Hey Buub, that all makes sense, but it's not at all what I was getting at.

After the guy who hates me had written about some no-can-do programmers and claimed I was one of them, I wrote: "I'm almost certain I can outdesign and outwork every programmer you have ever met, and quite possibly the whole lot of them at the once."

What I was trying to point out was that your statement "I have met me, and I can assure you that you are very wrong" does not by its own premise support the conclusion that I am wrong.

 

I don't expect you to believe me, or agree with me. But here's the problem I have with this, as I stated it last year. Don't misinterpret it as a negative thing. It's just what I think Nissan's business plan is regarding options. Most of the options are marked up very high so that the dealerships have to work the customer to make lots of money. They make around $5000 extra if they can talk someone into the full $7500 worth of options. (I forget the exact numbers since it's been a year, but that's pretty close.) And that's for the dealer after Nissan has already taken their own profits, as have the companies like Ray's and Brembo and whoever makes the flat panels and DVD drives for the nav.

Nissan isn't just selling a nav system. If they were, it might cost them $200 per unit to make, and cost us $400 to buy. There's just no competiton. Nobody else is in Nissan's unique position, so they can get away with marking it up to $2000, and a certain number of people will buy it. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) A monopoly is very good business, but it's not good for the consumer when he cares as much as I do about price vs. value.

Although it sounds silly, what they're selling is the coolness factor. Think about this: how many people are spending $2000 for navigation vs. how many are buying it as a toy or status symbol? (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) Now if it were just to help navigate, as it would be for me, it's probably not worth the sum of $2000, because it's not a good value. I can get someting else, probably better, that I can take in any car or walk around with on the street or in the wilderness too, but it won't be as cool as a console mounted system right in the car.

And DUH! Obviously the whole car has a "coolness factor." But it's also the only new car I can get for $30k that performs as well, and the only car I want to drive. I just don't want the nav. So shoot me.

And as far as your energy saving thing and more powerful computers, that's not what I mean at all. I'm only considering the $2000 price, and what else I should be able to buy with it, rather than the nav device. It's not that I think it should be super poweful. I think it should be cheaper. I as a consumer voted against Nissan's option pricing system with my dollars.

 

I'm interested in a 350z at a dealership, but it's got nav in it, and I don't want to pay the extra cash for it. Can the dealer take it out, or is it in permanently?

 

They cant take it out. If you want one without navi, have them trade for one at another dealership.

 

Man... yet another simple request for info turns into a pi$$ing match between people with opposite opinions on the subject...

Well, for what it's worth, here's my .02 worth...

I ordered the Nav because
A) The price of the Performance + Nav was about equal to the Track (stock with aero kit and wheels... both of which I would have replaced).
B) It's a cool toy
C) It does have some practical application


That said, I don't think I would ever buy another car without a Nav system now... even if I had to add it aftermarket.

I actually have a pretty incredible sense of direction and almost never get lost, but the Nav has proven valuable on too many occasions for me to feel I wasted money.

Sure, I could read a map.. .which means unfolding it/opening it to the right spot, taking my eyes off the road, having something else clutter my car, etc.
OR... I could program unfamiliar destinations in the Nav and have the car provide verbal and visual directions in a manner that does not distract me from driving. BTW, did I mention it looks cool! Especially in bird's eye view...

But more important than that, if you live in a big city, you may think you know the roads in your town, but you probably don't. The number of rush hour gridlocks I have avoided in the last year has made the Nav system pay for itself. Again, in bird's eye view... you are able to view the immediate vicinity ahead of you (direction the car is pointed). If you get stuck in traffic, you can quickly glance at the Nav and see other routes that will get you around traffic and to your destination... priceless.

Finally, if you like flogging your Z... it's also great for mountain road runs. Have you ever seen the rally car races where they have a cam inside the car and one guy is reading off the turns to the driver. It's kind of like that. With a quick glance at the Nav (fully zoomed in), you can see virtually every upcoming curve before you get to it... giving you a better idea of what to expect and how to approach the turns. If you don't believe me, I'll be happy to take you up to Tail of the Dragon on the NC/Tenn border and show you... 318 curves in 11 miles and the factory Nav had everyone of them mapped!

 

Exactly McDuck!!

And you quickly turn down a street you "think" is good....the Nav instantly reformulates the plan to get you to your destination and immediately throws the new route up on your screen. If there is NO way to get there the way you turned...it will TELL you to turn around at the next intersection. If you miss it...it tells you to turn around at the NEXT intersection again..hehe...can drive her nuts!

I love my Nav.


Some peeps just suffer from Nav-envy. VERY similar to ***** envy. aka...nbdy disease.

 

Nbdyfcnsqnc, I never said it was properly priced, I just said it was appropriately designed and properly powered. Yeah, you're right, the profit margin is probably very large.

 

I saved $2000.00 I use MAPQUEST.

Honestly, I'm a guy! How many of us EVER need directions?