Garmin Favorites to Subaru TomTom

[thetinwoodman]

I have a new 2019 Subaru Forester Touring that has a built in TomTom navigation. I am trying to transfer the favorites from a Garmin DEZL unit into to Subaru TomTom navigation.

 

[canderson]

After connecting your Dezl to your PC, navigate to the Garmin/GPX folder and find the *.gpx file(s) there.
Copy the file called "current.gpx" to your PC.
Using a tool like this >> http://www.poiedit.com/downloads.htm open the *.gpx file and save it back to your PC as a TomTom *.ov2 file.
You can now copy the *.ov2 file to your TomTom device. However, we need to be more specific about which generation of TomTom is in your Subaru to assist you in that copying process. More than likely it a recent generation device, but we're not certain what it is. Any help or documentation that came with the vehicle?

 

[thetinwoodman]

After connecting your Dezl to your PC, navigate to the Garmin/GPX folder and find the *.gpx file(s) there.
Copy the file called "current.gpx" to your PC.
Using a tool like this >> http://www.poiedit.com/downloads.htm open the *.gpx file and save it back to your PC as a TomTom *.ov2 file.
You can now copy the *.ov2 file to your TomTom device. However, we need to be more specific about which generation of TomTom is in your Subaru to assist you in that copying process. More than likely it a recent generation device, but we're not certain what it is. Any help or documentation that came with the vehicle?

 

[thetinwoodman]

Thank you. I use a Mac. I think I have managed to convert the Garmin .gpx file to an .ov2 file. The TomTom nav system in the 2019 Subaru does not come with any info or help. The latest 2019 Subaru Forester Touring does not use a card for data - somehow they do the storage internally. So the question is how to get the .ov2 file into the in-car unit. The car has USB jacks - perhaps I could plug in there? Or maybe use AirPlay. No one else at Garmin or Subaru has offered help so far so I really appreciate your assistance.

 

[canderson]

OK, since we're all flying blind here, let's see what we can do!
Does your integrated TomTom unit support WiFi in any fashion? If it does, then we know how to get the information to it. If not, we'll keep plugging and it will be a learning exercise for both of us!
And it seems that there SHOULD have been a manual, perhaps a separate one, for your nav system. I'd ask the dealer about that.

 

[thetinwoodman]

The Subaru system does have a wifi connection. I do not know if it talks to the TomTom.

 

[canderson]

I located an online manual for your Starlink system here >> https://cdn.subarunet.com/stis/doc/ownerManual/MSA5M1923A_STIS.pdf
I see that it is a fully integrated system. Sweet! Not sure why you weren't given this or informed about the manual. You might want to download a copy for yourself. However, it did not answer our immediate question.

It appears that this device has its own cellular connectivity to provide traffic data. Is this correct, or do you use your cell phone, perhaps tethered by Bluetooth, to obtain the traffic information for this device? I ask, because of the methods for getting *.ov2 files to a TomTom unit is through their cloud service via a user's own phone connection to TomTom devices.

If we strike out, I have a contact at TomTom that I can ask about this, but that person is not directly involved in these integrated platforms.

 

[thetinwoodman]

Back from a few days traveling. The car is quite new to me - I am an old guy and not all the savvy about all of this stuff. I am still wading through the stack of manuals. Thank you for sending the file. I do find that there is a whole navigation system section in the Starlink Owners Manual. There is a lot of stuff about phone favorites but I do not see anything about navigation favorites. I have not yet used the traffic info so I do not know yet where the info comes from. I have the apps TomTom Go and TomTom Drive on my iPhone. I see that these apps have an area called TomTom Services with options to turn on traffic and safety cameras and to have MyDrive synch with all your devices.

I have also tried going into the main TomTom website. They ask about what model you have but the in-car units do not seem in the list of choices.

 

[canderson]

Let me see if I can find out anything about the interface to this device. It's not quite time to be at work on a Monday in Amsterdam, but the message will be waiting when people arrive. Perhaps someone can help.

 

[canderson]

Question was referred to the group that handles the OEM automotive products. Bad news. Harmon Kardon designed the system for Subaru. They do use the TomTom routing engine and maps, but have designed their own user interface for the StarLink system. Here is the reply that I got, verbatim:

- Harman Subaru Product do not support adding POI using OV2 files. There is no means to do that.
- If user wants to report a bug about any POI the Subaru user portal has a link to report such issue.
- System doesn't have a modem, it only supports brought is connectivity via wifi. Subaru System doesn't support any TomTom cloud services.

Bummer. So after I put you to the trouble to create an *.ov2 file for your unit, we find out that there is no mechanism to transfer it to your unit. So there isn't even a way to use TomTom's cloud service to move your information to the unit. I wish I had better news.

What IS curious is how traffic will appear on your device, and where it might come from. You can help to educate us (and fellow users) here by providing any information you get on that topic in the future. It sounds as though it MAY get traffic by using a phone as a WiFi hot spot, but you'll need to help us with any further explanation.

Again, sorry, but looks like Harman didn't give us a solution for this. It's that kind of thing that keeps me using stand-alone units on the windshield.

 

[thetinwoodman]

Even though we struck out I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your trying to help. No one else - Garmin-TomTom- Subaru even lifted a finger.

 

[canderson]

Sorry the news was bad. But I'd like you to check back in with us when you sort the traffic situation out on that in-dash device. Need to know whether it uses your phone for a link, or what...
My Kia uses XM radio for traffic, but it's a subscription service with XM. With a couple of good TomTom units running all the time, I don't bother.

 

[thetinwoodman]

Just getting started with traffic. It looks like traffic also comes through the Sirius XM radio. My car came with a 3 month trial. I called Sirius and signed up with them. My Sirius music is working and they say traffic is also working - it will appear on my built-in TomTom map. It does not seem to need the phone connection. Just got in the car and entered a trip to Boston. It looks like some red traffic spots are showing up. Will try to test it more in next couple of days.

Another subject. I found a program called Map Downloader from Subaru and downloaded it on my Mac. It says to put the downloaded Map Update file on a USB stick. Then supposedly you can update the internal TomTom map through the USB port in the car. Have not tried this yet. The stick has about 13 GB with all sorts of files. I wonder if I might somehow sneak a Current .ov2 file onto the memory stick somewhere and then try updating the maps and see if the favorites file somehow finds its way to the right place.

 

[Arno]

I don't think the system will recognise the ov2 file.

If your system is android based and you can see the folder structure it can be done. If it is MyDrive web based it may be able to be done via the TomTom cloud.

Can you see the folder tree when you plug the stick into the PC?
If not, can you access 'Systems' and see which OS you have.