Nav System Disappointment

G

Greencat

Member
Loving the car but not loving the Nav system. I have a 2016.5 GT with the tech package. I spent a lot of time investigating the car and went on a few test drives.

I didnt think to look at the nav system because I thought with all of the mapping systems today, how bad could it be. Also I was hoping that Android auto would soon be available.

Maybe its my unit but this thing sucks. I live in Philly and in a lot of cases it looks like they paved the cow path instead of thinking of logical roadways.

Last night when I got my car from the offsite airport parking, the unit could not find the current location. It should have had the location from when we drove there. We drove for about 5 miles before it could determine where we were. Then the route it picked was not the fastest. It was the shortest but it should have picked the fastest.

Have other people had problems with the unit not finding the satellites?

Thanks
 
Greencat said:
Loving the car but not loving the Nav system. I have a 2016.5 GT with the tech package. I spent a lot of time investigating the car and went on a few test drives.

I didn’t think to look at the nav system because I thought with all of the mapping systems today, how bad could it be. Also I was hoping that Android auto would soon be available.

Maybe it’s my unit but this thing sucks. I live in Philly and in a lot of cases it looks like they paved the cow path instead of thinking of logical roadways.

Last night when I got my car from the offsite airport parking, the unit could not find the current location. It should have had the location from when we drove there. We drove for about 5 miles before it could determine where we were. Then the route it picked was not the fastest. It was the shortest but it should have picked the fastest.

Have other people had problems with the unit not finding the satellites?

Thanks
Click to expand...

not just you, I can't stand the OEM NAV, so much that I ejected the SD Card and use it in compass mode LOL. And may I add, after I ejected the SD card, never ever had a black screen or re-boot on the infotainment system.

Also, I hate it so much that I fuse tapped the unused fuse (search hard wire Valentine radar detector for instructions) and added my own 12V switched outlet so I can use my ultra reliable Garmin 2720, I ran all the wire under the carpeting and stashed it in my glove box, I pull my Garmin out when ever I need it, it is so much easier to use.

For the life of me, can't understand why Mazda put always on cigarette sockets in the arm rest and trunk and took out the switched cigarette outlet in the center dash, so stupid. I bet there will be someone stranded with a dead battery because they left something connected overnight in the armrest outlet.

For the satellite search, I just happen to use my Garmin last night as well, and it has never failed to lock in satellites until yesterday, took about 30 minutes, not sure if it was cloud coverage due to hurricane/tropical storm in east coast but it never took that long before until yesterday,

but it maybe also that you were parked inside a parking structure with thick concrete so it lost it's satellite locks and why you needed to drive a while to get a re-lock on them.
 
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The absolute worst-case for a GPS to know where it is is pretty bad. Unlike smartphones, which do all sorts of tricks with wifi and cell towers to identify their location more quickly, plain GPS devices sometime exhibit this worst-case scenario.

We did not notice such a long delay in our vehicle yet.

I too hope Android Auto will become available through a s/w update to the system. Last I heard Mazda was trying to make it available. However, they might choose to install it only for new cars, e.g. MY 2017.
 
O WoW, I have a 2015 w/ tec and I love my nav system. Always right and easy to use. Maybe they changed something in 2016.
 
Bought mine a week ago, not even read much of the manuals - is there anyway to get traffic added to this Nav system? Basically traffic is really important in crowded metros - one thing i never realized but on the bright side think about this 2016 did not have Nav for free + 2016.5 had this + heated std for touring, so your GT may have some more free standard stuff than last years.
 
Kaps said:
Bought mine a week ago, not even read much of the manuals - is there anyway to get traffic added to this Nav system? Basically traffic is really important in crowded metros - one thing i never realized but on the bright side think about this 2016 did not have Nav for free + 2016.5 had this + heated std for touring, so your GT may have some more free standard stuff than last years.
Click to expand...

On our '15, there's some sort of live traffic IF we are navigating to a destination.
 
