iluvmytsx

Is NAV wroth it or no?

ostrich

Now that I have had my TSX with NAV for the last 4 years, I would not buy another car without one!

Initially I thought I splashed out and spent $2000 on a toy that I didn't need, but now I have realized that it's one of the best features of my car!!!

dwest1023

In one word, Yes!

n3ok318

iTrader: (1)

if you came here and ask this question, that means you want it!

get it or you'll regret it..

cuteguy1414

iTrader: (1)

Absolutely! I came from a 2005 non-nav to a 2007 nav. Its so worth it! When I was given a loaner without Nav, I missed my NAV so much. Get the NAV! You wont regret it!

BackToStock

meh..i dont know..sometimes its nice to have it if im in a new area, but i pretty much know my surrounding pretty well. helps alot when out of town.

in a nutshell: if you dont mind spending the dough, its so worth it.

iluvmytsx

man i guess i wll get one is it wroth it to get a 06 or lower...with nav

Tsx536

Portable GPS devices are getting cheaper and cheaper nowadays. You can get one for a little as $125 and some of them even do traffic and text to speech which you cannot get in the TSX. You also have the flexibility of taking it from car to car or if you're walking. A couple of years ago, these devices were not as affordable, so factory GPS was probably an easy choice.

With that being said, are there any current factory navi owners that would go the portable route if they could do it all over again?

Don't get me wrong, I think the factory GPS looks great, but $200 vs. $2000 is a big price difference. I guess I'm just trying to open up some discussion because there are a lot of affordable GPS options available nowadays.

wackura

That's an interesting question, because everyone who sees my nav system says it looks old and that the new Lexus or whatever has a realy nice one, but yet they still ask $2000 for it and the '09 TSX will probably have a much nicer nav for about the same price, so if a person can afford to wait for the '09 that might give some incentive.

EuRTSX

Yes

iluvmytsx

any one know invoice pricing for a 08 tsx with NAV

zidenx

iTrader: (1)

yes it worth it. i moved down to southern california almost 2 years ago and it's been very very helpful.

jlukja

In one word...NO. Not for $2,000.


^^ This one for $138...YES!

CarbonGray Earl

If I had to do it NOW, I would get non-nav and go the portable route. Only reason is that traffic updates are a nice feature I would go for nowadays. However, you can't really make that argument for may 05 when I got the car. Our navi was much more relevant and ahead of the curve back then. And no portable matches the integratation of the navi yet. You'd still have to live without some features even if its cheaper.

2k4CL9

very worth it. it impresses the ladies

wiltok

I have it and think it's pretty crappy. I rent cars a lot and other portable NAV's are better. The Acura version is not very intuitive, not 3D, no traffic and doesn't do well in rural areas. It kind of cracks me up - says you are entering an 'unverified area' - like your car is going to drop off the face of the earth. Worse, in rural areas, it will route you WAY out of the way to stay on 'verified' roads. No other navi system that I have used does that...

That said, I will always have a navi in my cars for those times you really do need to find somewhere new...

offsight204

it is very well worth it.. get it

Flounder

2008 invoice for tsx navi is 28,511, that's including destination

ninjamyst

The nav is *almost* useless but 100% worth it. You will probably never use it but when you get into another car that doens't have it, you will miss it. Without the navi, the TSX doesn't seem luxurious at all (not that it is that luxurious in the first place).

bhavin3623

helll yea its worth it especially since its a honda navi.. helps me out alot i would deff get it

malnik

It's worth it. Get it! The navi is useful and aesthetically pleasing. It makes your car look so high tech. I've been in a non-navi TSX and interior is dull and boring like Civic.

gt0279a

Beyond the Nav, you also get:

-large display for audio (especially nice with xm)
-voice activated features (audio, climate and guidance)
This is great (esp. with a manual tranny) as you can steer, shift and tell the car what to do at the same time.
-backup camera/dvd ready if want to add those features

zguy95135

I use my nav all the time, its great. And I love the voice features

DLTSX6MT

I've lived with the TSX's nav now for a couple of years, and from the day you turn it on, you can see that it's pretty primitive. But as you use it daily, you really grow to love it.

