2010 Nissan Sentra, Versa to feature optional $400 integrated navigation system

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Shelling out for a navigation system in a new car can be a seriously painful experience. Often thrown into a tech package -- a sort of automotive catchall for an assortment of expensive gadgets and gizmos -- speccing your car with a nav has typically cost somewhere in the $2,000 to $3,000 range, and when you’re looking at a $25,000 to $30,000 car, that’s a depressingly significant percentage of the price.

As a result, you may have noticed a lot of cars driving around with glowing screens dangling from the windshield. Top-of-the-line aftermarket navigation units cost roughly $500, and in this morbid economic climate they present a right here, right now savings option to new car buyers. A few carmakers have even caught on, offering aftermarket nav packages in budget sedans.

But we knew eventually someone would jam an affordable touchscreen into the dash of a budget sedan. We waited. And waited. Then we got bored and waited some more. And then Nissan came out of nowhere with a very understated victory in the race for affordable technology. Buried in a very unassuming press release (they’re all unassuming), Nissan revealed that, as of January, it will be making available a $400 integrated navigation package on the Sentra and Versa.
I was given a chance to use the new Bosch-supplied navigation system last week, and it’s an excellent addition to Nissan’s small car lineup. It features a 5-inch touchscreen flanked by conventional controls for the audio system and is compatible with USB, iPod and Bluetooth. Nissan has always been in the top of the heap when it comes to iPod integration -- let’s face it, who’s using a Zune anyway -- and the new system features vertical scrolling similar to the iPod’s user interface, so if you can run an iPod, there’s no real learning curve. The nav system is pretty intuitive as well, and features XM NavTraffic real-time updates so long as you subscribe to satellite radio. It might measure out at only 5-inches, but for an in-dash system at a price of $400, it’s also kind of a no-brainer.

-- Brian Alexander

Brian Alexander is a staff writer at DriverSide.com