2004 Nav System Problems-any suggestions

[tonytone]

So basically GM is saying that since they can't fix it (for now), they won't...and it sucks to be you but we don't care that you paid (roughly) $2K for the nav option 'cuz we already got your money...

I guess you could sue them but I reckon it wouldn't be worth the time and effort, let alone finding someone willing to take your case over a depreciated $2K nav unit...

[2thfixr]

I think it would make for a great class action suit, especially since they are still making the nav system available as an option despite the fact that they know there is a problem with no solution. There have to be a lot of people in the class considering how many people have nav systems in Denalis, Escalades and Hummers. Just need someone to represent the class. I would be in.... not for the money but to let GM know that this is not an acceptable response. Seems to me that the fair response to a sitation like this is offer to refund the price of the nav system (replace the unit with a standard Bose headunit with XM) and allow us to install our own after market nav systems.

[kacyk]

Demand a swap! In 2000 I bought the high end Odyssey with factory Nav. Right before the warranty ran out it started to have occasional reception problems. I took it in but since it worked fine at the dealer, they sent me home with no fix. A year after the warranty period ended the Nav worked only 10% of the time! In retrospect, I should have addressed it over and over until they fixed it under warranty. Damn thing is over $2,500 to replace!

[Reels]

Doing a swap right now is a waste of your time and the dealers. I have a brand new unit, and it does it also. Not often, but it does.

They are working on a fix from the vendor. As long as your issue is documented, I am sure GMC will take care of the problem once they have a fix.

I don't think sueing, yelling, and demanding something that your dealer has no control over is going to solve anything. Just my 2 cents.

[kacyk]

Despite the fact that I had been in during my warranty period Honda would not fix it after the 3/36 had expired. I even brought in the work order with language to that affect. I guess it all depends on your relationship with the service department. I agree that making a stink won't get you anywhere. Probably the best thing is to foster a good relationship with the service manager and have that discussion about what happens after the warranty expires.

[2thfixr]

I haven't raised a stink or yelled at anybody. I took my car in a few times for the nav issue and as most of you are aware... you have to show them the problem for them to believe you. Of course, the nav issue is one of those intermittent things where it does it all the time except for the one time that you are in the dealership's service bay. After three failed attempts to show them and them checking the nav system without finding any problems, one of the service managers finally called GM and found that it is a documented problem that they are aware of.

My issue with the current situation is that I have gone through all of the hoops and hurdles of alerting them to the problem yet they have done absolutely nothing to rectify the situation. Furthermore, it appears that it is a well documented problem that GM is aware of and has been aware of even before I bought my car. It seems to me that they should have pulled defective products off the shelf and should have made the nav system unavailable as an option. Instead, GM continues to market and sell the nav system as a convenience feature in their vehicles without alerting prospective buyers that there is a problem with it. If they had been honest and sold the nav system with a disclaimer that it has a software issue that is being addressed then I would not have a problem with it at all. I would have not gotten the nav system at all if that were the case. I would have installed an aftermarket in dash system.

To add insult to injury, the fact that I am not receiving a return email or phone call from the GM customer service rep is completely unacceptable. I did not hound the guy or even appear remotely upset with him. I have been nothing but pleasant in my dealings with the dealership and GM. Since the last email that I posted, I left him 2 emails and called him once. Still no response. After purchasing 3 high end GM products in the past 6 years, I can definitely say that they have lost me as a customer forever. In fact, I have already cancelled my GM rewards card. To think, I was seriously considering a '05-'06 C6 Z06 over a '05-'06 997 cabriolet.

2thfixr

'05 Mercedes S500 sport with perfect nav system
'05 Toyota Solara SLE V6 with perfect nav system
'03 BMW 745Li with perfect nav system
'04 GMC Denali XL with 22" ASA TRS II wheels and crappy nav system
'01 Porsche 996 cabriolet with REUS audio and aftermarket Garmin Nav.
'02 Honda CBR 954RR
'03 Yamaha Vino Classic

[Duramax Dually]

I posted, some 3-4 months back, about this similar issue. It boots then just locks up. Then after a good 20 minutes or so comes back and has a screen prompt that says DISC error, unable to read.

I dropped by dealer under the idea it may be a bad disc, well they would not give me another one, in fact they would not even let me try another one. They said set up an appointment so they can look at it. I am the loser on the deal. I have to get a rent a car,I have to jockey my schedule around to drop it off for a day but now I am out $40- 50 in rental car fees. I KNOW what that service guy is going to do...He will plug a disc in, confirm what I said, then say Sorry no fix available, will have to call GM tech service. They will want to keep my vehicle until they have it fixed or say you can come get it for now and I will never hear from them again.

I have been a Chevy owner my entire life(Trust me there is a difference). I have bought many. I am also realistic in that things will break. Where I am not understanding is the lousy "after sale" service. I can understand that they cannot just hop through hoops for every person that walks in the door but I am a very competent mechanic and should be given a bit more respect rather than the c**p I get now. I can say that I am also severely dissapointed in the Denali. For $50K it sure does not add up in quality and service.

* Nav problems
* Fuel economy SUCKS. MPG is 13.6 all the time(I have the Denali, Not the XL). I get 17.2mpg in my Crew Cab K3500 Long Bed Dually with a 6.6liter diesel motor. My truck weighs 11,200lbs compared to 6,000lbs for the Denali)
* Center console stereo has LED problems for the station selection
* Dash constantly squeeks

We gave up our Awesome 2000 Benz 430 for this heap as we needed space for 6 and the Benz sat 5....

