[Fstrnu]

Hi All

As a potential new owner of a Murano I thought I would introduce myself and ask a question that I hope you can share some opinions.

I am trying to decide if the NAV system is work the extra $. My wife and I took a new Murano out overnight and made the most of our "test drive". We plotted an origin/destination from our home to friends of ours in the other end of the city (we both live just outside Calgary (us south, them Northeast).

I was quite impressed that the NAV guided us to within 5 feet of the entrance to the ranch.

My thought is this fascination will wear off very quickly.

Any thoughts?

Thanks M

 

[SugarRushMurano]

I assure you that the nav system is worth the money if you do roadtrips or

venture to places...

Nissan/Inifity nav system is among the best and intuitive in the market: display wise and accuracy wise.
It uses the dvd based hence nissan can have entire all north america map into one disc. (unlike VW touareg's nav that uses CD).

The nav will also help the resale value when you sell the murano.

For me, i did not get it in my murano because:
- i seldom do long trips (roadtrip, venture to where no one has gone before kindda thing).
- i have a portable nav system from my old car; and i still get map update semianually (on cds annualy for a minimal fees)
- in my line of job (consulting), i frequently end up with a company rental car during client/site visit. Hence, that is the time when i need navigation. The portable unit comes in handy here.
Therefore, portable nav is a better solution for me instead of in-car oem nav.

Hope this helps.

 

[clane47]

The nav system is worth every penny! It's helped me find an address several times already and even when it isn't guiding you it's nice to have the display of side streets for finding detours and short cuts. Remember, this is a factory installed option only, you can't have this done later when you regret not getting it. (And you will!!)

Regards,
Chuck Lane

 

[Emtee]

The Nav System

I had used the never lost system in rental cars, but did not care one way or the other if I got it in my Mo. But my Wife to be was insistant on geting it. Now I will never own another car without it!!!

 

[jaak]

I wanted the Nav system but the configurations in Canada at the time, forced the buyer to get every single option, except for the sunroof, to get the Nav system.

I was quite frustrated by this, but there was no way I was going for a Murano that was $10,000 Canadian, more, just to have Nav.

Next one, for sure....

 

[NVMYGT]

Just do it! It is definitely worth it. Used it last night to get to a co-workers house. Dead on the nose. Used it on a road trip to visit my best friend in DC. In a 4.5 hour drive it took us right to his front door. It's amazing how often I use it. I used it last weekend to get to a wedding reception, and am using it again next weekend for the same thing. You will not regret it. :29:

 

[Doodah]

I do a lot of traveling and have used various navigation systems for years. I couldn't live without it. It not only leads you to your destination, but more importantly, it gets you out of trouble when you run into traffic problems.

Had a situation last week on the interstate. We passed a honey wagon that was leaking its load all over the highway. It covered our MO with its sweet smelling fluid. I grabbed the GPS, asked it to find the nearest car wash to our current route. It lead me to a town 5 miles from the next exit and then took me back to the highway (not the same way I got there).

The Murano nav system? If you're not computer literate, it's probably worth it. However, if your comfortable with a computer and willing to do your own map management, then I'd say a Garmin autorouting GPS is a much better value. The new Street Pilot is less than half the cost and is as good as the Murano system (better in some respects). It's also portable so you can easily move it from car to car. I have the iQue 3600 with enough memory to hold all maps I intend to need for at least a year. Besides having a first class navigation system that I can carry in my pocket, I've got an excellent PDA.

Your basic trade off:
Murano - integrated, no maintenance
Garmin - portable, low cost.

 

[9495]

Ask yourself this:
How much is it worth to you to have it integrated into your car?

The nav option is $2000 US ($1735 invoice) for a system that, while very good, is permanently locked into that car.

For a few hundred dollars, you can get a PDA, GPS, and software to do the same thing.

BENEFITS OF BUILT-IN SYSTEM:
1) Looks nicer (being integrated to the car)
2) Know you're getting a quality system
3) Larger display
4) Resale value (although you won't be able to ask for a full 2 grand more just because you have this)

BENEFITS OF

 

[9495]

Aw crap, hit the wrong key and it submitted. Let me continue.

BENEFITS OF PDA SYSTEM
1) MUCH cheaper (possibly $1500 cheaper)
2) More options for types of software, GPS system, etc to get exactly what you want
3) Portable from one car to another
4) Fully customizable

I have never had a system, but when I get my MO I have decided that I need one. I'm planning to go after-market with a PDA system, primarily for the cost savings. Will it be as good? Who knows? But I'll be satisfied that I didn't spend $1500 too much for a system that I use infrequently. Plus I'll get to keep it for future cars or transfer it to other vehicles when so desired.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[Fstrnu]

Hey Thanks for all the input guys;

Not having used a NAV system before I was very impressed with the accuracy and relative ease the Nissan product delivers.

I think that for my wife (who is okay with the computers) and myself (I am pretty comfortable) I think that we would get some good use from it. We are pretty big outdoors type people have some great trails around our place in the mountains to explore. (it will also help my kids find their way back)

If nothing else, she can plot all the shopping boutiques around the city

You guys have been a big help with this and have given me some interesting reading over the last few weeks.

I think we will go for the NAV system.

Thanks a lot.

M

 

[msfiveiron]

I find that it is, for the most part, a good system. I have noticed, however, a few interesting behaviors.

