I was totally happy with my Mazda navigation system, correct and dependable, until I moved to June 2019 map update. I was about to miss flights twice because map doesn't know where Seattle-Tacoma International is - it basically took me some other place. Another time it showed wrong direction for Bothell, WA. I totally lost trust on it and now depending on Apple or Google map. Anyone else experienced slimier issues with the latest update?

 

Generally speaking, I did not trust the Mazda navigation system even before the update. It gave me once a very unreasonable route during my road trip to Florida. Since then, I rely on either Google Maps or Apple Maps; I am not sure from where Mazda is getting the Nav info but it seems to be very unreliable. On the other hand, while using Google maps on my road trips, I still keep the Mazda navigation screen open since it displays information about the next three exits (distance, rest area, food info) which can be useful.

 

Do you think factory installed GPS on new cars are on their way out since most owners seem to prefer their phone apps? Car Play and Android Auto emulate built in GPS using Google or Apple maps.

 

Garmin

 

I doubt the in-car systems will make it beyond the current versions of cars on the market today. While I prefer the Mazda system to phone based systems, there is no reason for vehicle manufacturers to develop systems where there are superior systems readily available. The vehicle manufacturers can go back to making the best vehicles possible and limit the infotainment engineering to developing the best interface with the phone based systems.

 

I've had bum directions given by Google Maps. And I prefer Google to Waze. None of them are perfect. But I'm liking the Mazda nav well enough right now. I wish I could confirm the version from inside the vehicle that I just downloaded instead of taking the card back to the PC.