2009 CR-V Navigation System

Hi,

I'm buying a 2009 Honda CR-V with Navigation System from a honda
dealership in NJ. My previous CRV was totalled while parked in front
of my house. So, I need to buy a new one. I like the CR-V so I'm
sticking with it.
I visited the dealer on Saturday and worked out a deal (I dread the
car buying experience)...
Anyway, the weird thing is that the salesperson almost seemed to talk
me out of getting the navigation system.
He asked me three different times -- are you REALLY SURE you want the
navigation system?
It felt like he was trying to send me some secret code or something
(psst - hint hint, wink wink -- don't get the navi system).
Maybe he was just trying to sell something he had on the lot that day,
since he didn't have the color w/navi that I wanted.
I played with the nav system during a test drive, and it seemed very
nice.
Any ideas why he might want to turn me away from the navigation
system?

Thanks!
Frank

 

Yup..... why get a built in system for $2k when you can get a portable for
$150. You will be paying more than $150 per year for updates on the Honda.
On the other hand at least the one on our 2005 Honda Accord hybrid was quite
good and easy to use. The 2008 Camry hybrid navigation is worthless. Hard
to use and inaccurate. We use a handheld magellen.

 

dingdingdingdingding!

 

Yes.. after posting this I realized it was kind of a dumb question to
ask. Should have figured the salesperson wouldn't be honest with me.
Thanks.

 

$2000 extra for it,(my GF just bought a CRV EX without) ain't worth it.
I bought her a garmin Nuvi 265WT with lifetime traffic for $229.

 

I tend to agree, although if you're going to buy a built-in nav system,
Honda's is probably the best.

We were shopping Volvos last week, for my father; we wanted everything
on it, including nav (yeah, try getting an old man to deal with an
external unit). The dealer said they don't come in with much on them,
that it would be a special order. ????? They don't bring in
well-equipped $40K-$50K cars? They order in strippo models? WTF?

Anyway, I found it interesting that Volvo does offer, as a specific
accessory in their catalog, a Garmin unit. Their kit comes with a
specific dash mount for the car in question, and is wired in very
neatly, so that it just plugs in nicely and sits there on top of the
dash. (I remember that BMW also did this for their 3 series.)

So apparently that's how Volvo sees the world: if you want a nav
system, plop this thing on the dash and we'll help make it look as neat
as we can--because we generally don't expect you to want an in-dash
unit, and we generally won't stock them at the dealer.

Frankly, I wish Honda and the rest would offer such a kit as an
alternative. Let's say for a couple hundred dollars they could install
the vehicle specific mounting/power kit, making it nice and neat, and
then I could put in any Garmin unit I wanted, and change it out as often
as I wanted. Garmin would do well to do this with as many manufacturers
as possible.

I could probably go through four or five very nice units before I burned
up $2000. I could have a new Garmin every year.

 

Each car manufacturer will have a deal with the navi maker like
Magellan or Garmin if not TomTom - honda or toyota do not make
their own systems, they use well known manufacturers to do navi.

For me, the biggest benefit of built in navi is the convenience,
neatness of the solution (no cords hanging from the dashboard),
better integration with a car as a whole thing, integration with
the car radio and bluetooth phone and - which is important,
it is much more difficult to steal from a car, so you can leave the
car with navi on a parking lot and go without carrying the GPS
with you in the pocket.

Also, it does not have to cost $2000 to get build in navi!
It certainly does not cost the factory this much if you can get all
the parts in retail for less than that - it is just marketing trick -
a nice feature they can ask a lot of money. Smart buyer would
never express the interest with navi during the negotiations.
First, try to negotiate the car without it, then still "unhappy" leave
the dealership because the price is too high... then ask the
dealer to sweeten the deal throwing in the navi and (after
obviously he refuses to do so) offer him <$500 more for that.
When I was negotiating new 2007 accord in april '07 I was able
to get the version coupe EX-L with navi for the sticker price
of the standard EX-L with about 20 minutes of haggling.
I decided to get used 2004 one instead and pay cash instead
of geting a loan, but the negotiations of the new one were
quite promissing...

 

And the biggest drawback is when the unit needs to be serviced. At least
with a portable unit, you don't have to have the whole car taken in.

You don't have to carry the portable unit in your pocket all the time. Just
store it in a concealed storage space in the car... although not for
prolonged periods of time when it's very hot or very cold outside.

 

OEM systems have the integrated look and function that an aftermarket
unit can't match. But in terms of accuracy, routing, and map car
companies usually go for the cheapest bidder. So you really have to
compare specs.

Not all navigation systems are created equal. For example, in the US
it's better to go with Garmin with a Navteq map. The antenna also
makes a difference. SiRF III, for example, is a superior chipset but
there are cheaper imitators coming online. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SiRFstar_III

 

Yeah, Garmin Nuvi is a great unit. Honda's been known to use Panasonic
or Pioneer head units, if so it's probably some cheap and slow unit
(for example, Time-To-First-Fix etc), not a Garmin.

 

So can you drive a Honda to a BMW dealer and have them install a
Garmin?

 

Okay, so maybe it's not worth $2000... but that's not all you get with
it.
It is integrated with a rear-view backup camera (though backup sensor
is an extra option).
It has voice recognition for navigation, climate control, radio, cd
changer, PC Card (for MP3s), and most importantly, you can ask it
"What time is it?" so you don't need to glance over to the clock
And according to the manual, you can also ask it to find the nearest
Honda Dealer if your nav system stops working... errr, wait a minute,
nevermind...
Also, during my test drive I was very surprised to hear the turn-by-
turn directions coming from the car's speakers in a much clearer and
more pleasing voice than the voice my portable garmin uses in my
wife's car.
And the radio volume temporarily dropped while the intructions to turn
were emitted, which was nice.
I'm not sure whether the nav system also provides bluetooth
capability, though there is a website where my blackberry is on the
list. Now if I could just have it read my emails to me while I'm
driving... wow... I must hack that one. Honestly I think the bluetooth
is only available on European Hondas, which is disappointing.

 

er, no, American Hondas as well.

Except in America, they call that trim level "Acura".

 

Honda uses Alpine systems.

 

No. Honda stopped using Alpine probably a decade ago. They went cheap
with the Panasonic/Matsushita unit. Remember the CD player PE-0 error?
Real stinkers. Then they went Pioneer. And from this article below
they took a share in Pioneer.
So you're getting a Pioneer unit in there.

REPORT: Honda to invest in Pioneer electronics:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.autos.makers.honda/browse_thread/thread/a04f8747528cff44#

 

No. Honda stopped using Alpine probably a decade ago. They went cheap
with the Panasonic/Matsushita unit. Remember the CD player PE-0 error?
Real stinkers. Then they went Pioneer. And from this article below
they took a share in Pioneer.
So you're getting a Pioneer unit in there.

REPORT: Honda to invest in Pioneer electronics:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.autos.makers.honda/browse_thread/thread/a04f8747528cff44#


The DVD upgrade for my Nav system in my 04 was directly from the
Alpine web site.

 

None of these features are useful to deaf people, so thanks for
outlining them all for consumer review.

 

This way you give a reward for beaking the car window...