Why does the radio come on when the nav system is started?

the radio has to be on because the nav system directions come through the radio speakers (when it tells you to turn left ahead, etc.)- without the radio on you wouldn't be able to hear the prompts from the system. I hope this helps.

The phone works thru the radio speakers when the Nav system is off (e.g. even with the sytem including radio off). Is there any way to hear the NAV voice directions without having to listen to the radio?

Just a note: if the answer is I have to listen to a radio station to hear the Nav voice control - I think this is a major bug in the system and it would be a showstopper for me to buy the vehicle.

If you think about it, the redio has to be on to even get to the nav to enter a destination, so it has to be on- I have never seen one that didn't work this way- bluetooth phone is a different animal altogether.

Hi Richard - thanks... Here's what happens: the nav is turned on and it's set to a radio station - I have to listen to that station, why can't i just deselect the radio ..if i am in the country and there are no stations, I have to listen to static (this happened) ... I agree that something needs to be turned on but I shouldn't be forced to listen to the radio to hear the nav directions. I have a 2014 outback and their system doesn't require listening to the radio. You have the choice to either listen to a station or turn the radio off.