Any way of getting aftermarket navigation added?

I think you're probably looking at a LOT of money to rewire things, replace the MFD and the steering wheel, and even then I don't know if it's actually possible. You'd probably be better off selling your car and buying a new one (or a used one) with navigation already in it. A number of people are trading in '04s and '05s to get the tax credit, so you might be able to score a deal.

On the other hand, something like a Garmin (even though it's a separate unit) has the flexibility of being portable so you can use it in other cars or even if you're walking in an unfamiliar city. It's also a LOT cheaper, and many people say the maps are better in the Garmin.

 

I bought a NAVMAN for $300 a couple of weeks ago. It has some strange quirks, but it gets the job done, and it is nice to be able to bring it without the car! I can't remember off the top of my head where I got it, but I can check if you're interested.

 

I agree with the suggestion of getting a Garmin portable unit. My dad loved the navigation system in my Prius so much that I bought him a Garmin system for his car, and he absolutely loves that one, too. Furthermore, from my experience seeing his unit, I'd say the Garmin units are far superior, in that they are both more up to date, and more comprehensive (i.e., tons more points of interest). The other big plus is that you can use it in multiple cars, as my parents will.

 

I bought an alpine and installed it in my landcruiser. Didn't work for "krap" - apparently it helps to have a gyroscope thing attached someone under the car.

I wouldn't bother with trying to either. A handheld thing works just as well s the aftermarket job

 

My original plan was to get a third-party, but I ended up getting a Prius with the NAV system. I agree with the others. Tom-Tom also makes good GPS systems and some have BT. You can even get ones that (for a monthly fee) use Sirius or XM to display traffic problems onto the map. I know that Pioneer makes a built-in that would replace your radio, but has a disappearing screen. At least, that's what I'd do.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(radtech @ Jun 20 2006, 04:05 PM) [snapback]274312[/snapback]</div>

I asked the same question when I was deciding which package to put on my Prius. Package 7 is ridiculously expensive when I was going to be happy with Package 3. In the end, I got a package 7 but paid for a Package 5. Unheard of, I know. If you want to know how it went down, send me a message.

What you could do, and what I wish I did, is watch eBay for parts. Everyone and a while, some one sells all of the parts to their Prius. A wreck with no insurance or something similar I assume. You usually can find an MFD with Nav built in and a steering wheel with all the necessary buttons. It should cost you well under $1000 for all the necessary parts (there was a Nav system, MFD and all, on eBay a few days ago that sold for less than $500 - I assume the steering wheel buttons would be much less). You would definitely need to trust yourself with an extreme modification, but I would think electrically it would not be too tricky. The kicker is being patient enough to wait for the parts.

There is always the option of going with a Garmin, TomTom, or other GPS toy. Either way has its pros and cons. For me, I was not going to need the unit to be portable, I definitely did not want to mount anything in my new Prius, and the built in Nav has far greater accuracy than any other GPS unit I have used. This greater accuracy I believe is due to the combination of real time speed information, an attitude sensor array (angular rate gyro), and the GPS information being fed into the position determination.

If I were you, I would write down the pros and cons to both options, research other similar modifications (installing a new MFD, etc.), and spend some time "chewing" on it. Don't simply get frustrated and buy a handheld. First off, you never know what might have been. Secondly, wouldn't it be cool to brag to others about your modification?

 

One quick question. Is the Prius a 2005 or 2006? That will also determine what NAV system to look for if you're going to do a retrofit.

To me one of the hardest thing about the retrofit would be the steering wheel. If that has to be replaced then you'd be working with the airbag as well.

 

Right now, Garmin, Tom Tom, Lowrance, Magellen and a few others have the GPS quality and functionality down pat. Their maps are more detailed than onboard systems, they have much more extensive POI lists built in and the pre-loaded maps are much more current. Plus, and I don't believe this has been mentioned in this thread, map and POI updates for the portable units are much less expensive than the updates that come from the dealer and are easy to install through a typical Windows PC. Mac support for most major GPS units is pretty lacking, but with Bootcamp or Parallels on the most current Macs, that isn't an issue, but I digress.

I recently purchased a Lowrance 350c. Very nice unit. Not such a great suction cup mounting bracket, shakes too much while driving, not as good as Garmin's suction cup mounts. But the Lowrance is very competively priced and has excellent routing and off-route re-routing.

Again, if you don't have NAV in your Prius from the factory, don't worry, but a portable unit and get the best of all worlds at a fraction of the cost.

 

Our TomTom system, purchased more than a year & a half ago but still fantastic, is currently close to half the price we paid for it . It does, however, have fewer features than the current units. With this type of improvement coupled with the price drop, not to mention the portability in a two-car household, is it worth the extra money to buy one with the car?

