Idiot satnav....

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Deleted member 126969

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...and me too for listening to the damned thing.

Took a trip down to visit friends the weekend. Evesham to Christchurch area. On the M3 near Eastleigh and as usual, it's a bit busy. Nav says recalculating due to traffic and tells me to get off and head for Eastleigh. OK, I'll bite. I turn off and it then tells me to get back on the road I just came off. Grrr.

Back on track, M27 now, again it sas re-route down M271. OK, once again, I'll bite. Seems OK, takes me onto the Totton bypass then once again, re-route for traffic, turn left now towards Totton.....them immediately tells me to get back on the bypass it just took me off.

Return journey, M3 again, re-route again, tells me to take a left toward Winchester. Suspicious by now I dither but finally do and it bids as it really is pretty snarled up....only for the bloody thing to put me back on the M3 going the other way. Having realised just how stupid I've been, I do the 6 mile U turn it has sent me on and rejoin the M3. And yes, once more it tried to get me to do the same thing again as I reach the same junction. That time it got sworn at and ignored.


Yes, I know, I shouldn't trust it and have more awareness of where I'm going, but seriously, 3 totally bogus directions on one trip?

In future, i'm going back to how I always used to drive - know where I'm going and pay attention to where I am rather than driving on autopilot.

I had the maps updated recently but can't imagine they updated the software as well, although it's possible. It does still treat large roundabouts like a series of left turns though, which is rubbish.

So, is it just me, or is the satnav in a 2016 C with Premium Plus & COMAND really this shite??
 
... I had the maps updated recently but can't imagine they updated the software as well, although it's possible. It does still treat large roundabouts like a series of left turns though, which is rubbish.

So, is it just me, or is the satnav in a 2016 C with Premium Plus & COMAND really this shite??
Not just you at all, it really is shite!
 
The rerouting is done based on traffic data received from either TomTom (if you have the TomTom subscription) or from TMC (if you didn't activate the TomTom subscription), or from Garmin (if you have Garmin, and not COMAND).

So the issue is more likely to be with the external traffic data provider?
 
I had a similar experience on Saturday when leaving an unfamiliar location, it had got me there OK, but coming back it sent me all round the houses and then eventually came back a different route, M3 instead of the A3 which it chose when going!

It has had some strange ideas about routes in the past as well, I usually pick my own route and just use it for final approach if unfamiliar territory.
 
I was wrong.
 
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How is the nav set up?

For example dynamic routing, fastest route, shortest route etc.

I found fiddling with these made the nav more usable for me.
As far as I know, Dynamic Route is the only option that takes into account traffic data (TMC or TomTom).

Shortest Route, Fastest Route, and Echo Route are fixed routes and do not reroute once the route for the journey has been set.
 
In the past, it’s done a re-route for traffic conditions and it’s made sense, but this time it was just totally spurious, telling me to go off route then telling me to get straight back on the route it took me off. Once through the middle of Totton.

I’ll check the setup, confess I didn’t after it was updated a while back.
 
The Garmin setup in my 2016 C Class can only count up to four. There's a large roundabout outside Bedford that has five exits. My route takes me off at the fifth exit. The Garmin map shows that. However, the voice instructions tell me to leave at the first exit, which suggests to me that Garmin counts to four and then returns to one. I've noticed this on other routes, too.
 
That is the problem with some Satnav's. Funny how people used to used maps in the past or at least have some idea of where they are going and write down a list of road numbers and/or turn offs.
 
That is the problem with some Satnav's. Funny how people used to used maps in the past or at least have some idea of where they are going and write down a list of road numbers and/or turn offs.

I totally agree, and accept that ultimately, it's my own stupid fault for listening to the idiot thing. But, you'd think that by now they'd have got one that works better than this seems to from time to time.

Until very recently, and even now if we are taking the Westfield, even with the phone running Google Maps, I'd plan the route out if it was somewhere unfamiliar and make notes of key points along the way and major roads.

There are times when driving the car that it feels more like flying a plane on autopilot. Give the cruise a speed, follow the directions and waft along with no clear idea of where the hell I am......

In future I think I'll go back to the old way of doing things and just use the nav as an aid, rather than being it being in charge.
 
I need fairness some, maybe most, of the traffic info based re-routing on ours has been fine. At other times it's truly WTF! My co-pilot usually double checks on Google Maps before we jump onto a new route.

