Navigation and Speaker Delete

How much are the credits? That will help. On the surface it sounds like connected navigation and standard 6 speaker stereo no longer avail. The latter no big deal. But the nav is interesting

If this is a 2023MY… you’ll be missing the following:

• Connected Navigation - Basically a built-in GPS in the Bronco. It’s a subscription-based feature… pay Ford a monthly fee and they’ll give you navigation, weather, traffic, etc. Without that feature you’ll still be able to use your map applications on your cell phone through Android Auto or CarPlay.
• 7th speaker subwoofer - In 2023 Ford added a subwoofer to the standard audio setup, and it was later removed due to supply chain constraints.

I removed the Ford connected navigation from my order and saved $695 (the price of the 4-door MIC hard top, so a nice little savings).

The GPS antenna would still help you with CarPlay though, since they use the car’s when available. If you have offline maps in TomTom or Google Maps, it’s handy for when you’re in national parks and out of service.

No connected navigation is a terrible idea. If one vehicle needs it...its the Bronco because when you are out of cell range your android auto or apple carplay nav is useless. We hated not having connected nav. Android auto also cut out often. *Get the connected nav unless you live in city and never plan on leaving your area.

NT AUTOMOTIVE

*Get the connected nav unless you live in city and never plan on leaving your area.

*Get the connected nav unless you don't plan to get lost in the middle of nowhere.

In 2023 most areas of the US are covered by cell service. So unless you're consciously in Death Valley or in the mountains somewhere, most people will probably be fine.

NT AUTOMOTIVE

No connected navigation is a terrible idea. If one vehicle needs it...its the Bronco because when you are out of cell range your android auto or apple carplay nav is useless. We hated not having connected nav. Android auto also cut out often. *Get the connected nav unless you live in city and never plan on leaving your area.

Worthwhile to note Connected Navigation works on the AT&T cellular network, so if you don’t have cell service the “connected” part doesn’t work. It just turns into a dumb old-school TomTom/Garmin GPS unit.

Typically Connected Nav will try to route you around closed roads and provide weather data for you. Without cell service and it won’t be able to do that. Granted… basic “Point A to B” navigation features is way better than nothing, but wanted to bring it up so people can better gauge for themselves how much trust you can put into the system when you are out in the middle of no-where.

Personally I’m taking paper maps with me whenever I’m going someplace unknown and without cell service, but I’m old-school in that regard. Paper doesn’t need batteries to run, and if things get real bad paper also burns nicely. 😉

GeoBig

*Get the connected nav unless you don't plan to get lost in the middle of nowhere.

In 2023 most areas of the US are covered by cell service. So unless you're consciously in Death Valley or in the mountains somewhere, most people will probably be fine.

We live in the CA desert (not death valley). Cell service ok here, in parts. But many rural areas broncos go do Not have cell service. But yes if city-fied then you dont need it

RagnarKon

Worthwhile to note Connected Navigation works on the AT&T cellular network, so if you don’t have cell service the “connected” part doesn’t work. It just turns into a dumb old-school TomTom/Garmin GPS unit.

Typically Connected Nav will try to route you around closed roads and provide weather data for you. Without cell service and it won’t be able to do that. Granted… basic “Point A to B” navigation features is way better than nothing, but wanted to bring it up so people can better gauge for themselves how much trust you can put into the system when you are out in the middle of no-where.

Personally I’m taking paper maps with me whenever I’m going someplace unknown and without cell service, but I’m old-school in that regard. Paper doesn’t need batteries to run, and if things get real bad paper also burns nicely. 😉

I hear ya. I always kept a Rand McNally Atlas paper map in my vehicles and bought a new one every 5-10 years.

However in the last 5-10 years I have relied on onboard nav and/or cellphone nav.

If no paper map, no onboard nav, and no cell signal in unfamiliar region with family in tow = not good. Thankfully I knew how to get to/from the Grand Canyon in bronco last year without any help. Android Auto sucked bad in bronco and both wife (5G) and my (4G) cell services worked maybe half the time.

I would rather have the tomtom backup on tap if no at&t signal vs nothing.

Ps-there are dedicated navs on amazon (garmin, rand etc) for $65-$350. If you want a preloaded digital map thats a good route. Cheaper than connected nav. Gonna get one of the amazon specials + an atlas paper map this year.

