MERGED: Toyota Announces Free NAV DVD Upgrade

satellites are reprogrammed constantly. i find it difficult to believe that they cant send programming if asked to.

 

Re: Toyota announces a Navigations system upgrade. FREE

QUESTION: How can I determine the "Generation" of my Nav System..?

I note the Dealer Letter "Limited Service Campaign (LSC) - 40J Navigation System DVD Software Update" specifies Generation 4 as the eligible system.

My Prius is of early 2004 vintage and the VIN is within the specified range - the DVD is Version 3.1.

THANKS !! - -Charles Suitt- Dallas TX

 

In a closed, proprietary system, where the content provider also provides the receiving equipment (Dish Network satellite TV for example), software updates are regularly transmitted via satellite. This could even apply to a system like XM radio - if all manufacturers' receivers shared a common component that was field programmable.

Doesn't apply to the Nav system/GPS discussion, or the FM radio analogy though. It would be a lot cheaper to do a firmware update through the DVD drive - like a special file present on the navigation data disk, or a special disk for updating the firmware. I have a Panasonic RP-91 DVD player that can take firmware updates from CD-ROM.

 

Re: Toyota announces a Navigations system upgrade. FREE

Gotta love a man who admits his mistakes! Especially an MD person. Story related to one of my wife's appointments with her RA doctor: We were checking in, he came up the elevator with his lunch. I don't recall exactly how, but it ended up on the floor. He went and got paper towels to clean it up. The man is the head of the department at the biggest hospital for a hundred miles. He eats on the fly (like many doctors I'm sure) because hs is so busy. He could have called a janitor but I suspect it never crossed his mind. He had my admiration for his dealings with my wife's disease, he got triple for being a 'regular Joe'.

 

i wonder if there were some misprints on the VIN's that were covered because there have already been a few who claim their VIN is not in the range of the vehicles that qualify.

as i read the letter, i thought it said all vehicles with NAV from 2004-2005 would qualify for the free upgrade.

also another thing about the upgrade on whether it would include updated data or not. if it did include more up to date data, then would it be better to wait until near 12/31/2005 to get the update?

 

I'd like to see the VINs that purportedly do not qualify.

Using a hypothetical range of 0001111 through 0111111, it might not be immediately apparent that a VIN of 0099999 is within the foregoing range. Yet, indeed it does fall within that range.

 

Of course you are right, Evan.

I should have been more precise and written that the data received from the satellite can only be used by the navigation system to calculate the car's present location by latitudes and longitudes.

 

Re: Toyota announces a Navigations system upgrade. FREE

It seems clear that there is a new DVD which means new data.

I suspect we would have to see the installation instructions to know if there is more than "Put in the DVD and make sure the system still works".

I find it hard to believe there is more to it if it only takes 6 minutes. And if that is the case, it seems that we should be able to swing by the dealer and pick up an ordered DVD rather than having to wait around for them to do it.

 

i think the letter said it would take 60 minutes.

 

My VIN starts with JTDKB20U... So what might that mean for me?

In the letter posted at the start of this thread it suggested that this update was being done due to errors in the disks related to certain areas of the country.

Maybe in Massachusetts the 3.3 version is mostly accurate?

Also, if it's going to take the dealer 1 hour, I suspect it's going to be a lot more work than just an updated disk. It takes about 10 seconds to change the disk.

 

10 second???

must be a pretty trim disk there.

 

i have 2005 w/ vin# JTDKB20U950121263... does anyone know that qualifies??

 

The actual serial number of your car, 0121263, falls in between 0116888 and 0131607. You are in the range.

 

It doesn't say 1 hour, it says .2 hours and 1/2 of that is for ordering the DVD. Sounds like 6 minutes to actually 'install the fix'.