SatNav an enduring disappointment

[Linds]

I just wish to record my considerable disappointment with the SatNav system that came with my Mk 3.5 Titanium.  The car, which I have had for two years and 36,000 miles, has been a delight to own and drive in almost every respect except for the SatNav system.  The reason I thought I should say this (I stress this is my personal and possibly subjective view) is that one hears of people retro-fitting their cars with SatNav and I cannot help but feel many of them must end up being sorely disappointed after all the effort they've invested.

I don't know whose system the Ford system is - is it Garmin?  Whatever, and for all its flaws, tomtom is, in my opinion, brilliant by comparison.  About six months ago I put tomtom on to my Android phone so that when I rent or borrow cars I have a navigation system when I need it.  It has been fantastic and, frankly, has performed impeccably.

I live in a rural area and there are many "roads" (little more than the the width of a Focus) one should never venture down unless one's destination is on such a "road".  The Ford system delights in routing one onto these "roads" at every opportunity which, unless one has a death wish, it is best to drive at a snail's pace.  I have partly got over this problem now by ignoring any instructions to leave a numbered road until I am within 3 miles or so of my destination.    

Another problem is the completely mad routing.  I live close to a trunk road and want to drive down it, 60 miles, to a large town.  The reason I need my SatNav is that I need to keep an eye on progress as I want to be able to warn the people I am meeting if I am going to be late, secondly I have no idea which junction to exit at and finally I am not familiar with the geography of the destination town.  Checked Google Maps and tomtom and both of them tell me to drive down the trunk road until I get to the town.  The Ford system?  Well that tells me to meander via a series of country lanes (crossing, not joining, the trunk road) across to the centre of my county, eventually turning left to meander back 10 or 15 miles to the trunk road.  Completely mad, in other words.  I checked incidentally ... there are no incidents on the trunk road that give rise to the need for such a diversion.

In conclusion I would recommend people thinking of retro-fitting a Ford SatNav system check out what users they know (ie people whose judgment they trust) think of the system.  I guess in urban areas it may be better ... i don't know ... but for me it's been a total waste of time and money.  On those occasions when I need SatNav, out comes my Android phone!

[alexp999]

Have you tried changing the routing settings?

And made sure it's not set up to avoid motorways or something weird?

[DJ_Andy_M]

Sounds like a configuration issue to me. I haven't found any issues with mine yet. It does also depend on traffic in the area too as it receives that data so it will attempt to route around heavy traffic as well.

If its sending you down country roads, sounds like you need to adjust it to not take the quickest or shortest route. I changed a setting on my tomtom once that caused this, and almost got stuck on my way down to Devon!

[mike6688]

I'm glad I invested in adding the sat nav as I've found it a lot better than the tomtom I had been using. As long as the settings are right I've not had an issue. It has tried to take me down a road with a sign 'not suitable for motor vehicles' but the tomtom also tried to take me that way so can't fault it on that. 

[Linds]

6 hours ago, alexp999 said:

Have you tried changing the routing settings?

And made sure it's not set up to avoid motorways or something weird?

As you can imagine over two years I have patiently tried every setting and observed the effect.

I do wonder if some of the problem might be influenced by my local highways authority - I think they do have some input and could be being deliberately difficult.  Whatever that would not surprise me! 

[Linds]

5 hours ago, DJ_Andy_M said:

Sounds like a configuration issue to me. I haven't found any issues with mine yet. It does also depend on traffic in the area too as it receives that data so it will attempt to route around heavy traffic as well.

If its sending you down country roads, sounds like you need to adjust it to not take the quickest or shortest route. I changed a setting on my TomTom once that caused this, and almost got stuck on my way down to Devon!

I agree that it sounds like a configuration problem but it isn't because I have in desperation extensively experimented with the configuration, all to no avail.

I understand traffic is an influence - tomtom clearly illustrates traffic issues (so you don't have to guess the system is reacting to such an issue) and as I said in the example I quoted I checked the route - no probs.  Indeed I drove down it.

