A6 SatNav destination-setting problem

[mike a]

Hi again.

My new A6 has the MMI Basic SatNav.

Sometimes, when trying to enter my destination in the Town/Zip field, the system completes the entry for me and stops me being able to enter what I want (similarly to predictive text on mobile phones).

I can't even enter some postcodes without it guessing the rest and exiting the input screen.

I've read the manual from cover to cover and called my local Audi dealer without success.

Can anyone help?

Mike.

[toff]

If you bought it from somebody local, it's probalby bringing-up the "Last Destination" enteries for the previous owner!

Try going to Destination Memory > Last Destinations and deleting what's in there.

What year is your Nav disc please?

-Alex.

[Froggy]

Audi navi systems have "restrictive text" input. It will only let you type in what it has in it's database.

This speeds up the address entry by removing letters or numbers that can't be used. Of course this is very frustrating when the map database doesn't have the town or street you are looking for...:confused:

[mike a]

Thanks for the response, Froggy.

I understand what you're saying about restrictive text input, but what's surprised me is that I don't even seem to be able to input a whole postcode. I can typically enter the first part of the postcode but then as soon as I try to enter the second part it fills in the destination as something I don't want and exits the input mode. It does this whether or not I use a space after the first part of the postcode.

Does this seem familiar?

Mike.

[toff]

Thanks for the response, Froggy.

I can typically enter the first part of the postcode but then as soon as I try to enter the second part it fills in the destination as something I don't want and exits the input mode. It does this whether or not I use a space after the first part of the postcode.

Does this seem familiar?
Mike.

Even on the 5" colour screen version of the Nav Plus (CD based), with the 2007 map disc, you can only enter the first part of the postcode + one number of the last bit.

As afforemntioned, you should find out how to re-set the unit to it's pre-delivery state. I think that would circumvent your current problems.

Alex.

[mike a]

Alex,

I must have missed the aforementioned. You said to delete last destinations, but I can't see anything about resetting to the pre-delivery state. I've checked and the only destinations stored are those I've entered.

I believe I have the 2007 nav disk.

You mention that even the higher-spec satnav only lets you enter part of the postcode. Is this something you've managed to solve?

For some destinations, I seem to be able to get navigation right to the door, but for others I can't even seem to get within a mile. It's really bugging me. I'm wondering whether to use a mapping website to convert all my destinations to latitude/longitude coordinates to try to get around this, but that doesn't seem like the right solution.

Thanks for your help on this.

Mike.

[toff]

Hi,

I checked with Tele Atlas (who produce the maps) and the system is not capable of full postcode searches, just partial postcodes.

I experience the same thing as you, sometimes I get offered the option to enter a house number and other times it can only find the first part of the postcode.

The MFD (VW's version of Nav +) had full postcode search and it uses the same map CDs!

Anyhow, back on to your problem. You may only have your destinations stored, but I think the system has hidden memory of previously entered destinations etc.

You may want to try visiting some of the forums that just focus purely on the Nav unit ( such as: nav-plus.com and vwnavi.com ) for info on how to reset your Nav, which I think may help!

Hope that helps

[mike a]

Thanks again, Alex.

I didn't know such specific forums existed. Amazing thing, this InterWeb :)

I just had a look on the VW one and have seen that lots of people have asked about full postcode entry.

Now that I know it's a limitation of the system and not just me having the wrong settings, I'm happy to live with its limitations, e.g. by entering partial postcode + street + house number.

I just didn't want to spend a couple of years faffing with something that could have been easily fixed.

Cheers,
Mike.

[fredbaum]

I love my brand new Q7 to pieces. Other than this very thing !!!!

Please forgive the rant but I think this is absolute Rubbish. For a car that costs more than 25K. I disagree with Mike A saying its not a problem

I must admit I am stunned at the lack of thought Audi has put into this. Almost to the point of saying the sat nav isnt fit for purpose, and wanting my money back on a 2500 GBP option that doesnt do what a basic 150£ portable unit does. My wife and I go to alot of destinations that are on country roads etc (a proper 4x4 destination), and given that I also cant seem to input a B road etc as a destination, I am sometimes off by two miles. This has gotten to the point where we will leave the Audi at home and take the Jeep which has al Alpine unit fitted which works fine. This current system is no better than the first sat navs I had in my 1998 A6- You tell me that it has taken Audi 10 years to improve on what was an extremely basic need ?

I understand that the Post code thing isnt relevant in all Audi markets, where post codes arent granular like ours, but this is utterly unacceptable for a brand that calls itself premium. If our Honda Civic can do this, as well as every single other car we test drove, including basic Citroen, Peugeot, Ford, and Vauxhall. As well as the elementary tom toms, never mind the "down market" VW version working fine. Needless to say BMW and Mercedes and even Land Rover all have this down.

This has dented my experience of the car because I now have to fear what my next destination is and whether I can see it on my 60K pound car and wonder how close I can get, or think to myself which is the closest cross street. I also am utterly unable to find many business parks in the UK where roads are non standard or unadopted without names. Meawhile a 17 grand mondeo owner doesnt give their sat nav a second thought because it works well like a good technology should.

I love my Audi, but this needs to be fixed, and the worst thing is it seems to be by design !

[mike a]

Fred,

Don't get me wrong - I still find this very frustrating!

I've recently been travelling in 'convoy' with my daughter's boyfriend (we can't fit 6 people in our A6). He has an old Corsa that's worth around £300, with which he uses a TomTom SatNav.

Before we depart, he casually enters our destination into his TomTom, which then shows him a map of the route. We then get into our cars, at which point I spend 5 minutes struggling to enter our destination into my Audi, then viewing a text version of the route, only to find that his SatNav seems to be suggesting a more sensible route. At that point, I'm forced to let him lead the way, whilst I follow sheepishly in a car that's worth 100 times as much as his.

I'm happy to have a laugh with him about this, but it just shows what a joke the Audi system really is.

Fortunately, I'm not heavily dependent on my SatNav, because most of my journeys are to places I know, but I can understand how it would drive you mad if you were relying on it every day.

Mike.

[johnpen]

I agree I've given up on the audi sat nav and just use tomtom now, I've never used a worse system (I'm just pleased it was a free option on my 2006 2.0 Tdi)