GM can keep their Denali junk. Sadly my wife still likes it, I want to off it but cannot come up with a good replacement. I have heard the Chevrolet Tahoe LT is very nice. Few have problems with theirs. Hard to believe we thought that NAV would be the ticket only to have it be a joke.

Wheeeew!...Ok Now I have vented....

[2thfixr]

I had 2 Suburbans a '99 4x4 LT and a '01 4x4 LT and although I can honestly say that the '01 was flawless, the '99 had a fuel gauge problem that the dealership would not fix. It was rather funny thinking about it in hindsight. It would read 3/4 full when I had about 250 miles on the tank which meant it was about 1/4 full. The dealership changed the fuel level sender (obvious culprit) but did not fix the problem. The second time they drained the fuel, measured it and checked the gauge, found that it read faulty and changed the sender again. No improvement. Finally, the service manager talked to me and said that they did what they could do and had no fix for it. Ha.... He said that there was no problem and that it was within specs. They just made attempts to change the sender to make it "more accurate" than it should be. Finally I asked him. Considering that the gauge is reading 3/4 full on a 44 gallon tank and there were about 250 miles on the tank. Would he go on a 100 mile rural drive with no gas stations? He said, no he would fill up. Oh well, it made no no sense... Regardless, I was stuck with using the odometer as my gas gauge.

The thing that bugs me the most about this whole situation is that I traded in my '01 Suburban with only 17k miles on it and bought my '04 Denali XL because of the factory nav system and extra hp over the suburban. '04 Suburbans did not have factory nav as an option.

BTW... my '04 Denali XL had a sticker just under $60k. It has the nav system, rear seat entertainment system, and sunroof.

All I have to say is that even though the Navigator and the Sequoia have smaller cargo areas, I will not be getting another GM product.

There has to be a software solution to the nav problem because the units are made by Denso which supplies the same nav system to Toyota and Lexus. I have the nav system in my '05 Solara and it is flawless. It's just that a software fix to the problem is not high on GM's list of things to do.

[Reels]

Just got back from the dealership. Per GM TS - advised to replace the radio. There is a fix now, but units are backordered.

Just FYI. If I have any problems afterwards, I will post again.

[tonytone]

Originally Posted by Reels

Just got back from the dealership. Per GM TS - advised to replace the radio. There is a fix now, but units are backordered.

Just FYI. If I have any problems afterwards, I will post again.

Do you know if they'll replace it with a touchscreen one?

[2thfixr]

Originally Posted by tonytone

Do you know if they'll replace it with a touchscreen one?

My guess is probably not since it is supposed to be a software upgrade and there were problems with the touchscreen unit as well. The only thing I am worried about now is that when they replace my unit, I might get one that is not in the same condition as mine. My Denali is used only for long family trips so although the car has 11k miles it is absolutely brand new in every way. Someone posted that they got a replacement unit that had worn buttons.

[Reels]

Originally Posted by tonytone

Do you know if they'll replace it with a touchscreen one?

I have a touch screen now, and they said it will be a new unit, not a rebuild.

[tonytone]

Originally Posted by 2thfixr

My guess is probably not since it is supposed to be a software upgrade and there were problems with the touchscreen unit as well. The only thing I am worried about now is that when they replace my unit, I might get one that is not in the same condition as mine. My Denali is used only for long family trips so although the car has 11k miles it is absolutely brand new in every way. Someone posted that they got a replacement unit that had worn buttons.

Hmmm...I'd be curious as to exactly what is included in the software upgrade that is supposed to fix the problem, and exactly what part of the nav is the problem located in?

I guess what I'm trying to get at is this--could this software upgrade fix be something that might be included in say, the version 3.0 of the nav disc? When I loaded my 3.0 nav disc (to replace the relatively outdated 2.0 one) into my nav for the first time, it was performing some "updates" to my unit. Dunno what these "updates" entailed but I reckon it was doing something other than loading maps since subsequent reloads of the same 3.0 disc into my nav unit don't perform the same "update" procedure.

Wouldn't it be nice if the software fix could be delivered via an update found on the 3.0 nav disc (if it does exist on it at all)? You'd get your nav fixed and an updated map disc at the same time!

[Eggert]

Hi tonytone,
I don't know this for sure,
my suspicion is that it rebuilt one or more index into the disk stored into memory.
This may include "point of interest" data like restaurants etc.
I would be very surprised that any unit would automatically flash it's firmware by itself.

Does anybody have more info on this?

Take care, Eggert

[84fiero123]

i understand that you have to have this new navigation system because non of you can read a map but if this is the same unit that is in this riser that works perfectly, maybe just maybe because it is made by the same company as the other one i would blame the supplier. all these parts are made by japs blame them. if dealer cant fix it i would say its the suppliers fault. bitch at the manufacturer of the unit, see if that will get you anywhere. good luck hope you speak jap, or chin, or tywan.
guys dont get me wrong all this new shit works good in all jap cars but not in any american i'ld say your bitch is with the jerks that built the unit. and they arent the dealer they are someone from anouther country who just wants to make an american car look bad.
dump the unit and put in a bose radio at least its made in usa and you can bitch at an american at least if something goes wrong, but it won't