Vehicle navigation system for use with a telematics system

A method for providing navigational directions to a driver of a vehicle comprising:

• providing user input comprising at least a destination address;
• accessing a remote source via a vehicle-based wireless communication system in response to said user input;
• determining an initial geographic location of the vehicle via a vehicle-based global positioning system;
• downloading local information from the remote source to a vehicle-based control of the vehicle via the wireless communication system;
• determining a destination geographic location corresponding to said destination address;
• determining a route between said initial geographic location of the vehicle and said destination geographic location of the vehicle, said route comprising a plurality of intermediate geographic locations between said initial geographic location and said destination geographic location;
• said downloaded local information comprising at least two driving instructions, each of the at least two driving instructions being associated with or linked to a respective particular waypoint geographic location determined by said remote source to be along said route between said initial geographic location and said destination geographic location;
• providing a current geographic location of the vehicle to said vehicle-based control via said vehicle-based global positioning system;
• providing an information display visible to a driver of the vehicle, said information display displaying information corresponding to respective ones of said at least two driving instructions, said information display being viewable by the driver of the vehicle at or near an interior rearview mirror of the vehicle, said information display displaying information only when the then current geographic location of the vehicle at least generally matches the particular waypoint geographic location associated with or linked to the respective one of said a least two driving instructions;
• and
• automatically generating a change in information displayed via said vehicle-based control in response to the current actual geographic location of the vehicle being inconsistent with said intermediate geographic locations of said route between said initial geographic location and said destination geographic location, wherein said vehicle-based control automatically generates said change in information displayed without further communication with said remote source and without a further user input.

A navigation system for a vehicle comprising:

• a vehicle-based telematics system operable to wirelessly communicate between the vehicle and a remote service provider;
• a vehicle-based global positioning system operable to determine a geographic location of the vehicle;
• and
• said telematics system being operable to receive a user input from a driver of the vehicle, said user input comprising a destination address;
• said global positioning system determining an initial geographic location of the vehicle and said telematics system determining a destination geographic location corresponding to said destination address;
• said navigation system determining directional information along a determined route between said initial geographic location and said destination geographic location, said determined route comprising a plurality of intermediate geographic locations between said initial geographic location and said destination geographic location;
• said directional information comprising at least two instructions along said determined route between said initial geographic location and said destination geographic location, said control being operable to tag or code or link each of the at least two instructions with a respective waypoint geographic location;
• said navigation system further comprising a vehicle-based control;
• said remote service provider downloading said directional information to said vehicle-based control of the vehicle via said telematics system;
• said vehicle-based control being operable to provide an information display corresponding to respective ones of said at least two instructions only when the waypoint geographic location tagged or coded or linked to the particular instruction at least generally corresponds to the current actual geographic location of the vehicle determined by said vehicle-based global positioning system, said information display being viewable by the driver of the vehicle at or near an interior rearview mirror of the vehicle;
• and
• said vehicle-based control being operable to automatically generate a change in information displayed in response to the current actual geographic location of the vehicle being inconsistent with said intermediate geographic locations of said determined route between said initial geographic location and said destination geographic location, said vehicle-based control automatically generating said change in information displayed without further communication with said remote service provider and without a further user input.