Don't believe everything your GPS tells you

M

Meadbh

Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Jul 22, 2006
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I have a Garmin GPS with lifetime updates for North America. I spent the past month in Europe, including two weeks in Ireland, where I drove a manual diesel Kia Sportage (fuel consumption 5.9 L/100 Km). Prior to departing I downloaded the dataset for the UK and Ireland (Europe wouldn't fit). I had no technical problems whatsoever, but the quality of the information for remote local routes was not great. Fortunately I grew up and learnt to drive in Ireland so my crap detector was pretty good. Overall the GPS was very helpful. But if we had slavishly followed the GPS instructions, we would have gotten hopelessly lost on several occasions and would have visited many farmyards.

Bottom line: trust but verify.
 
Meadbh said:
I have a Garmin GPS with lifetime updates for North America. I spent the past month in Europe, including two weeks in Ireland, where I drove a manual diesel Kia Sportage (fuel consumption 5.9 L/100 Km). Prior to departing I downloaded the dataset for the UK and Ireland (Europe wouldn't fit). I had no technical problems whatsoever, but the quality of the information for remote local routes was not great. Fortunately I grew up and learnt to drive in Ireland so my crap detector was pretty good. Overall the GPS was very helpful. But if we had slavishly followed the GPS instructions, we would have gotten hopelessly lost on several occasions and would have visited many farmyards.

Bottom line: trust but verify.
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+1

We learned the hard way to use a detailed map in conjunction with our Garmin GPS in The UK and Ireland. :nonono:
 
Alan said:
+1

We learned the hard way to use a detailed map in conjunction with our Garmin GPS in The UK and Ireland. :nonono:
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Yes, and when in doubt, ask a human being!
 
Probably depends on the locality. I've had superb results using a GPS while driving small back roads in Belgium. The problem over there is that most road signs were removed to keep the occupying Germans from easily navigating. I think most of those signs have never been replaced because people who live there just know the roads.

I remember seeing intersections where five roads came together. No signs on any of them, just a small stone the size of a loaf of bread on the ground between two of them, painted white with a number on it. That's pretty typical. I would have been utterly lost without the GPS.
 
When my sister and I went to surprise DF for his 93rd birthday. Tropical storm Lee was flooding the area, at night with almost zero visibility.

I missed a turnoff, thought I knew where I was going. We called my other sister, who lived in the area. Explained where we were and my plan to take the old high roads in the mountains. She said that would work great. About that time the GPS lady squawks telling us to down to the flooding river area. Sister asked if I knew where that exit took us? Yes and I'm not driving into a flood. Amazing technology, but you have to use your senses.
MRG
 
The most entertaining GPS experience I've ever had was last summer, driving from Canton, OH to Gettysburg, PA. Our route could fairly be described as "whimsical", varying haphazardly between interstate highways and country roads that narrowed down to one lane at times. DW was getting somewhat apprehensive near the end of the trip, but I could follow closely enough on a road atlas to know that we were headed in approximately the right direction. It's not a route any sane human being would have chosen, but it was clearly in the range of a GPS unit with a lively sense of humor.
 
A GPS saved our marriage when we were traveling in Sicily. We ended up with Tom Tom rather than Garman because the internet scuttlebut was that Garmon maps for Sicily were terrible, while Tom Tom was almost ok. (Both bad - but one was worse.)

The GPS had us take crazy unnamed farm roads through a patchwork of fields to find our vacation rental outside Marsala. There was no normal address for this home - just GPS coordinates. The owner was surprised to see us arriving from a different direction than he expected and asked what route we'd taken. Sure enough - it was the shortest route - one only locals used.

Palermo driving is scary - but the GPS helped us not freak out too much. And we figured out to override the GPS when it had us turning ON to the OFF ramp of the Autostrada.
 
GPS in Ireland on the first trip was ok, it was not up to date with the new highways that had just opened up, we just turned off the squawking voice and used the map and some GPS. DW is a great navigator and keeps me in line. On our second trip we had a lot better luck, but managed to see a lot of one lane wide, 80km, dirt roads that were suppose to be for two cars. DW again kept us safe and for the most part in line. We did enjoy the back lanes and countryside roads and we had planned a lot of slack in the schedule we put together to get to our next overnight stop.
 
