Do you need NAV?

[kulfyur]

Not sure why you would say that somebody who's a car enthusiast wouldn't want or need nav. I mean, just today I was in a situation where it would have come in handy (my current Mustang doesn't have it) -- I was going to a party in the opposite end of Brooklyn from my apartment, in a neighborhood I rarely go to. So I was using the nav on my phone -- which is always sort of obnoxious, since you have to mix holding it to see the screen with holding it so it has a clear view of the sky to keep satellite connections through the windows rather than the roof -- when about thirty blocks (1.5 miles) from my destination my phone froze. There's no place to pull over there (one lane, one way streets with cars parked along both sides), so I had to do a hard reset on my phone and then reload the maps app and pull up the party's address all while driving. Not a fun experience.

If you're just using your car for the track, I suppose that's one thing. But for most of us these are daily drivers; they aren't 911 GT3's or anything.

...$700 for a better phone +20 for a car mount for the phone, or $700 +$? subscription for navigation.

Navigation is the last feature I need or want on this car, I'd pick the rain sensing wipers first (no exaggeration and that's saying a lot). I have to agree with those that say built in navigation falls short of the phone interfacing with that car. Built in navigation may hang around, but until the cost is significantly reduced and the subscription cost cut out (both of which I doubt) those who are actually up on tech. will see no benefit to buying navigation... neither in cost nor functionality. Heck I'm still surprised that Garmin and Tom-Tom are still in business.:shrug: Just my opinion though.

Edit: The more i read the debate on nav I wonder what the age spread is here... I'd bet that most that even use nav are 35+ maybe even 40+... I'm also wondering if location makes a difference (not as in the navigation's directions but more about the signal reception of the navigation vs a cell phone).

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[JimmyTwoTimes]

...$700 for a better phone +20 for a car mount for the phone, or $700 +$? subscription for navigation.

Navigation is the last feature I need or want on this car, I'd pick the rain sensing wipers first (no exaggeration and that's saying a lot). I have to agree with those that say built in navigation falls short of the phone interfacing with that car. Built in navigation may hang around, but until the cost is significantly reduced and the subscription cost cut out (both of which I doubt) those who are actually up on tech. will see no benefit to buying navigation... neither in cost nor functionality. Heck I'm still surprised that Garmin and Tom-Tom are still in business.:shrug: Just my opinion though.

Edit: The more i read the debate on nav I wonder what the age spread is here... I'd bet that most that even use nav are 35+ maybe even 40+... I'm also wondering if location makes a difference (not as in the navigation's directions but more about the signal reception of the navigation vs a cell phone).

There is no subscription cost for navigation. After your however-many free years of satellite traffic, you don't get live traffic updates any more, but the navigation is always free without a subscription.

And the cost of navigation in this car is $750, or roughly what I pay for a new phone every couple of years (buy them unsubsidized to keep my grandfathered unlimited data plan with Verizon).

 

[GiddyUp15]

Not sure why you would say that somebody who's a car enthusiast wouldn't want or need nav. I mean, just today I was in a situation where it would have come in handy (my current Mustang doesn't have it) -- I was going to a party in the opposite end of Brooklyn from my apartment, in a neighborhood I rarely go to. So I was using the nav on my phone -- which is always sort of obnoxious, since you have to mix holding it to see the screen with holding it so it has a clear view of the sky to keep satellite connections through the windows rather than the roof -- when about thirty blocks (1.5 miles) from my destination my phone froze. There's no place to pull over there (one lane, one way streets with cars parked along both sides), so I had to do a hard reset on my phone and then reload the maps app and pull up the party's address all while driving. Not a fun experience.

If you're just using your car for the track, I suppose that's one thing. But for most of us these are daily drivers; they aren't 911 GT3's or anything.

You must have an Android phone

But really, most of us are going to spend money on a nice smart phone every couple if years regardless of its nav features, but getting constant updates for free is the point we are trying to make. From what I've heard, manufacturers have updates to their nav only every so often and they usually charge a pretty penny to update them. Business locations and roads, exit numbers, etc change all the time. Maybe it's different now, but I've never had nav built into car before so I'm just going by what I've heard.

Also, I've never had an issue with line of sight on my phone nav, unless I'm in a tunnel or something but the in car nav would have the same problem too. I like the voice control nav being built in so that's really the only reason I'm getting it, plus I like gadgets and tech so I usually go over the top for the sake of going over the top

 

[kulfyur]

There is no subscription cost for navigation. After your however-many free years of satellite traffic, you don't get live traffic updates any more, but the navigation is always free without a subscription.

And the cost of navigation in this car is $750, or roughly what I pay for a new phone every couple of years (buy them unsubsidized to keep my grandfathered unlimited data plan with Verizon).

You really kind of just proved my point... Especially if you have Verizon and unlimited data and apps like Waze... You're already paying the 750 somewhere else... why pay it again for one feature you already have?:headbonk:

One thing i don't know that maybe you and other MFT/nav users may be able to tell me though is: If i connect my phone via bluetooth and play music. Can I still use the nav with the music playing and it still give directions without stopping my music?

