Sat Nav OE v Add on

[philip rodney]

I haven't specced oe Sat Nav. At the time, i thought £1500 or so in a MINI sounded crazy. Now i am having second thoughts.

How do the add ons compare? Which one do you recommend

[supa-dupa-cooper]

I wouldnt be without mine



...and I havent done a lap of the M25 by mistake since ive had it neither

[Scrogg]

Putting aside that portable units can be stolen, the only reason anyone can ever come up with for paying a ridiculous amount for Sat Nav is that it looks better!

Personally, I use a TomTom ONE as I'm not interested in any of the features the "better" models offer, and it does exactly what it is meant to do, is easy to use, easy to update, accurate, and has the one thing that is still woefully missing from OEM units - Postcode Entry.

Pretty much everyone I know that uses Sat Nav has a TomTom, and not one of them has a bad word to say about it.

If it was me, I'd spend circa £100, save circa £1,400 and live with having to remove it from the screen every time you get out of the car (which, let's face it, isn't every time, as how often are you actually going to use it?)

[Scrogg]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scrogg (original)

Pretty much everyone I know that uses Sat Nav has a TomTom

Quote: Originally Posted by supa-dupa-cooper (original)

I wouldnt be without mine

Except Jo, that is

[supa-dupa-cooper]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scrogg (original)

and has the one thing that is still woefully missing from OEM units - Postcode Entry.

I dont ever use postcodes....too unpredictable. Even some our drivers at work dont tend to use them, and like me prefer road names/building numbers, which have got me straight to where I want to be!

The funniest one has to be when I went to Nottingham the other weekend, pulled up outside the house, then pulled into the garden to park the car "you have reached your destination" love it I did laugh!

[supa-dupa-cooper]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scrogg (original)

Except Jo, that is

[Scrogg]

Quote: Originally Posted by supa-dupa-cooper (original)

I dont ever use postcodes....too unpredictable. Even some our drivers at work dont tend to use them, and like me prefer road names/building numbers, which have got me straight to where I want to be!

Postcodes are anything but unpredictable, they are the most accurate way of finding an address.

Try living in a part of the country where a good number of roads don't even have names, and then tell me you can easily find anywhere with your ludicrously-priced factory-fitted unit.

To give you an example, I delivered a car about 6 months ago to a customer that lives at Mumbleys Farmhouse, Thornbury. Other than the postcode that's the whole address. If your Nav can get you straight there without taking you down one of the eleven unclassified road dead-ends within a 2 mile radius I'll pay for your JCW conversion

[supa-dupa-cooper]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scrogg (original)

Postcodes are anything but unpredictable, they are the most accurate way of finding an address.

Try living in a part of the country where a good number of roads don't even have names, and then tell me you can easily find anywhere with your ludicrously-priced factory-fitted unit.

To give you an example, I delivered a car about 6 months ago to a customer that lives at Mumbleys Farmhouse, Thornbury. Other than the postcode that's the whole address. If your Nav can get you straight there without taking you down one of the eleven unclassified road dead-ends within a 2 mile radius I'll pay for your JCW conversion

Try delivering a car to an address that only has a po box postcode

...but you can pay for my JCW anyway Si, you know that

[Scrogg]

Quote: Originally Posted by supa-dupa-cooper (original)

Try delivering a car to an address that only has a po box postcode

That may be the address they use for mail, but it doesn't mean the building they are in doesn't have one.

Quote: Originally Posted by supa-dupa-cooper (original)

...but you can pay for my JCW anyway Si, you know that

Can't afford it this month mate, just had to buy a new TV

[supa-dupa-cooper]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scrogg (original)

That may be the address they use for mail, but it doesn't mean the building they are in doesn't have one.


Can't afford it this month mate, just had to buy a new TV

Well just dont break (yet another) one next month

[pbarclay]

I paid an extra £1100 for Sat Nav in my VW which I bought in 2004, before the price of portable Sat Navs fell to a reasonable price.

A few years ago, laptops with their fancy flat screens cost thousandsand most people made do with a CRT. Now, you can buy a fairly decent laptop for £300 and flat screens are everywhere.

So, why has the price of in car Sat Navs not fallen to some extent? The problem is that not only are in-car Sat Navs very expensive, they also add relatively little to the resale value of the car, as I found out when trying to get a p/x price on the Touran a couple of years ago! I think they are a rip off and just another way of increasing the manufacturer's profit margin.

Tom Tom standalone units are good but they do carry a very high risk of theft. A better solution is to have Tom Tom software on your mobile phone - far easier to remember to carry it with you when you leave the car. The software can be transferred from phone to phone with upgrades. Even better, it can be used when hiring a car abroad - my phone was great at navigating during a recent trip to Italy. You can even use the phone to navigate when walking on foot.

I have a great Brodit phone holder which neatly makes my phone into a pukka hands free device and keeps it fully charged - Brodit have come up with a very neat mechanism for mounting the phone by the glovebox as you can see on their website.

[Tobes]

I wouldnt be without my OEM sat nav either

Works well and looks good - no theft worries

[ALD0]

OEM Navigation is fantastic, The cars computer, Radio and a few other things are also on it. MP3, Bluetooth phone etc (if specced) It is very cost;y but very worth it.
OEM should support first part of postcode i.e NW1 5 .. and then search for the street you want.

I do though use a Tom Tom as well, if I have a courtesty car or Hire car on holiday etc. Tom Tom are fantastic (Never used Garmin so can't comment) Mine is over 2 years old and still very future proof with their automatic downloads they do on Tom Tom Home.

Me personallyIf I bought a new MINI/BMW etc I would not spec Nav as a second hand card with Nav is only worth £400/£500 more than one without... But I can see the justification to pay £1500 with all those features.

[57SGH]

Just returned from a trip around Europe, the OEM SatNav was just great.
Having gone through France, Switzerland, Austria and Germany it got me to all the hotels even when they were tucked up small roads in mountain villages.

The only complaint is I would have liked the following additions.

1. For route type - can I have an option of scenic route.
Selecting avoid motorways is OK, but not the best.
2. POI - could not find a POI list, such as petrol stations.

[popey]

The Mrs made me spec it on the new JCW were getting.

I dont think in 2 or 3 years it will even add £100 to the value of the car. But to be honist I dont think I could live with the standard R56 dash.

I dont understand why MINI dont just do a software update for full post code, Im sure thats all it would take. But then again it wouldnt make them money, just make us happy.... like that counts . Oh and it would shut that bloody Scrogg up