We have a Garmin an will be renting a car for a couple of days in Sitka, AK. Guess which state is NOT included in the unit. I think we're just going to buy a paper map, and use my smartphone if we get desperate.
 
athena53 said:
We have a Garmin an will be renting a car for a couple of days in Sitka, AK. Guess which state is NOT included in the unit. I think we're just going to buy a paper map, and use my smartphone if we get desperate.
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With Sitka, you can't get there from Sitka by car, its on an island and the only way on or off is air or boat. From the town roads run some miles along the coast each way and then end. There are forest roads that go somewhat into the interior, but are unimproved. The Alaskan panhandle towns are ones where the need for GPS is least since the roads don't connect. you come to the end and turn around, there is little other choice.
 
meierlde said:
The Alaskan panhandle towns are ones where the need for GPS is least since the roads don't connect. you come to the end and turn around, there is little other choice.
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Good- sounds like even DH and I can avoid getting lost there!
 
karluk said:
The most entertaining GPS experience I've ever had was last summer, driving from Canton, OH to Gettysburg, PA. Our route could fairly be described as "whimsical", varying haphazardly between interstate highways and country roads that narrowed down to one lane at times. DW was getting somewhat apprehensive near the end of the trip, but I could follow closely enough on a road atlas to know that we were headed in approximately the right direction. It's not a route any sane human being would have chosen, but it was clearly in the range of a GPS unit with a lively sense of humor.
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+1 I took a trip with my mom from Vermont to Maine and it took us on some pretty weird ways... I sort of knew we were headed in the right direction.

What I have found is that the GPS will get you there, but probably not in the best way.

We have some roads around here where the GPS would try to send you down a class 4 road that is fine if you have a SUV with 4WD but no way you should go there in a car, even with AWD.
 
I'm always arguing with my GPS in the US! It's great having an automaton to argue about directions with.

I'm always suspicious of the directions. But it's still way better than just using a map.

We don't plan on driving in Europe. But having the GPS is still really useful for getting off public transportation at the right spot!
 
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NW-Bound said:
Us men do not ask, but would rather drive for miles.
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"Not sure where we are going, but making great time!"

Lulu, the gal's google maps iPhone voice, insisted on taking us to the back (locked and via private property) entrance of the Colossal Cave outside Tuscon. Property owner said he had people show up every so often, always guided by google maps. The really good thing was that it was a wonderful back trail excursion, and well worth the excitement of cruising the 4-wheel drive track in the family truckster.
 
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athena53 said:
We have a Garmin an will be renting a car for a couple of days in Sitka, AK. Guess which state is NOT included in the unit. I think we're just going to buy a paper map, and use my smartphone if we get desperate.
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No matter, you'll enjoy it.
Sitka is one of my favorite small towns in the world!
 
I always like when the GPS wants you to turn onto a one way street going in the wrong direction.
 
GPS sends me the longer way frequently

My Garmin takes me a weird way from Harrisburg to the Philadelphia International Airport. Gets me off the freeway way too soon and sends me on loads of parkways with very long stoplights. I just ignore where it tells me to get off the turnpike then I get a more direct route. Also, I have found it very handy to record the entrance to the airport parking lot since that is very confusing, especially at night.

One goofy thing I did a couple of times. On a cross country flight I pulled out my Garmin and from the window seat waited 10 minutes to locate a satellite. I love it when it says what towns (and state) I'm over and the fact that we're flying 550 mph. May not have been legal but it was fun! :LOL:
 
Disappointed said:
Had anybody compared it to Google map on your iphone in Europe?
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The Google maps in Europe have a lot more info - in particular bus and tram route information, stops, and numbers which is super useful. But using the Google map while navigating means you have to have an Internet connection.
 
