I have to pick one...

[pchapman]

I am going Sunday to pick up a new 2012. I have a two options:
1. No Bose, just standard stereo.
2. Bose + Nav.

I don't really want the Nav, but have to get it in order to get the Bose stereo. This effectively makes me pay an additional 2K on top of the 500 for the Bose! I have been reading around the forums and I am finding conflicting information. First, I know the sound quality is debatable, we wont get into that. What is not debatable is who makes the standard speakers. I've read (on this forum - I could find the thread if needed) that the Bose system is really just an enhanced equalization + a sub-woofer. The other six speakers are not any different from the standard. Is this true? I have also heard some differences on which manufacture makes the standard stereo (Boston Acoustics or ...?). Does anyone know for sure? Is there any reason I'd want the Nav system over my handheld Nav system (other than the 30Gig HDD)? Finally, for MyLink, do I need a USB cable and is the limit really 1000 tracks? I've heard both and don't believe that would be the case, but want to hear from owners that know for sure. I have a Galaxy Nexus Android phone that I want to connect if that makes a difference.

Anyway, 2K worth it? Should I buy aftermarket speakers? I'm not a huge audiophile and have been fine with my stock 2000 Chevy S-10 pickup stereo for the last 13yrs. But I am older now, have a bit more money than I did in college and I keep my cars for a long time, so I am debating if its worth the "investment".

At any rate, I'm super excited for Sunday. I feel like I'm 10 and it's almost Christmas morning!

[JBT]

I have 2012 with the standard radio and it sounds perfectly good to me. 2000 extra dollars for the navigation is excessive as it it not as good as my Garmin that cost 100 dollars. Unless you are an audio buff I wouldn't spend the extra for a marginally better radio. Just my 2 cents

[fjungman]

You can put in a really good sound system for all that extra coin. I have the Bose without nav (who needs it with OnStar navigation free?). The Bose sound quality is no where near as good as the Bose I had in the SSr and the Pioneer (stock) I have in the Cobalt. The stock Cruze (non-Bose) sucked, badly.

[sgtpokey]

congrats, I bought mine at the begining of this month. Of course, here in silicon valley the volt is *almost* a common car, much more common than the leaf (I'm thinking that's a function of many bay area commutes being > 75miles roundtrip).

To your question, I don't think Nav is worth it... it also gets obsolete fast in my opinion. One of the other forum members uses Onstar for navigation, I use my smartphone's turn by turn navigation and it works great.

I did get MyLink and that gives you bluetooth streaming capabilities (so no you do not need to plug in your through usb) which will be especially important for future proofing in my opinion. With the increase in voice commands/abilities on smartphones I wanted to make sure that the bluetooth profiles supported by the car would be as wide as possible. I guess I should also point out that in the 2012 MY cars you cannot get Mylink +Nav, they are mutually exclusive.

I'm happy with the bose speakers but did not compare to the standard speakers. I recognize that bose's name is a loveit/hate it thing, but with the quieter cabin of the volt I wanted to make sure the sound system was the best stock one that could be put in. Besides, they claim the speaker system is "lighter", right?

To be honest, I'd try and find dealer with the car make you want before you buy or have them order one (possibly order a 2013). It's your car after all and you don't really want to compromise

[saghost]

The Nav has a couple cool features - you can send destinations to it from your phone or the web (including google maps,) which it pulls down through OnStar the next time you start the car. It also has a window for the DIC part of the instrument cluster, showing the next turn and distance to it. It isn't a bad system. Worth $2k? I dunno; you'll have to decide.

[Henry_FL]

I have the base sound system and its good, not premium sound. The only difference on the Bose is the speakers and sub woofer which could be changed if you wanted to for a lot less than the 2500 your looking at. For me, I would not spend the extra $$

[fjungman]

Actually, you don't need the nav system to send destinations to it from your phone or the web (including google maps). This comes with OnStar and it shows you the turn-by-turn in the center of the instrument display and in the radio display in the center stack. I've used it and it works great without the obsolete nav system.

[Dan & Nan]

The Nav has a couple cool features - you can send destinations to it from your phone or the web (including google maps,) which it pulls down through OnStar the next time you start the car. It also has a window for the DIC part of the instrument cluster, showing the next turn and distance to it. It isn't a bad system. Worth $2k? I dunno; you'll have to decide.

Agreed. I'm not exactly happy that ours came with it, but it's there and works fine.

We both have smartphones but prefer using the in-car GPS. The screen is much bigger, the radio quiets during directions, and we're not figuring out how to rig something to the dash or windshield. As an aside, the asinine folks who put their GPS on the windshield right in the drivers main line of vision, blocking the drivers view are morons. If a manufacturer put an OEM GPS in front of the driver blocking that much view - wait, they can't because it's not safe.

Anyway, we like the OEM GPS and probably won't update the maps. Our SUV's maps are old and it rarely bothers us.

[DonC]

Congrats on getting the car. I'm sure you're excited!

Impossible to say really. It somewhat depends on whether you're leasing or buying. If you're leasing forget the NAV. It costs a lot and you'll get dinged on the residual for it. For a couple of years you can live with the base sound (not that I've ever heard it BTW). If you're buying and really like your music it just depends on how much the cash means to you.

[baragona]

I went with "No Bose" and "No Nav" in My 2012 Volt.

I am quite pleased with the basic sound package and XM radio in my Volt....

With ON STAR, you can still send turn-by-turn directions to the Volt even without the Nav package...