I use Waze frequently and it is a great tool to get a heads-up for potholes, police and other road hazards, but it’s not a GPS in a sense to talk you through to get to a destination.
Ill never buy a dedicated GPS or a GPS car option.
My phone connected to the car with Bluetooth works great. I get all direction through the cars audio system.
Then a step up is a sound system that supports Apple Play. Then the map of the GPS app on my iPhone is displayed on my audio screen. There are comparable audio systems for Android.
I’ve owned all three systems. I prefer the phone. And regarding the phone, I have tried various 3rd party apps and still prefer the built in maps. I went so far as to give away my standalone GPS devices to other people that do not yet have smartphones…
Funny how we got along fine without GPS until we got them… RECALCULATING…
No telling how many marriages were saved by GPS mapping. Will you PLEASE stop and ask for directions??? is a thing of the past… 
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Waze does exactly that. It does it even better than any other app or GPS system because it will automatically send you around closed roads, closed ramps, heavy traffic, etc. It certainly does talk you through to your destination.
ok, I stand corrected and have to try it out.
@TwinTurbo we had a CA trip, got to one intersection,my delorme on a tablet pc said turn left, her smartphone said turn right, use 1 gps not 2. We both now have Garmins, though the traffic congestion part does not work as well as it used to, less coverage or awareness it seems.
Wow a 7 year old thread, tempted to reply to the oldest just for kicks.
Several years ago after visiting the west coast and leaving LA I turned on the Garmin and followed the directions until I realized that I had been on and off the east bound freeway 3 times driving on 2 lane streets in an industrial area of Ontario. Contrary to my friends wishes I got on the freeway and with the afternoon sun in my rear view mirror and accelerated up to the flow of traffic ignoring the contraption. I have often used Garmins, etc., since then but only to get out of specific local situations. I would much prefer a system that showed me more than the next turn.
Yeah, not all systems are created equal. And they continue to evolve at a rapid pace. Just a couple years ago the apple maps program was significantly inferior but has since caught up to the other applications IMO.
Gave up on waze, too intrusive for my liking. You have to remain “connected” at all times to use it and I don’t like that aspect.
I would much prefer a system that showed me more than the next turn.
They all do that. You need to select what you want to see. There is a lot of functionality that is hidden using the default settings
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I would say garmen. We’ve got the Acura navi that I believe is tom tom and I don’t like it. We often also have the garmen going and it is a lot more intuitive and useful for traveling.
I agree. I once bought a Tom tom after using a Garmen, and couldn’t use it. Returned it.
Although the Garmen can get confused. I once was traveling to Ottawa from Boston, and when I got to the border, the unit directed me to make a U-turn and drive to Buffalo NY !! I later found that it had too many memorized addresses that i had installed. Deleted much of those and it worked fine after that.
Poor software design. Very Poor. But with workaround.
Yes it is! It gives voice turn-by-turn directions. I’ve frequently used Waze to direct me to restaurants, offices, and around traffic jams.
Sorry to revive the old posts, but I’m wondering if there’s a GPS without taking out a phone plan. The stereo cannot be swapped, aftermarket or at the dealer, for the one with GPS.
I’d like voice recognition, but could type. I think GPS requires that I know the address. (I assume phones are looking up “Find Lowes” from the I-net?
The answer is yes, there is a way to do GPS without a cell phone plan. Google maps can run on an android tablet. (I will avoid Apple product comments because I don’t know much about them) You can run Maps offline, or un-connected to the internet.
You choose your destination from home while connected to the wifi, then carry the tablet with you in the car. Most have GPS built in (but not all) and holders can be purchased to mount a tablet in the car so the GPS internal antenna will still find the satellites. You can use voice on most tablets and Maps will talk you turn by turn to your destination.
I have an android based radio in my truck and use Maps this way. I can get wifi updates from my home wifi in my driveway.
A Garmin or TomTom GPS can be purchased pretty cheaply, too.
Yes, if you want free, then there is no better than HereWeGo. If I know correctly, their maps are in Subaru vehicles. They also offer red light camera warnings. You download the map of the states you need anytime you need. No need of the data.
We have a couple of garmen gps units. Lifetime map updates, unlike our 2017 rav4, $700 to update. Voice recognition, even shows speed and speed limit of the road you are on, and if there is a jam will give you alternate routes. Nuvi ltm.
Thanks… that would do. Hmm… could I download my destination and route from my home computer? I’ll have to check. My biggest problem is having to scribble instructions an an envelope and risk an accident.
Went looking for paper maps and they are hard to come by. Pulled out my box of maps. I then realized many of them are from the 70’s. I even have dad’s Atlas… he bought before 1960. Time to update.
I know what you mean, Barkydog. I was getting desperate enough to pay $600 for the software, plus (I assumed) $500 for a stereo upgrade. Nope, you can’t get there from here.