On vacation this week. We first used Yahoo maps to plan our route from Northern Virginia to OBX (Duck, North Carolina). Yahoo said the best route was 293 miles and about 5 hours.

Google Maps says 300 miles, 5 hours, 28 minutes.

Plugged the North Carolina address into the AVIC D3, and it comes up with a WHOPPING 400+ miles and over 7 HOURS !!!! I tried Fastest Routed and Shortest route, and re-calculated and both were over 7 Hours.

What gives ???

So, we started driving, allowing the D3 to bark out the directions but following what Yahoo gave us. The first time we ingnored one of the roads that the D3 suggest, it re-calculated and instantly knocked off over 80 miles !!!!! We kept doing this and after a few hours into the trip, the D3 finally had a route and time that was nearly identical to Yahoo.

Is there some other setting in the D3 that I'm not aware of, that was making it pick an AWFULLY long route?

You can go into "System Options" and bump up the average speeds of all the roads by 5-10 mph. This will help the est time b/c who drives the speed limit.

You can also have the unit give you mutiple routes and select the straitest route. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

I have the same "problems" w/ my Z2. I really don't consider these problems though. The unit is suggesting a route based on a math problem, we need to input the correct varibles.

My problem isn't with the time calculation based on speed limits and route chosen, it's with it's ability to determine the shortest distance. As you said, it's a math problem. THe D3 should be able to automatically find a route that is better than 100 miles more than Yahoo or Google maps.

I could understand 10-20 miles more than other map-based programs. But over 100 Miles ? That's an ENORMOUS difference.

What other variables are there to enter ?

Speed, shortest or fastest route, avoid areas(selectable areas), avoid freeways, toll roads, and ferrys.

It's just the D-3. Its a good radio but as a navigation device it sinks. I work 17 miles from my work and going to work is ok but coming home it routes me 29 mile. It tells me to go by the turn to my street and drive 4 more mile and than u turn back down the same road 4 miles and than turn on the street i passed 8 mile before. I have reported this to pioneer and they act like they know about it. We just need more people to complain. I would take mine back but after installing it who wants to do that? I just tell my friends not to buy it! Get a Garmin!

I have heard alot of reports of the AVIC's tring to put your destination on your right. I guess it feels that it's easier to turn right, rather that left across traffic.

I just ordered my D-3 and it is coming tomorrow. Reading this is getting me a bit worried. My main reason for buying the D-3 was because I was in the market for a nav unit. Does everyone experience these problems or is it something that can just be modified in the settings.

Speed, shortest or fastest route, avoid areas(selectable areas), avoid freeways, toll roads, and ferrys.

Well, like I mentioned - I tried both Shortest distance and fastest route. I didn't tell it to avoid anything.

There's no excuse for this thing to take me on a route that's 100 miles longer than necessary. 100 MILES !!!

If I didn't do anything incorrectly and the D3 is truely a terrible trip planner, then something should be done. This severely limits the unit's usefulness to me. It's not like the D3 is the first generation navigation unit from Pioneer.

It would be nice for some of you who have the D3 to plot a route from your home to some place 300 miles away or so. Do it using Yahoo! maps, google maps and then the D3 and post your results.

I think the nav stinks too. The last trip I made it took me 50 miles and almost and hour longer to get to my destination.

I think the nav stinks too. The last trip I made it took me 50 miles and almost and hour longer to get to my destination.

If it truely stinks this badly, I wish I would have known ahead of time. I would've purchased a Kenwood or an Eclipse. I don't need a $1000 radio. I thought that Pioneer had a decent reputation for Nav units.

I just ordered my D-3 and it is coming tomorrow. Reading this is getting me a bit worried. My main reason for buying the D-3 was because I was in the market for a nav unit. Does everyone experience these problems or is it something that can just be modified in the settings.

I have a D2 and knowing what I do now would look real hard at other units before buying Pioneer's nav system. Garmin has much better navigation so I would look at the Kenwood DNX 7100. Pioneer's nav is great compared to not having nav at all but pales compaired to Garmin or TomTom and they don't charge $250.00 for map updates. My new TomTom maps cost me $55.00 w/shipping included .Thats 5 years of updates from TomTom for the price of 1 yr for Pioneer's crappy maps . TomTom doesn't have as many POIs but it is much easier to find the ones you want. If you have a route planed it looks for POIs ahead of you on your route near the exits and gives them to by distance from your location. You don't know how many ways Pioneer's maps are lacking unless you have used a real nav. company's unit. The rest of my Pioneer is great.

Doesn't the TomTom use Teleatlas? The same the Pioneer units use?

I can't speak to/for the D3, but I posted a similar concern about my AVIC-Z1 here:

http://avic411.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7774

Doesn't the TomTom use Teleatlas? The same the Pioneer units use?

Yes TomTom uses Tele Atlas maps and there are mistakes but they present the information differently. Say I'm on Rt. 5 North headed for Rt. 10 East and Rt 10 has on ramps , Pioneer tells me to turn left across oncoming traffic and use the on ramp for RT. 5 South onto Rt. 10 East instead of using Rt. 5 Norths on ramp to 10 East which gos off to the right . It is shorter , just illegal and dangerous. When I take the correct ramp it sees it so it is on the map. Another one is when I'm on a 4 lane road and my 2 lanes split one lane going each way. Pioneer doesn't tell you which lane to take since you are still on the same highway. One last one is when you come a to split in the road with many other roads around you Pioneer's closeup map looks like spaghetti (which I love but not on my dash) and it is hard to pick your 2 choices out of all the rest. These choices have to be made with little time and Pioneer doesn't do as good a job in this area as some others.

what about the Z2? Does the Z2 navigate better than the D3?

