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What is up w/the 2010 Navigation System? - How can I improve it?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by PixelRogue, May 8, 2010.

  1. PixelRogue

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    Hello everyone,

    Proud new owner of a 2010 Prius IV. Started exploring the Navigation system and, so far, I'm not impressed. I've been used to an older Garmin Nuvi660, and the iPhone Navigon/Magellon apps...all of which seem quite superior to the Prius Nav system.

    Are there any updates to improve the view so you are not looking at triangle on a flat screen? Anything out there (hacks even) to get this Nav system closer to current industry standard? Will map updates offer the better views etc?

    I'm reading through a lot of posts on updates to improve coverage, but what about the view? Wow, I'd hate to install a GPS system in a new 2010 Prius that has a Nav package.

    Thank you,

    -pr
     
  2. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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    Having thought about this, inwould say that the least expensive and most effective solution is to buy one of the Garmin units. Amazon has several models on sale for $99.
     
  3. Brae

    Brae New Member

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    Same sentiment here. The nav system actually gave me much pause about buying the car, as both my Garmin Nuvi and the nav system on another (American!) car I've driven have had hugely better nav systems. Seems like Toyota/Lexus is 5 yrs behind the state of the art on this one.

    I did inquire with a good shop that does after market installations, and for about $2000 you can have your system replaced with a Kenwood that uses the Garmin nav system, among other things.

    I got my car a week ago & I love it otherwise, so I'm trying to live with this one disappointment rather than spend another $2K.
     
  4. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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    I bought Kenwood's best, the DNX6960, for $950, but if you don't want to use its pre-amp inputs, there's a less expensive version for around $800, which has all of the other features. But maybe in your case, if you need to replace all the speakers, the amp, backup camera... the whole ball of wax... then maybe $2,000 is correct.
     
  5. PixelRogue

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    :(

    Brand new Prius 2010 IV w/navigation, and I'm running external GPS devices. So sad, waste of space and no integration w/the rest of the vehicle. Such an overpriced piece of half-throught through crapola.
     
  6. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    It'll cost you closer to $3k vs. $2,400 for a Toyota nav with 3D Bird's Eye View... actually it'll cost more than $3k since it won't be a "factory" option and you have to buy the parts separately.. but it is ~$3k factory option for those countries that do have HDD nav.
     
  7. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    (I have a 2nd gen w/factory nav and also have a Garmin Nuvi 350 and 1200 [free from my bank, except for taxes] for my other car which has nav.)
    What's wrong "the view"? I find the 3D view on my Nuvi 350 to be worthless and therefore never use it. Much of the time, it just showed me a bunch of unnamed lines going by. What's the point of that?

    There are a lot of great features in my 2nd gen's nav system and some of the cons have been remedied on the 3rd gen's (like reading street names aloud).

    I've posted (non-comprehensive) of pros and cons vs my Nuvi 350 at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...dvd-nav-vs-other-nav-system-2.html#post675023.

    That said, if I were in the market for a Prius now, I'd be pretty hesitant to pay the $1800+ for the nav package since PNDs are so cheap and updates for factory nav systems are so expensive (not Prius specific).