Kaps said:
Bought mine a week ago, not even read much of the manuals - is there anyway to get traffic added to this Nav system? Basically traffic is really important in crowded metros - one thing i never realized but on the bright side think about this 2016 did not have Nav for free + 2016.5 had this + heated std for touring, so your GT may have some more free standard stuff than last years.
Click to expand...

No, there is no way to activate the live traffic rerouting on the 2016 nav system. Mazda has pretty much punted on that function with no indication of ever reinstating it.
 
Greencat said:
Loving the car but not loving the Nav system. I have a 2016.5 GT with the tech package. I spent a lot of time investigating the car and went on a few test drives.

I didn’t think to look at the nav system because I thought with all of the mapping systems today, how bad could it be. Also I was hoping that Android auto would soon be available.

Maybe it’s my unit but this thing sucks. I live in Philly and in a lot of cases it looks like they paved the cow path instead of thinking of logical roadways.

Last night when I got my car from the offsite airport parking, the unit could not find the current location. It should have had the location from when we drove there. We drove for about 5 miles before it could determine where we were. Then the route it picked was not the fastest. It was the shortest but it should have picked the fastest.

Have other people had problems with the unit not finding the satellites?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Yep, horrible. I have the 2016 GT (not 2016.5) and found the NAV to be so frustrating. There are some other threads on this board that talk about the troublesome NAV... Make a quick search & you can't miss them.
Mine takes a long time to lock on, typically when I leave home and work it takes about a mile of driving before it locks in. It frequently has me driving in the river or across fields for a while.
I don't know how to really read the "Available Satellites" screen, but when I am in this "unknown location" state, the last time I pulled up the info screen, it showed, "Available Satellites: 7" with 10,11,1,32, 14, 8, 18 all green and 22 & 27 red. So, even though it showed, "Accuracy: HIGH" with those 7 satellites, I was driving across the Spokane river... So frustrating.
Here is a snapshot of my Satellite Info screen
 
Maybe I'm easy to please or something. But the Navigation works find for me. Actually better than the stand-alone Garmin I used for years in my Camry. I put in an address, and it gets me there every time. Not sure what else a Navigation is supposed to do, but for me it works.
 
2016 here and it works great in the bay area for me. Voice nav to set location is easier than a lot of other cars i've used, love how it describes what the exit will look like and pops up with street signs. Never had it give me wrong directions either.
 
Not having any issues with the Nav system per se, but the debacle with Live Traffic is ludicrous. I have a $30 package on my cell phones, CoPilot from Alk, that I have been using for years. Fully integrates with Live Traffic, $10/year, map updates multiple times per year. Inrix, a company here in Seattle, has been providing live traffic for CoPilot since 2012. Inrix also partners with folks like Ford, Audi, BMW, Tesla, Daimler.

I spoke with Mazda this AM, they apologized, but they seem to have no plan, other than "looking for partners". I will be speaking with my dealer when they open today as well, this should be told to customers and made VERY clear up front. I am very disappointed in Mazda for this, so much so that if I could return my car I would. Not because I don't love the car, but this is no way to treat your customers. I would have no issue had I been told and had Mazda given me a timeline.

A petition was started at iPetitions, I just signed, perhaps it may help but I suspect that complaint calls to Mazda and your dealer would help as well.
 
Yeah I've come to the conclusion that built-in Nav systems in cars are a total waste of money. Google Maps on smartphones are so much better, much faster to show your location, faster to update, and it takes traffic into account and can re-route you around traffic jams. That right there makes it worth it to use the phone on some type of dash-mount.
 
To be fair to In Car Nav overall, many do the integration properly. Take a look at the Inrix Partners Page, you will see some pretty big players. Read their site. Interestingly I use ALK CoPilot on my phones and tablets for Nav as I don't need to be connected so they work even in places where I have no cell coverage, they have been integrated with Inrix since 2012.

As far as the Nav in general, I have had no issues with speed or accuracy, will know more in a few weeks as we are taking a road trip to California starting 9/16. In my case, thanks to the way these companies bundle things, I could not get the other options I wanted without getting the Nav. The only way I can think of to get Mazda off the dime on this is if enough customers complain, which is really a sad state of affairs.
 