I've tried a few portable NAVs by now, and in general, they frustrate the heck out of me. On the one hand, I'd love to say that I hate using the portable NAVs and that I'd have OEM nav in every car - but factor in that we have three cars...picture three OEM NAVs at $2k a pop.

The OEM nav is FAR from perfect - the graphics are prehistoric; the POI database is small, outdated, and is absolutely impossible to use; the maps are outdated; map update discs cost as much as a brand new basic porta-NAV (and are still probably out of date!). And of course, it's hard to justify $2000 versus $200.

But I've recently tried portable NAVs from Tom Tom and Garmin, and while they generally have fancier graphics and are a bazillion times better with the POI's, they have a ton of shortcomings that infuriate the hell out of me every time I use (or try to use) them. Some of these shortcomings are inherent to small and portable devices, some are just feature content things that are probably just a matter of getting the higher models. But it's the "portability" related ones that I've found the most frustrating - low or dead battery, having to bring it inside to charge, or dangle a cord from the 12V outlet, having to remove it every time I exit the car, having to find a place/pocket to carry it, falling out of my pocket, having to mount it when I get back in, fall off my windshield three times a day and ding and dent my dashboard. The screens are small, and so the market trend is to make these things bigger - to me that's counterintuitive for a portable unit. (Just a bigger, bulkier, heavier thing to have to carry, bounce around in my pocket, and fall off my windshield and break my car.) Half the time I decide not to bother mounting it (or bringing it at all) and then wind up needing it in the middle of a trip. All the porta-NAV's I've tried so far lose track of you once you're below a certain speed and also lose you as you make slow and tight turns. Makes navigating from parking lots and driveways a mess. And don't even bother listening to it when you're backing out of a driveway, because it thinks you're driving forward in that direction and will tell you to go the wrong way.

And do you have other devices in your car already? Radar detector, XM, scanner, iPod, phone, etc. How many cords and black boxes can you tolerate in your car? For me, the fewer, the better.

The OEM nav is always there for you, is always on, is convenient, is clean, and is completely hassle free. Plus, the voice commands for the audio and climate control come with it (a big plus if you have an MT). Because of it, I've grown used to always having it there and available whenever it might be needed. To do the same with a porta-NAV is just a lot more involved than you'd imagine.

So, sorry I guess I don't actually have an answer to your question, but a lot of points. For me, there's love/hate for both the OEM and the portables.

TSXFL

A few years ago, the Navi option was a slam dunk. the Tsx with Navi was a huge value at its price point, not sure what else was even close. Now I think it depends on your situation and how you would use it, because Garmin/TomTom units have just gotten so cheap. Tough to justify a $2000 premium if you aren't a heavy user.

The acura integration and voice controls are still as good as anything out there, though the graphics are getting a little dated. I think the user interface is extremely easy and workable compared to the OEM competition and the portables (with some exceptions). As someone else said, the Navi screen is aesthetically pleasing and really upgrades the interior of a car. I thought the Navi was kind of a $2000 toy at first, but now I'll never buy a car without one.

If you know your area like the back of your hand, live in a small town, or never go anywhere new, its probably a waste, but a portable unit would be too in that case. I end up in lot of different areas due to work, so I find it extremely useful for locating restaurants, gas stations, locating customers hotels etc. I'm in a big metro area so its impossible to really know neighborhood. The amount of time i've saved due to having the Navi in the car has probably paid for itself.

The newest portable GPS systems are great for pure navigation and have better graphics, draggable touch screens etc. Portability from car to car may be important depending on your situation though (own several cars etc).

frescagod

it's pretty funny....the people who saved their $2,000 and bought $500 garmins sh*t talk the acura nav system, while people who sprung for it absolutely speak its praises.

i for one loved that nav and since i got my new TSX with nav for 27,400 OTD, it was worth it to me for sure. i essentially didn't "pay" $2000 for it.

i have an S2000 now and i sorely miss the nav system.

