XM "Traffic" & "Nav Traffic Info" Problem.

[ctrcbob]

Note; the below is for Traffic only. The XM Radio works perfect.

Background. After my free year of XM expired, I paid them for both XM Radio and Traffic Reports. Exactly on the date that the free time expired, and my paid subscription started, I not only had the "Traffic" icon on the Nav Screen, plus small icons on the Nav Screen showing where there is an accident, or construction, just as I had before, I then also started to get the Green, Yellow and Red Traffic information on the Nav Screen, showing what to expect on the map screen. These Green/Yellow/Red traffic lines are great.

OK, now advance to last week. Everything worked fine in Florida, and once in Georgia, it worked only when it felt like it. In South Carolina, it seldom worked, and once I got north of Charlotte NC, it no longer worked.
No Traffic icon.
No small accident or construction icons.
No Green/Yellow/Red traffic lines.

OK, while in a gas station in Pennsylvania, I phoned XM at 800-643-2112 and connected to Tech Support. Told him the problem. He said he was sending a new signal and I would have it in twenty minutes. Departed the gas station, and kept my eye on the Nav Screen. Only after more than two hours, did the "Traffic" Icon and the small accident/construction icons come on. Still no Green/Yellow/Red traffic lines, even on major Interstates around cities.
Double checked that I had the setting correct. Double checked that the
"Show Traffic On Map" was clicked on. Still no Green/Yellow/Red lines.
Gave it a week, so I decided to call XM again, and the guy said that he would activate it again. Said it would be working in "ten minutes". (remember the guy last week said twenty minutes). Drove around for a while, and still had not come on.

Going out in a few minutes, and will check again to see it I have those Green/Yellow/Red lines. (I hope) I'll keep you informed.

Again, the above is for Nav Traffic Info only, not for XM Radio, as that is working perfect.

 

[ctrcbob]

Note; the below is for Traffic only. The XM Radio works perfect.

Background. After my free year of XM expired, I paid them for both XM Radio and Traffic Reports. Exactly on the date that the free time expired, and my paid subscription started, I not only had the "Traffic" icon on the Nav Screen, plus small icons on the Nav Screen showing where there is an accident, or construction, just as I had before, I then also started to get the Green, Yellow and Red Traffic information on the Nav Screen, showing what to expect on the map screen. These Green/Yellow/Red traffic lines are great.

OK, now advance to last week. Everything worked fine in Florida, and once in Georgia, it worked only when it felt like it. In South Carolina, it seldom worked, and once I got north of Charlotte NC, it no longer worked.
No Traffic icon.
No small accident or construction icons.
No Green/Yellow/Red traffic lines.

OK, while in a gas station in Pennsylvania, I phoned XM at 800-643-2112 and connected to Tech Support. Told him the problem. He said he was sending a new signal and I would have it in twenty minutes. Departed the gas station, and kept my eye on the Nav Screen. Only after more than two hours, did the "Traffic" Icon and the small accident/construction icons come on. Still no Green/Yellow/Red traffic lines, even on major Interstates around cities.
Double checked that I had the setting correct. Double checked that the
"Show Traffic On Map" was clicked on. Still no Green/Yellow/Red lines.
Gave it a week, so I decided to call XM again, and the guy said that he would activate it again. Said it would be working in "ten minutes". (remember the guy last week said twenty minutes). Drove around for a while, and still had not come on.

Going out in a few minutes, and will check again to see it I have those Green/Yellow/Red lines. (I hope) I'll keep you informed.

Again, the above is for Nav Traffic Info only, not for XM Radio, as that is working perfect.

I have come to the conclusion that the Green/Yellow/Red lines only show up in areas that send the information to XM.

I do have the "Traffic" icon, and I also have the small icons on the map that show where there is construction, accidents, or other road problems, but still do not have the Green/Yellow/Red lines.

Just for the heck of it, I went in and clicked off the "Show Traffic On Map" in the menu, and the small traffic icons no longer show up. Clicked "Show Traffic On Map" back on, and the small icons again show up on the map.

I guess not all areas of the country send the data to XM to show the Green/Yellow/Red lines. I'll know once I go back to Florida if that is the case because near my Florida home, I get those lines, even on non Interstates.

