complicated intersections, the Nav system sometimes doesn't live up to the detail necessary.

That said, I still think it is incredibly useful and the positioning is much more accurate than a hand-held Garman E-trex.

I would suggest that the depictions of intersections should incicate when they do not meet, i.e. when one road is a bridge over another and not accessable. That can be very annoying. Perhaps future versions could address that.

The response to voice commands is often very amusing...