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I hate the JVC KD-NX5000

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Doug_G

Lead Moderator
Global Moderator
Apr 2, 2010
17,888
3,421
Ottawa, Canada
Okay, it's official. The JVC KD-NX5000 is really lame.

Yesterday I wanted to go to a place I'd not been to before, 100 km out of town. I got in the Tesla and started entering the location in the JVC. Once again I marveled at how bad a user interface design it has. Groan. And after many key presses I discover that it doesn't have the target road in its database. Groan. Back into the house and get the Garmin.

It's a very hot day so I want to leave the windows open. I toss the Garmin in the trunk.

Time to go home. I'm not certain I can back-track the route from memory, and the Garmin is in the trunk; let's try the JVC again. Hit the Menu button. Home is greyed out. It's forgotten where I live! Groan. Enter the address manually. Off we go!

Okay now it seems to think I'm driving in a farmer's field somewhere. I think this is my turn coming up... suddenly the icon pops back onto the road, and it tells me to turn right. Do I trust it? What the heck.

Finally make it to Highway 17. Now I know where I am. Sign tells me to turn right. JVC tells me to continue straight!!! WTF?

Menu. Cancel Guidance. Turn right. Arrive home safely.
 
My JVC KD-NX5000 is LAME

Yesterday I wanted to go to a place I'd not been to before, 100 km out of town. I got in the Roadster and started entering the location in the JVC. Once again I marveled at how bad a user interface design it has. Groan. And after many key presses I discover that it doesn't have the target road in its database. Groan. Back into the house and get the Garmin.

Garmin takes me there, no problems. It's a very hot day so I want to leave the windows open. Figure I should toss the Garmin in the trunk, just in case.

Time to go home. I'm not certain I can back-track the route from memory, and the Garmin is in the trunk; let's try the JVC again. Hit the Menu button. Home is greyed out. It's forgotten where I live! Groan. Enter the address manually. Off we go!

Position display is careening randomly across the landscape. Sometimes I'm on the road, other times I appear to be in the middle of a farmer's field somewhere. Great help.

I think this is my turn coming up but I'm not sure... suddenly the icon pops back onto the road, and it tells me to turn right. Do I trust it? What the heck.

Finally back in terra cognita. Pull up to a stop sign. There's a nice sign saying Highway 17. Tells me to run right. JVC didn't give me any advance warning of the turn, but suddenly it pops up with the helpful advice, "continue straight". WTF???

Menu. Cancel Guidance. Turn right. Arrive home safely.

Is the JVC's GPS really this bad, or is does my unit have a problem?
 
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Although the interface is just as bad as you say and the database does seem limited compared to the Garmin, I haven't had any of the other problems you mentioned. I have only used it maybe 10 times total so that isn't too much to go by though.
 
Funny, I was all set to post about how I hate the Alpine unit in my 2.5 when I read this. What's bad about the Alpine?

No quick way to turn off the volume; turning off the unit to not hear any music turns off the rear camera. The rear camera has lousy screen markings for judging distance, my unit fails often while driving and only removing the ignition key and rebooting fixes it (but reliably fixes it, so I have a non-reproducible problem), I have to plug my iPhone in twice in order to listen to music (sometimes it tantalizingly starts to play a for a few seconds on the initial connection but then stops and I have to unplug and replug after all), the microphone sucks, even with the top up (forget about it if the top is down). And that's without even mentioning that the Alpine unit isn't customized for the Roadster at all. It doesn't have Tesla stores nor service centers programmed in.

It makes the world's worst keyfob seem tolerable. So what if the keyfob remote only works if it's within arm's distance of the physical lock entry point? So what if I have to press the open trunk button about 5 times before it gets the two clicks at the right time spacing clue? That's nothing compared to the Alpine unit Tesla sticks in the 2.5s infotainment option.


And finally the biggest insult: the world's best electric car comes with a navigation system that helps you find gas stations but not EV charge points?

