Navigation That Scores: Infiniti G35 Wins With Users

The navigation system offered in the Infiniti G35 is the highest-rated factory-installed system in terms of consumer satisfaction, according to J.D. Power and Associates, which surveyed more than 14,000 motorists who have a factory-installed system in their car.

The system in the Lexus IS 250/350 finished second, while the Acura TL’s was No. 3 in the rankings. The Infiniti G35 and Acura TL systems offer a choice of voice or touch-screen activation, while the Lexus offers voice activation only.

While voice activation is considered the most technologically advanced, it’s not the method of choice for nav systems, said Mike Marshall, director of emerging automotive technologies for J.D. Power. He said touch-screen activation was the top choice for 64 percent of nav system users, while 24 percent preferred voice activation, 5 percent favored knob controls and 4 percent wanted to use buttons or dials.

While motorists feel voice activation and real-time traffic information enhances the value of a nav system, satisfaction with those features is low, Marshall said, because they can be problematic and somewhat difficult to use.

“While such features are desirable, they have a long way to go to be fully developed,” he said. Voice activation, for example, doesn’t always recognize what you‘re saying, he said.

The study, now in its ninth year, identified ease of use, routing, system appearance, speed of system, voice directions and navigation display screen as the key factors in reporting satisfaction. As expected, younger vehicle owners are the ones who use their navigation systems most frequently, and the more such systems are used, the more they’re appreciated.

But there were a few surprises, with nearly 60 percent of owners saying they experienced a problem with their system. Accuracy of the route, missing data points on the maps and accuracy of addresses were the most frequently reported problems — ironic when you consider why a person might choose to spend big money on an optional nav system.

“If you spend $1,700 to $2,100 on a navigation system and can’t use it because it can’t understand what you said, you aren’t a happy camper,” Marshall said.