Navigation Questions

[jjs461]

I have 3 items which may have been already addressed.

1- is there anywhere a printed user manual for the Navigation system. I cant believe that after spending $47,000 for a vehcile they couldn't print or supply a CD user manual for the Navigation system. After 8 months I'm still not 100% sure of what all the symbols mean and how to imput infomation without playing a guessing game to get the right info to input.

2- Will there be a update (new sd card) for the maps and points of intrest comming out in 2012 and what will be the costs???

3- And maybe someone from Ford can explain why they didn't license some system like Megellan or Garmin instead of using what appears to be an in-house softwear system that is far less user friendly that my old $125.00 Megellan Roadmate (Which supplies you with a downloadable user manual) ? :thumbdwn:

 

[Lhymes]

Well, I can tell you an answer to #2:

It has already been stated that they will ship a nav update sd card free of charge with the MFT update slated for release around the time the MY2013 Explorers start shipping (around March).

I do agree that a Garmin license would be so much better (honestly, the fact that Dodge licensed Garmin for the Durango almost sold me on it, as that tells me they did their research lol).

 

[HDJulie]

Who supplies the algorithm for calculating the routes - the map company, or the vendor that creates the user interface? I'm hoping it's the map company because I used the navigation for the first time to go from Little Rock to my mother's house in Memphis (a route I know very well) & the route it chose was not even close to the best route regardless of whether it was fastest, shortest, or most fuel efficient. Even as I ignored the turns & it corrected itself to adjust, it was still trying to take me on streets that I'd never been on before even when I lived in Memphis & they were certainly not in my way straightforward for getting to my mother's house. It completely ignored the loop that goes around Memphis even though it is on the map. If the algorithm comes with the maps t least I know those are getting updated soon.

 

[VinceL]

I believe, and anybody correct me if I am wrong please, that the algorithms are independent of the maps. I am hoping this is not the case, because MFT's navigation interface, inputting destination data especially, is horrendous. With any luck, that aspect of the software is being rewritten also. Good news is that the map data should be much more accurate, and without that the best interface is useless.

 

[peterk9]

I have 3 items which may have been already addressed.

1- is there anywhere a printed user manual for the Navigation system. I cant believe that after spending $47,000 for a vehcile they couldn't print or supply a CD user manual for the Navigation system. After 8 months I'm still not 100% sure of what all the symbols mean and how to imput infomation without playing a guessing game to get the right info to input.

Did you not get a booklet entitled MyFord Touch, MyLincoln Touch?
There is a section in there called Navigation Features.
Perhaps you are looking for more info?

 

[russell bruesch]

Imputing a destination from mapquest or manually doing it yourself is pretty frustrating on this navigation system. First off any destination you choose from mapquest and downloaded to the nav system is modified by the nav system. When the map is downloaded to the car a message comes up on the 8 inch screen stating that the route downloaded may be different than the route shown ....What the f****. Case in point i recently took a trip to south padre island texas, ive taken this trip 6 years in a row always following turn by turn written directions from mapquest,always the same route.

With my new ford explorer with navigation system i had the exact same map downloaded to my vehicle. No mater which route i chose fastest, shortest or eco none of the routes were the same as the one downloaded by mapquest. I could not pick a rout that was the same as the one downloaded. On the navigation screen menue i checked to make sure the navigation and route preferences were not restricting the nav system from following the route downloaded.

All the routes the nav system chose were much longer than the the one downloaded from mapquest. The nav system always wanted to take us on secondary roads to our destination . It was almost laughable the route it wanted us to take. We ended up using the written instructions from mapquest like we always do.

I have taken other shorter trips with this nav system and it is always the same. No mater which route you choose it seems to always want to take you on secondary roads with slower speed limits and more turns and stops. The route is always longer in distance and time than a route chosen from mapquest.

I hope the new nav card with the update this spring will solve this problem. I cant believe some of us have to wait over a year to get all the bugs with mft and the navigation system fixed. What a dissapointment.

 

[deerfarm]

Menu/settings

Imputing a destination from mapquest or manually doing it yourself is pretty frustrating on this navigation system. First off any destination you choose from mapquest and downloaded to the nav system is modified by the nav system. When the map is downloaded to the car a message comes up on the 8 inch screen stating that the route downloaded may be different than the route shown ....What the f****. Case in point i recently took a trip to south padre island texas, ive taken this trip 6 years in a row always following turn by turn written directions from mapquest,always the same route.

With my new ford explorer with navigation system i had the exact same map downloaded to my vehicle. No mater which route i chose fastest, shortest or eco none of the routes were the same as the one downloaded by mapquest. I could not pick a rout that was the same as the one downloaded. On the navigation screen menue i checked to make sure the navigation and route preferences were not restricting the nav system from following the route downloaded.

All the routes the nav system chose were much longer than the the one downloaded from mapquest. The nav system always wanted to take us on secondary roads to our destination . It was almost laughable the route it wanted us to take. We ended up using the written instructions from mapquest like we always do.

I have taken other shorter trips with this nav system and it is always the same. No mater which route you choose it seems to always want to take you on secondary roads with slower speed limits and more turns and stops. The route is always longer in distance and time than a route chosen from mapquest.

I hope the new nav card with the update this spring will solve this problem. I cant believe some of us have to wait over a year to get all the bugs with mft and the navigation system fixed. What a dissapointment.

It sounds like your nav settings might be set to avoid freeways. If you go to Menu/setting/nav it gives you some options on how it determines routes.

Also, I think that when you download a route from Google, it is just downloading the target address, not the actual route. I am not sure about that.

 

[deerfarm]

One time on another car, our son changed the GPS settings so that it avoided interstates, but didn't tell us. On our next trip, we were traveling on the interstate and it told us to get off at every exit. After a few exits, I stopped and played with it until I found the settings feature.

 

[russell bruesch]

I made sure that all the nav settings were not programed to avoid major highways, tolls,etc. Did not mater still wants to take me on secondary roads.

 

[HDJulie]

I have a similar issue with mine. On my return trip to Little Rock, instead of taking me the direct route on I-630 & I-430 when I got to town, it wanted me to get off & take side roads. I, too, do not have freeway or major highway avoidance on.

 

[peterk9]

I have a similar issue with mine. On my return trip to Little Rock, instead of taking me the direct route on I-630 & I-430 when I got to town, it wanted me to get off & take side roads. I, too, do not have freeway or major highway avoidance on.

:bsnicker:I think this is so that you are forced to drive at slower speeds so that you don't get the 'A' pillar noise.

Peter

 

[gdecamp]

:bsnicker:I think this is so that you are forced to drive at slower speeds so that you don't get the 'A' pillar noise.

Peter

Hehehehe!!! +1

 

[GWA1]

:bsnicker:I think this is so that you are forced to drive at slower speeds so that you don't get the 'A' pillar noise.

Peter

GOOD ONE !!!