Another question is: Isn't there an app for your phone that links it with MFT to essentially allow you to interface with the phone from the car's display? (im pretty sure my '13 has it but there doesn't appear to be an app for the iphone but i didn't look that hard)

I'm not trying to criticize anyone's preference or decision, but unless you're like the guy who just posted above me who's a techy, live outside the US (idk the economies there), or just unaware of other options, it just seems like buying this feature on any car is just throwing money at stuff just cause you can...

 

[wilkinda65]

...$700 for a better phone +20 for a car mount for the phone, or $700 +$? subscription for navigation.

Navigation is the last feature I need or want on this car, I'd pick the rain sensing wipers first (no exaggeration and that's saying a lot). I have to agree with those that say built in navigation falls short of the phone interfacing with that car. Built in navigation may hang around, but until the cost is significantly reduced and the subscription cost cut out (both of which I doubt) those who are actually up on tech. will see no benefit to buying navigation... neither in cost nor functionality. Heck I'm still surprised that Garmin and Tom-Tom are still in business.:shrug: Just my opinion though.

Edit: The more i read the debate on nav I wonder what the age spread is here... I'd bet that most that even use nav are 35+ maybe even 40+... I'm also wondering if location makes a difference (not as in the navigation's directions but more about the signal reception of the navigation vs a cell phone).

Show me one good looking car mount for a cellphone. Just one that doesn't entail cables hanging for power that looks good. I'm over having unslighlty cables hanging or cords for connecting to sync hanging cluttering up my interior. I'm a neat freak.... So I'll pay he $795 GLADLY

 

[kulfyur]

If you're charging your phone you will have a cord regardless.... If not, I use bluetooth. No cord needed. I'm the same way I hate a bunch of cords hanging. I even did my best to minimize the radar detector's cord appearance. Now if you just don't want a car mount at all that's a something on it's own and I can understand your preference at that point. But if you don't mind a mount and would like it to be discreet/not obnoxious I can find you plenty of those. Just let me know.

Edit: Even if you don't want the car mount, depending on the answer to my second question in my second response here, you still wouldn't need one if there is a interface with MFT and the phone via an app. So the phone may be able to stay in your pocket still. @Brent302 i know you hate me but would you mind checking this with your wife's car? (i believe i read that you said her car had MFT or am i wrong?

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

You really kind of just proved my point... Especially if you have Verizon and unlimited data and apps like Waze... You're already paying the 750 somewhere else... why pay it again for one feature you already have?:headbonk:

One thing i don't know that maybe you and other MFT/nav users may be able to tell me though is: If i connect my phone via bluetooth and play music. Can I still use the nav with the music playing and it still give directions without stopping my music?

Another question is: Isn't there an app for your phone that links it with MFT to essentially allow you to interface with the phone from the car's display? (im pretty sure my '13 has it but there doesn't appear to be an app for the iphone but i didn't look that hard)

I'm not trying to criticize anyone's preference or decision, but unless you're like the guy who just posted above me who's a techy, live outside the US (idk the economies there), or just unaware of other options, it just seems like buying this feature on any car is just throwing money at stuff just cause you can...

Because holding a telephone in your hand to see directions is kludgy when you caan have them on a bigger screen on the center stack. When you're trying to see where a turn is and you're holding your phone with one hand and trying to drive with the other and dividng your attention between traffic, street signs, your phone in your hand... it's not a smooth-feeling experience. Forget mounts; I bought a mount for my first smartphone five years ago, used it once, and realized that it's idiotic to block part of the view out your windshield with a phone mount. I've never had navigation in a car, just used my phone, and I've missed it. One problem is one you mentioned -- you can only hear voice directions if you're listening through bluetooth streaming audio; if you've you've got your phone linked through bluetooth to take calls but are listening to music over usb or Sirius, the phone's voice directions aren't sounded anywhere. I've missed many turns because of that.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

If you're charging your phone you will have a cord regardless....

Except if you charge it in the center console you don't have a cord or a phone to have to look at.

 

[wilkinda65]

If you're charging your phone you will have a cord regardless.... If not, I use bluetooth. No cord needed. I'm the same way I hate a bunch of cords hanging. I even did my best to minimize the radar detector's cord appearance. Now if you just don't want a car mount at all that's a something on it's own and I can understand your preference at that point. But if you don't mind a mount and would like it to be discreet/not obnoxious I can find you plenty of those. Just let me know.

Edit: Even if you don't want the car mount, depending on the answer to my second question in my second response here, you still wouldn't need one if there is a interface with MFT and the phone via an app. So the phone may be able to stay in your pocket still. @Brent302 i know you hate me but would you mind checking this with your wife's car? (i believe i read that you said her car had MFT or am i wrong?

Nope, USB port is in the center console where my phone will be. So no visible cords

 

[Brent302]

You really kind of just proved my point... Especially if you have Verizon and unlimited data and apps like Waze... You're already paying the 750 somewhere else... why pay it again for one feature you already have?:headbonk:

One thing i don't know that maybe you and other MFT/nav users may be able to tell me though is: If i connect my phone via bluetooth and play music. Can I still use the nav with the music playing and it still give directions without stopping my music?