We were headed to Asheville, NC by way of the Bristol Motor Speedway. We thought the GPS was taking us the long way around. We came upon a T intersection with a farm road with a Tennessee DOT sign that read "Your GPS is wrong, turn back a take State Road ###"
 
You need to be careful what you input as a destination. I was passing through south Florida on the way to Key West a decade back or more and put in an address for a motel near the airport. Unfortunately I used Miami as the city (the actual city was something else). The GPS took me off the road and into a scary inner city neighborhood. Also unfortunately I was running on gas fumes and couldn't just reprogram and drive away. I finally found a gas station and pulled in. While gassing up DW turns on the dome light and starts looking at maps. Just what we need - two Q-tips (white hair) obviously lost. At about this time a big, slouchy, droopy pants, gang-banger looking guy comes walking by, does a double take, and tells me I should get my gas in a more suburban location. I laughed and told him I had figured that out but didn't have any options. I wasn't too worried since I am all over the city in DC and realize that the vast majority of people everywhere are decent folks and scary areas are a lot safer than you think. But, still....
 
Pretty timely, I just spent yesterday mapping out our driving routes for a trip to Ireland and Scotland next month. This is one time where I wish I had a GPS rather than relying on my smart phone, but in Ireland we are getting a mobile hot spot so we might be able to use Google Maps after all. It doesn't look available in Scotland. Renting a GPS is as expensive as the car so I'm passing on that.

My plan is:
1. Save the turn by turn directions from Google Maps
2. Sketch out a map on paper
3. Use a paper map (though it's tough to read in detail and doesn't have many backroads)
4. Verify at least the less obvious turns with street view so I can see what the landmarks at the turns look like and note them. Some have good signs, and some might be "where that cow is standing".
5. The night before I will cache google maps on my phone using the "OK maps" trick.

This should work great as long as I stay on course. The problem will be if I miss a turn. First, I need to realize I missed a turn, and second, figure out how to correct it. I've just decided not to miss any turns. My son will be navigating. He's good at that, plus he's going to stay alert and make sure I'm driving in the right (wait, no, left) lane.

I noticed one out of the way place we're going in Ireland that google maps keeps giving me different directions. In one place it just says "turn right". No name or number, because it seems like there isn't one. I rerouted to a very slightly longer route that mostly follows the same road. There were also a couple places in Scotland where it had me taking a lot of back roads instead of just taking a few more minutes on main roads. I know there's some charm in seeing those spots, but there's not so much charm in getting lost or having a local getting mad being stuck behind me as I drive slowly looking for a turn that's miles (oops, kilometres) away.
 
Best of luck, RunningBum, and may the road rise with you!
 
RunningBum said:
Pretty timely, I just spent yesterday mapping out our driving routes for a trip to Ireland and Scotland next month. This is one time where I wish I had a GPS rather than relying on my smart phone, but in Ireland we are getting a mobile hot spot so we might be able to use Google Maps after all. It doesn't look available in Scotland. Renting a GPS is as expensive as the car so I'm passing on that.

My plan is:
1. Save the turn by turn directions from Google Maps
2. Sketch out a map on paper
3. Use a paper map (though it's tough to read in detail and doesn't have many backroads)
4. Verify at least the less obvious turns with street view so I can see what the landmarks at the turns look like and note them. Some have good signs, and some might be "where that cow is standing".
5. The night before I will cache google maps on my phone using the "OK maps" trick.

This should work great as long as I stay on course. The problem will be if I miss a turn. First, I need to realize I missed a turn, and second, figure out how to correct it. I've just decided not to miss any turns. My son will be navigating. He's good at that, plus he's going to stay alert and make sure I'm driving in the right (wait, no, left) lane.

I noticed one out of the way place we're going in Ireland that google maps keeps giving me different directions. In one place it just says "turn right". No name or number, because it seems like there isn't one. I rerouted to a very slightly longer route that mostly follows the same road. There were also a couple places in Scotland where it had me taking a lot of back roads instead of just taking a few more minutes on main roads. I know there's some charm in seeing those spots, but there's not so much charm in getting lost or having a local getting mad being stuck behind me as I drive slowly looking for a turn that's miles (oops, kilometres) away.
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I bought GPSNav II for a few bucks and download European maps (each continent cost a few bucks) then you download maps for where you are going. this allows navigation without cellular data turned on. You ned to find and save favorites that you want to enter in as destinations whie you have WIFI. If you do the app works great. Global data costs a bundle.
 
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