2013 Prius v Map HDD Navigation/Firmware Update When?

I haven't been using the car much, so I can't remember exactly how to get to that screen, but there is page where it states whether the last map update was completed...

 

I have Prius 3 2012 and my dealer wants 165+install cost. Toyota sent me (direct) my first update on a USB stick apx 6 months after I purchased the vehicle in August of 2012. While 65 is still over priced it is do-able, unlike the SAT radio which can only use the full package instead of pick and choose. At least Sirius will negotiate down to 59.95 a year if you are nice.

 

Sorry. Couldn't really tell from your post, but is that $165, or $65. The best price I could find on the "activation card" was $155. I think $65 would be amazing, or a mistake.


iPad ?

 

JZChen - I believe it is $165 for the update (activation card), and an additional $65 in labor to install it.

 

Still probably the cheapest way to go, unless you have access to TIS professional and the dongle.

MT2L03 ?

 

Just spent an hour on the telephone lining up a Nav System update and then an hour waiting at the dealer only to learn that Toyota hasn't published a map update for the 2013 Prius v nav system since the June 2012 edition. Hard to believe that it hasn't been done in 3+ years and that neither the web site nor the dealer can tell me in advance if a map update is available.
Am I missing something or is the process/system this haphazard?

 

Parts department should know if there is an update available. There should be one.....


iPad ?

 

In the December 2014 time frame I received a 2014 v Three firmware update and a map update. The external date of the maps was 2014 so you can expect the 2015 one should be out about now. It will be really using the data stand-alone GPS units like Garmin and TomTom would have had about a year ago but it would be externally dated 2015 while the internal data would be from 2014.

The car makers just don't get it. Overpriced hardware, inferior software and infrequent and overpriced map data updates which must be updated by a dealer and not over the air.

I did find you could negotiate the price and install charge somewhat if you showed enough surprise and disappointment and asked for an adjustment.

 

Map updates which have sometimes included navigation system software updates have always been available every November since Toyota started putting navigation systems in vehicles for the U.S. market for the 1998 model year.. I got the November, 2015 update for our 2014 Sienna a few weeks ago at a decent discount through the Costco Auto Program. The only reason I haven't updated the maps in our 2012 Prius v Five is that it has rarely - only once - been driven out of town. Besides, the Destination Search feature of Entune provides up-to-date POI information and the ability to navigate to them regardless of how old the installed maps and POI's are. Also, it's usually possible to get the coordinates of a destination from a phone app like Google maps and then enter the destination coordinates (instead of the address) into the nav system. I downloaded a free app to my Android phone for those occasions when I need to convert decimal-format coordinates to Hours, Minutes, Seconds for entry into nav systems.

 

Offline: It isn't a matter of the maps not knowing the destination address alone, In my area of NC any road put in service in the last two years is not known and you get repeated turn around messages or are directed into a farm field when attempting to take the obviously best route independent of the nav directions. The best route to a nearby major city and the best route to the major airport are not known years after they were put in.

I'd be interested in how you found the discounted map part thru Costco. Been a member for over 25 years and have the 1991 card to flash at them <grin> but never knew of such a service.

 

I got the dealer to update mine when I buy my v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon) last month but damm the navigation system in this car is simply useless garbage can't believe how can they offer something this bad.

 

Go to
Costco Auto │ Car buying made easy │ new vehicles & more!


There is a place for participating service/parts dealerships, and you can sometimes get a coupon....

merged

Could be something wrong. Bring it back to the dealership...

 

I see that jzchen provided a link to information about the Costco Auto Program. The normal discount is only 15% of parts and labor but, hey, I'll take what I can get.

Navigation device maps are always behind a year or three and not just the in-dash ones. I live within 10 miles of Garmin headquarters in Kansas in a house built in 1982 but my street and address showed on Garmin's maps for the first time in around 2008.

About the best you can do is to update your in-dash map system to the most current level. I ordered my Sienna in March 2014 (through the Costco Auto Program) and it came with the November 2013 maps. That 2013 map version had very poor coverage of an area of the Kansas City metro area 30 miles away that has seen explosive growth in the past few years and which I now need to drive in. Updating to the November, 2015 maps didn't solve all the issues but there is far better coverage - particularly POI's - than the 2013 maps. I read on either the Lexus or Toyota website that an average of 8% of the POI's change with each map update.