The 'prepare to turn left' instruction on unfamiliar large junctions where (I think) I may actually need to effectively turn right, is properly annoying at times. I also think they could make much better use of the screen real estate and give the user more options on layout and colour preferences, in fact like a real TomTom Sat-Nav. MB's take on it has resulted in a weak implementation IMHO. Something they have not apparently revised with the new wider screen, which from what I've seen is just a bigger version of what we already have. Worth five grand of anyone's money...
 
That is the problem with some Satnav's. Funny how people used to used maps in the past or at least have some idea of where they are going and write down a list of road numbers and/or turn offs.
Totally agree. If I'm heading off to somewhere I'm not familiar with, I plan the route on a real map and memorise key points along the way. I then use the satnav as a guide but make sure that it's not taking me "off piste" - having been caught out in the dim and distant past.
 
Waze is much better. I can wedge my phone next to the screen and if I get the “re-routing” check what waze is saying. It’s not perfect but has much better routing and traffic info. I see some Fiats come with it installed now.
 
Sat Nav's can get you into all sorts of problems when they start to direct you via traffic info,I had just picked up the S320 and was threading my way out of North London,I was on a normal bus route road with shops and the like,when the sat nav said take next left and did the countdown and so I turned into a side road with cars parked either side of the road,so looking forward I cannot see a obvious route but carried on ,this road looked to be a dead end and without any room or driveways,I could not see any way I could turn round,I got to the end and the sat nav said turn right and directed me down a semi made up road that supplied services for houses,thankfully it was clear and I got through to the next road and then it routed me back on my original route
 
Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are becoming standard now on many new cars, and will allow drivers to use their own SatNav software (as long as it's an Android Auto / Apple CarPlay approved app).

This will be the end of awkward and antiquated manufacturers-own SatNav systems, not to mention the expensive maps updates.

There were some attempts by car manufacturers to just have a slot on the dash where you can plug-in your TomTom device, or even an Apple iPad.
 
I find Dynamic Routing on COMAND ignores small roads. So it diverts you because of traffic, but then creates a very strange route to avoid it. I have two obvious routes home from work. One motorway, one country lanes. All I need is a decision which one to take and then I can sort it out myself. Waze can cope with this, but COMAND can't. It just can't calculate a route using the lanes, but once I'm on them it knows where I am and picks the route up. Crazy system, but as others have said why do MB **** up a TomTom satnav? Presumably a car with Apple Carplay would allow Waze to be displayed "on the big screen"?
 
I find Dynamic Routing on COMAND ignores small roads. So it diverts you because of traffic, but then creates a very strange route to avoid it. I have two obvious routes home from work. One motorway, one country lanes. All I need is a decision which one to take and then I can sort it out myself. Waze can cope with this, but COMAND can't. It just can't calculate a route using the lanes, but once I'm on them it knows where I am and picks the route up. Crazy system, but as others have said why do MB **** up a TomTom satnav? Presumably a car with Apple Carplay would allow Waze to be displayed "on the big screen"?
I have COMAND with TMC (not TomTom Live Traffic).

TMC only covers main roads, so in Dynamic Route mode COMAND will re-route from one main road to another, even if it means a massive detour to avoid the congested road.

What it won't do is use local roads and streets to bypass the congested main road, presumably because TMC has no traffic data for these roads and could therefore potentially end-up diverting you from a small traffic jam to an even bigger one that it doesn't know about.

For this reason, in town Waze (or Google Maps) is king.

On Motorways COMAND works fine because TMC has the traffic info, although rerouting to B-roads can still be an issue.

Incidentally, I tried once using 'Shortest Route' in COMAND on my way to a client in Bucks on a cold dark and wet morning... and ended-up in a field.
 
After too many re-routes taking me down narrow country lanes I tend to just use the map and not bother with the guidance part - nav myself.
 
I have COMAND with TMC (not TomTom Live Traffic).

TMC only covers main roads, so in Dynamic Route mode COMAND will re-route from one main road to another, even if it means a massive detour to avoid the congested road.

What it won't do is use local roads and streets to bypass the congested main road, presumably because TMC has no traffic data for these roads and could therefore potentially end-up diverting you from a small traffic jam to an even bigger one that it doesn't know about.

For this reason, in town Waze (or Google Maps) is king.

On Motorways COMAND works fine because TMC has the traffic info, although rerouting to B-roads can still be an issue.

Incidentally, I tried once using 'Shortest Route' in COMAND on my way to a client in Bucks on a cold dark and wet morning... and ended-up in a field.

Ah, OK. That makes sense now. Thank you.
 

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