I understand the desire, but I found trying to keep my 2017 up to date (bought new) frustrating and unsatisfactory. The instructions at hand, as you say, are meager and murky. I was at one point told to buy a small online dongle gizmo that the microSD card fits into, to speed up data transfer or some such, when connected to your computer. I'm not sure I ever got this to work, and the last time I tried, the slot in the gizmo was bent or something and I couldn't even insert the mSD card. My nav method now - and we have taken many quite long trips doing this - is to use both the Forester's OEM nav plus our portable Garmin on its suction cup, and then supplement with Google Maps on our phones. Phones are far better at exact current locations of restaurants, etc. The OEM + Garmin method can be pretty cool at times. Sometimes you can choose to have two different destinations in effect simultaneously, without the confusion question of "waypoints" and what the ETA time means. Or in places where the two devices disagree about the same one destination, you have a "tie breaker" or whatever you want to call it.

 

The OEM nav is poop. That said, I keep mine updated as a backup to my backup. I use Waze on my phone for almost all navigation, since it's constantly updated and road closures, etc. are readily available. I use a stand-alone GPS program (CoPilot) on my phone that has it's own updated maps, in the event I'm in an area with no cell/data service, which causes Waze to not work properly.

But more to your question, here's the site that you can buy updates. You'll need the SD card from your nav unit.

I believe the current base map is dated 2023 or maybe even 2022. When I questioned them about it, they said that was when the data was gathered, so the year may lag. In my experience over the last few years, a yearly update is the best that can be hoped for with this nav unit.

Naviextras.com - Map updates for your navigation device and more...

subaru-na-mapupdate.naviextras.com

 

Thanks for your reply. So 2023 is compatible with a 2014 Forrester?

The problem right now is that the toolbox doesn’t recognize my SD card. I’ve given my Mac permission to see it, but Naviextras doesn’t. So there is really no way to run this update.

 

@Bobalooie Welcome to the forum from DFW, TX.

Regarding updating the onboard GPS, you can try, but it's not going to be to dated. It's just not worth it. I used to own a 2014 Mercedes ML 350 Bluetec as well. And looked into updating the maps....it only got me as far as 2018....To say the least, I gave up....I just use AA or Car Play.

My 2013 Nissan Leaf is just as bad, I ended up buying a 6 inch AA/Car Play flat panel display and mounted the unit into the vehicle permanently and use that instead. My wife who is NOT tech savvy enjoys using it as well.

Good luck
bman

 

My 2015 Outback has the micro SD card. The last update I did to the NAV system was back in 2019. Earlier this year I checked for the latest update, and when the toolbox software scanned the SD card, I was informed I already had the most recent update.

Go figure…

Needless to say, I use Google maps and Wayz on my iPhone if I want up-to-date maps…

Factory built-in NAV systems in vehicles are notoriously outdated by the time they’re available to install in a car.

 

Naviextra Tools seems to be an outdated piece of software and it's not responding to anything I do.

I wanted to update maps for my 2018 Forester this spring, had same issue. It appears their app's UI is just a wrapper for a website, so if website is not reachable, app freezes... and that website is very slow and often unresponsive.

Tried it at a different time on a different day, it worked. I think it was 4th time when I tried it and it worked.

 

Interesting. I've tried several times now over two days. No luck. It's not reading the Subaru SD card and there are no options available in the window other than reading the instruction panel, which comes up first.

 

Okay... here's a question. Do I need to buy the new map first, and then it will read the SD card??

 

No. I had to have it recognize the card, then it told me what update was available.

 

Generally you are required to install the existing SD card in order to verify the card validity and get the version on the card verified before going on any further…

 

I do have the existing SD card (2012 Q3), but it isn’t being recognized.

 

If this card was installed in the vehicle when you took ownership, but the maps didn’t display, then I’m guessing you don’t have a serialized card that had original maps on it, like the one the vehicle was delivered with. That would explain why it doesn’t recognize the card. So… can you still see the old maps in the vehicle?

You can’t just go out and purchase a blank card and install maps on it…it has to be one with a unique ID…

 

The old card is working fine. I just want to update the maps.

 

Can you look at the files on the micro SD card and verify the Mac is able to access the card?

If not…Possibly it’s an issue with your Mac… do you have access to a friend running Windows on a machine you can try?

 

it’s Mac software they supply, so I don’t see why it wouldn’t recognize the SD card.

 

Maybe issue with Mac? I've updated mine on MacBook Pro, which has 4 USB-C ports, but it is rather old and one of ports is often acting up (bad wire or something).

You can test it by opening Disk Utility. If it can see SD card, it will show up in drives list even if it can't be mounted. If Disk Utility doesn't show SD card, but SD card does work in car, something is wrong with hardware: SD card reader or port.

 

As @cyberalien stated, you’re assuming all is ok with your Mac/card reader. That may or may not be the case.

The first thing in problem solving is finding out what’s causing the problem.

 

I have 2012 Q3. Does anyone know what the actual last update was for the 2014 Forester?