New Navigation Card? (A4)

[13Sport]

I have the worst service writer/department at Chapman Ford in Egg Harbor Twp., NJ. Rather then being stonewalled and being treated like an idiot I went and bought the thing and did the update myself.

It was well worth $80 not having to deal with the service department and leaving my car there for the day, just to find out that "no upgrade was needed, you're already on the latest version"

That being said, I should get my $80 back since I saved Ford the charges the dealership would have billed them for doing the upgrade..

Except that you knowingly "purchased" the card instead of having it purchased for you via a warranty claim. You say it's worth the 80$ in one sentence, and then complain you want your money back in another.

 

[cnsheets]

Egg Harbor huh? My girlfriends family are all from there or still living there.....I hear its a pretty quaint little place.....

 

[RocketNerd]

Holy smokes! Ordered the A4 card yesterday, and it was here this afternoon!

 

[XBR200]

I also ordered the A4 card last night, it was at my door today when I got home from work.

 

[kaelin]

I was surprised too. Ordered mine Monday and it was overnighted and arrived on Tuesday. Didn't expect that. Installed it today. It was acting pretty flaky for about an hour after the install but seemed to clear up after that. Should know more after the weekend when I've spent more time with it.

 

[KanewtZ]

Ordered and they tried to deliver two times....each time I was not home.

I called FedEx and they said they would only hold it for 5 business days...but had no problem if my wife went to pick it up....sadly, I work during those business hours.

Will try the upgrade this weekend sometime...will also be upgrading my Father In Laws 2012 Focus with MFT (same system).

 

[dutchman71]

Except that you knowingly "purchased" the card instead of having it purchased for you via a warranty claim. You say it's worth the 80$ in one sentence, and then complain you want your money back in another.

It WAS well worth it, but if there is a chance I can be reimbursed I will not leave that money on the table.

 

[broken strut]

IF you don't get your money back. Just post it up on ebay for sale. You might be able to get some cash back. Good luck! Sounds like you'll need it.

 

[swkooter]

Home installation of 3.5.1 Successfuly Completed

Software downloaded from syncmyride flawlessly. Upgrade took about 40 min to complete. Instructed to insert new NAV (A4) card, read and loaded with no issues. iPone repaired first try, address book re-downloaded. Looks like everything went as it should.

My only disappointment was that I lost my "favorites" destinations. This wasn't a surprise as there is a warning that I would. I wish there was a way to save off the user settings and environment and restore after these upgrades.

 

[broken strut]

Dealer updated mine. Didn't update SMR. Free map card for me. eBay here I come.

 

[yow04xplr]

Well it seems that my A4 maps are becoming more unstable for me as time goes on. Its already been reported that map zooming does not function properly and actually allow you to zoom. The other day MFT 3.5.1 rebooted on its own, but now I am occasionally getting "SD Card not recognized" with no Nav function. I have to pop out the SD card and reinsert it for it to reinitialize, and now my maps keep going blank. On my 40 minute drive into work this morning, screen went blank probably 30-40 times. It may be that it is just slow in processing the maps as I move and the map changes, but in the video below, it happened twice within 30 feet of movement. I wouldnt think the map would need to "refresh" that frequently in such a short distance.

Here is a small sample...

<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/N51_w39Ek5M?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/N51_w39Ek5M?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

It appears the new map version has an auto zoom feature that is dependent on speed. That is what you are noticing. Check your zoom settings and toggle up and down. You will notice that (auto) will appear on some of them.

 

[CodyFord]

I read in another forum Ford has released a new navigation card (A4). Is anyone familiar with this?

I wonder if we have to take our vehicles to the dealership or will Ford send the new card?

I did a lot of searching and haven't seen anyone ask the question of how can we just download the stupid A4 map update ourselves and put it on an SD card we own (or the SD card already in the car). Why would Ford *REQUIRE* you be mailed a little SD card when you could just download the data and put it on the existing SD card.

It would seem that someone would have asked that? Or, as a bonus, someone would have offered the A4 SD data as a download? I don't think you can really "pirate" the thing since you can't use it unless you're someone that they'd mail the card to for free. If I can't find the A4 maps before my card comes, I'm going to upload them so others don't have to be as frustrated as I've been.

 

[Riley]

If I can't find the A4 maps before my card comes, I'm going to upload them so others don't have to be as frustrated as I've been.

