Navigation

[Mass. Wine Guy]

My “new” 2015 Sportwagen has a navigation feature. What exactly does it hook up to for its data and positioning? Can my car be tracked through this system?

 

[Nuje]

(Edit: better reply from Cuzoe below).
There's a GPS antenna under the dash. I suppose the GPS satellites *could* be tracking you (if the companies and whoever else that launched them built in a bunch of undocumented capabilities), but in a practical sense, given that your car doesn't have an internet connection, there can't be any communication from the car to the internet (whoever might wanna be tracking you).

Some cars have internet built in (e.g., Tesla, or any other car that can do un-attended software updates) - that's a different story.

 

[Cuzoe]

The navigation system uses GPS, but it's just receiving GPS like anything else. It has no internet or online connection though. The main unit (in the glovebox) has an SD card that holds your (outdated ) map data.

Your car probably came with Car-net, which would allow you to track the vehicle... but being a 2015 that system no longer works due to the sunset of the 3G network.

https://b-h-s.spr.us00.p.con-veh.net/securecontent/en-US/files/3G-FAQ.pdf

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

Is there a way to update the maps?

 

[Cuzoe]

You could try this, making 100% sure to backup your SD card first. Navigation will not work at all without a probably loaded SD card so at minimum you want to be able to go back to your current maps.

NAR 2021 Maps Available for Download for MST2 (MIB2)

Found MIB Solution in another thread and on the website, it has the NAR 2021 maps for the MST2 (MIB2). Since all Golfs, GTIs, and possibly other MIB2 head units are made by Delphi, this map update should be compatible with most, if not all, North American VW owners who have navigation with their...

www.golfmk7.com

This link is for MIB 2. Your car has MIB 1 so it may not work. Even for people with MIB 2 there was no guarantee, but this is realistically your only hope.

VWoA does not, to this day, have any process in place for updating maps. And I don't mean that in a "they charge so much that no one will do it" way, haha. I mean they literally have nothing in place so your service center couldn't help even if they want to.

 

[740GLE]

Is there a way to update the maps?

Yeah get a TomTom, easiest cheapest way to get nav that always has maps updated and doesn't need cell data.

 

[Nuje]

There are also phone apps which have the ability to cache maps so you don't need cell data.

 

[Cuzoe]

You could also retrofit MIB 2. You will get app connect so you can use Android auto or Apple CarPlay.

It will also let you load up a later version of factory maps. If you go MIB 2 Discover Navigation (far and away the most common and therefore less expensive) I believe the latest available maps are 2021. If you go MIB 2 Discover Pro the latest maps are 2023 (and there are likely to be quite a few more updates since Discover Pro uses the same maps as MIB 3).