I've been using the NAV in our Venza for over 6 weeks and think it works great. You can turn-off various icons (Restaurant, Gas Stations, POI = Points of Interest, etc.)

In all fairness, I'm not familiar with other NAV systems, so I have not compared it.

 

I'm a salesman for toyota. It really makes me sick when someone in our field is suppose to be a professional and has no clue how to or is even interested in learning about the product he/she is selling. haha anyways off of my rant. The venza has a gen six navigation system which is very similar to the previous gen 5 and 4 being used by other toyota models. One main difference is the ability to wirelessly transmit music files through the bluetooth thus eliminating the need to plug in. I personally use a blackbird by alpine navigation system in my truck but having played with the oem navigation in toyotas for a while I have come to navigate its operations pretty well and keep learning every time I play with it. Is it worth the extra money? Well if you have the proper training and knowhow to use the system it can be very handy and looks good in the vehicle. However like I have done since it isn't offered in the tacoma is put an aftermarket system in that works just as well.

 

My wife and I went to several Toyota dealers (and over the years, Lexus dealers as well) and found some professional sales people know their vehicles extremely well and while others try to fake it with little success. We both really appreciate the sales people who take the time to know the vehicles and can answer your questions.

Regarding the NAV - The advantage of the built in NAV unit is being able to display audio in addition to the great maps. Not sure if the after market NAV screens do that (display audio as well)?

 

I had NAVs on my two '07 Camrys and find the routing capability lacking in other than urban areas. When you get out of the city it insists on routing you on major highways. If you destination is on a secondary road the routing stops when you leave the main road.
The highly touted voice control is very problematic and in my case nearly useless.
My Garmin Street Pilot does a far superior job but does have a somewhat smaller screen.
My Venza does not have the Toyota Nav.

 

Theres a menu in the navigation to restrict going on highways and it gives you three choices on the route to take.

 

We had an 06 Lexus LS430 - Is the navi in the Venza similar? If so, I hate it. It locks you out from routing on the fly and must pull over to make any changes or add a route. The voice features were gimmick-y at best, and the screen resolution was about as good as my daughters toy notebook computer.

We've gone through quite a few navigation systems (04 Audi A4, 06 LS430, 01 Landcruiser, Pioneer Avic-D3, Garmin Streetpilot, 05 Acura RL) and feel that the system in my wife's current car - 2005 Acura RL - is probably the best we've owned.

Anyone know where I can read up on the differences between the generations of Toyota navigation systems?

 

We had an 06 Lexus LS430 - Is the navi in the Venza similar? If so, I hate it. It locks you out from routing on the fly and must pull over to make any changes or add a route.

This is a safety feature and can be bypassed if you search around for navigation hack.

 

I think the Venza NAV is similar to the previous generation plus the ability to stream Bluetooth Audio.
I had a Gen2 Prius with NAV and the Camry Hybrid NAV had much better graphics and more intuitive menu but the accuracy of the database was similar.

 

The first thing I noticed was that when I was going down the highway, the system showed me what services were offered at each upcoming exit.

I were polarized sunglasses and I noticed that I had to look at the Venza NAV at just the right angle to see the screen. I don't have this issue with my 07 Tundra and I didn't have it with the 09 Highlander I drove. Seemed odd to me.

 

One other thing regarding the Toyota electronics. Since this vehicle comes with XM radio, and if you subscribe to their services , you will also be able to display traffic updates in selected cities and also coming is a weather service. I do not know presently if you will have to purchase an additonal modual for the weather feature or if it is a download from XM. The new Acura TSX has the ability to do both features on their XM radio and I would guess that Toyota and Lexus will have the same ability, if not now, in the near future. All of this comes at a price and also is dependent on where you live. You can go to XM's site and they list cities where features are currently available. This post is not a comment on the NAV feature but on features which compliment the electronics in the vehicle.

 

The Venza will be my first Toyota so I am not used to the Nav setup. I have read countless posts about the annoying lockout feature and owners scrambling to find the over ride solution. My question however is, when the car is in motion, can you make route changes etc using voice command. If so is it easy? I rarely see this mentioned as an alternative to keying in the data.

Thanks for indulging a noob!

 

The Venza will be my first Toyota so I am not used to the Nav setup. I have read countless posts about the annoying lockout feature and owners scrambling to find the over ride solution. My question however is, when the car is in motion, can you make route changes etc using voice command. If so is it easy? I rarely see this mentioned as an alternative to keying in the data.

Thanks for indulging a noob!

