RTi System

[wayne39]

Hi I have purchased an xc 90 and love it. But the Nav system does not list fast food outlets. We travel to france a bit and our children are pretty fussy with food, and we find that the large American restaurant chain is a life saver at times. Can the software be upgraded. Our previous car (merc Eclass saloon had no problems)

[TrueBlue]

... fast food outlets. .... pretty fussy with food,

Surely the former contradicts the latter??

Notwithstanding the above, I'm afraid you'll have to bite the bullet, the Volvo system - excellent as its hardware implementation is - is let down by truly horrible software and facilities. I've resorted to just letting it tell me where I am.

If you want a system to be flexible and usefully then get a standalone system such as the TomTom. You did say "France", so check that the maps available for "over there" do what you want.

You didn't say which model year the car is even so It's a waste of money getting the upgrade DVD (which costs nearly as much as a TT) as you're not likely to get much improvement from later editions.

Volvo don't seem to take much interest in improving their system's data capability and I think the Hitachi (?) kit that is used in the current models is on its way out. A pity because the way it works in the car is great.

I'm quite happy to be shot down in flames - especially as I only have experience of the XC70 VNS, but AFAIK it's the same in both models.


Nearly forgot: Welcome to the forum!
Do give us a hint as to the spec: of your XC by updating your "signature"

[JsR]

My opinion, FWIW, is that Volvo look at their Sat-Nav system as being primarily for business users i.e. someone who's on the road constantly and just wants to get from A to B, and can change their vehicle at someone else's expense regularly. They don't seem to recognise the mass-consumer market. I omitted Sat-Nav from the new vehicle as it's just not a patch on stand-alone systems - friendliness, upgradeability, ease of use etc. I could go on (and have done so many times about this, my favourite toy ).

John R

[Big]

You didn't say which model year the car is even so It's a waste of money getting the upgrade DVD (which costs nearly as much as a TT) as you're not likely to get much improvement from later editions.

Volvo don't seem to take much interest in improving their system's data capability and I think the Hitachi (?) kit that is used in the current models is on its way out. A pity because the way it works in the car is great.

The VNS is made by Mitsubishi. The data have been improving slowly, at least in the U.S. There was one DVD in 2004, two DVDs in 2005, and I heard there may be three DVDs this year. Also, Volvo announced switching to a hard drive system in the near future.

I don't know about European restaurant coverage but, in any case, it is hard to think of a country where American-style fast food makes so little sense as in France. Just feed the kids chocolate & wine if they complain.

[wayne39]

Thanks for welcome guys and the responses. Really found this forum to be very helpful whilst making the big decision. I am new to this so forgive any mistakes I make along the way. I have edited my signature but just incase: 2006 XC90 Ocean race 2.5 185 bhp Fully loaded.

Wayne