Satnav and Heat Reflective Windscreens (Ford Focus)

Pookie Bear

Pookie Bear

Pookie Bear

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I went for a test drive in a Ford Focus today (2.0l Titanium, 4dr) which was a thoroughly pleasant experience. I took her on the motorway and some back roads and it was a far better drive than I was expecting - nice enough Sony soundsystem too (which I wouldn't need to change, as I was planning to do). It actually exceeded my expectations by some way (the price isn't bad and despite being three years old, comes with another two full years warranty from the dealer).

Anyway, as I was getting out of the car, the salesman mentioned the fact that the car had a heat reflective windscreen which would affect GPS use. I didn't have the chance to do another test drive (I had things to do) with my Satnav running (it's a new Tomtom Go). Sitting still, the satnav locked on in five seconds and had full lock - but we were in an wide-open courtyard :D

I was just curious if anyone else has this kind of windscreen and how it affects their GPS system.
 
Not focus related but: One of my cars 2004 clio had a UV and heat reflective front windscreen, Renault included a patch that didn't have the coating on, i can confim a heat / uv reflective windscreen will stop a GPS device getting a signal but it wasn't of the heated type.
 
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The front heated window screen is known to cause problems with the GPS systems communicating with the satellites. You can get antennas (internal or external) to resolve this issue.

However, all of my cars have had heated front window screens and I have never had a problem "locking on", it does however sometimes take a while!
 
nah it should not affect it, i have the st with the quickclear and solar reflect windscreen and mine work fine.

The only things the screen causes issues with are the small device i use for the toll free toll bridges.

You cannot place it on most of the windscreen, as the solar reflect screen stops the signals. So you have to place it at the top centre where the black dots are around the rear view mirror, as this is the only area without the solar reflect.

Also your sat nav is not just able to receive its signal from in front but through the roof or any other part of the car where the sat is located.
 
With the newer SiRFStar III chipsets in most newer Sat-Nav units, this isn't anywhere near as much as a problem as it was before.

The older ones from 2-3 years ago might struggle, you can tell if it's one of these as to how many satellites you can see from indoors - if you see NONE when indoors, it's an old SiRFStar II chipset, if you still get a partial lock, chances are it's SiRFStar III - which can even detect and use signals that have bounced off other items! (Such as the interior of a vehicle/house)
 
Confused said:
With the newer SiRFStar III chipsets in most newer Sat-Nav units, this isn't anywhere near as much as a problem as it was before.

The older ones from 2-3 years ago might struggle, you can tell if it's one of these as to how many satellites you can see from indoors - if you see NONE when indoors, it's an old SiRFStar II chipset, if you still get a partial lock, chances are it's SiRFStar III - which can even detect and use signals that have bounced off other items! (Such as the interior of a vehicle/house)
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As confused said you'll be fine with a new TomTom Go. I've just bought an older model (GO 920) and was impressed how it can get full lock from inside the house :o
 
I'd test it out or get confirmation from someone with that exact windscreen if it is likely to affect your purchase of the car. Portable satnav's barely work at all in either of my Mercs for example.
 
Peter Diffey said:
As mentioned, older GPS chipsets will struggle/fail to get a GPS lock with a windscreen with UV protection.
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Some seem to block the newer ones too though, see my post. My portable and others that i have tested are all virtually brand new with sirfstar3 chipsets.
 
Luw said:
I went for a test drive in a Ford Focus today (2.0l Titanium, 4dr) which was a thoroughly pleasant experience. I took her on the motorway and some back roads and it was a far better drive than I was expecting - nice enough Sony soundsystem too (which I wouldn't need to change, as I was planning to do). It actually exceeded my expectations by some way (the price isn't bad and despite being three years old, comes with another two full years warranty from the dealer).

Anyway, as I was getting out of the car, the salesman mentioned the fact that the car had a heat reflective windscreen which would affect GPS use. I didn't have the chance to do another test drive (I had things to do) with my Satnav running (it's a new Tomtom Go). Sitting still, the satnav locked on in five seconds and had full lock - but we were in an wide-open courtyard :D

I was just curious if anyone else has this kind of windscreen and how it affects their GPS system.
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if i were in the car and u got a sat lock then its fine
so you answered your own question mate
 
Yes they can affect getting a GPS lock, however it is less of an issue with the newer receivers (such as the one in your tomtom). However you will still get a stronger more reliable signal by just putting your tomtom on the far right of the windscreen where there is no heating element.
 
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