You can make some limited changes while in motion. I never had good luck with voice commands on the NAV side. The phone side was OK with voice commands but I still rarely used them.
You can detour, change the routing selection (quick1, quick2, shortest). I THINK you can change your routing preferences eg. avoid tollways, avoid ferryboats while in motion.
Personally I just planned my trip ahead of time, plugged in the key locations as some of the quick onebutton shortcuts and those you can select while in motion. Same with the phone, program in your frequently used numbers on one of the two dozen or so one key shortcuts and be done with it.
I never even thought of using voice commands to actually change the destination. I want to say you can't do it. I don't think every destination has been digitized so it's recognizable as a voice command. I could be wrong.

 

In regards to the lack of navi aided routing in rural areas . . is there a setting in the Toyota navi to enable "unverified roads" ?? This seems like a huge shortcoming. If anything, you think that you would need navi's help way out in BFE more than ever.

The lock out seems entirely unecessary, too.

The more I read about Toyota's navi, the more I'm considering not getting it.

 

That @**&%$!!? voice!

Hi folks - noob here. I've had my Venza for a week, and it's going to work out great for me ... EXCEPT the NAV system. Is there any way to shut off that incessant woman? In my '05 Land Cruiser, I could just push the button and say what I wanted ... you know, Fast Food, Gas, Bank, etc. and it would show all icons for that category. Now I have to wade through countless menus, then end up with three restaurants "near here." Please, please, please tell me there's a way to make the Gen 6 NAV simple. I love Toyotas, but if this is it, they have made a horrible mistake. HELP! AAAAAaaaaaa!

 

Menu->Setup
on one of the 3 pages of configuration items is the ability to turn off the voice.
Also when I had my Prius someone posted ALL the possible voice commands and there were many for specific food types. These were also documented in the back page of the NAV supplement. I opted not to get the NAV on my Venza but worst case just say HELP and buried in the HELP system is the list of all the food types and the other obtuse seldom used voice commands. They ARE there.
Hopefully the Venza voice recognition system is improved over the one in the Prius because the Prius rarely understood any of my voice NAV commands. The phone voice recognition was near perfect but not the NAV. Hopefully Toyota fixed things in the few years since I had the Prius but to be honest my '07 Camry Hybrid with NAV isn't much better.

 

OK, thanks. I still haven't figured out how to shut off the voice for commands without turning it off for route guidance, but pushing the button twice shuts her up pretty quickly.

 

Garmin vs factory nav

I have compared Honda/Acura/Toyota/Lexus to Garmin systems over the years and always choose the Garmin. My Venza has the BluLogic and a Garmin 880. BluLogic has much better sound quality than the Bluetooth in the Garmin. Otherwise, the voice commands, features, etc. of the Garmin are way better than what the manufacturers offer imo.

You can pick up a top of the line Garmin on Amazon for under $500, even less if you don't want the voice commands. If you don't like it you can return it for a refund in 30 days.

Two big advantages of a Garmin or similar device compared to OEM: 1) You can take it from vehicle to vehicle so you always have your favorite waypoints with you. 2) You can send data from the internet to your Garmin with MSN Direct, which in itself has a bunch of extra features like real-time traffic, gas prices, movie listings, etc.

Besides the 880 in my Venza, I have a 780 in my wife's Odyssey and an old Quest in my Tundra.

 

I think OEM navigation systems are a MUST in each car. Even if you've got you're mind set on buying an aftermarket device... think of how easy it is for thieves to just pluck off that lil' suction cup, not so easy in an OEM unit eh? Another plus is the fact that most OEM devices are synced/programmed to perform various vehicle functions, by voice and/or tactile input. It would almost seem silly to not buy an OEM navigation system if its offered - it's like buying an iPod Touch instead of an iPhone, simply because the cost of an iPod Touch is lower, and you can buy a cheaper cell phone. LOL, sorry for the crappy analogy, I'm too excited to be philosophical! (I'm just minutes away from delivery!)

 

Been there, done that, never again.
I've had 2 Toyota (Denso) OEM NAVs and would never get another.
I don't use a suction cup but rather a bean bag which takes 1 second to hide in the glove compartment. Theft problem pretty much solved.
The shortcomings of the OEM far outweigh the advantages and the $1000 delta in price doesn't help build a good case for the OEM either.
I got my previous NAVs because I really wanted bluetooth and now you can get that sans NAV so I had absolutely no reason to go with a Toyota OEM NAV in my Venza.

 

Navigation misinformation

I have experienced two errors I know of with navigation having a wrong street name and not knowing a street exists. The street name error also comes up in Google maps and Mapquest, so obviously Toyota's navsys data comes from some master data base.

How do I get these kinds of errors corrected? I started with my dealer customer service. He directed me to Toyotas general Customer service. I sat on the phone for over an hour on hold and never got to speak to a live person. I doubt they would know the answer anyway.

