2004 Nav System Problems-any suggestions

[jensejo]

I have a 2004 Denali with the nav option. I have had constant problems with the nav restarting itself. The local dealer is clueless on how to fix the problem. I've had the unit sent in once already, but the nav system continues to reset itself while driving. Has anyone else had this problem or know of any fixes?
Thanks

[Vroom2]

I hadn't heard about this one - when you say it's resetting itself, is it the deck (i.e. entire display) or just the mapping portion? If it's the former, it sounds like they need to reblast the firmware on the deck. If it's the latter, maybe there's a loose antenna connection? Good luck...

[jensejo]

What happens is after you start the car, the nav systems shows a white display with GMC in red on it. That's basically the starting screen. Then, as I am driving the nav system will revert back to the white display again, and again, and again. Then, ti acts normal for a while, and then repeats the start display.

[tonytone]

How clueless does the dealer need to be? With a sophisticated electronic component such as the nav unit, if they can't figure out fairly quickly what's wrong with it, they should just go ahead and swap it out w/ another unit--or did they already do that and you're still getting the same problem? I mean, if they don't know what's causing the problem, what the heck are they waiting for? Your warranty to expire so that they can then tell you "tough luck, you'll need a new one--it goes for about $2400"?

Is it just the nav display that gets reset--i.e., does the display reset if the screen is displaying just radio or CD info?

[2thfixr]

I have a 2004 Denali XL with the same problem. Per my dealership, there is a TSB out on the issue and GM is aware of the problem. The nav system constantly resets or locks up. When it locks up, it displays japanese characters on the screen and then won't play CD's, no audio from the rear seat entertainment system, no radio, and obviously no nav display. You can't even turn the system on or off when it's at this stage. Basically you have to restart the car and sometimes that won't even work. I am in contact with GM customer service as we speak and I have already informed them that they need to come up with a solution because I paid the extra money for the Denali over a Suburban of Yukon XL because it was the only "XL" GM suv with factory nav. Of course the Escalade ESV had it but that was even more money. The nav system is essentially useless and renders you stranded several times per trip if you want to make stops to eat or detours while en route.

I have dealt with this issue for approximately 1 year (bought my car in Jan of '04) and have taken it in several times to "prove to them" that there is something wrong. it's one of those stupid intermittent things that the dealership "can not duplicate". They gave the car back to me saying that there was nothing wrong with it. Finally the service supervisor was able to get into contact with GM and they found a TSB out on it. Now I am trying to get the nav system replaced with an '05 unit but they are telling me that they are having the same problems with the '05 units. I find this hard to believe as the '05 unit is supposed to be the same Denso unit as found in nav equipped Toyotas. The Toyota nav system is absolutely flawless. I know this because I have a '05 Toyota Solara SLE with factory nav. The display is the same but the buttons and dials are in slightly different places.

Anyways, I will keep you guys posted but in the mean time if anyone has an '05 touchscreen nav system let me know if you have had any problems with it. Same unit in Cadillacs from what I understand.

[the blur]

hey, I have that same problem.
the smucky dealer replaced the radio 3 times. it got better for awhile, but now it's happening again.
glad to know I'm not the only one !!!

it's like the radio is losing power, then restarting again.
all without losing audio.
very distracting at night time.

[tonytone]

I guess I've been lucky so far...have had mine for a year w/ no problems.

[the blur]

does anyone have the TSB # on this issue??
it is annoying as h@ll !!

thanks !

[Reels]

I have an 05 I just picked up two weeks ago. My deck is doing the same thing.

[the blur]

please take it back to the dealer, and tell him you visited an internet forum and it seems to be a common problem. Then let us know what it is !!!!

my dealer keeps replacing the radio, and it doesn't help........
in fact, they gave me a used radio that had more wear on the buttons.
so I'm not happy.
don't let them replace your radio !!

[2thfixr]

Originally Posted by Reels

I have an 05 I just picked up two weeks ago. My deck is doing the same thing.

