How Current is a Map Update?

I'm finding that some of the new highways around here are throwing my Nav a curve, so I'm thinking about buying an SD card update. However, I know there must be a "lag" between the update and the actual roads. Does anyone know what that delay is (months/years)? Do they issue a new update every month? For example, is an April 2016 map update different/more current than a March 2016 update? I'm trying to figure out long it might take for a "new" highway to show up in a Nav update.

My experience is that the updates lag years behind...

TomT said:

My experience is that the updates lag years behind...

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I agree with Tom, most dedicated GPS systems are slow to update. out here we have a bunch of new roads in the last 5 years, one hand-held has me going through a field, another says i'm going through government property. I use the phone, cause I hate how the NAV-SYSTEM even turned down mutes the music when you turn....

grandizer52 said:

I agree with Tom, most dedicated GPS systems are slow to update. out here we have a bunch of new roads in the last 5 years, one hand-held has me going through a field, another says i'm going through government property. I use the phone, cause I hate how the NAV-SYSTEM even turned down mutes the music when you turn....

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Ummm...that's the point, isn't it? I mean, I can't look a the screen the whole time and still drive!
Has anyone actually purchased a map update in the last couple of years...and was it accurate?

The maps in my 2015 are not significantly updated compared to the maps in my 2011.

Gerry

Yep! A friend has a 2016 and it doesn't show a large housing development near us that was completed over six years ago... That is one of the things I love about rel-time Google maps in the Tesla and Audi, among others...

GerryAZ said:

The maps in my 2015 are not significantly updated compared to the maps in my 2011.

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TomT said:

Yep! A friend has a 2016 and it doesn't show a large housing development near us that was completed over six years ago... That is one of the things I love about rel-time Google maps in the Tesla and Audi, among others...

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OK, now that's scary enough to make me not buy the map update. Thanks!

Buy a garmin, imo they are the best dedicated nav system, as for Nissan look up: Dismal pathetic failure" and you'll find a copy of their nav there.

OP: "...I'm thinking about buying an SD card update."

Strongly suggest you save the coin. As others have noted, the updates are years out-of-date and inexcusably so for an Internet-enabled vehicle. As mentioned, a dedicated GPS with lifetime updates are a far better choice for road accuracy. My 2012SL has the nav unit but I quickly learned to disregard it completely (and the voice command, and the rest of the cumbersome touchscreen stuff but that's another post).

One other thing you may find helpful: forget in-car GPS altogether and use either a smartphone map app, or the popular app "Waze." Since Waze is updated in real time as thousands of users contribute to it, I've found Waze to have the most current road information, even more up-to-date than standalone GPS units. I'm not plugging the app, but it is an attractive (read: free) alternative to the sad currency of the horrifically expensive new SD card for the LEAF.