Pros of an after-market system: Less expensive initially (by a LOT!). Less expensive to update. Portable.

Pros of a Toyota system: Convenience (you don't have to hook it up before each use-don't have to remove it after each use.)

That said, I am not used to the Toyota system. For all I know, it might be significantly better than TomTom.

But is it worth about $1,900 more?

 

I got a garman c60 from gpsnow.com . Great service and the gps works well. I could not see spending the BiG bucks for somthing I couldn't use outside of the car. We go geocaching and need the handheld unit. Hope this helps

 

http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=17245&hl=
http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=6215&hl=

hope these threads help.

also keep in mind, as far as the OEM install, that the NAV DVD from toyota is expensive to update and chances are the coverage in the aftermarket systems is better.

good luck.

 

Garmin kicks nice person. Way better than the factory unit, it seems.
.
In another thread quite a while ago, I promised some more detailed
pictures of how I mounted my unit up next to the MFD. With a minor
amount of lobotomization of the original bracket, it worked out very
nicely. Details are !finally! up at
http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/gps/
including a view of my "cockpit" thus far. Sorry about the lag, I
just never got around to processing those pictures but this thread
prompted me to go do it.
.
_H*

 

I use a Cingular 8125 (Windows Mobile Phone) with bluetooth GPS. The GPS software I use is called OnCourse. This way I can use GPS in any car I drive


b

 

I was out in the car today and verified the NAVMAN functionality and stuff. The more I use it, the more I like it, and it is still the least expensive one I've seen. It is the ICN 320. I got it for $300 incl. shipping from Outpost.com, but their price today is $370 for the same unit. It is $306-$500 (which is full MSRP) at a bunch of places. They mostly say it has 2005 maps, but I am not too sure how much that really matters. So far, it's finding all my freeway exits and such...It is also very cute, in that, in addition to the choice between male and female voices, you can also select between American and English versions (or, if you are particularly adventurous, several other *different* languages). I have mine set to male English. Veddy amusing, like today, it told me to tuhn left and entah the motahway." Anyway, I am sure that there are lotsa bells and whistles on the others, but I just didn't want to spend a lot on this this thing, and this Navman was by far the least expensive that I could find to do the job.

 

OEM Value makes kits to work with the factory system but they are $1600 for the (analog) 2004-5 kit and $2000 for the (digital) 2006 kit. At those prices you'd be better off just ordering it from the factory



<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(radtech @ Jun 20 2006, 06:05 PM) [snapback]274312[/snapback]</div>

 

I got my Prius without NAV because living in Fargo it was unnecessary. When I moved to Spokane I kept getting lost. So I bought a Garmin Street Pilot 2720. It is GREAT!!! I have no experience with the Prius NAV, but one BIG advantage of the Street Pilot is that it sits right in front of me, just below the level of the windshield, so I don't have to look to the side to see it. I recommend it highly. It plugs into the cigarette lighter so it comes on whenever I turn the car on, but I can also bring it into the house to program it before a road trip. If you have two cars, you can move it back and forth. Very rarely it gives me confusing directions, as when a road forks and it is unclear which is the main continuation and which is the "turnoff" but the unit fails to switch to close-up scale because it does not know there will be an ambiguity. However, it soon recognizes that I'm off track, and says "recalculating" and I either follow the new route or I turn around to get to the right route. This has happened 2 or 3 times in six months.

I highly recommend the Garmin rather than trying to retro-fit a factory unit.

 

We have package 4's without built-in GPS, so can't comment on the built-in units. However, don't most built-in units have data connections to the speedometer and reverse switch so they can still navigate (to some degree) when good satelite data isn't available? Wouldn't this be an advantage in cities with lots of tall buildings? I know Garmin makes some models where you can wire this data into their portable units, but I'd guess with labor it might not be much less expensive than a built-in factory unit. I hope someday there will be a less painful portable solution maybe like the GPS having a built-in accelerometer. In the portable space there seems to be a very quick pace to product introductions by companies like Garmin where models turn over in less than a year.

 

I have a 2006 Package #6...mine has the Nav button already in the steering wheel... Anyone know if
I may already have the wiring for the electronics? Any help?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(radtech @ Jun 20 2006, 06:05 PM) [snapback]274312[/snapback]</div>

If you have an 04-05 check out the CAN-view.

There is a way to integrate a 3rd party GPS (pioneer I believe) into the CAN-view so that it displays on the MFD and you can use the touch screen to control it. There used to be more info on that page on doing that but I can't seem to find it right now. You can email eflier >at< telus.net on what model the CAN-view supports. There maybe others here who have done that.