I have a relative who has luxury cars, fully loaded, including in dash nav. She’s too cheap, though, to pay for the in dash navigation updates from the dealer, etc.
She always “knows” better than the “nav” how to get around, though. I was driving with her once, using my phone (dash/vent mount) to get around a major city. She kept getting flustered that I wouldn’t use her directions to get around. When I told her my phone was connected to the internet, getting traffic updates, etc… she was stunned. She had no idea.
The point of all this is: there’s no point in having the in dash nav system if you’re not going to update it…and, the nav on the phone you probably already have is basically “free” and updated constantly. Some folks have to have “the best”, though.
Because we had not used it in a while and the battery was dead. So instead of driving around or plugging it into the car I just used our PC that was in the house. And in hotel rooms I can plug it into the laptop and not run the battery down. I don’t leave anything in the car and when we stop on trips the GPS unit is put out of sight.
I purchased 2 portable brand name GPS’s from a recognized warehouse store in past years. Both advertised free map updates. Getting the updates a year later was impossible. Seems everyone in the supply/support chain had no record of free upgrades. Maps on a phone are free, updated and give pretty much live traffic information. You can check out traffic and alternate routes when you are waiting for your check at a restaurant, do not have to be in the car. My son has a BMW with built in navigation, it is sweet and I can see the argument for both sides.
I just updated my Garmin after about 5 years with no major problem. The USB connector seemed to be flakey, had to try several cables to find one that worked, and couldn’t touch anything until the update was complete. But that’s it for a few years at least.
I did that $100 update once and wouldn’t do it again. Took about 3 hours of the car idling while the software loaded, then it looked like the only thing they updated was restaurants and not the new roads. I’m looking for that map app for my flip phone though but haven’t found it. I guess at some point I’m going to need to update.
