Member Since: 27 May 2008
Location: Suffolk
Posts: 505
D3 Navigation. Is it useless or am I missing something?
Hi all,
I have had my 2008.5 MY D3 for over a year now and I have been getting more and more disillusioned with the navigation (amongst other things)
In fact its not the navigation as a whole but the routes it selects.
Over the past year it has selected such ridiculous or long routes and used so many back streets that I have stopped using it when I don't already know the way to where I want to go !!
Over the last couple of weeks I have been running it side by side with my wife's tom-tom. I have used the tom-tom to navigate and put the same destination in the D3 nav, muted the sound and just kept a check on the D3 map.
Well its been a real eye opener! The D3 nav is useless!! It nearly always calculates considerably longer and more complex routes and will often take you off a main road, through a village and back on to the same main road, increasing mileage and time. It has even taken me off a main road, up the slip and back onto the same main road !!
I am pretty sure I have tried every combination of option settings and I upgraded to the latest map disc and it made no difference what so ever.
Any one here got any suggestions or having the same problem ?.
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3rd Sep 2009 11:39 am
Reggieb
Member Since: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Watford, Herts.
Posts: 707
I agree London Lad its not a patch on my tomtom and has the strangest route plans.
When I went to the the D3 boating event in April it wanted to added an extra 30 miles to the journey so I had to sit down with a map book and add way points so that it went the way I wanted it to....
Sometimes its ok but I always check the route on long trips.... TDV6 HSE - Light Guards - White Reflective Sticker
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3rd Sep 2009 11:54 am
London Lad
Member Since: 27 May 2008
Location: Suffolk
Posts: 505
Oh good! at least its not me then !!.
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You should never argue with idiots because they will just drag you down to their level....then beat you with experience !
Agreed! I use sat-nav as a novelty since I rarely don't know where I'm going or how to get there. I always plug-in my destination just for the amusement of seeing where the system would take me if I were a stranger in these parts.
I see 'Recalculating Route' with alarming regularity and often the system was taking me in a stupid direction. I was recently travelling on the A96 which passes through the town of 'Keith'. The sat-nav wanted to take me off the A96, up a small lane, onto the main shopping street in the town and then back on to the A96 within 0.5 miles.
As with most things, an element of common sense needs to be applied and I suppose the truth is that sat-nav is only meant as a 'driver aid' not a driver substitute.
The only time I've relied on the system was when heading for the South of France but I would still pay attention to road-signs rather than blindly follow the screen on my dash. The older I get, the more I realise that people confuse wrinkles for wisdom
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Re: D3 Navigation. Is it useless or am I missing something?
London Lad wrote:
will often take you off a main road, through a village and back on to the same main road, increasing mileage and time. It has even taken me off a main road, up the slip and back onto the same main road !!
I've found this aspect really annoying too.As you slide down the banister of life
may no splinters point your way
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3rd Sep 2009 1:35 pm
highbayrack
Member Since: 09 Jul 2008
Location: Northamptonshire
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I got off the Hoek to Harwich ferry (this end) and programmed in my home address in Northampton, up came directions sending me back across the water and through Belgium (wouldn't mind but i'd come in on the last ferry and had to wait till the next day)On a mission to find the perfect Pork Pie. Just Found it (I think)..(Yes I have)
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On the way home from France a few weeks ago (OMG, it seems like eons ago now ), we were sat in the ferry port at St. Malo waiting to board the ferry to Portsmouth. Bored, I entered our home destination into the sat nav to see what would happen. Despite the fact that the St Malo map shows the ferry route, clearly labeled Porstmouth, madam sat nav (I call it that cos like all women, it can't read a map!) decided that every route, be it Quick, Normal or Short, involved driving from St Malo to Calais and getting the ferry to Dover. It doesn't even recognise Cherbourg, Caen, Le Havre, Dieppe or Boulogne as alternative ferry routes.
The thing is useless. I don't think I'd buy another sat nav equipped car again - I'd get another Tom Tom and stick to that.Now an ex-D3 owner after 7 happy years. Miss the car but not the big bills
3rd Sep 2009 2:25 pm
Shrinky
Member Since: 05 Jul 2007
Location: Cotswolds
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I'm just glad it came free. (well sort of free). If I had bought a navigation system like that in the shop I would have taken it back ages ago Global Warming.... I'm luvvin it
3rd Sep 2009 2:34 pm
Stu
Member Since: 08 Feb 2009
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 2423
It doesn't seem to know about the A34 either! This is a major road that you'd use to get from the South to either the M4 or M40 but the D3 always wants me to go via the M25 which is probably about 100 miles out of my way.
ETA's are way out as well, I was about 8 miles from my destination the other day and it told me my eta was in 4 mins! I don't think the rozzers would have accepted my excuse of "I was doing what the car said" for speeding at 120mph.
Adding in way points and favourite locations is difficult, you can't access it whilst on the move, you can't update it with your own POI's, there is no speed camera warning on it and the interface is generally pretty slow and clunky. Has anyone found a difference between the 3 different route options? Normal and Quick what's the difference?
On the plus side the TMC stuff is quite good, but I think a tomtom is much much better and considerably cheaperD3 HSE MY05 Auto
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3rd Sep 2009 2:44 pm
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Like other, I use it for entertainment factor.... (except when I have no choice as I'm totally unfamiliar with an area...)
Also in France, it tried taking some alarmingly long routes (100m+) out of our way! Ended up with a googlemap to at least get towns on as waypoints to bring it back into more sensible routes.
Oh and in Wales in middle of July, a 6 mile route, took us 28 minutes because of it's stupid stupid routing out in the sticks. On the way back, we looked at a map & was back at the site in 12!Bodsys Brake Bible
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3rd Sep 2009 3:02 pm
the kergan
Member Since: 01 Dec 2008
Location: Swindon Wiltshire
Posts: 535
Glad I read this thread, was looking into having a Sat nav on a D4 but I dont think I will bother now. I have not got one on the D3 so will just use the TomTom if I upgrade. I have something to say! It's better to burn out... than to fade away!
3rd Sep 2009 3:09 pm
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I haven't seen it, but I'm hoping the sat nave on the D4 will be much better than the D3. Bodsys Brake Bible
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3rd Sep 2009 3:11 pm
ad15
Member Since: 14 Dec 2008
Location: up that tree
Posts: 4866
that's funny, when i mentioned a few months back about the satnav not being great i got shot down in flames within seconds... one wife.......livid
3rd Sep 2009 3:15 pm
the kergan
Member Since: 01 Dec 2008
Location: Swindon Wiltshire
Posts: 535
As far as the salesman could tell me it was the same satnav and current disk.
Only difference is all d4's will have the screen as it is used for the stereo controls as well as the features that were on the dashboard computer.I have something to say! It's better to burn out... than to fade away!
3rd Sep 2009 3:16 pm
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), we were sat in the ferry port at St. Malo waiting to board the ferry to Portsmouth. Bored, I entered our home destination into the sat nav to see what would happen. Despite the fact that the St Malo map shows the ferry route, clearly labeled Porstmouth, madam sat nav (I call it that cos like all women, it can't read a map!) decided that every route, be it Quick, Normal or Short, involved driving from St Malo to Calais and getting the ferry to Dover. 
thing is useless. I don't think I'd buy another sat nav equipped car again - I'd get another Tom Tom and stick to that.
