J.D. Power and Associate study shows owner frustrations with factory navigation systems

Dodge Charger

No surprise here but a new study released by J.D. Power and Associates shows that vehicle owners are continuing to experience a high number of problems with factory-installed navigation systems. According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 U.S. Navigation Usage and Satisfaction Study the problems deal primarily with routing quality and system usability.

The study looks at 6 overall factors including routing,  navigation display screen, speed of system, voice directions and voice recognition. The study measures quality by examining problems per 100 (PP100) navigation systems.

The study found that owners of factory-installed navigations experienced 351 PP100 in 2011.

Here are the eight most-frequently reported issues:

  • Address/street/city not found (33 PP100)
  • Difficulty inputting destination (32 PP100)
  • Route provided was not direct (24 PP100)
  • Difficulty using voice recognition controls (23 PP100)
  • Map doesn’t show enough street names (21 PP100)
  • Couldn’t find desired menu/screen (19 PP100)
  • Map or point of interest search was missing points of interest (16 PP100)
  • Inability to view screen due to glare (14 PP100)

“Routing—the primary function of a navigation system—is obviously an issue and will continue to be,” said Andy Bernhard, director at J.D. Power and Associates. “However, for nearly 10 years, the importance of ease of use has been emphasized by owners, and the continued high level of problems in this area begs the question: is the industry listening to how owners want to interact with their system?”

The study is based on responses from 18,303 owners who recently got into a new 2011 model year vehicle.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: J.D. Power