[RayG]

I have had a play with the navigation system today and I have to say I am extremely disappointed.

1). As noted elsewhere it cannot deal with full UK post codes

2). It does not have all roads available to select

3). It does not seem to have all towns or villages available to select

4). It does not appear to have all house numbers available to select

My 5 year old TomTom smartphone does better than that. Indeed I had to resort to using it the other day just to get back in the right direction after the navigation system left me around 3 miles adrift in the wrong direction.

NOT impressed at all that I have to manually spend time carefully locating the exact point on the map to enable me to get where I want to go. This is pointless as if I know where somewhere is why do I need to use the mapping system. OK it helps when I have to go off route to avoid traffic etc. but for a £40K car this is not very good at all IMHO.

Can it be updated to what I would consider to be useful & usable capabilities?

Edit: Just spoken to the MyAmpera team about this and I would suggest that you call and make comments on the above if you too see those shortcomings or indeed any others.

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

I too am hugely disappointed in the SatNav system.

Not to have full postcode search is unacceptable really. I have had that on TomTom for years and it is on the Nissan Leaf that was launched over a year ago. OK, I accept that is Nissan, this is Vauxhall, nevertheless, it is a basic expectation in any new SatNav system now and it should be there.

Not only that but even if you do enter the partial post code you still have to enter the City, Road etc. It seems that you need to know exactly where you are going to use the SatNav in which case there seems no point!

I have called MyAmpera and let them know. I suggest you all call MyAmpera and let them know your thoughts. Be polite and honest and who knows, they might change it!!!

 

[SP_66]

Please let MyAmpera know all Post Codes the car does not recognise.

I've been driving the car for near 2 years and have never had this issue

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

Well, my Ampera won't accept ANY full postcodes.

It will only accept part of the code... It won't accept anything past the 1st digit in the 2nd group... i.e. if the post code I am wanting to navigate to is SP12 4DF then it only accepts SP12 4

Are you saying yours accepts full codes?

 

[SP_66]

Have a look at the screen and it provides the streets that fall into the Post Code you have entered. The system drills down, eliminating those codes not relavent, narrowing down the data.
Just one Post Code ? If the problem is so bad, there must be a list for Vauxhall to investigate ?

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

It provides a drilldown of the streets that are in the "partial" postcode you have entered.

Fine if you know the street name. Many times I just have a postcode. With the Leaf and my TomTom, because they have full postcodes, that is usually perfectly adequate to get to my destination. The Ampera just has postcodes down to XX99 9 accuracy but that often covers many roads and if you don't know the road you are stuffed.

 

[SP_66]

More codes required for our investigation please ?

 

[Parax]

More codes required for our investigation please ?

Come visit me at work - no8. NG2 1AE
or feel free to drop in to see me at home - no8. NG5 1QQ

Any £200 tom-tom (or google maps) will get you there without typing in street names.

It's daft to have to use 30 keystrokes when a 7 digit code CAN do it all (even more so if you have to change it mid journey).

 

[RayG]

@sp_66

You sound like you work for Vauxhall (GM) - is that the case?

here are some examples:

Try navigating to Petre-ty-Gwyn which is 2 miles east of Llandovery on the A40. The name does not exist!

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/place?ftid=0x486fb2f8702699f7:0xa773f6858da8ded6&q=Pentre-ty-gwyn&hl=en&ved=0CAwQ-gswAA&sa=X&ei=Y-vIT_6rBdDs8QPX6uihCA

==

Wider Fit Shoes Ltd. 19-21 Irchester Road Rushden Northamptonshire NN10 9XF England
http://www.widerfitshoes.co.uk/index.php

In this instance the house number does not exist.

==
Try navigating to:
http://www.thethreecrownsinn.com/

The Three Crowns Inn
Billingshurst Road
Wisborough Green
Billingshurst
West Sussex
RH14 0DX

and using the Billingshurst Road as the street - it is unknown! If I do not know where it is please explain how I could ever reach the correct location?

==

http://www.longacres.co.uk/home/contact-us.html

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/place?ftid=0x48767f16648f2149:0x9267d16cf63a6dce&q=Bagshot+GU19+5JB&hl=en&ved=0CAwQ-gswAA&sa=X&ei=fO3IT6qlLoyKOvSm5aAH

Longacres Nursery
London Road
Bagshot
Surrey
GU19 5JB

Without a "house" number you end up 3 miles or so from the location not knowing which way to go.

==

I rest my case - unless you can see where I have messed up which is always possible. If you agree with the above then pleas call MyAmpera and comment - I am sure there are many many more examples but I have no intention of listing them all.

