I'm moving house soon, so I set out to explore different routes from our offices in Santa Monica to my new neighborhood. I punched my new address into the Accord's nav system and it quickly calculated a path using the L.A. freeway system. But since I know that traffic on the freeway will be at a standstill on most work days, I ignored the directions and figured it would recalculate a course once it realized I wanted to use surface streets...
It did adjust itself but I didn't trust it because it kept telling me to make a left, and sometimes would tell me to take a u-turn if possible. I thought the voice was trying to steer me back to the freeway. Of course, I knew better and since I wanted to hug the coast as I traveled south, I kept ignoring the voice. She'd catch up eventually. Then, all of a sudden I was stuck in the canals of Venice. I had to circle around the whole canal and backtrack, then follow her directions like I should have in the first place.
Lesson learned: Listen to the nav lady.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
jaserb says:
02:35 PM, 10/23/06
I finally broke down and bought a Nuvi for the wife. Fantastic little toy - and I can't stand the thing. I much prefer a map - you just can't explain to a GPS that you want to avoid the nice big freeway for whatever reason. It does come in handy for finding rest stops, gas stations, restaurants, etc. while you're on the road.
-Jason
tsgeisel says:
04:49 PM, 10/23/06
The first person that makes a nav system with an "ignore the freeway" button is going to make a fortune.
autoboy16 says:
06:51 PM, 10/23/06
Don't they have a recalculate route button? Then again, th RL's nav is wose IMO. I said "Find nearest restaurant" responded with "Climate Control Off"...
autoboy16 says:
06:52 PM, 10/23/06
Don't they have a recalculate route button? Then again, th RL's nav is wose IMO. I said "Find nearest restaurant" it responded with "Climate Control Off"...
bkaiser1 says:
07:32 AM, 10/24/06
My portable Garmin navigation has a setting to ignore highways, which I have used several times to keep me on surface streets and off clogged freeways...I suspect it's a common feature on all nav's now (mine's a few years old)...perhaps the Accord's owner's manual could shed some light on this?
desmolicious says:
01:05 PM, 10/24/06
Yah, the nav on the BMW has numerous options including avoid freeways. I don't think that this is unique at all, seems like peeps just need to crack open the owner's manual.
drkwh says:
11:15 PM, 10/28/06
I also have '05 Accord w/Nav and agree re: the opening screen. AND I have an '04 Civic W/O Nav. Available aftermarket in-dash Navs for my Civic are:
(1) Pioneer AVIC-N3; (2) Kenwood Navigation Package;
(3) Eclipse AVN7000. WHICH TO GET? Cost diffs are not pertinent. Accuracy, ease of use, and reliability, of the NAVIGATION function are what matters. HELP!!!
drkwh@sbcglobal.net
freccia says:
11:37 AM, 10/29/06
The Honda Nav System in my 2006 Accord lets you choose between different routes like "direct," "maximize freeways," and "avoid freeways." Once you plug in the address, there is a button you can click to show a map of the different routes.