Car sat navs: universally shit?

[SugarPlumpFairyCakes]

I drive a Mercedes. Bane of my life. And the sat nav is unbelievably crap. It has me going round and round the houses. So frustrating when I don’t know the area but recognise I have been twice already on the same roundabout.

Are all inbuilt car sat navs so bad?

I’ve got a Mini, it’s only a few months old but it’s the best car sat nav I ever had, so maybe things are improving!

I've never experienced one that out-performed Google maps tbh. It's all I use.

I rarely use the built in satnav as the voice drives me up the wall, I use the Waze app via my phone instead.

Have you updated your satnav OP. Road schemes change. Roads are added. Your satnav needs to be told about the changes.

Volvo's satnav is pretty accurate but annoying. A shame they didn't employ a Brit to do the narration.

It says Arrksford rather than Oxford which is infuriating. Driving around Wales it is hilarious though. Anywhere west of Monmouth, I rely on the map and ignore the spoken guidance. 😁

No mine have been fine. You do need to upgrade maps periodically and mine connects via my phone to get up to date traffic info. Not necessarily as good as Google but the flip side is you can programme it to follow different routes etc

Mines ok. Sometimes makes me do three lefts then a right instead of just going right at the start but it has saved me a couple times too - wedding in deepest darkest Kent with just country lanes and moonlight. However it’s also led me up restricted streets with a subsequent fine.
I have used Google maps on occasion and it has its idiosyncrasies too.

yes you are right , some Sat Nav systems are better than others. However, watch out on 2024/2025 Mercedes GLA, GLC a problem which has occurred already three times on my 9 month old GLC is the digital screen with the Speedometer going blank for up-to thirty minutes, meaning you can be driving without any idea of your current speed. By the time you have sent out an 'Emergency' call to Mercedes Benz Assistance the screen has reset itself. This of course makes you look rather 'silly' when Mercedes Assistance turn up. However, Mercedes Benz are aware of this rather embarrassing problem.

I’ve only ever used it once, when my cable for the car play connection broke and it was pretty shit. Waze or google maps on your phone is always going to be superior and you don’t need to pay to update maps. I’m not sure why anyone would want to use it day to day? Or am I missing something?