To the original first post, I'd just get it (radio with nav).....will be harder to sell a vehicle later without it and for several hundred bucks, it's a no brainer. What you'll loose.....isn't going to outweigh what you'll gain from not having it. 💁

Chiming in on two other points......out of cell range, a lot of what people think GPS or connected GPS devices from phone Apps to some handheld or car radios work, or work in some basic function.....which they do (if satellite based) until, they turn into liabilities. From my personal adventures on dirt bikes in Death Valley and other travels through eastern OR and NV, these "smart' devices either will drain their batteries faster (trying to get a signal), give you unreliable directions(loose their location or use the last know location) or flat out, overheat in the harshest conditions.......ask me how I know. 😑 Don't get me started about cell phone cameras.....which again work, until a few months later you cant figure out why the camera does some odd things and won't focus and the pictures are all wavy. Ask me how I know.....😠

Basically......what I'm saying, like an old man.....carry a dedicated GPS that uses satellite information and designed for rough conditions, and a stinking, grubby, old school map and your phone as backup. I find a phones work best as a phones and a satellite dedicated GPS as your primary map source.

Couldn’t you just load your trip into onXoff road they show paved roads too. You can down load the map(s) to your phone. I am an old school paper map guy and one trip to Yellowstone there was a 60 mile dead zone in Wyoming we did not have a paper map and no navigation the gas stations didn’t have maps either. So I had to use intuition to get me to a road that had a sign Billings xxx miles. I always study a map before a trip (some place new) just so I have an overall sense of the area. But I still think I would pass on the sat nav. I would just load up on paper maps from AAA. 😀

I’ve had to explain this before… just to reiterate, the only reason car play doesn’t work when there’s no service is because Maps doesn’t have offline maps. CarPlay itself uses the vehicles GPS, if equipped, when connected. If you use an app like TomTom, which does support offline maps, then it will work flawlessly without cell service. But if you delete the nav option from the car, this won’t be available to you as an option.

Jakob1972

Couldn’t you just load your trip into onXoff road they show paved roads too. You can down load the map(s) to your phone. I am an old school paper map guy and one trip to Yellowstone there was a 60 mile dead zone in Wyoming we did not have a paper map and no navigation the gas stations didn’t have maps either. So I had to use intuition to get me to a road that had a sign Billings xxx miles. I always study a map before a trip (some place new) just so I have an overall sense of the area. But I still think I would pass on the sat nav. I would just load up on paper maps from AAA. 😀

You certainly can.....and I have OnXOff Road too. Works great as well as Gaia.

Again, It's about using tools and understanding how they work.....and have a backup. All these things work.....until they don't.

NT AUTOMOTIVE

No connected navigation is a terrible idea. If one vehicle needs it...its the Bronco because when you are out of cell range your android auto or apple carplay nav is useless. We hated not having connected nav. Android auto also cut out often. *Get the connected nav unless you live in city and never plan on leaving your area.

Don’t you think there might be another way around this? I’m no tech guy at all be there should be something? No🤷‍♂️

NT AUTOMOTIVE

I hear ya. I always kept a Rand McNally Atlas paper map in my vehicles and bought a new one every 5-10 years.

However in the last 5-10 years I have relied on onboard nav and/or cellphone nav.

If no paper map, no onboard nav, and no cell signal in unfamiliar region with family in tow = not good. Thankfully I knew how to get to/from the Grand Canyon in bronco last year without any help. Android Auto sucked bad in bronco and both wife (5G) and my (4G) cell services worked maybe half the time.

I would rather have the tomtom backup on tap if no at&t signal vs nothing.

Ps-there are dedicated navs on amazon (garmin, rand etc) for $65-$350. If you want a preloaded digital map thats a good route. Cheaper than connected nav. Gonna get one of the amazon specials + an atlas paper map this year.

Sorry I just saw this 🤣

Jakob1972

Couldn’t you just load your trip into onXoff road they show paved roads too. You can down load the map(s) to your phone. I am an old school paper map guy and one trip to Yellowstone there was a 60 mile dead zone in Wyoming we did not have a paper map and no navigation the gas stations didn’t have maps either. So I had to use intuition to get me to a road that had a sign Billings xxx miles. I always study a map before a trip (some place new) just so I have an overall sense of the area. But I still think I would pass on the sat nav. I would just load up on paper maps from AAA. 😀

Yes you could!! The GPS antenna still works on your phone while outside of cell service, it just can’t download the map data without cellular. But, yes, as you pointed out maps like OnX does have the ability to preload maps to your device.

The downside with that approach is you need to have enough foresight to download the correct areas for offline use. That map data sucks up a lot of space on your phone, so you have to know ahead of time where you’ll be going so you don’t over-download. A lot of more serious off-roaders will have a dedicated iPad with a ton of space devoted entirely to navigation. Bush pilots often do the same thing because the aircraft they operate are often older and don’t have modern navigation systems.

I personally still prefer paper maps. But… again… I’m a little old school (despite being a millennial).

But back to the original topic. I personally would be 100% okay buying a Bronco without Connected Navigation. It’s $80/year to keep the service active, and at that price I personally rather pay for a more robust mapping application like OnX.

I had a 2003 Yukon without a Nav and was able to install it later. I’d think you could do the same for a Bronco.