That is the way my wife and I feel. We did not need the NAV, but it has come in handy many times.

It is kinda like Tivo. We got Tivo back in '99, and it changed the way we watch TV. A true paradigm shift. Now we can't stand to watch TV without it.

That is how nav is to us, but to a lesser degree. We love being able to type in the name of a Restaurant, and have it tell us where they are. Or when we were Christmas shopping, we needed a Toys-R-Us, so we typed it in, and went store to store till we found what we were looking for. In the past we would have gone home, gone on the internet, and printed a list of the stores. I has just made our life a little bit easier. Also, me wife could get lost trying to get out of a paper bag. Seriously, when somebody asks her for directions she actually tells them to never ask her, as she would have them in Washinton DC before they got where they were going (assuming they were going to Disney Land from Texas). Now I don't worry, as the car tells her where she needs to turn, and she can get where she is going without calling me every 5 minutes.

As far as resale goes, it might increase the price according to edmunds or KBB, but if you look at the actual selling prices of cars, and compare used cars with nav to those without, the prices are about the same. The car might sell faster, but on a money only consideration, you won't get it back. Just my humble opinion.

Agreed. The NAV in a car is like a standard feature if you have a car with one.

I had a girlfriend (way back - when cars ran on steam) and she never had a car with A/C. She was shopping around for cars and I suggested she get the one WITH A/C (now, this is in So. Cal. too). She Hmmmd and Hahhd about it was a silly expense not worth spending because she lived without it before. But, she got the car with A/C.

She soon realized it after the first summer with the new car. She had her crow medium rare with a white whine.

I also have a portable NAV (Garmin iQue 3600) that i would take on business trips since I couldn't always get the Hertz cars. I'm still glad my own personal car has it built in. Never have to worry about chargers, cables, mounts, etc.

I still want a portable unit, as I want to know elevation data, ie when going to work, how much elevation rise do I have to fight getting good mileage, and the opposite on the way home. Also a NAV based speedometer would be great (that is what they are going to in the marine environment).

Too bad the Camry NAV does not have elevation data. The rover NAVs have it though.

I'm getting the Nav more for personal value than resale value. After looking at a few other cars I noticed that the cars with Nav sold for about $1k more than without.

Well it is good to know that if you don't get the NAV you don't lose the JBL stereo. I guess I am looking at it as: who knows when I might get around to tinkering with the TCH stereo and other items, so I might as well get it. And since I'm new to the hybrid arena, the consumption and energy would be nice to have to learn a bit more about how the car works. After the test drive I agree you need to learn how to drive the car to get the most out of it.

I might price out the car without the NAV as well just to see what the difference is. I am having the dealer work up a quote with NAV. So far I am siting just below 4% above invoice for total price. I want to get down to at least 2% above invoice.

Thanks for all the insight from each of you. It has been very valuable! This forum has the best group of people I have come across yet.

Mike

Mike, the MFD display on the dash has a "mini" energy consuption display option. It is quite useful, but limited compared to the NAV energy display. I don't have NAV, and use the MFD energy display from time to time. It shows the battery SOC, and energy flow (ICE and/or EV power to wheels, regen to battery) It doesn't allow you to reset it for trips or display energy usage over time like the NAV does. It also doesn't show of the engine is recharging the battery.

Thanks for that info nash, it is hard to find things out because the dealers around here don't seem to know much about the car....sadly.

I need a few definitions just to be sure I'm on the same page...

MFD = Multi Function Display?

SOC = ??

Also, what exactly does the consumption gauge on the dash do? When I test drove the TCH I didn't have enough time to figure out the purpose or how to really read it....I'm sure the manual would explain this but I don't have one as I don't have the car.

Thanks,
Mike

SOC - state of charge - shows 0 to 8 bars of battery charge.

MFD - yes multi function display. Cycles thru a number of displays, including energy, tank MPG, and outside temp.

The consumption gauge is the acutal MPG the Camry is getting at any given time. It drops under 60mpg to show when the engine is off, and the battery is providing power to move the car. It is a useful aid in improving gas mileage.

Thanks for the definitions...

I can't remember, the 60mpg is at the bottom right?