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Traffic Alerts That Cry Wolf - 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,315
edited February 2015 in Volkswagen
imageTraffic Alerts That Cry Wolf - 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI Long-Term Road Test

Our 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI has a navigation system that issues traffic hazard alerts, but they're so broad that they're useless.

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Comments

  • tatermctatumstatermctatums Member Posts: 107
    Are there really that many people driving the wrong way down the roads in CA?
  • kirkhilles1kirkhilles1 Member Posts: 863
    Again. Manufacturers need to incorporate Google Maps. They are the only company that can create a smart enough, competent Mapping Product. These others are outdated or poorly designed toys that have a big risk of getting you lost. You'll get 100 of these types of alerts before you get anything that resembles anything helpful.
  • socal_ericsocal_eric Member Posts: 189
    Not super familiar with the VW-Audi navigation, but it sounds like they're using the RDS traffic information broadcast over some FM radio station's transmitters. If it were satellite based, like the SiriusXM Travel Link-based navigation used in most vehicles they generally don't provide much in the way of resolution (i.e. poor traffic information coverage usually limited to major roadways) and supplementary data like traffic jams, etc. as compared to something like Google's data and RDS info. While I could see these as annoying if they weren't in your immediate area, it's likely an implementation of the VW receiver, which might be nice if it offered an option to enable of disable traffic advisories, but I'd much rather have free traffic info than have to pay monthly for satellite radio just to have poor nav info.
  • grijongrijon Member Posts: 147
    I fully agree with Dan's post on this.
  • whobodymwhobodym Member Posts: 190
    edited February 2015
    my 2014 A5 with Nav has given no false alarms in 6 months of ownership in Puget Sound, which has nearly LA-bad traffic
  • emajoremajor Member Posts: 332
    "...while I was shaking off the lingering effects of jet lag"

    After reading that line, I wanted to make some snarky post that all over the LA metro area, VW Group vehicles were about to be alerted to yet another wrong-way driver, this time a Mr. D. Edmunds in a red GTI. But I won't, because this post is spot-on. These alerts would become incredibly annoying.
  • chol92594chol92594 Member Posts: 208
    Have you looked around in the infotainment/vehicle settings menus to see if there's a way to disable traffic alerts? If the GTI is in fact using RDS Traffic Info (which many other cars have done for years), there should be a way to simply disable those alerts. Worst case, I'd ask a dealer if they can be of any assistance.
  • besmithbesmith Member Posts: 13
    I can see how this would be annoying, but at the same time, you could pass the info along to anyone you know who is traveling on these freeways. Vehicles traveling the wrong way on freeways often kill the other drivers when they collide.
  • ethanspitzethanspitz Member Posts: 2
    I drive past cannon rd in my 2015 GTI every day! I got a driver going the wrong way on the I-5 the other day too!
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