Australian Purchased GPS Navigator for the USA

[Renato1]

Hi,
I'm off to the USA soon, and noticed that Hertz charge over A$300 to have their navigator unit as an extra in their cars. I can't rely on my smart phone and an app (its GPS isn't good enough), so want to buy a GPS unit locally, purchase the maps and take it to the USA. Then later to purchase Europe maps, and take that navigator over to Europe next year.

If anyone has done this for the USA, could you please tell me which make and unit that you bought, and how happy you were with its performance.

I ask because my original Aldi/ Route 66 navigator that I used in Italy was often telling me to turn into non-existent roads in the middle of fields, and giving me the most ridiculous routes along tiny narrow roads to save a couple of meters compared to going via main roads. And my next unit, a Navigon, worked okay route wise, but always had a tough time quickly connecting to satellites - I'd have to drive off in some direction for five or 10 minutes before it told me which way to go. Annoyingly, that Navigon unit (part of the Garmin group) can no longer be updated even though it has plenty of spare memory - deliberately made obselete.

Thanks for any suggestions that you can give me.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Ausbt]

Hi,
I'm off to the USA soon, and noticed that Hertz charge over A$300 to have their navigator unit as an extra in their cars.

Renato I'm in the US right now and relying on GoogleMaps and it's fine. I'd actually rate it as better than GPS units I'm familar with (Navman & Tom Tom). It has lane guidance, the clarity of the screen on an iPhone 6s is amazing, really I don't know why you would bother with something else. My main issues are brackets - I picked up a Radioshack one that thankfully had two attachments, window and air vent (the former useless so relying on the latter).

Colleagues also rave about Waze.

 

[AnnaB]

I have a Tomtom that I have multiple maps for. When I am going somewhere I load maps for the specific region and bring it with me. If its been a few years I usually update them before. Worth a lot more then hiring a GPS.

Other alternative I use is getting a local sim-card as soon as I get there and put into a secondary phone. I also bring a phone holder for the car and then I use Google maps and navigation. Cheap and always updated.

Tomtom you can set up from home though and you are ready to go as you get there, where as the phone you need to get things when you get there.

 

[AV8]

I purchased a TomTom in the USA via Amazon (was free o'night delivery to where I was staying in USA) - it has USA/Canada & Europe maps pre installed and free lifetime (maps & traffic) updates - better value for money IMHO.

 

[marki]

I purchased a TomTom in the USA via Amazon (was free o'night delivery to where I was staying in USA) - it has USA/Canada & Europe maps pre installed and free lifetime (maps & traffic) updates - better value for money IMHO.

This what I did .... Going into best buys you will find a great range of very competitive price units (Less than 300 USD) !

But google maps will not cost you !

I use a Steelie now and keeps my iPhone and iPad attached via a strong magnet

 

[mark4217]

Does Google maps require data usage or can it be used off line?

 

[YSSY]

I have a Garmin and have maps for the US, Europe and Australia. Surprisingly it can be cheaper to buy a new sat nav in the different places you go to then buying the maps, especially Tom Tom.
But generally its pretty easy to update the maps. You can also buy sat nav apps for the iPhone which downloads the entire maps database to your phone, also worth looking at.

 

[Renato1]

Renato I'm in the US right now and relying on GoogleMaps and it's fine. I'd actually rate it as better than GPS units I'm familar with (Navman & Tom Tom). It has lane guidance, the clarity of the screen on an iPhone 6s is amazing, really I don't know why you would bother with something else. My main issues are brackets - I picked up a Radioshack one that thankfully had two attachments, window and air vent (the former useless so relying on the latter).

Colleagues also rave about Waze.

Thanks - but I'd have to get an IPhone or a high end Android phone to be confident of it working properly, which is more expense than what it's worth to me. I know Google maps works fine, because my Navigon unit always plots out exactly the same route as Google maps gives me when I check out routes before hand.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

I have a Tomtom that I have multiple maps for. When I am going somewhere I load maps for the specific region and bring it with me. If its been a few years I usually update them before. Worth a lot more then hiring a GPS.

Other alternative I use is getting a local sim-card as soon as I get there and put into a secondary phone. I also bring a phone holder for the car and then I use Google maps and navigation. Cheap and always updated.

Tomtom you can set up from home though and you are ready to go as you get there, where as the phone you need to get things when you get there.

Thanks for that. Now that I know you had no problem, it is a feasible solution for me.

I was considering Tom Tom because my wife has one for her car, but it has developed a fault and doesn't get recognised by any computer I've tried it, apart from when I first bought it, and despite my trying every trick listed on the TomTom FAQs to get it to connect.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

I purchased a TomTom in the USA via Amazon (was free o'night delivery to where I was staying in USA) - it has USA/Canada & Europe maps pre installed and free lifetime (maps & traffic) updates - better value for money IMHO.