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

SP_66 it isn't particular addresses that need investigation. It is the whole concept of how the navigation is implemented that is at fault and I am sure there will probably be tens of thousands of places where we cannot navigate to using this system.

The problem is that it does not implement the entire postcode. Just a subset xx99 9 . This is a big area and if you do not have a road name/number then there is no way you can navigate to where you want to go to. At best you can get within a mile or two but that is about it... not very useful for anyone really.

This is the description of the postcode from the Royal Mail web site:


RM1 by Paul Churchley, on Flickr

Clearly the closest we can navigate to without knowing the road is a neighbourhood or local area and then if there is no road in the address then we are completely stuffed.

 

[sallybuswell]

Try finding our caravan, on its caravan site near Taunton. The full address as detailed on the site's website, is:

Holly Bush Park
Culmhead
Taunton
Somerset
TA3 7EA

There is no road name nor a number. If I put in TA3 7, I have no road name with which to continue. I can't browse the map of the postcode area. Quite simply, there is no way to find it.

 

[proddick]

I was probably the first to moan re postcode issue, but it is not uncommon for standard fit sat nav to only support five digit post codes. Other than Nissan does anyone know which other standard fit currently support full post codes as this may be a stronger argument to Vauxhall.

We had a problem navigating to a country pub and Kay (my other half) suggested looking at the POIs. I was very dismissive and most surprised when she was right

As an aside only two countries in Europe have 7 digit post codes, the UK and NL. No coincidence that TomTom are an NL based company...

Regards

Paul R

 

[sallybuswell]

The Land Rover Freelander 2 satnav supports full post codes.

 

[taylorgx]

My Renault Laguna from 9 years ago had full post code and I had another 6 years ago which had one of the best satnavs I have had, my previous car to the Ampera was an Avensis which also had full post codes.
I have just completed a trip to Luxembourg and the routes shown were awful, it wanted to take me from Calais and all the way around Brussels instead of through Lille, I think this is because for a short distance @30 miles, the route to Lille is along an "A" road and whilst on my other satnavs I could edit expected speeds on road groups which subsequently altered the estimated times and hence the quickest route, on the Ampera I had not found this function, hence as the trip around Brussels is all motorway it gets a better speed rating and thus the suggested route.
Overall the satnav is for me quite poor, had to do a trip the other day and had to use my iPad to find the name of the road from the full post code to put in the car.
I hope Vauxhall are able to upgrade to full post codes soon!

 

[Big Paul]

When I was "just messing" yesterday I discovered that you can choose from 3 route options after selecting your destination.

Fastest, Shortest and Easiest were available and while I'm not sure what defines "Easiest" I plan to find out sometime soon!

Big Paul

 

[Mike From Manchester]

Found the same choice today when trying to key in home address from Leeds.

Apparently 'Easiest' way is to let wifey drive, for reasons I will not go into here

But cos I couldn't react quick enough it defaulted to fastest and I couldn't get the option back, I really must find time to read that book!

Mike

 

[Parax]

If we are still seeking examples of malfunctioning Addressing:

8 The Triangle
NG2 Business Park
Nottingham
NG2 1AE

(My Office Since 2008)

P.

 

[proddick]

Doing more research, it looks like a lot of manufacturers have upgraded their integrated sat navs over the past couple of years. When I bought my last car in 2009 most I looked at did NOT support 7 digit post codes...

The post below from another forum is interesting...

I have a March 2010 320i coupe (new shape) I ordered BMW Sat Nav Professional which is fitted.

The problem is that this will only accept five digit postcodes, after reading one of your replies in the Telegraph I rang the main dealer Stratstone Harrogate where I bought the car, and asked for it to be upgraded(I did not realise that I was talking to an answer centre).

I told the girl the problem and she arranged for me to take the car in and have it upgraded. When I arrived an hours drive from my home, I was told it would cost £354 to upgrade to the new 2011 version which has a seven digit postcode.

I paid around £2000 fr this Sat Nav and feel aggrieved, is there anything I can do about it? I have looked on the internet, but I am told I cannot do anything because my version has a hard drive and is not DVD based.

 

[Knightstonethornbird]

I agree with all the comments about the sat nav. Vauxhall should upgrade it to 7 digits free of charge, if only for good customer relations.

 

[RayG]

One other thing they need to get right is that when giving directions it is impossible to see road names before you get there therefore I need to be told turn left/right onto the A375 (or whatever) to some town/city and not turn left/right onto Rosewood Avenue (or whatever). I have no idea what the roads are called and I don't have time to locate and read the road name if indeed there is one.