 

I've given up on the navigation system in my 2013 Prius v. I use my Android phone with Waze, Here Maps or Google maps. I have all three loaded on my device because each has its' own strengths for different trips. I've decided the next car I buy will have Android Auto. This looks like the best solution for navigation. Too bad Toyota does not plan to offer it in their vehicles. I don't have an Apple phone but Apple Carplay looks like it will be a pretty good alternative to the terrible dedicated GPS system.

 

So November for the updates? Is it the same in Canada? Someone mentioned it's the same time for all Toyotas too.

If so I will look to update my PiP soon.

 

On a 10 year old TomTom I have, I am offered map updates via a download every quarter. One for $42, 4 for $50. And any day I want I can download a collection of user contributed supplements that fills in the gaps. Probably updated weekly. Free. The interface is superior, the voice clearer, the warnings more prompt, the display not hidden away from my view of the road.

When major (20+ mile long 4 lane divided by 20 foot median 65-70 MPH type roads, not 2 lane suburban stuff) state roads that I've been using for 2 years aren't available on the current maps for either of my two Toyotas. When to update to year old maps costs me over $400 and they still aren't up to date on either media. When Toyota forbids open advertised price competition. When the salesman and the Entune expert both told me updates were by download and free. I think my next car might be another brand. Or I'll get in writing a 10 year right to free updates included in the sales price.

 

We are lucky where we live. There are 4 Toyota dealers within reasonable distance. Shopping around, I got a deal on the activation card, IIRC, $20 off coupon, at Wondries. Then, Ben in service, did the update absolutely free. (He did ask very politely if I could leave the car for the afternoon, as the tech just did it when he had the time, or around his other work.) If I didn't shop around, the next option would have been $169 for the activation card and $65 for installation. Doing the update on my own wasn't going to be worth it at this price range. (It cost me around $300 doing it on my own the last time. Cost of activation card, USB dongle, and TIS subscription to produce the installation code.)

Turns out there are two major map producers for GPS devices. Their old names were TeleAtlas, and NavTeq. It seems TomTom bought TeleAtlas, and just recently a consortium of car manufacturers, I think Audi, BMW, and Daimler, bought NavTeq, aka Here (after Nokia bought it,) from Nokia. While TomTom seems more comprehensive with road and POI data, Here products are less so, but do a unique side of road feat, ie "the destination is up ahead to your left", or "right".

If you ever look at the back of the old Toyota disc updates, you'll find a few copyrights. Toyota, or Denso, or is it Bosch nowadays with the USB updates, tends to compile data from multiple sources, and I definitely read somewhere, that they decided to verify the data on their own... (Why reinvent the wheel, I say, but... I'd rather have more data, with some errors, than the seemingly old data they have from this process.)

Other manufacturers have developed complicated/costly updating as well....

 

Same with my 2012 Prius v. The interface is sluggish and very poorly conceived. Entering addresses where I live (London, ON) is impossible unless you happen to know the 1st three characters of the postal code. Without entering that, it will simply not find the street you're looking for. Finally, the routing algorithms are buggy. I've had situations where it sends me in stair-step fashion across a grid of streets in lieu of taking a single turn.

Why can't Toyota license technology from Garmin who clearly have thought about usability and visual presentation?

 

For serious. $169 to update the map or about $500 for a brand new unit that will work with CarPlay, offer better audio, and tie in to the iPhone or Android smartphone you probably own if you dropped $20k or more on a car. My mom has a 2006 Avalon with the same issue. $2000 nav system in there and I guarantee you they would charge about the same for updates.

Automakers, you cannot do a thing right when it comes to audio/video/GPS in cars. Stop trying and let Google and Apple run the show on software and car audio manufacturers figure out speakers and other things. Every time I replace some factory set of speakers, I want to smack the bean counter who put some coffee filters in a car that costs tens of thousands of dollars.

 

That is really odd. I have a 2012 Prius v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon) as well and my navigation shows the post code but it's not required to put an address in or search for a POI. Do you have the latest version of entune installed? (5.1).

My maps are from 2011 (so never been updated) and I am really hesitant to pay over $300 CAD to do this when my phone has Google Maps.