Navigation System-Yes or No?

[Bliz]

I am looking to buy a 2008 Duramax and am trying to decide on what options I want. One I think I want is the navigation system. Does anyone have this and would you buy it again? Thanks for any input.

[killerbee]

yes. Love it. My son laughs everytime I say "directions for dummies".

[Dakster]

That's a tricky questions. I use my NAV alot. I take my truck on long driving vacations and find it invaluable. However, a $200-$300 portable nav would work. However, I like the "built-in" part. It's not as easy to steal and I don't have to worry about leaving it somewhere. Plus, it uses the compass and speed of the vehicle along with the GPS Sat's. (I could go on and on - Portables have WAAS to help with this)

I have a portable and upgradable unit too. (I started with in before NAVs were easy to get in vehicles - a $1000 Garmin unit at the time) It's collecting dust in the closet. I will take it if I FLY somehwere and rent a car. (Can't count on being able to get a car with one)

I guess the main question is how much do you think you will use it? If you rarely leave your home town that you grew up in and know every street and business it may not be worth the extra coin.

The negative with the CURRENT GM NAV's is that they seem to be off more than the previous generations. Another user here said that GM is aware of it and a s/w patch coming out with the next release should fix it. Still waiting for it... The POI and street data is circa 2005, in a 2007.5 truck... I noticed that the NAV jumps me on and off roads, especially when they run close together and parallel to each other, my 2005 Denali XL didn't do that. As the warning in the manual tells you, make sure you know your route and don't rely solely on the GPS... I always have a road atlas.

[Bliz]

Thanks for the info. I do travel a lot in the winter towing a 45 foot snowmobile race trailer and getting lost with that behind you can be a major problem. We have used a dash mounted hand held for a few years and try to never leave without it. I have found with my hand held you still always want to look at a map because the route it picks may not be the best. The other issue with it is that you can put in a town but not a specific street address. I like the fact it is built in and as long as it works reasonably good I am not concerned with the cost over the life of the truck.