A4 ( B8 ) satnav

[phils4s]

Hi, I'm seriously considering swapping our 2005 BMW X5 for an Audi A4 Avant Quattro Black Edition. I have seen two cars I like which are pretty much identical, both are around 18 months old, both are 177 diesel, but one has satnav & the other doesn't. Is the satnav worth paying extra for & if so how much extra ? The satnav in the X5 is crap so I have a tom tom with lifetime updates & to be honest we would probably use it infrequently so I'm more interested in whether the satnav option brings any other useful features worth having other than the obvious ?
I'd appreciate your thoughts.
Regards, Phil.
P.S. If I buy one of them I'll obviously be along to introduce myself properly.

 

[rum4mo]

Well, I've only recently bought a sat nav, car - S4 came without it which did not bother me as I had heard that manufacturer fitted sat navs are low performers and refreshing the maps costs quite a bit. This was confirmed by Audi Driver as they compared the "top" car Garmin one against Audi's latest best effort. I read up on the Garmin and discovered it was brilliant - except the displayed tended to dim/gray-out at the most inconvenient times! So, like you I bought a TomTom mine is the GO6000 - okay it does not have lifetime speed camera stuff,but I'd plan not to drive "at risk" all the time! I was talking to a guy at work who's wife has an A4 and he borrowed it and got lost on a new bit of road - so even locals can end up trusting them and their old maps. I'd say get the better car, if that one has sat nav then okay, if not or if the maps are too old, take the TomTom with you!

 

[Anthony566]

I made a point of getting the 3G MMI satnav system as the satnav is good and the screen is bigger so when watching films in the car they look greate on this screen .. I have no issues with my Audi satnav at all ..

The 3G MMI also comes with a built in hdd media drive as well as as twin SD slots for othervmedia files I also have a glove box media interface for USB and iPods etc.

If the car is with an Audi dealer then ask them to print the factory spec sheet out as this will tell you exactly what is in the car ..

We're in the UK are you Phil ??

 

[Zafi]

I have the same system and despite the car being 18 months old it still has live traffic info which the satnav uses to change routing. Not sure if the live traffic lasts forever?

 

[phils4s]

Thanks for the info, so the satnav option provides SD slots & media drive ( not sure what this is ) & I've hardly ever used the TV function in the X5 so I don't think its going to add too much that I would use. The car without looks the better value for my needs.
I am located in the UK, in the North East of England.
Hopefully have an update tomorrow on whether I'm going to be an Audi owner

 

[allanmb]

If it is the 3G+ version of Satnav then I would say it is worth it as the screen size and resolution is very good. If it is the old version then I would be less keen to go for it. However, on the flip side, I had a courtesy car without any Nav recently and the whole central console is different and doesnt feel well finished at all. So, in this regard, I would opt for any SatNav at all

 

[bonifacy87]

I have the same system and despite the car being 18 months old it still has live traffic info which the satnav uses to change routing. Not sure if the live traffic lasts forever?

My car has 6 years and it still has live traffic information.

 

[beemerboy9]

An 18-month old car with SatNav will have a full 7-digit postcode search (2011 & before only had 5-digits) . The SatNav is a requirement for fitting a reversing camera.

 

[allanmb]

My car has 6 years and it still has live traffic information.

Yes the TMC traffic announcements come over the radio waves so are essentially free. They are pretty useless however :-(

 

[phils4s]

Thanks again for all you replies. I've ended up buying the none satnav model. The other car has 5k fewer miles but is 3 months older & didn't look as well looked after & the dealer didn't come anywhere near on the price I've agreed on this one. I decided the satnav option wasn't worth paying so much extra for.
I'll pop over to the introductions to properly introduce myself. I just have to wait now for the reg transfer before I can pick her up

 

[Zafi]

Yes the TMC traffic announcements come over the radio waves so are essentially free. They are pretty useless however :-(

No, not a traffic message, my sat nav has automatic re-routing to avoid traffic.

 

[allanmb]

No, not a traffic message, my sat nav has automatic re-routing to avoid traffic.

Yes that is what the TMC does, it's an option to make the SatNav to use the messages and re-route. I have found it sometimes tells me there is traffic but won't re-route and a few times it has re-routed me when there was no traffic problems at all!

 

[rum4mo]

Well my story is, being a SAT NAV virgin, I am using it to travel to/from work to get used to it! On Friday, I shouted at it a lot as it was sending me off (my normal) route - trouble was it was directing me away from traffic problems and I had not trusted it!! A (normally) 35 minute journey took me 1 hour 45 minutes - I'd say that if I had trusted my TomTom, that journey time would have been closer to 45 minutes. I'll be using it in earnest travelling down South at Christmas time, so I will trust it then unless my trusted navigator (wifie with a current Philips/AA road map book) says otherwise! It is the re-routing that is the real helper!

 

[ERBY]

I must be honest, every car I've ever owned with Sat Nav, the technology has pretty much been a lottery....so I'm like my dad these days, I sit down with a cup of tea and a biscuit and try to plan my route beforehand...and I always make sure I've got a blanket in the boot 'just in case'!

 

[rum4mo]

I must be honest, every car I've ever owned with Sat Nav, the technology has pretty much been a lottery....so I'm like my dad these days, I sit down with a cup of tea and a biscuit and try to plan my route beforehand...and I always make sure I've got a blanket in the boot 'just in case'!

I agree entirely and having a wife that seems to be able to work out which direction we are always travelling and can read maps correctly is handy, but I'm coming to realise that Sat Nav's strengths lie in their ability to "see" ahead and reroute - which means a lot when you are "away from home" . For us, our next long journey will be strange not needing to have a route printed out and backed up with a current road map book, though I might cover all bases!!

 

[ERBY]

I think most wives are fitted with Gyroscopic sensors as standard?!

 

[Bulldog]

I think most wives are fitted with Gyroscopic sensors as standard?!

Ain't that the truth lol