Poor NAV performance

5299 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by aviator, Mar 14, 2005

XLRcited

Discussion Starter · Mar 13, 2005

I love my XLR, BUT.....

There are two things that frustrate me: 1. Nav performance and 2. voice recognition. I have complained on this forum before about the VR. Also there is much chatter on the STS forum on the same subject (with one message indicating that Cadillac is aware of the issue and working on it).

The poor performance of the nav system is almost unbelieveable. Unbelievable in the sense that Cadillac would allow such poor quality. Why they selected a virtual unknown to supply the database is confusing (NAVTEQ is the undisputed leader in this business, but GM selected Denso).

There are many, many examples of the nav system plotting a route that 1. includes going down one-way streets the wrong way (and these are not 'new' one-way streets either), 2. showing the address on the wrong side of the street (in fact on a major highway ALL of the addresses are on the wrong side of the street!), and 3. not correctly plotting the most direct route to an address.

NAVTEQ offers a website where users can report the 'bugs'. There is no such website offered by Denso.

I have mentioned this to my dealer who shakes their head in disbelief but who encourages me to contact Cadillac through their website (see the message in the general forum about that service!). I sometimes get the feeling that Cadillac is not interested in how their toys work - only that they have included them so as to be competitive in the luxuary market.

Ugh! :crazy

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Eyedoc

· #2 · Mar 14, 2005

Nav system outsource

While Caddy should be able to push it, I believe all of the Nav systems are from outsourced companies.

There was some discussion on this months ago, and someone said they even all use the same database. I believe most of the Nav system issues are due to out of date and/or inaccurate databases.

I have had Nav systems since 2000 on my Lincoln Navigator. SWimilar to any software driven thing, they are always inmproving and will continue to improve.

Since I work in the IT industry, you get stuck sometimes with the problem of "getting something out the door" vs "waiting for the performance to be better".

I think alot of this could be circumvented if they made these systems more easily upgradeable or modular.

In my opinion, the Nav system works well 98% of the time. The few times it doesn't are just that, few.

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XLRcited

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 14, 2005

I have had nav since my '98 BMW Z3 (dealer add-on) and it used NavTeq. My wife's 2000 STS also has built-in nav. Both of these systems were much more accurate than the Denso database on the XLR. I would have expected the Denso database to be even more accurate (since it is a later edition) than the previous examples, but that is not the case.

I agree that these problems can be corrected with an update to the database, yet they should not have occured in the first place. Any address that is requested along Rt 202 in Wilmington DE will be shown on the wrong side of the street. That is unexcusable.

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aviator

· #4 · Mar 14, 2005

Its all about the database...

I agree, its all about the database. To keep the Garmin GNS 430 in my Cessna up to date, I have to insert a new data card monthly. It's very very good, but it also costs $360 per year for the subscription, and is a bit of a chore to keep up with.

I like the XLR's nav system because it will get me to an unfamiliar address, and gives me a view of the roads around my location. However, I rarely use route guidance.

Traffic avoidance downloads? XM Weather downloads? All are possible, but I'm not sure I would be willing to pay the additional $$$ that it would take to support such a system.

I guess the question is, how much more would the average Cadillac consumer be willing to pay for this kind of stuff.

Disappointment in a product comes from "expectation gaps". I knew what I was getting on the nav when I bought the XLR. It's better than my 02 Mercedes, but not as good as the 05 Escalade.

I'm actually satisfied. (But then, I still have less that 6000 miles and am approaching our 1 year ownership anniversary.)

The coolest thing about the 04 XLR MFD is that you can defeat it, and play a DVD while driving. Can't do on any other model. :thumbs

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XLRcited

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 14, 2005

The NavTraffic downloads will cost $3.99/mo if you are a XM customer; otherwise, it will cost $9.99/mo. That will be expensive for all except the constant traveler and Type A's who can't stand to be caught in a traffic jam.

Bill

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aviator

· #6 · Mar 14, 2005 (Edited)

Life's too short..

XLRcited said:
The NavTraffic downloads will cost $3.99/mo if you are a XM customer; otherwise, it will cost $9.99/mo. That will be expensive for all except the constant traveler and Type A's who can't stand to be caught in a traffic jam.

Bill

...to be a type A - and shorten it even further.

I will look into the XM NavTraffic option - for my Escalade.

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