Worst ever OEM satnav?

General Discussion Forums Car Talk
1

We often joke about the built-in Mazda OEM satnavs and how counter-intuitive they are.

Well today I came across a satnav in a brand new hire car that makes those recalcitrant old Mazda Navs seem almost usable. The Amundsen Navigation in the 2025 Skoda Karoq refused to believe or navigate to an address and/or a postcode for an address maybe ten miles away in Richmond (London, not Virginia).

After ten minutes of typing on the screen, talking to it and generally trying all the usual interactive tricks in the Karoq I gave up and lent my friends my Garmin Nuvi that normally lives in the 25AE.

Ten seconds after Nuvi woke up, the postcode and house number were in and showing on the correct street and after another couple of seconds the correct route appeared.

The final happy smile from confirming we did the right thing came after noticing a previous sucker mark on the windscreen almost exactly where I stuck the Nuvi. Someone else needed the same solution to a problem that should never have happened in a brand new car.

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2

I’ve got the Kamiq but never tried the navigation, it’s the Amundsen unit. I use Waze or Google maps wirelessly to the unit, always did in the NC too to the Pioneer HU.

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3

Going against the grain, and maybe providing comedy material in itself, but I think the Mazda OEM sat nave is fantastic. At least on the albeit not many times that I’ve used it.

4

Having had the same setup in a couple of Skodas and a VW, I can’t say I actually ever used it either.

Phone was plugged in and away you went. Were they not smartphone equipped?

5

I’m quite happy with the Mazda nav. Works well for me but now that I’ve stop receiving free updates I may start using Waze with car play.

6

Apart from the time it tried to take me to SW Wales on a trip from Yorkshire to Thruxton it’s fine for me. But Waze is far better , not just than the Mazda nav, but every other one I’ve used

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