worth updating GPS in a 2008 car?

[Deleted User 10525]

I recently got a 2008 Honda Civic EXL, it has GPS on it. I haven't tried it out yet but I was told its never been updated. The Dealer I think wants like 100$-150$ for a disc to update it. Is it worth it or not? I honestly don't leave NW Ohio other then a few times a year.

[Circle Seven]

I wouldn't bother paying for an update, especially if you have GPS on your phone already. All the roads (except US24 from Toledo to Fort Wayne) are pretty much the same. I wonder if you can get an update for free directly from the manufacturer of the gps?

I mention US24 because very shortly after they made that all freeway, I took a trip from Toledo to Fort Wayne, and my Garmin was having fits because it thought I was driving thru fields.

[audiophile]

What? The Garmin wasn't field tested?

[craig11152]

I wouldn't bother paying for an update, especially if you have GPS on your phone already.

He doesn't have a smart phone.
I would say new roads may appear but old roads rarely go away. So worst comes to worst it might not get you the most direct route in some cases.

[Plate Cap]

I recently did a map update on my 2012; it was about $150. I passed up two previous offers.

There are new roads, or at least modified exits (i.e. the 'new' Latson Road interchange on I96 in Howell), but more importantly, the information on merchants is updated.

If you are going to keep your 2008 for a few more years, and you use the onboard GPS a lot, I would probably go for it.

That said, mine is a business expense, so it really only 'costs' in terms of tax impacts about $90. I use the Onstar and navigation a lot (more on that in a moment), so a couple of times of it picking the wrong routes pays for itself.

Smartphone navigation is okay, but, like anything smartphone based in a mobile environment, it's dangerous to use and interferes with other uses of the phone. Yes, it works, but streaming audio, navigation, and the occasional text or phone call is simply too much tiny screen management on a device floating around the seats. I can press ONE button on the mirror, ask for directions, and I'm on the way.

Onstar is ridiculously expensive, and now that most of the customer service is either low skilled or offshore, going downhill. However, the phone works where the smartphone will not, and with one button push I can find the nearest Panera or oil change place just by asking.

It's a matter of available money and justifiability for use. Right now, it works for me. When I'm retired, perhaps not so much.

Give me cheap internet to the car, and in-dash internet radio (not just Pandora et al) like Reciva, and I'm hooked for life. Terrestrial radio would be done, and satellite nearly so.

[Milk]

I use Waze on my phone. I recently made a trip through Indiana and it told me to take US-31. Now, I took US-31 on a similar trip 16 years ago and back then, it was two lanes most of the way and a nightmare through Kokomo. In the past, Waze would tell me to take I-69, but this time, it told me to take 31 again. Mentally, I was thinking, "you gotta be kidding me!" Turns out that 31 is now four lanes and not congested at all! True, there's no rest areas, the speed limit's only 55, there's maybe five traffic signals and the choices for food and gas are slim pickin's, it is an easy drive.

I think having an updated GPS like Waze is a helluva lot better than a typical car GPS. With Waze, you know when there's a traffic issue, you know when there's a pulled-over vehicle and yes, where there's police. Even if I know the way to my destination, I use Waze religiously.

[jry]

I cannot stand the phones gps.

Are you going to keep the car? That is all that matters.

[craig11152]

you can buy a GPS on Amazon for under $100, some as low as $50. At that price you can throw them away when they are outdated. Plus you can use them in any car and they don't chew up data on your cell phone.

[Deleted User 10525]

I just got the car a month ago, so yeah plan on keeping it for awhile. Good point about buying just a cheap GPS, Honestly if I had bought this car new I wouldn't have bothered with the GPS touch screen option but it being used and it coming with it well, that's how it goes. Bought it from a family member so I didn't overpay for it like some dealer would have charged me.

The touch screen thing is kinda confusing, I know its 2007 technology that plays a part.

[km1125]

Not sure if you're still considering this, but I updated a 2007 a while ago. If your car has a method to update (like a DVD) then you can probably get second hand DVDs as those folks have already updated. I think I updated mine from the original 07 to 2012 or 2013 at the time and it only cost $25.

[Turkeytop]

October 2012. Driving home from St Louis with a GPS one year out of date. Driving up I-69 heading toward MI. Just north of
Ft Wayne it suddenly directed me off onto a two lane county road heading east.

After about 20 miles it widened out into a four lane divided highway, with no one on it. Felt like an episode from Twilight Zone. Ended up is some town called Defiance OH and stopped for the night.

The next day we arrived in Toledo. I thought it would navigate me to I-75. Instead it had me literally driving in circles. I started seeing landmarks I had driven by just five minutes ago.

I shut the GPS off and asked someone for directions