Ok so i'm just planning on buying the new Nissan Maxima SV in a few months, but had some questions about what i can and cant do.
For one, is there anyway to get google maps on the navigation screen instead of the nissan stock nav system?

 

I doubt it. But I have Google maps on my 2015 Audi Q5 TDI. It ain't all that, just looks cool. Is slow as ****e. The 2016 Nissan nav is about 1000x better - faster, cleaner, great voice control, very responsive.

 

I dont see any point in running anything else on a new car nav... Unless it is Waze. And as of now, android auto and apple auto do not support waze, and are not available on many cars anyway.
Waze is the game changer. If i buy a Maxima, my phone will be mounted in the cd slot.

 

Oh wow ok. From my past experiences with stock car navigation systems, i had sort of given up using them. Thats actually why i prefer to use my phone's google maps for nav when i drive anywhere.
So how did you get google maps on your Q5? Did you have to install and aftermarket set?

 

Audi nav systems come standard with Google Maps and satellite view. It does look quite nice, but is quite slow. I'm sure the next-gen Audis coming out later this year will have faster systems.

What helps with the 8th gen Maxima is the enormous 8-inch screen, which is very clean and crisp. I've had no issues with the nav at all.

 

Oh ok, can i ask why waze is so good? I have quite a few friends using it, but i've seen on 2 occasions where the waze navig wasn't as accurate as google maps. Just trying to understand why its preferred by so many

 

Thats awesome to hear! I had been researching on the Maxima, and initially i was hesitant about it because it doesn't come in a manual transmission option. But all the awesome features that come with even the base model pulled me in like a black hole. And the headliner was definitely the two, not one, but two large screens! Loved it!

Its great to hear that the nissan navigation system works well, i'll definitely make a point to check it out soon!

 

Its not popular because of the directions, its the extra information. You can run it without a destination and it still shows you potential speed traps, accidents, current real time traffic from other users, red light cameras, speed cameras, etcetera. I have run Waze alongside my car nav just to see the police and traffic and hazards.
Short trips waze, long trips regular nav but usually have waze running alongside it for the warnings.

 

I am a huge Waze fan and don't use my car navigation unless I don't have Internet service. Waze is a social navigation that people provide up to date information. Accidents, slow downs, police location, road hazards (disabled vehicles, road kill, objects on road, potholes). I commute over 100 miles a day and always use the routing destination. It provides alternate routes and will change routes during the commute if something happens on my route. Few times I ignored its recommendations and severely regretted it. Google bought Waze and uses their data for some Google maps information. XM traffic totally useless.

 

I don't own a Nissan (yet), but I rented a Nissan X-Trail for a week while in Germany recently, and I'll agree. The Nissan navigation was fantastic; certainly many times nicer than the Lexus navigation I used while test driving an IS 350 recently. After such a frustrating experience with the Lexus navigation, my experience in Germany actually led me to the Maxima, which I'm fairly certain I'll be buying in the near future!

 

Welcome to the ORG. Hope you choose the Maxima and join us. Every additional Maxima driver we have adds to our overall depth of knowledge and experience here.

 

i love it when newbies to the car has some]ething to say vs all us old timers with car....Yes Light you are an old timer with it like me........lol. Fresh thoughts no matter what gen they like and are interested in I like to hear!

 

After reading your review of Waze, I went to the app store and went to download it. However, it said it "needed" access to most of the personal information on my phone. There is no good reason it needs access to my contacts, camera and microphone, so it became obvious that this app is up to some no good. So, if you can, explain to me what it's going to do with my contacts and why would it turn on my camera or microphone.

 

I understand and your concern about apps wanting all the access that seems unnecessary. Waze is owned by Google so they know more about you anyway, but access requests are for the following:

Contacts access: This is so you can use a contacts address as your destination

Camera: Waze asks when you get to a destination to take a picture and provide information for businesses and other public places

Microphone: Some lame voice commands that I don't use.

Access is you option.

 

Good point about Google.


Those reasons all make sense. So in the end, it's up to me whether or not it's going to use them. It still bothers me giving access to my contacts. Someone is still sending spam to all of the contacts on my phone that have email addresses associated with them and claiming they are from me.


Maybe I'll pull the trigger. Do you think it needs to be in a major metropolitan area to be of much use? I'm thinking there my not be many users in may area providing information.

 

I don't know how rural of an area you are in, I am on the east coast (Philly/Nj) and in dense populations so I see a lot more users on my maps. The more users the better the info. They have 50 million users.

There is a scoreing system they have to see your rankings by state and nationally. I rank 6600 nationally and 300 in my state. In my state there are at least 150,000 userse