[i_am_rufus]

This story kind of reminds me of two interesting situations involving people I know purchasing new cars with navigation....

The first was a Honda Accord Euro (Acura TSX in the U.S. I think). Having already been familiar with the various hidden issues with GPS navigation, I asked the deal how old the maps were. He had no idea, and would "get back to us". This wasn't a deal breaker on buying the car, but would have been interersting to know. As it turned out, the maps were alread 1 and a half years out of date at time of purchase. The car is now 3 months old and a new mapping DVD is now available. Not free though, not even at cost, but at full normal price. Thanks Honda.

The second case was involving a locally made car, that is exported to the U.S. Here it is a Holden Commodore. When the car was first sold, the navigation wasn't ready yet. All the hardware was in the car, so just the software, a gps antenna, and control module, had to be purchaesed as a kit and installed by the dealer. Once again, not a deal breaker in buying the car. The buyer was assured that it would only be about 3 months at most before it was available, and would only be a "small fee" to upgrade. 10 months later the kit was available, and would be a $2500 upgrade!! WOW! Better yet, the maps were also out of date, despite it being a "new kit", and the screen isn't even a touch screen! They forgot to mention all this before hand.

My point being, car navigation seems to be a very difficult industry at the moment. It can be an OEM solution, a Garmen, a Tom Tom, Destinator on your phone, etc, but there are always hidden issues. Hell, my first Car PC a few years ago used CoPilot Laptop 8 - worst routing engine ever!! It was about as close to useless as you could get, was kinda fun though - was always being introduced to new places that I never knew about by it's completly insane routing. I think it is important that all companies that sell navigation make it very clear the date/version of their maps at time of purchase, as it is the maps that make refunds impossable. Not just Flux, but everyone! On the packet for the Tom Tom I buy, on the details for the Honda I buy, they should all make it very clear what the map versions are.

I know how it can be a pain for someone to buy navigation and find the maps are old old old, but from experence I checked before purchasing what the map version was. I always ask now. I'm not saying that the buyer should be expected to ask this, and if they don't then too bad. I am saying, however, that until things are more transparent, then as a buyer you will have to be realistic and ask these questions, ask many questions. Find everything about the product before committing to buy. I understand that Flux is working on the routing engine problem, but I also understand that the age of the maps is out of their hands. I'm realistic. I'd love to get free maps, but it isn't going to happen. I could complain about it for weeks on end, and it still won't happen. I know it won't happen because if Flux was to seriously give everyone free maps, it would actually be easier and cheaper just to shut up shop and go out of business. Some people seem to think that they can just pull these maps out of their ass and hand them out, except they have to buy the maps themselves first. It's just unfortunate that they don't make it crystal clear the versions of the maps on the description for the item before purchase, but like I said, no one does this, and that's not a good thing. Maybe Flux could lead the way in being upfront on map verisons and the wider market might stop trying to pull the wool over peoples eyes all the time.

Number #1 thought on purchasing navigation systems - Buyer Beware!