PatrickGSR94 said:
Yeah I've come to the conclusion that built-in Nav systems in cars are a total waste of money. Google Maps on smartphones are so much better, much faster to show your location, faster to update, and it takes traffic into account and can re-route you around traffic jams. That right there makes it worth it to use the phone on some type of dash-mount.
Click to expand...

I really liked the NAV in my 370Z and Grand Jeep Cherokee. It's just this CX-5 seems to be about 10 years behind the times in the NAV dept. The proof is that people think that live-traffic is something only Google does, lol. My Jeep was the bomb at routing me around traffic issues, finding fastest routes, giving me the option to pick scenic routes when available, etc. etc. etc. Same for my 370Z. Great NAV systems. It's honestly just Mazda that sucks so bad. Not factory in-car NAV.

Then you step up to stuff like Audi, where they have Google Street View and all of that integrated into the NAV, and you have something that the phones can't even match as seamlessly.
 
Unobtanium said:
Then you step up to stuff like Audi, where they have Google Street View and all of that integrated into the NAV, and you have something that the phones can't even match as seamlessly.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. When CoPilot, a whopping $30 at the Google Play Store, can do this all with $10/year for active traffic, no excuse. I spoke to my dealer today and they have asked me to come in next Tuesday so that can see if I am "up to date". Pretty sure I am, I will walk them through both the Mazda and my CoPilot Nav. Too much fun ....
 
PatrickGSR94 said:
Yeah I've come to the conclusion that built-in Nav systems in cars are a total waste of money. Google Maps on smartphones are so much better, much faster to show your location, faster to update, and it takes traffic into account and can re-route you around traffic jams. That right there makes it worth it to use the phone on some type of dash-mount.
Click to expand...

+1
 
PatrickGSR94 said:
Yeah I've come to the conclusion that built-in Nav systems in cars are a total waste of money. Google Maps on smartphones are so much better, much faster to show your location, faster to update, and it takes traffic into account and can re-route you around traffic jams. That right there makes it worth it to use the phone on some type of dash-mount.
Click to expand...

What they DO provide is a clean looking navigation capability. Our Navi is totally useless in Germany unless I want to drop 600€ and I hate the look of the suction cup in the windshield, it really looks tacky; eventually I will break down and make our Navi functional here......
 
2015-2016 NAV Changed...you betcha!

White said:
O WoW, I have a 2015 w/ tec and I love my nav system. Always right and easy to use. Maybe they changed something in 2016.
Click to expand...

I HAD a 2015 CX-5 w/ Tech as well. The 2015 had a NAV unit powered by TomTom and the 2016 is powered by Navteq I believe. Anyway, the 2 systems are completely different and not compatible with each other.

If I remember, there was plenty of Bitchin' about the TomTom units, but nothing like these problems with the Newer Mazda built systems.

I'm afraid that your only way out, other than a new and different head unit, is to go w/ an external like a Garmin for about $100! They are super accurate and super easy to use. Others like TomTom, also make stand alone units; and another big PLUS on the Garmin at least, is that for a few dollars extra, you can buy an LM model...(stands for lifetime maps, usually 3 times per year.!!! :) Two downsides are 1) it is not built it and 2) Eventually the battery goes and needs replacement which is a PIA, but not really hard. I have done so with my current Garmin 3 times at a cost of about $20 each time

I have always had a Garmin or the like, as an spare, even with my current ride, which is a Lexus RX350 w/ nav. Apples to oranges I know, but it really is super! I will always keep the external Garmin though, since almost ALL the built ins use ancient maps! SIDE NOTE: The Lexus is a plush ride, but the CX-5 was a kick in the butt to drive!!! <Zoom Zoom)
 
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I also live in the philly area. No issues at all for me, even near the airport and when i park in remote lots.

One annoying thing is the way it routes sometimes. It'll direct me to take a lot of smaller roads to avoid traffic, but it won't be any faster. Also the estimated arrival time is never correct.
 
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