2010 Navigation update

i have heard you can find resellers on ebay, even though it's illegal. no way to download anything unfortunately, and they stopped making updates, so there is no latest and greatest.
i would go aftermarket with phone mirroring

 

Most people don't realize the safety issues involved in an outdated Navigation system... The so called "upgrade" for a 12 year old Gen3 Prius is probably not going to upgrade you to newest maps, but the last maps that were still compatible with the Gen3 system. And the aftermarket system is going to be out of date quickly.

And imagine you or a loved one is trying to get to a safer place during a natural disaster... In that situation you want to use your phone for real time live updates of road conditions you get from Google Maps/Waze or Apple maps. What's more you could spend less than a $100 on an old tablet and have a dedicated device for real time navigation, Dr. Prius app, etc..

In-car navigation systems are entirely obsolete and not safe unless they have real time data of road conditions. Don't get in the habit of depending on an obsolete one or I'll let you down.

Compare that to these options: 29 Google Maps Tricks You Need to Try | PCMag

 

Checking recently how well Google Maps might be keeping up with real time road conditions during several major road closures in foul weather, I found that it didn't know that both Stevens and Snoqualmie passes were closed. And it thought that one direction across White Pass was closed by a traffic incident (not confirmed on WSDOT website, which can be slow to update), so gave an alternate route across a remote gravel and dirt National Forest road that is closed in winter. At least today, it does show that NF road as closed for the season.

 

The latest update DVD for Toyota’s Generation 6 navigation systems, as installed on many 2010–2011 Prius models, was produced in 2018, from map and point-of-interest data compiled even earlier; it’s now five years or more behind ground truth. For reference, the part number is 86271-GEN06-18, as shown in Toyota’s latest Navigation Map application chart (PDF), and the list price at this writing is $169.

I don’t know of any unofficial sources for Toyota’s updates, but if you’re looking for navigation that works offline (i.e., in areas without cellular coverage), consider the HERE WeGo app. It’s offered at no cost, but to download the maps for the entire U.S., your phone needs at least 13 GB of available space.

 

When I'm traveling in Northern California it re-routes me around all the endless traffic... Very reliable... Also, had you used the Waze part of Google maps you'd be getting info about the passes being closed in real time and a notification soon as cars start going over the pass again.

 

Google Maps typically works quite well for me. But that doesn't mean I trust it to keep me from becoming yet another James Kim.

On ski tour across the West in March, it twice suggested 'very interesting' remote routes, unsuitable or too gnarly for some folks or vehicles. I happily took both, and quite well enjoyed them, but their circumstances (one with a segment of very tight corners on a single narrow lane shared by both directions, the other having an hour of gravel) were not adequately called out to the unwary,

Check out this Waze guidance right now:


Their #2 suggestion, highlighted here, is through Mt. Rainier National Park, and as been closed for the winter since about November, and doesn't normally reopen until April or May. While paved and the most scenic choice, the higher portion is now winter ski trail, where I used to do weekend Nordic Ski Patrol duty.

 

You can download Google maps for a particular region, and access the map without cellular coverage.

Download areas & navigate offline - Android - Google Maps Help

 

Yes, that's essential for travel when you're out of range of a cell tower.

But as long as your phone is connected to a cell tower, you can get re-routed if the road your're driving on gets blocked or slowed down. For this reason alone all other navigation that doesn't have real-time updates in traffic patterns are outdated and not useful.

 

Just saw this when checking the weather today... Seems if this problem gets worse you'd want real time information about areas upstream that are flooding out because of it? It's no doubt the rapidly changing situation that you'd want the hive mind keeping you alerted to: Huge Ice Jam Blocks Susquehanna River Flow, Backed-Up Water Causes Flooding - Videos from The Weather Channel

 

Yeah... I think there's a way you can tap something to let google maps know a road is closed...

I've had similar experiences where roads in the mountain were closed but had re-opened and I was driving on them but lack of cell phone towers means the people driving with Android phones didn't ping the servers to let them know the phones repopulated that part of the road. So results get less accurate when you're in areas with less people and less cell phones.

 

That reason doesn't account for its errors on I-90 across Snoqualmie Pass, which has lots of people and dense cell phone coverage. Especially for closures lasting all day and well flagged by WSDOT's mountain pass report. Or US-2 over Stevens Pass when closed for multiple days.

Though to be fair, WSDOT has problems keeping its own alerts in sync. Crossing Snoqualmie early last January just ahead of what was certain to be a closure, I noticed that 2 overhead warning signs, stacked together on the same support poles, had conflicting levels of traction requirements. A quick check of the roadside radio message loop found that it didn't match either sign. Driving solo, I didn't check the website or twitter feeds.

 

I've been doing this almost since getting a smartphone, though was a late adopter.

This is very handy during foreign travel too, where I get just wifi service, not cellular. A limitation is that, at least on my device, map tiles are limited to approximately 150x250 miles in portrait orientation, or 500x100 miles in landscape.

 

No way!!! I want google to be online 24/7 and send telemetry info of my phone back to google services every 6.5 minutes of my phone’s activity!!!

 

My biggest problem with driving out my my area is figuring out how to refold the map.

 

I stopped updating in 2016. It's fancy, true, but not worth $350.00. I just discovered ProClip iPhone holder a couple of weeks ago and I've been using Apple Maps.

 

At that price, get a garmin on amazon... Anyways, i use my google maps if i need it. I get the point of needing a drive-based GPS that does not use data if you're out of cell zone. Garmin will probably be the best choice if you want to keep a drive based GPS, many of their models offer free map updates.