First, the system tends to favor certain routes over others. I live in Central NJ, and anytime I go to points west of Mnahattan, the system always sends me via 495, which right through the heart of Manhattan. There must be 5 other ways to go, but it constantly favors that route. I have not tried programming the trip yet to avoid that road, but I wish I could do it permanently. The same thing happens when I'm in Rockland or Westchester Counties, as it wants me to drive near the GW Bridge and down the NJ Turnpike.

Another oddity occurs over a particular stretch of road. Interstate 78 is split between local and express lanes between Union NJ and Newark Airport. The system ALWAYS thinks I'm on the express lane, even though I rarely ever use it. There is definitely more than 40 feet between local and express, but it's always confused on that stretch. It doesn't normally bother me unless I have the nav set to take me somewhere, and it reroutes because it thinks I'm on the wrong road when I'm actually not. I wish there was a way to correct your location to help the system's accuracy.

Finally, the system always seems to calculate the route that has the heaviest traffic. Go figure.

Despite the oddities, it still is a great tool. I do a fair amount of diriving into unknown territories, and the nav system really beats having to pull over and look at maps.

 

[9495]

Finally, the system always seems to calculate the route that has the heaviest traffic. Go figure.

That's 'cause everyone else is using a nav system too!

~ Corin

 

[jaak]

I run an iPaq with a Bluetooth GPS receiver and it's great. I like the convenience of the integrated Nav, but the setup I have is a third the price. (And the Bluetooth GPS makes it more expensive!)

One thing I like about my setup, is I can use it in rental cars. The Murano's Nav is stuck in the Murano!

 

[9495]

I run an iPaq with a Bluetooth GPS receiver and it's great.

Jaak: Can you post some pictures as to how you have it mounted? Have you ever had any problems with the setup (both the software setup with the blue-tooth connection as well as mechanical setup such as the ipaq being in the way, etc)?

~ Corin

 

[EasternPA]

Avoid area!

I have not tried programming the trip yet to avoid that road, but I wish I could do it permanently. ..(snip)..The system ALWAYS thinks I'm on the express lane, even though I rarely ever use it.

Hey Mike, its Steve. Yes, I finally registered First, surely you've used the "Avoid Area" function by now. It lets you specify, in a variety of ways places to stay away from when calcuating routes. The granularity drills down to just a few feet. I used it recently when Conrail closed a road at a railroad crossing just outside my development for work recently. But here's a trick that I just wanted to share with you here for everyone to see instead of privately:

I created about a dozen address book entries and each one covers the toll plazas on the NJ Turnpike (using the map selection method, not an address). Then, when I hear about an exit tying up traffic at or below a certain exit number, I'll stop and turn on "Avoid Area" entries covering as many exits as I need to in order to "reshape" the route. For instance, I normally get off the tpk at 7A, but if I lock out exit 7A, the nav automatically chooses exit 9 as the next fastest route, so I don't need to block out 8A and 8 if traffic actually gets bad between 9 and 8A or 8A and 8 (like it usually does).

I've also had it where I needed to get on at 8A on the way up, so I just set the office as the destination and used the 8A tollplaza as a waypoint.

And as far as local vs. express, I have the same thing happen on the turnpike. The nav always wants me to take the "cars only" lane, and it makes for an annoying ride if I decide to take the truck lanes. As you know, even if I've taken a trip a hundred times, I still like to plug in the destination so that I have an accurate ETA.

Take it easy and talk to you soon!

Steve

p.s. I still need to see your car! How about posting a pic in the gallery here?

 

[SugarRushMurano]

I will try to post picture on my setup tomorrow morning....

on the ipaq and gps setups.

 

[Dij]

I opted not to get the built-in nav system, but the comments about alternatives got me doing some research. I could get something that would work with my PDA for $150-$200.

There are several Garmin units. The 2610 looks like a good option and it's available for $750 through regular e-tailers or for less (sometimes) on e-bay.

 

[jaak]

Jaak: Can you post some pictures as to how you have it mounted? Have you ever had any problems with the setup (both the software setup with the blue-tooth connection as well as mechanical setup such as the ipaq being in the way, etc)?

~ Corin

I'll have to take a picture of it mounted. Basically, I settled on a very low tech way of mounting that works quite well. Velcro! On the charcoal interior, it's not noticable. I have a square of it stuck on the left side of the radio climate control cluster and stick the iPaq to it.

I did find the bluetooth a little flaky at one point. This has been documented as an issue with Windows Mobile 2003. I just did a ROM update on the iPaq, that HP released recently, and it's made my Bluetooth rock solid. At one point I had a Bluetooth ear bud giving me the navigation audio, but since there's no Bluetooth codec in the iPaq, it chewed up a lot of processing power to do that. (This was a Windows registry hack, to enable, Bluetooth headsets are not normally supported on this device.)

The system itself looks like this...

 

[SugarRushMurano]

People, as mentioned... i have uploaded some pictures of pockect pc gps mounting..

in my murano. Hope this helps..

Link to my gallery:

click

 

[ZUV18]

You should check to see what areas in Canada the Nav system covers. I'm not sure but I think Nissan's system is limited to only major Canadian cities. Is it worth the extra $10K for you. I know Nav is convient for some people but can you get by with a regular map.

Also if you only need to find new locations occasionally, www.mapquest.com is really helpful. They'll even give you a printout of how to get to your destination (including directions on when to turn left, turn right etc). I had to travel from Edmonton to Calgary and it gave me a printout that took me from my front door to the front door of my destination with no problems at all.