Really?

Even the Leaf does that right.
 
The rear camera has lousy screen markings for judging distance, my unit fails often while driving and only removing the ignition key and rebooting fixes it (but reliably fixes it, so I have a non-reproducible problem), I have to plug my iPhone in twice in order to listen to music (sometimes it tantalizingly starts to play a for a few seconds on the initial connection but then stops and I have to unplug and replug after all), the microphone sucks, even with the top up (forget about it if the top is down). And that's without even mentioning that the Alpine unit isn't customized for the Roadster at all. It doesn't have Tesla stores nor service centers programmed in.
... not to get off the topic (it's a duplicate topic anyway), but:

The rear camera screen markings can be adjusted, according to the manual - I just haven't figured out how to do it!

If your unit fails while driving then get it replaced under warranty.

I found a fix for having to plug in your iPhone twice, but it only works if you're willing to give up the "HD Radio" (it's only 64k MP3 quality anyway). Get your Tesla Store Service tech to install a USB coupler to bypass the "HD Radio" unit and then your iPhone will connect every time - the first time.
USB 2.0 A Female to A Female Coupler Adapter

If your iPhone plays and then stops, try either (a) disabling Bluetooth completely, or (b) wait until your Alpine pairs with your iPhone before starting USB iPod/iPhone playback.

(There's no fix for the microphone in this noisy car)

The Alpine is customized for the Roadster! It starts up with the Tesla Motors logo! Seriously, there is a CD-ROM that Tesla uses to customize the firmware before a generic Alpine head unit is installed in a Roadster.

Tesla Stores and Tesla Service Centers would be a great idea for an Alpine Navigation update. The unit's navigation database is upgradable, so somebody (Tesla Motors and/or Alpine) needs to get on this!
 
Tesla Stores and Tesla Service Centers would be a great idea for an Alpine Navigation update. The unit's navigation database is upgradable, so somebody (Tesla Motors and/or Alpine) needs to get on this!

Not hard. Mine has all the Hong Kong electric charging stations in it. POI databases can be loaded in from USB stick, via the socket in the fuse box,

That said, mine is a 2.5 Hong Kong unit and uses a slightly different Alpine than US roadsters.
 
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Funny, you'd swear the Alpine and the JVC were made by the same people... many of the problems are the same.

I'm amazed that not one company have make a in-dash unit with good navigation and user-interface. There must not be the market for a product that would cost as much as the effort would take but I think there is.
 
I'm amazed that not one company have make a in-dash unit with good navigation and user-interface. There must not be the market for a product that would cost as much as the effort would take but I think there is.

It takes real dedication to get the UI right. Maybe it'll be by the time they get it right, the product category will have changed. Kind of like what happened to VCRs - by the time they figured out a way to not have it blink 12:00 on first power on (or power on after a power loss), no-one was buying VCRs anymore.
 
Yes, the JVC's GPS system is pretty darned bad - I just use my Android phone in a mount adapter at this point. Far better UI (voice input!) and much more up-to-date road information.

There was also an issue where some of the JVCs came with the wrong 'installation angle' setting which messed with the dead reckoning system. Probably not the issue, but worth a check. It's in the GPS set up menu somewhere.

-Scott
 
My Roadster came with the KD-NXD505 unit which is basically the same thing as the NX5000 but it has white illumination instead of the blue and lifetime traffic. Pretty much love the unit I bought 3 other units as spares in case mine ever goes out. The Navigation in the area I live is spot on, the traffic routing/weather information is something that I miss in some of my other cars. Only thing I wish the roadster had would be steering wheel controls of some sort. Bluetooth in these cars is pretty much useless as the mic is placed in the wrong spot. Biggest quam I have is the radio interference on AM channels, which makes Satellite radio necessary. They do sell updated map DVD's for NX5000 maybe if you got one of these it will have the updated road data. You can also update the firmware.

http://www.jvc.co.jp/english/car/support/navi/nx5000_us/download_soft.html


Not many aftermarket units have built in Hard Disks etc for what it is its great. If you really want to upgrade the unit you can get the double din kit and get a Fujitsu-Ten nav unit which is pretty much the same as what is used in the Leaf/Toyota Products....

