Sorry if this is an old question - I did a quick search but found nothing relevant...

 

...has anyone here bought Sat nav updates off eBay? If so, how did it work out for you? Were the sellers reliable? Did the software go ok for you?

 

Would be v interested  to know your experiences.

 

Regards,

 

 

djp

Not too sure why you’d want to buy from eBay when you can download them for free.
Check out the links in my signature.

Thanks for the tip.

 

Not sure if I'm fully comfortable in re-formatting the original Skoda SD card.  My plan was/is perhaps to use the purchased card as a "crash test dummy" for formatting purposes.

 

Anyone had any confirmed disasters in formatting an original card?

 

Regards,

 

 

djp

@Rustynuts is the person to speak to and may have an already updated one available.

29 minutes ago, john999boy said:

@Rustynuts is the person to speak to and may have an already updated one available.

Cool! Thanks for the guidance!

You don't have to format the card.

 

Just back up the old data,  delete the old files & copy the new one's onto it.

 

Plenty of info available in this forum on how to download the files & unzip them to the card.

 

 

And no problem copying the old files back to the original disk if disaster strikes?

1 hour ago, reincheque2 said:

And no problem copying the old files back to the original disk if disaster strikes?

No. I've done it myself. If you run into trouble just delete any files on the disk & copy the old one's back.

 

If you're using a Mac then you need to use a program to remove some files which get added & cause display problems. Others can advise better than me if you have this problem.

Edited 21 July, 20214 yr by ords
Addition.

I'll give it a go. Thanks for the comments!

 

Regards,

 

djp

Here's what I've done for the last 5 years with no problems:

 

- copy old map data from SD card to PC hard drive

- fast format SD card (much quicker than deleting files) to FAT32 with 4K cluster size

- copy new map data from PC to SD card

- insert SD card into glovebox unit

- drive using new maps.

On 21/07/2021 at 17:48, john999boy said:

@Rustynuts is the person to speak to and may have an already updated one available.

Yes, I have a few of the new 32Gb Skoda cards available for the Amundsen MIB units. Also some of the older 16Gb cards.

Very interested!

 

I finally established that I have an Amundsen 1 (5E0...), so if you have anything that will work with, I would be very interested indeed!

 

Regards,

 

djp

Alternatively if you have a modern smart phone, use Google Maps or Waze which are better and more up-to-date than either Skoda's or VW's mapping and you can put it onto your infotainment system screen or VC using Android Auto. 

 

Although saying that I did have to buy a replacement map card from Ebay (£25) because muggins here dropped the original in a drain when transferring it to the house for an update and I couldn't get the drain cover up. 😫

Edited 23 July, 20214 yr by TheWanderer

Do you think that this car is telling me that it doesn't like me? 🤔

16 hours ago, TheWanderer said:

Alternatively if you have a modern smart phone, use Google Maps or Waze which are better and more up-to-date than either Skoda's or VW's mapping and you can put it onto your infotainment system screen or VC using Android Auto. 

Since OP has a MIB1 Amundsen he won't have either CarPlay or Android Auto.

Thanks for pointing that out.

 

However he can still use a smartphone with Google Maps or Waze installed for a better navigation experience. 

Your skoda nav will be fine ,mines never missed a beat in three years taken me everywhere ive asked it to with no issues

I'm not sure how people know the Skoda (VW) SatNav is not very good. If it sends you the wrong way on a route you know why are you using SatNav?

 

Personally I set up my destination on the SatNav then use it for the bit I don't know - normally the end of the journey.

 

As I am normally towing a caravan when using the SatNav I check the route beforehand, on Google, to iron out any potential problems - any problems I have encountered have been when I thought I knew best and ignored the lady - usually I am wrong.

Edited 24 July, 20214 yr by YMe

It's probably just a "hand holding" thing.

 

I also keep a paper road atlas in the car should all technology fail! I only tend to use Tw*t nav for driving into areas that I'm not familiar with and cities (seldom). However I still prefer Google Maps or Waze over the built-in system. 

12 hours ago, Mickvrs220 said:

Your skoda nav will be fine ,mines never missed a beat in three years taken me everywhere ive asked it to with no issues

The issue with the MIB1 Amundsen from 2021 onwards is that Skoda (and VW) have stopped issuing map updates for them as they went out of production more than 5 years ago, so OP will be stuck with the 2020/21 maps with no updates available,

13 hours ago, Mickvrs220 said:

Your skoda nav will be fine ,mines never missed a beat in three years taken me everywhere ive asked it to with no issues

I've found the Skoda sat-nav preferable to the Google one, which ain't all that, IMO.

I find Google sometimes takes me via odd routes which I suspect is using me following an unusual route as a data gathering service to.

I used to think Google used different routes because of traffic & roadworks, but having been taken on a route on Friday and finding my right turn Google was telling me (across the A34 dual carriageway) was blocked by roadworks which had been in place for a week or so, I'm now not so sure.

In fairness, I've sworn at my Google satnav so much, I would understand if it deliberately led me on longer routes to punish me.

4 hours ago, EnterName said:

I've found the Skoda sat-nav preferable to the Google one, which ain't all that, IMO.

I find Google sometimes takes me via odd routes which I suspect is using me following an unusual route as a data gathering service to.

I used to think Google used different routes because of traffic & roadworks, but having been taken on a route on Friday and finding my right turn Google was telling me (across the A34 dual carriageway) was blocked by roadworks which had been in place for a week or so, I'm now not so sure.

In fairness, I've sworn at my Google satnav so much, I would understand if it deliberately led me on longer routes to punish me.

On Friday Google maps told me about the stationary traffic on the M5 near Taunton and routed me around it. Then on Saturday Google maps told me about the accident on the A34 and routed me round it.

The built-in system has consistently failed to do any diversion when it encounters the congestion on the A303 around Amesbury and Stonehenge.

 

I just automatically take the alternative route via Larkhill to go around it. 

I can count on one hand the amount of times the built in sat nav has re-routed me. It always says queuing traffic in x amount of miles but never offers an alternative.

It is really basic compared with other systems.

 

The POI function in my opinion is only good for larger organisations. If I need to find a smaller one I have to find it on Google & then put in the post code on the system.

 

Is the Columbus system any better?

13 hours ago, TheWanderer said:

The built-in system has consistently failed to do any diversion when it encounters the congestion on the A303 around Amesbury and Stonehenge.

 

I just automatically take the alternative route via Larkhill to go around it. 

I have the opposite experience, I find that the built in Nav is generally very good at identifying closed roads and snarl ups. However as one poster already said, I tend to use my own route, then use the system to get to the end bit which I may not know.

 

The only issue I have had is when towing the caravan, the system identifies any A road as an A road, whether its a dual carriageway or a back road in the country, and will try to send me down a badly maintained road as its 0.1 of a mile shorter. But then I have had this problem with google and Waze too. 

 

As my old MT Sgt used to say, always do a route plan, a sat-nav is a useful tool, but it wont replace a brain!