Changing options on the car? (Sat Nav - Is it worth it?)

[Phil 117]

All,

I have been going backwards and forwards in my head for ages about adding a Sat Nav onto the options for my car (currently base GTD DSG, in red, with dynaudio, winter pack and a reversing camera).

The £700 I am struggling to justify. I will use it for 2 weeks a year on a trip somewhere to Europe, and I will only use it occasionally throughout the rest of the year.

I am quiet anal, and have estimated I will probably only use the nav for around 70 times over 3 years. That works out at £10 ago. When I put it like that, it strikes me as a complete rip off when I can just use my phone. But that means 70 times I'm going to have to put a sucky thing on the windscreen, and have wires sticking out.

But in the back of my mind, I'm thinking I'm spending £28k of car, I want it to be nice. And the worst thing of all is when I go to pick my car up from London, I'm then going to have to stick my phone on the windscreen of a brand new car to get me home. Feel it will spoil the moment. 

So, has anyone else pondered over this, and then added it on. Also, I am right in thinking the normal nav also shows you the speed limit signs in the corner of the car?

And probably one of the biggest concerns, if I make a change now, will I then have to pay the 1% extra? I was accepted on PCP on the old price of the car, so if they do a new quote, will this then put the price up, or am I protected?

Thanks.

[peterdoherty]

get a cheap vent holder for your phone if worried about rings on your windows. Got mine from amazon ages ago for about a fiver. Comes out the 2-3 times a year I need sat nav.

[2014GTi]

I didn't bother with Nav as I didn't feel it was worth the price as I hardly use Nav, I spent the £700 on other options instead.
I have TomTom on my iPhone and the cradle, works a treat when I need it.

[CraigW]

I basically paid £1700 for the pro as I liked the way it completed the look of the dash. I'll probably hardly ever use the sat nav but the screen size and the graphics are awesome. £700 is a lot of money but if your going to have the car for three or more years then you should go for it. It may be expensive but the regret you will have at not having added it will eat away at you.

[mark@vorny.co.uk]

Nav is one of those things that you get a s much use out of as you want.

I put every journey in, that way you get traffic announcements even on your regular journeys.

It's not a one trick pony twice a year.

[Mark V GTD]

I agree - I have it on all the time - it looks good in the dash and I like to see the maps and zoom out now and then!

The real issue with the GTI/GTD is that when VW UK put togther their import spec they omitted sat nav (present in the GT) in order (I suspect) to keep the price of the car artificially lower than it should be - it forces customers in to the options list to obtain a feature that really should be standard on a car costing almost £30k (and more in the case of some with leather and other options)!

[domrees]

Phil,

I have it in my car and it is a really useful tool, I use it on regular journeys to alert me of traffic problems and then it re routes me.

I was like you and thinking, I have tom tom on my phone, why bother?

Well, couple of good reasons.

Firstly tom tom drains the battery quicker than a trophy wife on an old guys wallet.

Secondly, I personally find the nav very easy to use, and it is always there.

Finally, don't forget to factor in any roaming costs, unless you have a work phone it can be expensive

Do it, you will use more than you realize.

D

[Sootchucker]

As a few others have mentioned, I also sprang for the full Nav Pro package. Whilst over priced, like Craig Said, the super large 8" Touch screen really finishes off the dash (IMO).

Whilst I can't argue that a £100 Tom Tom does the job just as well (and is massively lower in price), there are a couple of things that the built in Nav just does slightly better.

1. It's always there and available. No pulling it out of the glovebox or boot, putting a mount on the windscreen with the horrible suction marks that leaves. No trailing wires into the accessory port.

2. POI's are a breeze to use and genuinely really helpful (specially things like car parks in cities you are not familiar with).

3. Integrates fully with the dash so the next turn instruction not only comes up on the touch screen, but also in the colour MFD in the dash.

4. Nav Pro has the ability to enter Speed Cameras (as I have done), just like a Tom Tom (albeit just a visual not audible warning).

5. In the Nav Pro's case, has a massive 8" Screen that's really easy to see (rather than a small 3" or 4" screen typical of a portable Nav), and recalculates really quick. Also has 3D representations of Major city buildings to ease identification.

6. Has TMC Pro built in to automatically warn you of traffic issues and route around them if required (although to be fair some iphone and android Nav packages also now do this as well - albeit usually as a subscription).

7. Comes with 3 years worth of Map updates FOC (not all portable units offer this - but some do).

8. Enables you to select a phone contact, and if they have an address as part of their contact info, enables you to navigates straight to them from the Nav screen.

9. Also, don't forget Nav pro also gives you as well:
               64gb SSD hard Drive with Maps stored on it and approx 22gb Free for Music Storage.
               Gracenotes CD Database for managing track names and cover art for Music CD's popped in the CD Slot.
               DVD Slot for playing DVD Movies (whilst stationary of course).
               2 usable SD Card Slots (you don't need to have one in with maps on it for the Pro, as they are stored on the HDD).
               Picture viewer and plays videos / music videos from your Ipod.

Having said all the above, £1700 is an awful lot of money (even £700 for the standard Nav), so only you can make that choice but I'm glad I did.

[matchboy]

I have the standard nav, and I have to say it is excellent - usually built in sat navs are pretty pants, but I've found it just as good if not better than a TomTom.

[Gnasher]

Don't get me wrong, the standard and the pro nav both look good bits of kit and have lots of plus points, but I just can't get past the price of them both.

That said, you could say the same about any option (IE, the leather on mine when it arrives) but it's all down to where your priorities lie.

Also it's worth wondering how hard it is to retrofit the nav later if you want it - probably cheaper than retrimming the seats in leather lol!