I'm not going to phone them again. I'll just live with it.

 

[ctrcbob]

I have come to the conclusion that the Green/Yellow/Red lines only show up in areas that send the information to XM.

I do have the "Traffic" icon, and I also have the small icons on the map that show where there is construction, accidents, or other road problems, but still do not have the Green/Yellow/Red lines.

Just for the heck of it, I went in and clicked off the "Show Traffic On Map" in the menu, and the small traffic icons no longer show up. Clicked "Show Traffic On Map" back on, and the small icons again show up on the map.

I guess not all areas of the country send the data to XM to show the Green/Yellow/Red lines. I'll know once I go back to Florida if that is the case because near my Florida home, I get those lines, even on non Interstates.

I'm not going to phone them again. I'll just live with it.

Just returned to Florida. The above is correct.

Although in NYS, I had the Traffic icon and the small icons showing construction/accidents/etc., I did not have the Green/Yellow/Red lines. When I got to the southern part of NYS, even the Traffic went off. Everything was off through Pennsylvaina and Maryland. Then when I crossed into West Virginia, the Traffic icon came back on. In Virginia, even the G/Y/R lines came back on. Stayed on through NC but as soon as I crossed into SC, it all went off again. Same through Georgia. When I got to the Florida State Line, everything came back on.

It all depends on what State you are in.

Another interesting fact. The G/Y/R lines have nothing to do with the Traffic icon being on. There were times when I had G/Y/R lines with no Traffic icon.
They are two seperate things, controlled seperatly by XM.

 

[james-laws]

HOPE that will decrease the graph of construction accidents that occur anuually

 

[STREETS]

The Traffic feature is lousy, ineffective and woefully absent when there really is construction or accidents. One regret in my "lifetime" XM subscription.

 

[dg_moore]

The Traffic feature is lousy, ineffective and woefully absent when there really is construction or accidents. One regret in my "lifetime" XM subscription.

I agree - as I mentioned in a previous post, on a recent trip we were warned of traffic congestion 45 minutes after we were trapped in it; then we were warned about another incident ahead far too late to avoid being trapped by that one as well. This is not a useful feature.

 

[ctrcbob]

I guess XM can only put the information into the system only after the State DOT gives them the information.

 

[STREETS]

Aucra has real-time TRAFFIC. How is there's different?

 

[Cut-Throat]

The Traffic feature is lousy, ineffective and woefully absent when there really is construction or accidents. One regret in my "lifetime" XM subscription.

What did you have to pay for Lifetime? DO you know the price for just Lifetime XM?

 

[ASHDUMP]

Not sure how other traffic systems work, but DOT reports the information and XM supplies that information to us. I think maps.google.com uses satellite imaging of highways... They seem to be the best source for traffic. I always check before I leave for work.

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[STREETS]

Lifetime- off the top of my head- $400? May include Traffic.

 

[Cut-Throat]

Lifetime- off the top of my head- $400? May include Traffic.

Last weeks Price -- $576 - Not sure if this included traffic

 

[studyaid]

I'm trying to figure out what's going on with mine. I'm assuming it's something they did or didn't do when replacing the amp. I had the issue of no sound happen to me a couple of times, then the next time the car started, everything was fine. When I brought the car in for a "check-up," I told them of the issue and they replaced the amp. With the replacement, the XM signal would not hold, and would have to get refreshed every time. I then brought it back and they replaced the amp again. Now, the XM signal is fine, but every time they try to resend the signal for traffic, it never works. I have the Nav/Traffic on my XM account, but it just is not coming through on the map. I really like that feature, and has helped a few times. Does anyone know if this is a simple switch or something that may not have been "flicked" when the new amp was put in, or is it something more? Thanks.

