Is all Nav units as bad as Leaf's?

[JPWhite]

I took delivery of my LEAF last February 17 in Petaluma and needed to drive 86 miles from there to our home in W. Sacramento.

How did you fair, this is probably near the limit of the LEAF's range. Did you need to recharge on the way?

 

[kevin672]

The LEAF's GPS/navigation system is NOT as good as others. It is deficient on a couple of major details, and these are NISSAN'S fault, not Navteq.

I took delivery of my LEAF last February 17 in Petaluma and needed to drive 86 miles from there to our home in W. Sacramento. Of course, I knew the way back, but tried to set my home address into the LEAF navi....NO GO ! None of my nearby streets were even IN the database of the LEAF. I got home and soon called Nissan and then Navteq to check out the out-of-date status of the LEAF GPS software. Navteq was quite clear on the point; they have sent Nissan updated details, but Nissan is about TWO YEARS BEHIND in their integration of Navteq updates to the final versions of software actually installed in Nissan cars.

I would further note, that our 2011 Chevy Volt does have ALL THESE STREETS in that GPS database; this development is at least FIVE YEARS populated, so Nissan is simply derelict in their attention to currency in their GPS software.

The second issue with the LEAF traffic warnings is that the system only works IF there is a route activated. There are no "proactive warnings" of traffic issues that simply arrive driving on a given highway (if you do not have that road as part of your active directional routing). On the Chevy Volt, the traffic warnings arrive for a given road, even without a specific route active--a MUCH better system.

So, clearly NISSAN simply has a THIRD RATE at best navigation/GPS system. Almost any portable unit, with included lifetime map updates, would be at least 100 times BETTER than what is installed in any of the Nissan vehicle line.

+1

Calling it third rate is really too generous.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Toyota would never release such a crummy system and Nissan really showed their commitment to stepping backward on this one.

Our brand new 2010 Toyota Sienna had an out of date navigation database when delivered, and they would not update it later for free.

Our 2011 Infiniti's navigation is quite similar to the LEAF's, and I like them both FAR better than the Toyota system.

It would be nice to have a pragmatic comparison of various auto navigations.

 

[GeorgeParrott]

To answer the question about the "86 miles to get home from Petaluma...."

At that time, back in February, the DC Quick Charge station in Vacaville was open and fully operational. I knew that and stopped there for about 25 minutes (it was cold, windy and rainy and I had patience for only that long) and brought the charge level up to about 75% so the next 30 miles to get home was no problem at all, even with the wipers and heater both going strong.

 

[Layla]

I took delivery of my LEAF yesterday. My handheld TomTom unit is far more functional, and I expect I will be setting it up in the LEAF later today.

 

[coqui]

My Leaf nav system is just fine. I am not planning a trip across country to California anytime soon.

 

[train2cri]

the nav is not the best but it is better than the 2011 e350 Mercedes...