Manufacturers installed GPS

arrow · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 16, 2006 Posts: 4

Guys, you asked for feedback, and although not specifically a critique on Kia GPS, would anybody care to comment/feedback on this?
Guys.

I have very recently purchased a new Kia Cee'd 4Tech, which comes with factory installed screen which has a GPS map function.

The maps aren't able to be updated until Kia believes it necessary! even though HERE/Navteq supplies newer data!

There is no facility for entering POI and no link to safety camera data, this is apparently a different story to Kia bought in the rest of Europe. What's that all about??

There is lots of debate on Kia's web forum about the situation, and people pointing out that although TomTom supply data much more frequently, their data is also out of date!!

I have no idea who is right, I'm just very upset that a top of the range model (which in this case can also parallel park itself!!) can't have the same functionality as a base model TomTom (other GPS systems are available);-)

I notice that you don't supply camera data for this system either....

Regards

sussamb · Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:31 pm Post subject:

Can't comment on your in car system but it's why I always have a separate satnav that works the way I want. I had a Mondeo once with an in built satnav and it was useless, plus I like to plan routes in the comfort of my home when I can, and not in the car.

What would be really good IMO is if car manufacturers could supply a slot into which satnavs could fit, together with the appropriate power socket, so that we have a choice as to what we install, with the advantage of it being removable whenever we choose to do so.
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IanS100 · Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:37 pm Post subject:

I know the feeling, my BMW Pro Sat Nav, a £2k option, cannot be updated with user POI or speed cams, and routing pales in comparison to a TomTom, it seems that many manufacturers OE installs have similar limitations, they're definitely extracting the Michael.
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AliOnHols · Pocket GPS Verifier Joined: Oct 15, 2008 Posts: 1936

I think that it is a given that any pre-installed OEM satnav in any car is never going to be as good as the PND you have researched and purchased separately.

Car Manufacturers shall drive the price down from the SatNAv supplier to get the cheapest unit possible which fulfills their requirements (i.e. looks). Map updates, 3rd party Pois, Itineries, etc. will not be on that list.

CAr manufacturers aren't interested in selling and supporting SatNavs, they just want to fill the spec sheet for selling you a car so that they can compete with their competitors.

i.e.
Electric windows - Tick
Air Con - Tick
SatNAv - Tick

Sorry to say, but I reckon that if you get a SatNAv pre-installed in your car that does anything more than getting you from A to B, you have done well.
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Garmin Nuvi 2599
Android with CamerAlert, OsmAnd+, Waze & TT Europe.
TomTom GO 730, GO 930, GO 940 & Rider2.
SatMap Active 10 & 20.

Kremmen · Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 7:09 am Post subject:

Agree

Mine has a built in job and it's only positives are that it doesn't have to be removed when you park, and it mutes the car audio during operation. I suppose I could add a neater installation as I hate trailing wires.
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DashCam:
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Car Average MPG :

DennisN · Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 10:13 am Post subject:

Well, I have to agree with Kremmen (Hee here, autocorrect calls him Kremlin!!!) and Ali - tick the boxes at whatever "cost" to functionality and performance.

And yet, mine is a TomTom! When I ordered my new van, I believed I was getting a built in Carminat unit, like the one on my existing van, only better, because it would have Live services. Sadly, between order and delivery (SIX months delayed) they had changed to a new type TomTom, called R-Link. This follows TT's move to MyDrive, but with the proprietary Renault version. When first delivered, it had not been registered by the dealership (because they didn't know it had to be registered). That took two months! Thirteen months after delivery, I got the 60 days Latest Map Guarantee, but it still had eight faults which it came with and now, eighteen months after delivery, I have simply come to accept that it has faults (and I run two other TomTom PNDs inside the van because the built in one just isn't up to the job).

Two faults which I hate rather than accept with resignation - first, satellite lock is unreliable. With my previous Carminat, connection was boosted via the radio aerial, but with this one it doesn't seem to be, because it will stay on the motorway when I turn down a slip road, or wander off up a slip road when I stay on, or at roundabouts, will take an exit which I haven't!

Second, it won't take navigation instructions as reliably as all my other TTs. Standard method is insert postcode, accept the offered road and insert house number. Now, apart from not having numbers and letters on the same screen (same stupidity as my GO1005), it will not accept a house number over 100. Go about it the other way and select Navigate to Address, then input Town, Streetname, House number and it will accept over 100! Imagine the idea of inputting Town "London".

Maps are the usual overpriced built in ones, but running availability is much later - current latest map available to buy is v937 and costs £55. They can only be downloaded via the Renault/TomTom version of MyDrive, which is totally uninformative - when the popup window eventually cranks up, all you get is a circling thingy if you're lucky, or more often just "Do not disconnect, updating" with no indication of timescale.

This system also includes multimedia features. The trip computer is a farce - shows my fuel consumption as 58 litres per 100 km! Can't reset it (it does have a reset button, but doesn't respond). The radio chooses to retune itself to a different program randomly.

When I got TomTom voice recognition (10 years ago?), I abandoned it after a few tries because it was such hard work. It isn't hard work on this R-Link system - it just doesn't recognise anything. You'd think it would be able to get "Phone Home", but it doesn't.

One outstandingly ridiculous thing is control - touchscreen on a screen in the centre console, about four feet away and on my left - left handed out of reach - 'nuff said. It does have a "remote" control, but again a knobs and buttons arrangement under the centre console, with wobbly knobs and buttons which are easy to get wrong (knob rocks to a different function simply when you try pressing it, buttons easily create a double tap malfunction).

Finally, Support. Only via Renault. So take it to the dealership and hand it over to some guy who spends all day behind a set of spanners, or in a showroom full of gleaming new cars. They haven't a clue. It took me over 15 months to get to where I am now, after at long last succeeding in getting to Renault UK. They gave me three years Live Services in compensation, but I still have to put up with the worst TomTom I have ever owned. The Renault website is a joke. It used to have a forum, but it hasn't worked for six months and nobody from Renault ever took part. Other parts of it which do work are the slowest website I have ever used.

The option for my built in unit was priced at £800+. I didn't pay that, simply because the various optional extras I always want came at prices which eventually added up to the total cost of a particular model which included them all, plus a couple of extras I wasn't prepared to pay for - fog lights, aluminium wheels and satnav, so I took the special model. I wish I hadn't and for quite some time during my battles with Renault I was asking for refunds and return under "Not fit for purpose".
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Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

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