DAYTA

This is a factor that I think many people overlook. If you're also looking at getting a 6MT TSX, then I would consider the NAV + voice-activated controls as a safety feature. Being able to adjust anything I want just by speaking it allows me to better focus on shifting and driving as opposed to taking my eyes off the road and fumbling around pushing buttons .

nj2pa2nc

i personally love the nav on my 06 6spd. I did not pay $2,000 extra for it as I negotiated an excellent price with the dealer plus getting alot of other goodies.

MTLer

Not Getting NAV is the single most thing i regret not getting on my TSX, its just at the time i could not justify 3000$ I regret not getting 6mt 2nd. 3rd, is possibly waiting for an 06 so i could get bluetooth and XM.

jdepasqu2

same for me too....

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

I say get it, you'll hate yourself if you don't. I use mine all the time and I know the towns I venture into very well, but occasionally when I venture into other areas, especially detroit its so nice to be able to say find Wal-Mart or whatever and be there instead of stoping and asking locals.

DLTSX6MT

LOL, I have both and talk sh*t about both of them!

xjohnkdoex

iTrader: (2)

i would concur with your pricing point argument. granted, your car looks nicer and classier, but the difference between 200 and 2k dollars? and the fact that you can bring the stand alone unit with you if you're out of town and renting a car?

i think the stand alone units get my vote.

wackura

I second ninjamyst's point that the non nav version seeming non-luxurious, but not for the lack of a nav but the non-nav stereo facade makes me think of an economy car, it's sparse and flat, whereas the TL's stock stereo looks filled out, sleek and has big fat knobs. I'd attribute this to the TSX having an Accord mind set.

t_in_maine

I, too, debated long and hard about whether or not to spend the extra $2,000 +/- on a feature that I wasn't sure that I'd ever had a need for, or so I thought. Though I live in a VERY small community, I do travel occassionally, usually 6, 8 and 14 hour drives to see family. I know my way to all of their houses, and didn't think that I'd "need" the nav. That being said, I have gotten more use out of that little gadget than I ever would have thought. From finding my way around traffic, to finding restaurants, hotels and gast stations along the way, I use it at least daily when travelling away from home. I'll never own another car without one. Now my relatives follow me around because I have the nav and they couldn't find where they were going, they've all sworn their next vehicles will have one as well. As far as the portable VS OEM discussion, I'm a believer in that when I am on long trips, and have my cell phone(s), radar detector, and portable DVD players plugged in, I definitely wouldn't want one more wire/cord to fumble with.

Flounder

As for using the portable navi, have you guys not heard of recent breakin/theft of the units? These thugs would look for the marks left by the suction cups & would break into the car to find it. There was a big story about it in the United Press.

JayRoam

if I had to do it all over again, I would've gotten my 2005 PWP 6MT with navi. But at the time, I didn't know about the nav-to-video hack. I have a really nice portable gps unit, but the OEM navi is so much cleaner, and already integrated to your sound system. $2,000 seemed like a lot to splurge at the time, but when i looked back at it, $2,000 financed doesn't hit you quite so hard. Besides, you can recoup this at resale. Probably not the entire $2,000 but it will be easier to sell than a non-navi car.

I relayed this logic to a friend that was buying a Honda Pilot. He never even thought about getting the navi, but now he thanks me. I just didn't want him to regret not considering the navi.

DLTSX6MT

The TSX's nav does do text-to-speech.

mg7726

it's so worth it, imo. i take the TSX everywhere - my only gripe is that Acura needs to include the entire North America maps in the next gen as a default feature to charge us $2k, as all portables now have it. plus, i went to Mont tremblant over the weekend and US maps stopped displaying on the 15 NORD - it was annoying. but it did have all of Old Montreal AND got me back home

when i got the TSX in 2004, portables weren't cool as it is today while other brands weren't even close, so for the past 4 years worth of use i say the navi has been awesome. yes, i agree it does make the dash look much better too.

tmcao55

Just get it. It completes the dash and is a good option to have. Whats $2000 to you? An extra 2 weeks of working? If you're going to spend 25K on a car another 2 wont hurt. If you plan on reselling the car i'm pretty sure the NAVI would pay partly for itself.