Hi Ray,
My new to me 2017 Buick Cascada navigation got me lost last week. I was going to
2507 E 25th St. It told me to take a right on E 24th which it identified as E 25th and then told me to take a right at the next corner and the next and the next. After circumnavigating the block I flagged down a passing pedestrian who told me, “Ya can’t get there from here!” He directed me to the nearest main drag and said to take a left and the then turn left again to E 25th Street.
On another occasion when my husband knew a better route (he always knows a better route), rather than recalculate, it kept telling us to turn left when we were driving on the freeway.
My old 2008 Sebring never got me lost except occasionally in neighborhoods that weren’t even built in 2008–understandable.
The tech adviser at the Kia dealership where I bought it said it is just a crappy nav system. Is he right? Am I stuck with crappy nav for the foreseeable future or is there a fix?
Thanks for the help,
“Hopelessly Lost”
Audre
When did you last update it? I update my GPS every three to six months. Even then sometimes just use my phone.
Yes, use a navigation app such as Waze or Google Maps on your smartphone. They are updated constantly, both are free and like any navigation system should be ignored when they tell you to do stupid things like drive the wrong way on a one way street!
I see no reason to buy a car with built-in navigation.
I was told that the updates are automatic. I bought the car in December with only 4300 miles on it so it has probably never been updated. How do you do that?
So you pay $160 every three to six months to keep your nav updated??
And Google maps on your cell phone is free, 
Not me, I use a Garmin, you need to here, Orlando changes roads on a daily basis.
Some customers update their vehicles navigation maps every 2 to 3 years but most don’t update or use navigation guidance.
Your navigation system got you to the correct city and within 1 block of the destination, that wouldn’t bother me, there are street signs on every corner.
If you can read them! In Florida, often blocked by vegetation. Plus road will have different names on opposing sides of intersection!
Phone seems slightly better than my Garmin, have been in the intersection and the Garmin will show “turn left 80 feet”. Arg!
The OEM navigation on my 2016 Mustang isn’t exactly infallible either. It’s led me to the wrong destination (wrong street, 10 miles away) on two occasions. I just plug my phone in, fire up Android Auto and use Google Maps when in doubt these days.
In-dash nav was only a good idea before smart phones came along. Now I only use mine to see what streets I’m approaching. I almost never use the routing function. Generally only when I forget my phone at home. It’s a whole lot easier to call out to my phone and tell it to navigate somewhere, especially since Google’s language processing is quite good, which means “navigate to the nearest gas station with a car wash” actually works. Try doing that with a built-in system.
The only reason is that there are often other goodies, such as a better sound system or keyless start, that only come with the package that includes navigation.
I always carry a paper map too. For those unfamiliar, north is always up.
So when we travel I have nav, phone, GPS, and the paper map. The paper map is the only one that doesn’t keep talking all the time and distracting me. I made the mistake of buying the update for $100 after two years. It took hours to upload with the car running, and still thought I was driving through a field when the new road was built. I guess they got the restaurants right though which is probably their main concern.
I have frequently used my phone when I am the navigator and someone else is driving. When I am driving, looking down at my phone takes my eyes off the road. That isn’t safe. Also my radio doesn’t mute when the phone gives a direction and I don’t know how to get my phone to repeat a direction.
I do know how to read a map. My husband always makes sure that I have a spiral bound map in my car but where ever I want to go is ALWAYS in the spiral. After 30 years the old guy finally agrees with me on that.
The street I was on dead ended just after 24th St and I wasn’t familiar with the area. I turned on my phone but it was doing some serious calculating. I was getting later by the minute so I flagged down a passerby as being the fastest method of finding out how to get where I was going.
I just want the nav on this new car to be as good or better than the system on the 10 year old car I traded in.
Since the car is still under warranty I made an appt with the local Buick dealership to see what they can do.
I was told that the updates are automatic. I bought the car in December with only 4300 miles on it so it has probably never been updated. How do you do that?
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Hello!
Is this a navigation that came with the car from the factory? Or is it an aftermarket item?
As already said, GPS systems needs updates from time to time.
Unfortunatelly, factory GPS systems usually require a trip to the dealer.
“Hey Google, what’s my next turn?”