Your '05 with touchscreen nav is doing the same thing? By same thing do you mean resetting or locking up? Mine almost always resets when I try to go to memory points. Mine also completely locks up and displays Japanese characters in the center of the screen. How about you guys. I am still in contact with GM regarding this matter and the official word right now is that we have to wait because there is a problem with the software and they do not have an anticipated date for a software update.

Any of you guys interested in a class action suit?

This is the way that I see it. GM commissioned a usabilty report from Carnegie Mellon University. They outlined 11 catastrophic failures in the user interface and 25 other problem areas. None of those were addressed and the nav system was released anyways. I think it took a new user something like 60+ minutes to enter a destination, a detour, and a memory point. Now, there are all these problems that GM is well aware of but there is no solution. I don't know about you guys, but I have had 2 Suburbans in the past a 99 and an 01 and I bought my '04 Denali XL because the Denali and the Escalade were the only two GM products with factory integrated nav available. I paid a $10,000 premium to go upscale and get the nav but the nav is a real POS. GM is telling us that yes, it's been a year but you still have to wait??????


What do you guys think.... any attorneys out there, anybody know any attorneys out there. It seems like a fairly straightforward issue. Nav advertised, nav doesn't work when it needs to, no solution to nav problem.


If you have had problems with your nav system and you are simply lurking and reading this thread. Post a message so I have an idea of how many users this affects.


Thanks

[Reels]

It locked up right at delivery. It sits there and tries to reset itself. You can not control volume, channel or anything, it just goes on it's own trying to reset. If you had the volume up loud, you are kinda screwed because it will cut in and out and in and out until it resets. Nothing you can do except pull over and restart the truck a few times to manually reset it.

Like I said, I have only had the truck a few weeks. I want to drive it a bit more and see if there are any other issues to tackle when I bring it in.

I will report what happens.

[the blur]

the dealer should be shot right there. Every dealer has a new car department, and they are suppose to go over the truck to make sure everything works. I used to work in the new car prep department, and I drove every car, and thoughly checked out every car before delivery.

I would have not taken delivery, but I have 4 other cars to drive. You may not have that option.

[Reels]

The service department did look at it. what they found was the kid that washed the Denali put a rap CD into the unit. Once it reset, they were able to eject it. They could not tell if it was the cause or not, but it was working. I drove it home, and went a week before it started wigging out again.

PS- the kid got fired for that one. Too bad, as it had nothing to do looking back.

[2thfixr]

Well, I finally received a response from GM's customer relationship manager. I formally requested that he replace my unit with the newer model instead of replacing it with the same model. Regardless, his response is despite the fact that I have dealt with the issue for a year and the whole audio/ent/nav system renders itself useless when it locks up, they will not authorize a replacement at this time. That means that they have made no efforts whatsoever to solve or fix the problem. All they have done at this point is acknowledge that GM is aware of the problem and is working on a fix. To make matters worse, there is no anticipated date or time frame for a fix.

The most insulting thing is that after receipt of this email, he will not email me back or return any of my calls. I have been very friendly with him and told him how much I appreciated him calling me on the one occasion that I spoke with him. In other words, he has no reason to feel that I am being demanding nor have I been a pain in the butt customer to deal with.

The email response is as follows;

"Dear Dr. XXXX,

Good afternoon. Thank you for your patience. I contacted the Factory Representative to inquire about the possibility of replacing the current navigation system for your vehicle to a newer version. The Factory Representative declined the replacement since GM Engineering is aware of the navigation system concern and a bulletin from Technical Assistance advises dealerships not to attempt any repairs until a repair is available. At this time Technical Assistance has advised that the navigation system concern is a software related concern and not a hardware related concern. I apologize, but there is no estimated time for when a repair will be available.

If you should need to contact us in the future, simply reply to this message or call our GMC Customer Assistance Center at 1-800-462-8782. Customer Relationship Managers are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., Eastern Time. Please refer to service request number 1-2965XXXXX for all future communication.

Again, thank you for contacting GMC.

Sincerely,


Christopher Simfukwe
Customer Relationship Manager
GMC Customer Assistance Center"

How's that for a response?