What? If you can't find them, how will you upload them?

 

[13Sport]

I did a lot of searching and haven't seen anyone ask the question of how can we just download the stupid A4 map update ourselves and put it on an SD card we own (or the SD card already in the car). Why would Ford *REQUIRE* you be mailed a little SD card when you could just download the data and put it on the existing SD card.

It would seem that someone would have asked that? Or, as a bonus, someone would have offered the A4 SD data as a download? I don't think you can really "pirate" the thing since you can't use it unless you're someone that they'd mail the card to for free. If I can't find the A4 maps before my card comes, I'm going to upload them so others don't have to be as frustrated as I've been.

The cards have DRM to protect the content. You cannot copy the map data off the card, it will be corrupt as it transfers (by design). The map data is expensive, and Ford pays for each copy they distribute, it it was freely downloadable, they would have to pay for each download.

 

[peterk9]

I did a lot of searching and haven't seen anyone ask the question of how can we just download the stupid A4 map update ourselves and put it on an SD card we own (or the SD card already in the car). Why would Ford *REQUIRE* you be mailed a little SD card when you could just download the data and put it on the existing SD card.

It would seem that someone would have asked that? Or, as a bonus, someone would have offered the A4 SD data as a download? I don't think you can really "pirate" the thing since you can't use it unless you're someone that they'd mail the card to for free. If I can't find the A4 maps before my card comes, I'm going to upload them so others don't have to be as frustrated as I've been.

It's not a big deal. You simply request the card and as some have posted, you have it the next day!

Peter

 

[CodyFord]

It's not a big deal. You simply request the card and as some have posted, you have it the next day!

Peter

I ordered mine Friday night, so 2-3 business days will be Tues/Wed. The concept of sending data via mail just seems so odd.

As to how I'll share it if I can't find it, I'll (try) to take the data off the card and make it available for download. If there is some DRM that keeps that from being possible then so be it. Again, the reason for my post was two parts: Confusion as to why you can't just download the A4 map data and put it on your existing SD card, but also why -- after searching for a way to download -- I didn't find a single post where someone had asked if they could (or why they couldn't) simply download the A4 data.

So if it's just impossible to do, then I guess that explains why I can't find it online. But it doesn't explain why I couldn't find that information out in my search to download.

And geeze, it's not like I'm trying to bootleg something for free that I'm otherwise supposed to pay for. Ford is willing to send me an SD card via mail for free. I'm trying to save them that expense and just download it.

 

[Riley]

If you could download the map updates, how could they ensure you only download it one time and put it on one card instead of making a bunch and selling them? What automaker allows you to download map updates? Ford buys so many SD cards from their supplier that it really costs very little.

 

[CodyFord]

If you could download the map updates, how could they ensure you only download it one time and put it on one card instead of making a bunch and selling them? What automaker allows you to download map updates? Ford buys so many SD cards from their supplier that it really costs very little.

The map data is worthless without a GPS that'll take it and do something with it. So the data could be done in such a way that only someone that is "allowed" to have it could use it. It could be encrypted in such a way where you're fine to make copies, but an authorized system (hardware) is the only device that can actually use/read it.

Meaning, who cares if I make 1000 copies. What is someone going to do with them? Unless they have a system that takes it. So basically, if you're able to get it free from Ford, you have a device that can use it. If you can't get it for free from Ford, what good would having the maps do? In other words, let me DL a copy. I mean, if someone is sending me data on an SD card, I can almost guarantee I can take the data off and make it available anyway.

 

[GWA1]

Ford has nothing to do with Nav card. I believe that comes from Navteq. Ford decides what kind of system and features they want and Navteq delivers. So you have to ask Navteq why they won't let you download maps. I'm guessing it's because they are in business to make money. If they gave it away free why would Ford pay for them? I'm also assuming when you get free up grades for like a garmin they pay a fee to map maker

 

[Riley]

Ford has nothing to do with Nav card. I believe that comes from Navteq. Ford decides what kind of system and features they want and Navteq delivers. So you have to ask Navteq why they won't let you download maps. I'm guessing it's because they are in business to make money. If they gave it away free why would Ford pay for them? I'm also assuming when you get free up grades for like a garmin they pay a fee to map maker

Navteq won't let you download them because they have a licensing agreement with Ford. Same reason you cannot buy other OEM parts directly from suppliers.