How do I update my navigation?

congrats and welcome, she's a beauty!

unfortunately, you have to shell out the big bucks. and even the updated maps are old.

many here just use their phone.

all the best!

 

The DVD that came out for it last fall is the 86271-GEN06-17 (the last two digits are the year of release). I think the dealer list price is $169, not that some dealers won't discount it from there.

I'm sure the $30 offers for it on the interwebs are bootlegs, but I don't think I've seen anybody say they're nonfunctional bootlegs.

I'll probably shell out the $169 eventually, but that's more my personal feeling on bootlegs.

-Chap

 

Looks cool on the HUD but wouldn't update it if a free legit copy was given to me.

 

+1

The OEM GPS is way outdated. For $169, you could get a Garmin unit that's superior in every way... and it would have free updates for life.

 

I bought the NAV package on my 2009 and 2010. My wife has it on her 2015 Prius v. We NEVER use them. iPhones and Androids rock! with Apple Maps, Google Maps, MapQuest, and Waze, there just isn't any point. The NAV is just an expensive gimmick. It was semi-useful in 2008, back before I got an iPhone, but I've since ignored it.

NO DVD system can compete with always-up-to-date smartphone apps.

 

+1
The only POI programmed on my factory nav is home. Otherwise Waze on my smartphone is the way to go!

 

Maybe this is being overly cautious, but set home to be a public place close to home. Wouldn't it be interesting if a thief trying to get to the owner's home found himself directed to the police station!

 

I just purchased a 2017 map update on eBay for $16.95. Everything from the photo to the description indicated it was an original Toyota DVD. I took the chance and it was a legitimate Toyota DVD.

 

Except when you find yourself in an area without a data signal. Then no smartphone app can compete with a DVD based system.

 

Do you have a way of knowing that, other than how well they copied the cover art? Did they have a convincing story for how they happened to be selling it at 1/10th MSRP?

If it's a -17, it's the latest one out, so it wasn't somebody selling their old one after an upgrade....

-Chap

 

This was my plan, too. Except the #@!$ nav doesn't recognize my home address. I would have no worries about using my home address as anyone can look at my registration and insurance papers to see where I live, which I keep in the glove compartment.

 

Nice car, Sal.

Make sure you check your oil level every month or 1,000 miles like the manual says, and if you're at all mechanically inclined, familiarize yourself with some of the maintenance items on this car that may or may not have been done correctly or otherwise during those formative years....
ESPECIALLY during the your first few months of ownership.

It is possible to buy GEN-U-WINE Toyota update CDs on-line, but generally speaking these items are either grey or black market.
Example of Gray market:
Amazon.com: Buying Choices: 2018 Toyota Navigation DVD Gen 6 U99 17.1 Map GPS Update

If I were inclined to update the NAV I would probably try for an OEM product, preferably NOT from a dealer.....but I say this as a person who has never bought such a product.
With a grey market item such as the one above you at least have some protection from the mothership (Amazon is a proud sponsor of PC!) but be warned that Amazon is going through a growth spurt lately and stories are starting to bubble to the surface about some of their third and fourth party vendors.

Caveat Emptor......

 

For the forgetful and/or clumsy among us, the integrated Nav is a lifesaving backup.

Phones break, especially if you drop one, most especially if you drop one into water (don't ask). Phones also run out of charge. In-car chargers/cables can also break/burn out. Leaving your phone at your desk at work makes Waze useless, as does driving through an area that has no signal.

The factory nav also serves as a useful verification of your route, particularly if you think there's a better way to go.

All-in-all, even if I'd never used it, I'd feel more secure driving a car when I knew the factory nav was there as an emergency backup.

 

If they copied the cover art it sure looks authentic. It looks just like my current -15 DVD except for the number changes for the -17 year. The seller listed 12 for sale and had an excellent rating. I did not ask any questions about how they could sell them so cheap.

All I know is that it loaded without a problem and works fine. I have seen several updates in our area so I know it is a legitimate update.

 

I use my factory Nav all of the time. I like the convenience of the built-in unit versus a portable unit or phone. It is also much easier to see than a phone. Like you said, I never lose the GPS signal like a phone due to cell tower dead spots.

If we doubt the Nav’s route my wife will sometime use her phone to double check. It is usually correct or just two different ways to get to the same destination (6 of one vs. half dozen of the other).

I see a lot of complaints on here about the system not being intuitive, which is true. Like a lot of electronic devices, it just takes some time getting the settings just like you want them and then the system is good to go.

 

People make me feel old fashioned for using my outdated Garmin, instead of Waze, but you brought up a good reason to keep it around.

 

I have an app on my phone called OsmAnd~ which is an open-source GPS nav with map data stored on the phone (you can download the regions you'll be traveling in ahead of time), so it doesn't need a constantly reliable signal and doesn't use data during the trip. (It can use data for geocoding an address that you enter, sending it off to a cloud service; once the service sends it back translated to latitude/longitude, the phone handles it all from there).

It's really cool, but I found the UI incredibly unintuitive. The developers seem to be some guys in the Netherlands and/or Ukraine, and I wonder if they just think of things in different orders than I do ... maybe details of word order in the languages have something to do with it, or something like that. As I was learning to use it, I really had the feeling of bending my brain around some sort of alien mind. Once I did, it started making some weird kind of sense.

My partner at the time just hated it ... we had a surprisingly heated blowup over it. I think, for me, there's something interesting and fun about figuring out how someone else has thought of a problem, when it's different from the way I would. For her, that just isn't interesting or fun.

The Denso UI is a walk in the park by comparison. For this midwestern US English speaker, anyway.

-Chap

 

So did you marry her?