ECLIPSE Navigation System lineup | Fujitsu Ten

Probably the best aftermarket nav unit on the market.
 
The first thing I did after receiving my Roadster was to swap out the KD-NXD505 head unit for a Kenwood KVT-696 with an add-on Bluetooth module, Lifetime Traffic cable, IPOD video cable, backup camera and Garmin Nav add-on. The 696 is a single din unit which folds out to a double din size, and fits great in the single din slot. The only issue has been a need for shortening the wiper stalk to accomodate the motion of the screen, but a Tesla Ranger did the operation and produced very good results.

The advantage of this unit is a significantly better UI for navigation, since it is virtually the same as a standalone Garmin Nuvi, with a couple differences in updating maps (no lifetime maps, must purchase once a year for $99), and limited modifiability. The other advantages are that the Kenwood UI is much easier and intuitive to use for things like bluetooth calling, selecting, viewing album art and advancing iPad based music, and it is great to have a backup camera (my Roadster didn't come with this feature). Also, it's pretty cool when the screen extends and retracts.

The navigation is very responsive, and for the most part accurate, although, like my up-to-date Nuvi, the speed limits don't always jive with real world speed limits. And the nav screen has a display for miles per hour, which is my goto source for that information, since I'm just a tad to short to see the upper range of numbers on the speedometer past the steering wheel, and the lower right display takes a bit more effort to check out.
 
If the JVC unit shows you in the wrong location, or "jumps" occasionally to place your current location icon back onto the road you are actually travelling, or has a small offset from compass North ... the entire unit including antenna may have to be replaced (under warranty).

However, before you go to that drastic measure ... check your "Installation Angle" setting in the unit (page 8 and 46 of the main manual, and a separate Installation Manual). Note the Roadster's setting should be "1" (ranges from 1 to 4) ... I've heard many are set to "4".
 
If the JVC unit shows you in the wrong location, or "jumps" occasionally to place your current location icon back onto the road you are actually travelling, or has a small offset from compass North ... the entire unit including antenna may have to be replaced (under warranty).

However, before you go to that drastic measure ... check your "Installation Angle" setting in the unit (page 8 and 46 of the main manual, and a separate Installation Manual). Note the Roadster's setting should be "1" (ranges from 1 to 4) ... I've heard many are set to "4".

Angle is 1.

Annual is on Friday... I'll ask them to have a look.
 
While I am no fan of the UI, I have gotten arround the quirks. In the last 4 months and 3000 miles I have used it I have not seen a reboot nor has it gotten me lost or steered me off course. Fortunately the previous owner saved the manual as I would be lost without it.
 
Yeah, I'm happy with it because I've narrowed it down to two use cases (ok, three) -

- as an iPod player. The new black iPod Classic I got for Christmas is essentially invisible in it's little tray (cushioned by hand trimmed StickyPads), and I've had zero interaction issues with it. I had an older iPod that would need rebooting once a week, but that wasn't too bad (reboot the iPod, switch the JVC to some other input mode, get the iPod into the right playlist, move the JVC back to iPod mode...)

- as a BlueTooth audio player. It links up with my Nexus S reasonably quickly and pretty reliably. Sure, it would be nice if I had the song info displayed, but the controls work. And if navigating somewhere, this is what I use (Navigation fades out and pauses Music nicely when it needs to speak directions).

- as a phone. With the Nexus S. Works great, but I do avoid this because it's dangerous.

I've never even put a file on the hard drive (it'd be out of date immediately, while I can sync my iPod and Music is always up to date).

The lack of a decent character set is annoying, as is the lack of speed-based volume adjustment. I could probably hack together something for the Nexus S that would work around the volume problem.