Aftermarket Sat Nav.

[niktam]

I'm looking at buying an aftermarket sat nav just a standalone version not worried about all the extras a specifc one for a MH so it doesn't take me down the lanes. Hopefully a 7 inch screen but I'm only used to Garmin and Tom Tom's as there are a number of dfferent makes that I've never heard off that are available. How easy are updates and at what cost? Any advice would be appreciated.

[stevec176]

I used Co-Pilot GPS on my tablet, its a one off payment and wuite easy to use. You can set your vehicle size so you shouldn't end up down narrow lanes.

[MartinP]

for the last 10 -12years I have bought a 7" "Truckers Sat nav" on eBay. various makes ( I am on my 3rd). They are all still working.

I just buy a new one when I feel that the maps are a bit dated! At about £30-40 each it's cheaper and easier than doing updates etc. usually they do offer the updates anyway.

 

There are models available now with 2019 map updates preloaded for all over Europe.

 

I've used them in Benelux countries, Germany Austria Italy Croatia, Slovenia, Spain etc and not had any problems.

Just do a search and compare specs. Need to check that you can put in individual weight, height, width and length and ideally supplied and supported in UK.

 

[Brian Kirby]

Just one word of caution. As far as I know, there are only two suppliers of electronic mapping, Nevteq, and TeleAtlas. Whosever sat-nav you get will therefore have one or other firm's mapping installed. Neither firm, at present, maps road width data, so no device can route to exclude narrow roads.

 

The mapping does include data on width restrictions, weight restrictions, and height restrictions, but only truck type and RV type sat-navs are able to use this data (which is why they charge more for them).

 

The workaround is that these sat navs will generally route to prioritise main roads, with minor roads only being used for the first and last legs of a journey, so as to reduce the risk of narrow-road routing.

 

In short, no sat nav can be guaranteed to avoid narrow roads (especially if you get diverted in mid-route!), so you always have to exercise judgement about the road you are being directed down. If possible, check the sat-nav route with a map before accepting it, and if you are unhappy insert waypoints to tell which way to go. It will take that bit longer, but may well save you time, and "interesting" experiences! :-)

 

Car type sat-navs are more prone to selecting narrow roads, as most roads are assumed suitable for cars. This risk will be reduced if you select the "quickest" route option (because the machines assume higher average speeds on main roads, and especially on dual carriageways) and enhanced if you select the "shortest" routs option. You may find that the main road routes are significantly longer, albeit you should arrive that bit earlier. Only experience with a particular sat-nav and your own van will tell which of the available routing options best suit your preferences.

 

As an aside, and as a user of a car sat-nav with a PVC, since the introduction of the blanket 80kph speed limit in France, my sat-nav seems more prone to selecting minor roads than used to be the case. I assume this may be because max 80kph negates some of the advantage of taking longer routes to arrive earlier.

[mtravel]

I had TomTom and now Garmin.

To my knowledge, the so-called motorhome navigators are nothing more than professional ones for trucks poorly adapted to RVs.

Just wasted money.

The satnav will often guide you in ridiculous diversions just to get you avoiding some urban centers and roads forbidden to vehicles over 3.5 tons.

I believe that more than the brand of the navigator, accuracy depends on the maps used (Here, Navteq, etc.).

Who can say which one is the best?

Furthermore, not all Countries are mapped with the same precision (narrow roads, low bridges, etc.).

 

IMHO, simply useless.

 

Max

[flyboyprowler]

Garmin mostly, but more and more backed up with maps, but they need to be current. We lay a line between start and final destination and check that against the proposed sat nav route. We also have a Zanec probably truck based nav, and that always offers a different and mostly longer route to the Garmin.

[Derek Uzzell]

There is a fair amount of on-line information/advice about this (Search on “motorhome sat navs”) It’s also a subject that been asked about here before and this 2017 discussion referred

 

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Which-standalone-Satnav-do-you-recommend-/46499/

 

I’ve never felt a need for a ‘motorhome specific’ sat-nav, but I’ve never owned a motorhome heaviier than 3500kg or longer than 6.5 metres, and I’m not sure I’d trust a sat-nav to always warn me of low bridges.

 

I have a Garmin 5” Nuvi 2559LM (now superseded) that has UK & European mapping and free 'life-time’ mapping and software updating. Updating has always been straightforward and (unlike Brian) when driving in France I’ve not noticed any change in the sat-nav’s ‘logic’ since the 90km/h to 80 km/h speed-limit change was introduced. The French speed-limit information provided by the Garmin seems as accurate as one might realistically expect.

 

I did meet a UK motorcaravanner in France who had purchased an ultra-cheap high specification sat-nav and rated it well above his much less sophisticated Garmin device, but he had not yet tried to update the ‘cheapo’ unit.

 

Updating and technical back-up for inexpensive sat-navs was discussed in 2018 here

 

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/help-req-with-set-up-on-new-7-xgody-sat-nav/50045/

[StuartO]

Derek Uzzell - 2019-12-11 8:22 AM .... but I’ve never owned a motorhome heaviier than 3500kg or longer than 3.5 metres ....

 

Now that is a short MH!

[Derek Uzzell]

Happier?

[niktam]

Many thanks to all and you have certainly opened up some different options. I might try an existing Tom Tom first on the quickest route setting as to date it has always taken us down country lanes.

Thanks again for the replies.