 

[dpsunshine]

I'm trying to figure out what's going on with mine. I'm assuming it's something they did or didn't do when replacing the amp. I had the issue of no sound happen to me a couple of times, then the next time the car started, everything was fine. When I brought the car in for a "check-up," I told them of the issue and they replaced the amp. With the replacement, the XM signal would not hold, and would have to get refreshed every time. I then brought it back and they replaced the amp again. Now, the XM signal is fine, but every time they try to resend the signal for traffic, it never works. I have the Nav/Traffic on my XM account, but it just is not coming through on the map. I really like that feature, and has helped a few times. Does anyone know if this is a simple switch or something that may not have been "flicked" when the new amp was put in, or is it something more? Thanks.

Did you ever find a fix for this problem? The same thing happened to me when they replaced my radio with 1 refurbished one (over 5 months ago), and they still haven't found a solution to the problem (neither XM nor the dealership).

 

[tompass]

I do not see the choice "show traffic" in nav menu. I was under assumption that the traffic option is free for 3 months. Is this correct?

 

[ikeym]

HA,HA,HA !!!! It's a joke the TRAFFIC does not work in NYC and around it . I spent way to much time trying to get it work and just gave up !!!!LIKE THE IPOD ..... IT IS THE WORST IN ANY CAR !!! MINE JUST LOCKS UP ALL THE TIME AFTER PLAYING A LITTLE BIT . SO GAVE UP ON THAT TOO.......... MY FRIEND HAS A BENZ E350 AND HIS SOUND SYSTEM IS JUST GREAT . FAST AS YOU CAN TURN THE DIAL ...AMAZING MINE IS A NIGHTMARE . AND I DRIVE ALONE A LOT LOVE MY TUNES BUT CAN'T WAIT TO GET OUT OF THE CAR !!! BECAUSE MY MUSIC IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME !!!!
DEALER NO HELP AT ALL .... THAT'S THE WAY IT WORKS ..LIKE CRAP !!!!
THE PRICE OF THE BENZ LEASE IS THE SAME AS MINE ...BIG MISTAKE ON MY PART .... NEXT CAR WILL BE SOMETHING ELSE FOR SURE !!!

 

[chilly mac]

 

[dpsunshine]

I do not see the choice "show traffic" in nav menu. I was under assumption that the traffic option is free for 3 months. Is this correct?

I received 12 months of Xm and NavTraffic for free, and it shows up two different ways in your system. 1) It shows up on the Map screen in the upper left hand corner as an orange font word "Traffic." When that is present, it means that the traffic information is functional and you should see the yellow, green and red lines on the map itself indicating traffic flow. 2) When you are on the map screen, if you depress your multimedia controller, it brings up a menu to the right of the screen. One of those options on the menu is for traffic info (I can't remember the exact wording for it on the menu, but it should be obvious). That option will be in gray/not able to be selected if the NavTraffic function is not working or is not supported in your area. In my case, my city has the NavTraffic and I used to get it, but it has not been working since the dealership replaced my original radio with refurbished ones.

 

[dpsunshine]

Did you ever find a fix for this problem? The same thing happened to me when they replaced my radio with 1 refurbished one (over 5 months ago), and they still haven't found a solution to the problem (neither XM nor the dealership).

A quick update to my own question:
I heard from the dealership and they think they have figured out what is causing the NavTraffic to not work. Apparently, it has to do with the fact that my Genesis is an '09 and the NavTraffic function will not work in the refurbished radios when placed in an '09. They have ordered a brand new radio and will be putting it into my car next week. They said that Lexicon is working on a software patch to fix the issue in the future, but at this time the only thing that will work is a brand new radio. I will update as to whether or not this "fix" works so that anyone else having this problem in the future won't go through months of hassle like I did.

 

[dpsunshine]

A quick update to my own question:
I heard from the dealership and they think they have figured out what is causing the NavTraffic to not work. Apparently, it has to do with the fact that my Genesis is an '09 and the NavTraffic function will not work in the refurbished radios when placed in an '09. They have ordered a brand new radio and will be putting it into my car next week. They said that Lexicon is working on a software patch to fix the issue in the future, but at this time the only thing that will work is a brand new radio. I will update as to whether or not this "fix" works so that anyone else having this problem in the future won't go through months of hassle like I did.

Final update - the NavTraffic is fixed! They had to replace both the radio and the amp with brand new equipment and I have my NavTraffic back. I was just lucky that it was all still under warranty.