Another question is: Isn't there an app for your phone that links it with MFT to essentially allow you to interface with the phone from the car's display? (im pretty sure my '13 has it but there doesn't appear to be an app for the iphone but i didn't look that hard)

I'm not trying to criticize anyone's preference or decision, but unless you're like the guy who just posted above me who's a techy, live outside the US (idk the economies there), or just unaware of other options, it just seems like buying this feature on any car is just throwing money at stuff just cause you can...

Yes the navigation will drop down your music volume to give you the upcoming direction and then turn your music back up after.

Show me one good looking car mount for a cellphone. Just one that doesn't entail cables hanging for power that looks good. I'm over having unslighlty cables hanging or cords for connecting to sync hanging cluttering up my interior. I'm a neat freak.... So I'll pay he $795 GLADLY

Exactly.

If you're charging your phone you will have a cord regardless.... If not, I use bluetooth. No cord needed. I'm the same way I hate a bunch of cords hanging. I even did my best to minimize the radar detector's cord appearance. Now if you just don't want a car mount at all that's a something on it's own and I can understand your preference at that point. But if you don't mind a mount and would like it to be discreet/not obnoxious I can find you plenty of those. Just let me know.

Edit: Even if you don't want the car mount, depending on the answer to my second question in my second response here, you still wouldn't need one if there is a interface with MFT and the phone via an app. So the phone may be able to stay in your pocket still. @Brent302 i know you hate me but would you mind checking this with your wife's car? (i believe i read that you said her car had MFT or am i wrong?

I don't hate anyone here.


PS. This looks cheap and tacky in a $40k ish car with an 8Inch touch screen....

Vs the beautiful GPS integrated into MFT.

 

[DonLafond]

Okay, so I've been reading this discussion for months in one forum or another. Because of this conversation, I actually called in a month ago and changed my order to include the NAV package, but mainly just to complete the infotainment center. (I think you just get a compass in the top right quadrant if you don't have NAV.)

There are at least three reasons I will use both the NAV and an app on my phone at all times.

1. Police - Currently I use Waze, not because I don't know where I am going, but because I like being able to know real time ETA, and more importantly, real time police activity on my route. I'm thinking I'm going to attract a bit more attention in my new RR mustang than I currently do in my black Sebring. If you have not checked out Waze, you should. (BTW, Trapster is another good police reporting app.)

2. Changes - I've had in dash navigation before and enjoyed it, but it was almost immediately out of date. Roads change all of the time and even if Ford updates annually, it will be wrong some of the time. I want a real time backup in case the built in NAV system directs me to a road that no longer exists.

3. Traffic - At some point the free live traffic feed will no longer be free in the built in NAV system, but most likely will always be free in one phone app or another.

 

[kulfyur]

PS. This looks cheap and tacky in a $40k ish car with an 8Inch touch screen....

Yea those 2 were pretty hideous...
This one looks much better

Vs the beautiful GPS integrated into MFT.

Except if you charge it in the center console you don't have a cord or a phone to have to look at.

Nope, USB port is in the center console where my phone will be. So no visible cords

Just tried to look it up, apparently the app that I was talking about wasn't what i thought. Bottom line, no navigation interface output to your screen from your phone (yet lol). With that and your replies, you're paying that extra money to essentially hide you're phone... i can understand that reasoning

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Yea those 2 were pretty hideous...
This one looks much better

No, actually, it looks stupid and tacked on.

The biggest problem I have with my uncle's $60K BMW (aside from the fact that I hate turbocharged engines) is that the nav screen is ingloriously shoved up on top of the dash and looks like a crappy aftermarket hack job. The first time I drove it, I kept trying to push it back down inside the center console because, I thought, something that looked so cheap and obviously afterthought-ish had to be retractable. But nope, it's just sitting there, an eyesore sticking out to the world.

That thing you posted looks far, far worse.

 

[ilkhan]

Five or ten years from now, nobody's going to buy a car without navigation. You'll cut your potential used buyers' market by 80%.

I have no interest whatsoever in a built in nav unit. My phone is faster to enter the destination, syncs destinations from my computers, always up to date, still voice controlled, and still plays the instructions over the stereo via bluetooth.

 

[kulfyur]

No, actually, it looks stupid and tacked on.

The biggest problem I have with my uncle's $60K BMW (aside from the fact that I hate turbocharged engines) is that the nav screen is ingloriously shoved up on top of the dash and looks like a crappy aftermarket hack job. The first time I drove it, I kept trying to push it back down inside the center console because, I thought, something that looked so cheap and obviously afterthought-ish had to be retractable. But nope, it's just sitting there, an eyesore sticking out to the world.

That thing you posted looks far, far worse.

Far worse than Window mount? I feel like that's a renege.

It is a tack on... they all are... That one is just not as obnoxious as that window mount. But again your quarrel appears not to be with obnoxious mounts, but with the seeing the phone... regardless of how it is placed. If you wanted to put that phone down you just grab the phone and put it up, and there is just a dot where the phone was at... not obnoxious and much more discreet. But you want the phone and the mount to be seamlessly melded into your console. Fine. I get why that justifies spending that money for you, and like i said, more power to you.

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