If I was not familiar with my area, I might miss a turn or get lost with this misinformation. It makes me wonder how trustworthy it is when I am in an unfamiliar area.

If there is already a post on this topic I could not find it.

 

I am not real sharp on the GPS thing but it appears to me that this might not be a problem that Toyota can help you with. The fault appears to be in the mapping info not the Toyota navigation system. A good check might be to find a friend with a Garmin or Tom Tom and see what their maps say about this street. That would at least narrow down the false information to the mapping system or Toyota's Navigation system. In our area it is not uncommon for new subdivision streets to not be on any maps or navigation systems. It would appear to me that it would be very complex for Navigation mapping systems to keep up with the many streets created in the USA each day. Wyovenza

 

Thanks, WyoVenza. These are very long term roads probably 50 years old or more. I agree it isn't Toyota's fault. What I am trying to find out is what data base they tap into, because both Mapquest and googlemaps (only ones I have checked) also have the same street name error, so their data is not their own either.

 

On the nav system DVD (I have ver 9.1) it lists NAVTEQ and Tele Atlas North America as well as data by infoUSA which most likely supplies POI info. You can go to their websites and provide updated map info:

http://www.teleatlas.com/Support/MapFeedback/index.htm

http://www.navteq.com/

They are the 2 major GPS map info providers. I had a situation where the nav system could not find a high school in the next county using POIs even though it had been there for over 20 years. I had to enter the address. On the other hand the nav system found a restaurant via POIs that just opened last month and was only built in the last 6 months or so.

My sister has a Garmin and she's told me she it gives her misinformation at least once a month or so. As the old computer saying goes "Garbage in, garbage out". The maps are only as accurate as those supplying the info. Bottom line, it is not foolproof.

 

We have a small resort and always send a map attached to our confirmations. There's a private mining road that intersects the highway 4 miles away from us. This road is CLOSED to the public, as mine haul trucks travel it with radio communications among themselves. People are often directed up the road by their GPS units (Garmin and TomTom confirmed). Bottom line, GPS is a tool that you can't totally depend upon.

 

+1

There's an urban legend about someone driving off a cliff because they blindly followed their GPS's directions! I don't know if that actually happened, but I've run into enough mistakes that I never completely trust the nav unit.

 

Here's an instance where it isn't an *urban legend*..

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10422430-71.html

 

That's scary

Here's an instance where it isn't an *urban legend*..

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10422430-71.html

So GPS is literaly a "killer app"!

 

My understanding is that if you have any map discrepancies, you should contact your preferred Toyota dealer. They have a reporting form for both TCI and TMS. I have done this and my preferred dealer took down the information.

 

USB interface for 2009 Venza with NAV ?

I have read some posts that the 2009 and 2010 NAV system and radios are identical. Someone even mentioned the USB cable accessory for the 2010 model but the Toyota dealer could not determine the part # for it.

I am thinking about a way to get a USB cable connected to the 2009 Venza radio such that the NAV display allows for music control similar to the 2010 models.

Anyone have any info on this ?

 

I would like to do the same. I have posted a similar question here before, but haven't seen an answer with a way to do this. Maybe someone with the knowledge will see this and reply here.

 

Toyota needs to outsource nav to Garmin or TomTom

It's so bad, I want my money back. The $120 Garmin Nuvi 200 puts it to shame. I'm not talking about the maps, I'm talking about the navigation engine and logic.

Over 50% of the time when I put in a street address in a residential neighborhood, it gets me within 4 blocks or so and then pipes in with "you have arrived at your destination" or "navigation information is not available for this area." When you zoom out enough you can see that it put the arrival flag in the right place but it doesn't help you get there.

The routes it picks are a complete crapshoot, with no logic. Here's the latest in a sordid series of nightmares:

Driving south in Michigan towards Lansing on 127, heading downtown. The stupid thing tells me to exit on some side road 25 miles north of town. I ignore it and stay on 127 South. After it figures out the new route, it immediately subtracts 8 miles and 13 minutes from my arrival time. What kind of logic is it that picks the route that is both longer AND slower? My hotel was 1 block off 127 so there is *no* logic that would have removed me from that road at that time.

Driving home from Lansing, hoping to head north towards the Mackinac bridge, the stupid thing tells me to take I-69 to Flint and then I-75 North. All three routes that it offers me go through Flint even though it sent me on 127 on the way down. Flint is 45 miles out of the way due East. I ignore the stupid thing again and hop on 127 North. It recalculates and gives me the gift of 45 fewer travel miles and 40 fewer travel minutes. Huh?

It's to the point now that I throw the $120 Garmin Nuvi on the windshield and only use the Nav system for the backup camera and the audio controls.

Torture! :headbang: