Hello!

I was just curious if the NAVI unit in the 09 fits are really worth it or are they any aftermarket units that would be better for less cost?

Thanks,

 

you could get a high end tomtom for about 600 , 700 bucks

 

I would actually like something in dash that would double as my radio and has iPod support

 

I've seen some neat Pioneer in dash GPS systems that also double as a radio and dvd player (i think), no experience with them however.

I'd still rather get tomtom IMO.

 

I have a friend who works on cars. He actually made some good points about factory GPS units. He said that companies like Honda spend millions of dollars developing their units. Whereas companies like pioneer have only short warranties and if it breaks, then what? He seems to think Honda will keep your unit current for the life of the car.

I am getting a factory unit. No it doesnt have all the bells and whistles as the aftermarket units and I am upset it doesnt come with XM but with it comboed with VSA I dont think its that bad a deal.

Actually the only reason i am getting it is VSA. I plan on giving the car to my daughter once it is paid off in four years anyway and the saftey is more then worth it for me. BUT if VSA were sold seperately I would get a tom tom and VSA not the honda unit.

 

And a top of the line runs roughly 700 bucks online. You can take it from car to car and it will even take you to your car if you get lost at disney world!!

 

I got it for about the same reason. Im hoping the honda system is somewhat simple to use... Im giving my car to my technology inept mother in 3 years. Press a button and talk to it seems easy enough... she will never use the usb, but the nav she might actually use. She wont leave my hometown b/c she is scared she will get lost.

 

I have a Garmin Nuvi and an 08 Acura TL with nav. I actually prefer the Garmin. It's easier to use and I like the 3D view better. I would only get a Fit with Nav if you want VSA.

 

I am very happy with my Garmin Nuvi 350, I wouldn't spend the $ for stock navi ever again.

 

Someone at the dealership told me that the honda navi breaks often... and it costs $4000 to replace...

 

Sadly, I'd rather have steering wheel mounted audio controls than VSA, but not sure if it's worth the price tag. I think I'm more likely to get in an accident while changing the volume or radio station versus losing control on a slippery road surface. That said, I think if you really must have VSA then nav's the way to go. However, if you can live without VSA, I think your money is better spent on an aftermarket unit. Fact remains that navi adds very little at resale, so it's not a wise investment if you're thinking it'll pay off on the back end.

 

I think it boils down to your tolerance of extraneous gadgets & cables when you could have a clean, integrated look. If you're looking for a big in-dash aftermarket unit, that's a different story, but it is still tough to make aftermarket stuff look like it belongs in the car.

I looked a little bit for an aftermarket combination of Nav/Sirius/Bluetooth, but didn't find such a unit. That would have swung it for me, but instead I ended up with factory navi. I haven't had the car more than a day, so I won't comment on its capabilities and ease of use just yet. I can tell already that I'm going to like it a lot better than my previous Chrysler unit.

 

cant someone just steal the navi if they see it all exposed like that?

 

Someone can steal anything if they want it bad enough.

Steering wheel controls are no big deal in a car this size. The radio is close enough lol.

 

How often do you get lost driving around? For $2K its not worth it. I am sure its a fun toy to have but you can get better aftermarket systems for less. Even if you wanted an in-dash system with custom dash kit it would probably be less than $2K.

To put it simply, NOT WORTH IT!

 

I drive a chauffeured car part-time.

Every once in a while, I drive one of the older cars that we have. It's in really great shape on the inside and out, and you can't quite tell it's age...until you look in the back seat, and see the car phone mounted on the back of the front passenger seat. It just looks really out of place...and awful.

I don't want to drive a car in 3 or 4 years that shows it's age with an eyesore like that, especially an eyesore that costs $1500 more than an aftermarket unit.

I know, you get VSA (which I really want, and should be a standalone option), steering wheel mounted audio controls (which I also really want), and it's integrated into the dash, and you don't have wires running everywhere.

I still don't want it.

 

Imaging that all factory navi units have the same interface, and all portable units can plug into such interface - requiring some sort of industry standards just like the usb or hdmi ports on computers and tvs have. Then we wouldn't need to worry about spending a fortune for a subpar factory built-in that will look really outdated in a year or two. With the standard interface - let's call it CNI (for common navigation interface), we can buy whatever unit we want and plug into the dash location, without exposed wires and all integrated w/ the car system. The CNI should provide links to the car's audio speaker and microphone and steering wheel controls, as well as antenas, which are all pre-built-in. Factories can include default units but it would be plug and play for us to replace it, w/o spending a fortune. All makers will conform to the standards such as screen size, so as long as such space is left all we need to do is plug-in the screen unit. Oh, for those older cars, the same units can also be portable, assume that an extra part is bought that contains the antenna, speaker and a plug to the DC-outlet.

How sweet! Now all we need to do is wait for 50 yrs for that to come true - by then we probably won't even have to drive anymore, let alone know the direction. Our future car will drive itself, and even w/ artificial intelligance, decide exactly where to take you - for example if you are a thief, it will take you directly to jail, then return the stolen goods to the victim. How efficient!