[Linds]

2 hours ago, mike6688 said:

I'm glad I invested in adding the sat nav as I've found it a lot better than the TomTom I had been using. As long as the settings are right I've not had an issue. It has tried to take me down a road with a sign 'not suitable for motor vehicles' but the TomTom also tried to take me that way so can't fault it on that. 

Delighted you are happy.  In truth so am I (but with everything other than the SatNav system!!)  If you reckon its better than tomtom, I wonder if what I have is a problem in some way related to my locality, which is Suffolk.

[mike6688]

4 minutes ago, Linds said:

Delighted you are happy.  In truth so am I (but with everything other than the SatNav system!!)  If you reckon its better than TomTom, I wonder if what I have is a problem in some way related to my locality, which is Suffolk.

Yeah maybe due to locality. TBH I've never used it much on really local roads, so maybe the system isn't that great on them and I just haven't noticed. I've also never been to Suffolk so can't comment on that. 

What version is the SD card in your sat nav btw? 

[Linds]

13 hours ago, mike6688 said:

Yeah maybe due to locality. TBH I've never used it much on really local roads, so maybe the system isn't that great on them and I just haven't noticed. I've also never been to Suffolk so can't comment on that. 

What version is the SD card in your sat nav btw? 

F5 ... haven't yet seen F6 (?) on eBay.

[mike6688]

10 hours ago, Linds said:

F5 ... haven't yet seen F6 (?) on Ebay.

Same here, I have F5. Nope haven't seen any F6 yet either 

[Phil21185]

Bannko got his hands on the F6 but was saying that it's was €250 new from ford...

 

[mike6688]

10 hours ago, Phil21185 said:

Bannko got his hands on the F6 but was saying that it's was €250 new from ford...

 

Bit much for an updated card! Think I'll wait, sure some will come up cheaper on eBay eventually

[Guzzilazz]

I'm delighted with mine... I've used Garmin in the car exclusively for over 10 years, and tomtom on the motorbike for about 12.  The routing and accuracy of the Ford system is certainly better than tomtom and equal to Garmin, despite the maps being older.  I can't recall whether there is a "factory reset" option for the navigation system independently of everything else, but I'd be tempted to do that

[volts]

On 13/06/2017 at 11:36 AM, Linds said:

Another problem is the completely mad routing. 

Your not alone on that one

The Ford Sat Nav does take you on a bizarre route. Once i was up in Yorkshire (Pickering) and wanted to get to Whitby. Ford took us over the moors (lovely scenery btw) but not terribly appropriate for motor cars (No phone signal eeek). Navigation on phone/Google on our return took us via the A Roads B roads etc

There has been other instances where it tried to take us down lanes etc and i've ignored it sticking to the A Roads. I am much more wary of this Sat Nav than other systems in cars & Portables 

However you do get to your destination and the issues above would not stop me from spec Sat Nav again

[Guzzilazz]

I should have mentioned earlier, I live in N. Essex and frequently visit places in Suffolk, and have followed routes, when I had time, which I thought were slow, but each time it was quicker than joining the A14 orA12...

[Linds]

6 hours ago, Guzzilazz said:

I should have mentioned earlier, I live in N. Essex and frequently visit places in Suffolk, and have followed routes, when I had time, which I thought were slow, but each time it was quicker than joining the A14 orA12...

The important thing is that it clearly works for you.

One feature I do use regularly (without bothering to connect up my Android phone) is when I am in an unfamiliar part of the world I ask the system to get me Home and I then follow whatever route I'm offered until I'm in familiar surroundings when I switch it off.  Often I'm in a town (so the problem of narrow roads is rarely an issue) and because the local geography is unknown to me I have no idea of the quality of routing.  My criticisms are personal and as I say possibly subjective so I think it would be wrong to damn the system completely (so perhaps it was a little harsh of me to have described it as a total waste of time and money) and there are times when I could describe myself as satisfied with it.

I merely wonder if its worth it ... I happily accept you think it is ... but I don't think I do ... certainly if retro-fitting the system might cost a lot of time and money. 

I can't wait for the day when I have my pet system on my phone, and you yours on your phone ... when we climb into our Focus it puts that system up on the screen for us.  Then we'd both definitely be happy.  I guess that has come with Sync 3?  I don't know as I'm on Sync 2.