My priority is navigation speed/accuracy. Should I get the D3, Z2,

Eclipse 5510, or the portable Garmin Nuvi 660?

Thanks!

Reading some of these comments and other posts is making me ill. It seems like Pioneer just creates a Navi that CANNOT calculate the shortest or fastest route. Isn't that like the WHOLE point of a Navi ?

I keep seeing replies saying to have it calculate 6 different routes and choose the best. Well, if the Navi has 6 different routes in its head and one of them is the shortest, why doesn't IT pick the shortest ?

If the best this D3 can do is find a 400 mile route on a trip that's really only 300 miles on typical roads, then it's useless to me.

Ok, now I am really getting worried that I made a bad purchase. I make frequent trips that I have to hit up Map quest or Google for directions. I wanted a NAV unit to avoid this. It sucks that I would need to get directions the same way and compare them with the D-3. Defeats the purpose. Oh well, all I can do is hope for some miraculous update to solve the problem.

Is it possible that it is just a flaw in miscalculating distance, like maybe it is miscalculating speed and distance which could give you a longer trip time and more miles??? I am grabbing for some hope here...

For me, changing the speed expected to be traveled/driven on the highways, helped the time get closer to the GoogleMaps, MapQuest and Yahoo Maps selections, but the routes given were still different from those online. Pioneer's choice is still always the longest (time and distance wise), but it is better if you tweak other aspects of the trip route. It can be smart, but it needs a LOT of help to get there. In this case ignorance is bliss. If I had never checked (they always say curiosity killed the cat) online with Google, Yahoo and Mapquest, I simply would not know any better and I would have continued to have been happy with my purchase. I mean I don't use the navigation to tell me how to get somewhere I already know how to get to. So, if I don't know how to get somewhere, I also don't know if I am going the fastest way or not. All I care about at that point is that I get there and I get there in the time I allocated for arrival. Only when one can contrast and compare does this even become an issue.

I'm writing Pioneer once a month asking when they are going to release software to fix the routing problem. I think they will have to sooner or later. I have used ever make but Tomtom. Magellan's in rental car and I own a portable Garmin. Both of them are very good. I just know that there is something very wrong when the pioneer actually has you back track down the same road you just traveled on. I'm writing reviews on Amazon as well warning buyers. I want to be writing that they fixed the nav part because the XM and Ipod interface is the very best and it looks great in my dash!

Bluemoose and Ike.... These replys are right on about the stink-o navigation of Pioneer nav units. We have been seeing posts like this for a while. If navigation is your main interest, then DEFINATELY go for the Garmin NUVI 660! I have a Garmin Quest II and it NEVER looses sat lock or sends me into never-never land....the maps are complete and accurate. Software upgrades are FREE from their web site. I will buy a D3 just for how it will look in my dash and of course XM and iPod connectivity. Otherwise, my Garmin will nav for me on long trips. My 2cts.

Bluemoose and Ike.... These replys are right on about the stink-o navigation of Pioneer nav units. We have been seeing posts like this for a while. If navigation is your main interest, then DEFINATELY go for the Garmin NUVI 660! I have a Garmin Quest II and it NEVER looses sat lock or sends me into never-never land....the maps are complete and accurate. Software upgrades are FREE from their web site. I will buy a D3 just for how it will look in my dash and of course XM and iPod connectivity. Otherwise, my Garmin will nav for me on long trips. My 2cts.

I'd go for Garmin if they had an in-dash, double-din car radio/nav.

I did a little research before I purchased the D3 and didn't see any negative reviews. Even after found this site, I really didn't notice a lot of negative comments regarding the nav - that is, until now, after I've seen the very poor performance for myself.

Like I said before, I wouldn't care if the D3 was 20-30 miles different on a 300 mile trip. And I don't care if the ETA is off by several minues or even an hour. But to put me on a route that is 100 miles more than a very standard route !!!!! ????? That's a complete failure in my opinion.

I may speak to Best Buy about an exchange for a Kenwood - if I can determine that it's any better.

not to take this off-topic, but can anyone point me to a Kenwood or

Eclipse forum?(for users of their navigation systems) I just want to

read what those guys have to say.

Thanks!

Compared to my factory Chrysler navigation, i will say the pioneer really sucks @ass..

My chrysler navi was WAY more realistic in terms of distance and routing, this pioneer is like its drunk or something.

I would NEVER recommend the Pioneer for navi purposes as there are far wiser choices than this.

On the way home from vacation in Duck, NC today, I had the D3 plot the course home. Sure enough, nearly 400 miles and over 7 hours for what should only be a 300 mile trip requiring 5 hours.

Click on the picture below to see where the D3 makes it's BIGGEST mistake.

The route in purple is from Yahoo! maps. The Red lines with arrows represents the route that the D3 picked. In both cases, Yahoo! maps and the D3 are trying to take me from Route 158 North to Route 264. The Yahoo! maps takes the shortest distance between two points (straight line) and routes me straight up route 168. The D3, for some completely unknown reason, continues on 158 going in a south west direction and then up 17 North - WAY out of the way.

In fact, when I ignored it's plea to go south west on 158, it recalculated multiple times and kept trying to get me back on its ridiculous route before finally giving in and following route 168. As soon as it gave up and went route 168, it instantly knocked off close to 80 miles from the remaining distance.

You can see the triangle it makes as opposed to the more direct route from Yahoo!:

Why on Earth would the D3 pick this route, extending the distance by nearly 80 miles?