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GPS,...

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by chrisrappl, Apr 19, 2018.

  1. chrisrappl

    chrisrappl Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2017
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    Location:
    Raleigh, NC
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Premium
    I really like this car and, for the most part, have discovered that most "problems" are user error. So I'm hoping I just have the GPS set up improperly, but I'm not sure that is the case.
    We are used to our Garmin GPS's in the other cars and on the bikes. The Prime GPS is not intuitive to us. It often tells us to go left when the destination is on the right, to the point where we don't have any confidence in the system. I wish there was a selection to emulate Garmin, but I don't think that there is. I am interested in knowing what others think of the factory GPS. My wife is traveling this weekend and she is planning on sticking the Garmin on the windshield which seems ridiculous to me, but...

    I also think they could have done a better job with the clock on the dash display. One clock system automatically adjusted for daylight savings time, but the dash display needed to be manually reset. And it didn't seem as easy to me as it could have been. Is there a way to have the dash clock update automatically?

    1,300 miles and the tank is still full from the Dealer. Finally going to use some this weekend.
     
  2. I'mJp

    I'mJp Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2012
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    Location:
    Ma, USA
    Vehicle:
    Other Electric Vehicle
    Model:
    Three
    The GPS in the car has different behavior from when it is parked and when it is moving. IMHO - it causes you to pay too much attention to the GPS while driving. You cannot make course corrections while moving.

    I put my Garmin on the far left of the dash, with a custom made Velcro mount. The Velcro hoops on the dash, in black to match the color of the dash. Similar Velcro pads in other vehicles. A Garmin can be transferred from vehicle to vehicle, along with it's 15+ years of waypoints and POI's.that I've imported or created. A Garmin can get updated 4 times a year, so that those shops and stores that come and go, get updated (that helps if your destination is for a category, and not an address, or name)

    I find that the car Gps is good for knowing which direction you are going, north south, east west. Which town is close by. On long trips, I keep it zoomed out, so I can see major cities, and state lines at a glance.

    I have another Velco pad for the phone, just behind the steering wheel, running waze. It's blue tooth voice alerts me to the hazards on the road. So even though waze has no way of knowing where I'm going, it does know the road your on, and does a good job. I was very pleased with it this winter, folks pretty much tagged most of the black ice patches.

    Have fun with your new car.

    jp
     
  3. Wolfie52

    Wolfie52 Senior "Jr" Member

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2009
    143
    124
    1
    Location:
    No. Carolina
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    I used my in car GPS on my road trip. There were a few instances where I would have chosen a different route. I decided to use just the in car GPS/map to try it out. Often it would give me a warning of "traffic jam ahead" when there was either no jam or was simply a traffic light.
    So I haven't decided if I will rely on in car vs Waze...I do love the larger map making it easier to keep track of trip!

    On my PiP I used Waze with a magnetic mount on my vent. Waze seems the best for directions, road conditions, hazards and police speed trap locations. I would input my destination in Waze and the directions are clear and will give you options so I might recommend inputting one. In fact when i travel and rent a car, I put in my destinations in advance so when I pick up a rental car I don't have to search...just pick my save location and go!

    BTW, I use a little magnetic mount that simply clips to the vents. In the PiP the location was good (not quite so good in Prime). Most phones have a metal back or you can put a round magnetic piece on the back. I have found this superior to other methods, which often lead to phone (or GPS) bouncing around. I can't tell you how aggravating it is to have the mount bounce or even become dislodged.

    Also, when i travel and use a rental, I simply pack my vent mount (small) and a cable to plug into lighter or USB port and I don't have to pay 10-15$ a day for GPS in a strange city! These mounts don't interfere with road vision, don't leave any marks on dash or windshield and of properly installed don't fall or black much airflow.
     
  4. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2006
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    Location:
    Edmonton Alberta
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Holding my tongue (if you can't say anything nice ...). ;)
     
  5. SteveMucc

    SteveMucc Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2017
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    Location:
    Kentucky
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    I'm perfectly happy with having the two clocks. I live on the border between two time zones so have the dash clock always set to "home time" while the nav automatically adjusts for the destinations time zone is quite handy. Sure it's a bit of a PITA to have to manually adjust it twice a year, but for me at least, those 2 times a year changes are well worth having two clocks in the car.

    I'm perfectly fine with the nav system. traffic rerouting seems to work sufficiently well for me. I'm also fine with it getting me to within 50 feet of the destination and then having to actually look around.

    Sometimes, however, it can give a poorer route than I would have thought. There are two ways to get home from my sons house as we get closer to my home. If we continue on the road we're on it will take us 29 minutes, but if we jump off onto a smaller highway it will save us 11 miles and 10 minutes. It always wants to continue on the main road so we have to constantly remind ourself to not follow it at that point (actually we just turn it off before then now that we're used to the route) (if you have to ask, part of the drive goes through Nashville which is basically California traffic transplanted to Tennessee, so I use the nav to help me reroute around it).

    I also really like the nav information on the HUD on the advanced.
     
  6. Lee Jay

    Lee Jay Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Westminster, Colorado
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
  7. Washingtonian

    Washingtonian Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 26, 2017
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    Location:
    Western Washington
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    The GPS does have some quirks that I dislike. I guess not being able to change your destination while driving is a "safety thing". But why can't the passenger operate it? The car knows that there is a person sitting in the right seat. Sometimes it resets so instead of the car going from the middle of the screen toward the top it will reverse with the car going downward. Once when travelling on a road parallel to a major freeway where I could see the freeway a half mile to the left, it showed the freeway on the right and that I would have to make a right turn rather than a left turn to get there.
     
  8. VVTiBob

    VVTiBob Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2011
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    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    There are add-on devices that disengage the car’s speed sensor and trick the car’s GPS so changes can be made on the touch screen. The downside, while the car is moving it’s position on Earth is not being updated on the screen. After turning off the speed sensor bypass it takes a few moments for the system to update your real world position.
     
  9. Db17

    Db17 Member

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2017
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    Location:
    Visalia, CA
    Vehicle:
    2021 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Limited
    Is anyone awareof any updates to the nav/gps system? The data in mine is over 20 months old and I’d like t9 update it
     
  10. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2018
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    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius c
    Model:
    Four
    ALL GPS units do strange things at times.

    My Garmin insists on telling me to keep right when the display plainly indicates to keep left.
    It tells me to keep right going through Atlanta....when that puts you into about 5 exit only lanes over 5 miles.
    There are a couple of places where it tells me to get off the Interstate, make a U turn and get right back on.

    The one in my Fusion insists on telling me to keep right (or left, I forget) at toll booths where it shouldn't be saying anything because that is NOT a routing decision point. On newer 4 lane roads, it keeps telling me to keep right when passing left turn lanes; again, not a decision point.

    I don't think the one in my C is any worse than any others I've used.......but the interface and options are "different".