I have '06 5AT/w Navi (bought in December, 05). Love the car!!! Before this one, I had 2000TL w/Navi. And what I've noticed that new Navi sometimes gives you an incorrect route (e.g., not the shortest way if you choose "Direct" method), while my old Navi was calculating these routes correctly (it had its own share of mistakes, too). Obviously, it's not a big deal, and I love Navi, but I was expecting that new Navi database will have FEWER mistakes, not MORE, and certainly not in the areas where the old version worked correctly. Is it just me and the area where I leave (just north of Boston) or somebody else has also noticed similar things? Maybe I haven’t set the Navi correctly (I left it at default factory setting) – any tips?

 

Perhaps "shortest" isn't necessarily the most direct route in those calculations. Also, check your settings for "Maximize Freeway," etc. I find that mine sometimes comes up with some pretty screwy ways to get places because it's trying to get me on the freeway.

 

If I'm not mistaken, isn't Boston a bunch of circles?? No wonder the Navi doesn't know where it's going....I would probably get lost going a block by foot!! Haha...j/k. I had the same mistake once so far (only been a week), but who knows...maybe the Navi is right and we are wrong. Does it go my distance traveled or estimated time??

 

Thanks everybody for responses! I've done and checked everything you've suggested. Also, I live not in Boston, but north of it - in Andover (just a regular town with a regular laid out streets). Anyway, when there is a street straight to your destination and Navi shows you that you should drive two other streets (like two other sides of triangle) to get to the same point - you know that something isn't right. And as I said before, my old Navi didn't have any problem with this route (this is my home – so I know what is the shortest, direct route to it). I guess nothing is perfect…

 

Sounds like your Navi was a NYC cab driver in a previous life...

 

I think it may prefer a wider road with a higher speed limit even if "Maximize Freeways" is not turned on. I've noticed that it will sometimes try to route me to a four-lane road with a 45 mph speed limit in preference to a two-lane road with a 35 mph speed limit even if the two-lane road is more direct. Perhaps the idea is that if you were to drive the speed limit, the road with the higher limit would get you there sooner? I know the Navi is going to try something like that on me this Thursday—I'm driving north and I want to connect from the New Jersey Turnpike to the New York Thruway, and the Navi wants me to take Exit 10 on the Turnpike and follow I-287 WAY to the west (like halfway across New Jersey before turning north). The Garden State Parkway is far more direct, so all I can surmise is that the Navi calculates the amount of time to drive 65 mph on I-287 versus 55 mph on the Garden State, plus time spent slowing down at five tollbooths on the Garden State, and concludes that I-287 is faster.

 

1995hoo - I think you are on the right track. Any idea what can be done about it?

 

I noticed that Navi favors freeways, and does too much for my taste. It doesn't mind to make me drive extra 10 miles on 30 miles route.

 

Ignore it when you know another way works out better so that it will have to recalculate? I know that sounds somewhat flippant, but since it doesn't let you tell it not to suggest certain roads, I'm not sure of a better method. If you're going more than 100 miles your choices of route calculation methods are limited anyway (i.e., no "Minimize Freeways"). I suppose you could try "Detour" as well, but that's not foolproof since it will try to get you back to the original route if possible.

I'm interested in seeing what it does on Thursday when I ignore the I-287 direction (i.e., will it try to send me across to I-287 at every opportunity, or will it suggest another route closer to what I have in mind).

Ultimately I suppose it's not that different from dealing with construction or traffic jams. The Navi doesn't know about any of those details, so it must assume that you'd be going the speed limit on a given road. It may not realize that a particular traffic light is interminable, or that the school buses always cause a given road to back up, or that the line for the Customs station at the Canadian border is particularly long on a given day. I suppose this is where that thing on the nag screen about the driver having to exercise sound judgment comes into play.

 

Check your settings. You may have "Maximize Freeways" enabled. Try changing it to "Direct Route," or "Minimize Freeways," or "Easy Route," depending on your needs.

 

is your navi dead on the money? When it shows you going through an intersection mine has me lagging behind by a few hundred feet. This always happens. Dealer says it normal. Something to do with the dept' of defense not sharing the 100% dead on navi position. Anyone else with this issue?
Thanks

 

That whole DoD error thing was eliminated years ago and it was never off by hundreds of feet.

Mine shows the tip of the red arrow right on the intersection if I'm stopped at the light. If I'm moving, it's a bit off, but I blame that on a lag in screen updates.

 

try changing setup page 4 to unverified routing ON