Now that is interesting and worth considering, as I'm staying in New York for a week without a car, giving me ample time to purchase and receive it. While great value, my only concern is that the hotel wifi might not be good enough to update it on receipt.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

This what I did .... Going into best buys you will find a great range of very competitive price units (Less than 300 USD) !

But google maps will not cost you !

I use a Steelie now and keeps my iPhone and iPad attached via a strong magnet

Yes - but you have an iPhone!
Cheers,
Renato

 

[marki]

Yes - but you have an iPhone!
Cheers,
Renato

IPad actually

 

[Renato1]

I have a Garmin and have maps for the US, Europe and Australia. Surprisingly it can be cheaper to buy a new sat nav in the different places you go to then buying the maps, especially Tom Tom.
But generally its pretty easy to update the maps. You can also buy sat nav apps for the iPhone which downloads the entire maps database to your phone, also worth looking at.

Thanks - now that I know you had no problem, it is also another feasible solution for me. I have a Garmin here for my car, which unfortunately it transpires isn't compatible with the USA maps being sold on their site for A$79. So, I'd have to buy another unit.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

IPad actually

I don't have one of those either!

Because I'm retired I don't need high end tablets or smart phones, as I'm home most of the day and just use Windows. Though a friend told me one reason why an IPhone is good in the USA. Whenever he parks his car, he takes a photo of it - that way he never loses the car, as he has done in the past (he once had to drive for three hours in a taxi around New York trying to find his car). Apparently the photo tags where the picture was taken, and the phone can be made to take one back to that spot after the car is misplaced.
Cheers,
Renato

 

[serfty]

Does Google maps require data usage or can it be used off line?

You can preload google maps with the areas you intend to be driving, say when with a wifi connection.

Then these are available to use offline - reduces worries about mobile data (but does use 'phone memory - more of an issue for those with iPhones and Samsung S6's ).

 

[russ]

Whatever you buy, I suggest you buy it in the USA. Much cheaper, plus you know the maps will work

What is your budget? There are Tom Tom's on Amazon for US$100, but also refurbished iPhones at around the same price, and they do a lot more.

 

[sausagefingers]

Not sure what kind of car you're hiring? but I had a Ford explorer booked with hertz for 17 days at a cost of around $100 a day, I managed to find a deal via https://www.americacarrental.com ( Car hire via Alamo) for a Chevy Tahoe (which is much bigger and comes standard with Sat nav) and got it for $800 instead of $1700.
worth having a look, with Hertz you can cancel but it costs you $70aud as a fee.

 

[Renato1]

Whatever you buy, I suggest you buy it in the USA. Much cheaper, plus you know the maps will work

What is your budget? There are Tom Tom's on Amazon for US$100, but also refurbished iPhones at around the same price, and they do a lot more.

Thanks. My budget is A$336.84 - the amount that I'm saving by not giving the money to Hertz.

I was thinking of going around Harvey Norman, Good Guys and JB Hi Fi and seeing what they had on special - mainly because i could then be sure that I had applied the latest updates. I'm just not sure about hotel wifi over in the USA. Some of the European ones I've stayed in could have done it, some could have done it very slowly and with the possibility of the download being interrupted, and some would have gotten stroppy with 700Mbyte to 1.4Gbyte downloads and not let me do it.
Cheers,
Renato

I'm not really interested in iPhones

 

[Renato1]

Not sure what kind of car you're hiring? but I had a Ford explorer booked with hertz for 17 days at a cost of around $100 a day, I managed to find a deal via https://www.americacarrental.com ( Car hire via Alamo) for a Chevy Tahoe (which is much bigger and comes standard with Sat nav) and got it for $800 instead of $1700.
worth having a look, with Hertz you can cancel but it costs you $70aud as a fee.

Thanks for the info - that's a good deal with the navigator. When I logged into Hertz using the Gold Membership with the Amex benefits, the cost for 15 days came to US$596 - which includes most of the insurances for a big four-door car (a Chrysler 200 from memory), which seemed pretty good to me. The extra US$256 (from memory) for the navigator was what had me annoyed.

The other main benefit was that I could walk a few blocks to the Marriot LAX and pick it up, and then drop it off there when I leave, as I'm staying at that hotel on the last night.

But I'll see what your link comes up with.
Regards,
Renato

 

[JohnM]

I have a TomTom that I load with maps wherever I'm going.

A USA+Canada map is $80. But I notice a 20% discount code (MAPS20) upon updating my maps just now.

I would think you could get a new TomTom and that map for well under your budget in Australia.