What’s The Deal with The Toyota Tacoma’s Navigation System? Is It as Bad as They Say?

GPS, it’s one of the most important things humanities relies on. It’s what got me to my beach vacation right now. It’s also what helps millions of drivers arrive to unknown destinations. Every year, since the release of the Oldsmobile Sedan in the mid-1990s, automakers have tried to make GPS available in all their vehicles. by the mid-2000s, almost every luxury vehicle had GPS already installed onto their infotainment system.

Today, almost every vehicle regardless of class has GPS. If a $30 smartphone has the capability to tell you how to get from New York to LA, then I’m sure even the cheapest of new vehicles have the ability to tell you how to get to grandma’s place. However, some owners suggest that Toyota is a bit behind. Right now, Toyota is one the edge of teetering towards making a lot more of their services a paid subscription. So, either they will upgrade their GPS and make it more modern, but have you pay for it, or they will do it for free and see that no one wants to pay for a service they can use on their phone.

That’s where a lot of current-gen Tacoma owners are at. The current GPS system on the Toyota Tacoma has not been updated to the current Toyota GPS system for a few years now. I can say firsthand how great the new system is when we tested it on the 2022 Toyota Sienna Hybrid. It is probably one of the better economy class GPS systems available on the market today. Granted it doesn’t compete with BMW or Mercedes but for a company like Toyota, the next gen GPS is promising.

On Facebook’s Toyota Tacoma TRD Trucks group, Matt Smith said, “It (Toyota Tacoma GPS) took me everywhere but the correct direction. It takes several blocks to kick in and know where you are.” Now I have never tested the Toyota Tacoma’s GPS, but I can say that a lot of people really do think it’s outdated just like the truck itself. This is where it gets confusing. People like the design of the current Tacoma but people really want something new. Let’s take a look and see what some of the owners said.

Nicholas Grewell said, “It’s a garbage system!! It has taken me long ways, wrong ways and it’s also delayed or too fast, I have taken off-ramps to soon. I just use my apple car play and use my phone at this point.” Now when the current generation Toyota Tacoma came out, the GPS was still from like 2005 so it has come a pretty long way but, in this day, and age, there should be little to no lag when using a GPS.

Kim Anderson said, “Mine sucks in my 2019 TRD OR. It doesn't support Android auto so I turn off Bluetooth on my phone and use google maps - but then I obviously can't use the display or use Bluetooth for calls.” I use Bluetooth to connect my phone to my car, but it also takes my music from Google maps so that I don’t have to switch between tabs a lot.

What do you think? How do you feel about the Tacoma’s NAV? Let us know in the comments below.

Harutiun Hareyan is reporting Toyota news at Torque News. His automotive interests and vast experience test-riding new cars give his stories a sense of authenticity and unique insights. Follow Harutiun on Twitter at @HareyanHarutiun and on YouTube at Toyota Time for daily Toyota news.