Sat. Navs for motorhomes

[simmons]

Hi. We are trying to decide on which sat nav to purchase. We have a autotrail hiline Imala 720 and plan to go to Europe this year. We are trying to decide between Tom Tom go expert 7, Tom Tom camper max 7 or a Garmin.

Can we have your advice please. There doesn’t seem to be a lot between them which is making it an even harder decision.,
Many thanks

 

[LesW]

Do a forum search, there's loads of info and opinions.

 

[Brains]

I've come to the conclusion, that with a 5-7 year life on Sat Navs, there is no point in spending a lot of money.
That said, there is also no point is getting a cheap as chips Chinese copy.

Personally I'd stick with something made by either tom Tom or Garmin.
A 'Larger vehicle specific' version will be worth the extra money.

Whatever you get, ensure it has a menu option to enter the length, height and weight of your vehicle.
If it does not, don't buy it.

 

[Barryh]

Tomayto, tomahto. But Garmin for me and what Brains said.

 

[Figaro]

I have the Garmin 780 bought recently. It took a bit of getting used to after using google maps for the last few years.
I was used to selecting a point on the map and getting directions to it, but you can't do that with Garmin. There are ways around it of course but somehow not as simple as GM
I do like it but found with motorhome profile selected and dimensions input, it took me on long detours to avoid roads I know were perfectly doable.
For the last outing I selected car profile.
I may revert to camper profile when I'm abroad

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[Nanniemate]

Down load an app and use your phone loads of free ones with adds or pay to get it without
Roadlords
Is just one

 

[Jolak]

Having just been to France for four weeks and relying on a standard TomTom, I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy one suitable for motorhomes instead of being a cheapskate. The TomTom did it's usual and sent me down routes which would have been a pain in my Honda CRV, all for the sake of saving half a kilometre. The alternative is to spend time with a good road map and compile a detailed route plan like we did in times gone by. I'll follow this topic with interest.

 

[Figaro]

I used Sygic app for a while and found it very poor with odd route selection, kept giving up and reverting to GM
I find GM mostly ok on a Samsung tablet, but in France last year I found it doing strange things when I needed it most.
Hence decision to get dedicated sat nav, only time will tell how I get on with it.

 

[Roby2008]

Had a Garmin camper navi in mine, useful for size and speed limits for MHs, had ASCI and Stellplatz search built in which was useful.....ask for camping or parking options and it gave you a choice....linked a wifi reverse camera to as well .... would be my choice again..

 

[Engineer999]

As LesW said in #2
I find Copilot on a GPS enabled iPad (sim not required) large enough not to require reading glasses. vehicle dims can be added.

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[simmons]

I've come to the conclusion, that with a 5-7 year life on Sat Navs, there is no point in spending a lot of money.
That said, there is also no point is getting a cheap as chips Chinese copy.

Personally I'd stick with something made by either tom Tom or Garmin.
A 'Larger vehicle specific' version will be worth the extra money.

Whatever you get, ensure it has a menu option to enter the length, height and weight of your vehicle.
If it does not, don't buy it.

Thanks

 

[Captain Yoghurtpot]

Aguiri, with built in dash cam.

 

[Ingwe]

Having just been to France for four weeks and relying on a standard TomTom, I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy one suitable for motorhomes instead of being a cheapskate. The TomTom did it's usual and sent me down routes which would have been a pain in my Honda CRV, all for the sake of saving half a kilometre. The alternative is to spend time with a good road map and compile a detailed route plan like we did in times gone by. I'll follow this topic with interest.

Have been using my Garmin Nuvi 3895 for over 5 years very successfully in both Europe amd the UK. But we never rely only on the satnav. We look at the sat nav route and check it with a regular map. The Garmin updates well with the Garmin Express app so long as you make sure you’ve got the latest version of Express.

 

[Stealaway]

Hi. We are trying to decide on which sat nav to purchase. We have a autotrail hiline Imala 720 and plan to go to Europe this year. We are trying to decide between Tom Tom go expert 7, Tom Tom camper max 7 or a Garmin.

Can we have your advice please. There doesn’t seem to be a lot between them which is making it an even harder decision.,
Many thanks

TomTom the bigger the better as you always have to mount it a way off.
Don't worry about a model with dimensions. We have had one and it's so rare it needs to warn you and you always get loads of warnings.
In 10 years and a 100k we have had to divert maybe twice.

 

[daventess]

Co-Pilot app has never put me wrong yet.

I had to say it out loud, didn't I? Well, watch out for me on the news ...

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[KD]

We have a Garmin 780 with MH dimensions set - been happy with it UK and France

 

[simmons]

Have been using my Garmin Nuvi 3895 for over 5 years very successfully in both Europe amd the UK. But we never rely only on the satnav. We look at the sat nav route and check it with a regular map. The Garmin updates well with the Garmin Express app so long as you make sure you’ve got the latest version of Express.

Thank you for your reply.

 

[Coolcats]

This is one of the problems when relying on technology, it always disappoints.

We use the standard Zenec sat nav but my co pilot has a paper map who tracks the journey on it, ocassionally overriding the sat nav or suggesting an interesting place to stop. A blend of tech and paper maps when driving we find works really well.

What did people do before sat navs ! ( most did not get lost)

 

[andyjc]

Like many on here I've been an avid follower of the various sat nav debates and had actually managed to convince myself that a sat nav for the motorhome where I could input van dimensions would be a worthwhile purchase. It was only recently I realised that I'd been driving a Luton van around and never once given a thought to the type of sat nav. The answer's simple, if you drive a 10 foot high van, don't try to go under an 8 foot high bridge!

 

[daventess]

Like many on here I've been an avid follower of the various sat nav debates and had actually managed to convince myself that a sat nav for the motorhome where I could input van dimensions would be a worthwhile purchase. It was only recently I realised that I'd been driving a Luton van around and never once given a thought to the type of sat nav. The answer's simple, if you drive a 10 foot high van, don't try to go under an 8 foot high bridge!

For some of us, anything higher, wider and longer than an SUV is a new experience, and we might not automatically remember that the road we've travelled down daily for 20+ years in a car is 1ft lower than our 3m high motorhome. Copilot takes that anxiety away for me. Amazing how many traffic calming measures exist around here that are too small and twisty to pass through unscathed in a long MH.

I also wonder how many more people took the paintwork off trying to go round a corner in a village that looked almost passable on a map but turned out to be mathematically impossible to navigate in an 8m bus. And then had to enlist the half-amused-half-angry locals that you've blocked to reverse up and guide you out ...

Not that that's happened to me yet, but it is an anxiety dream I have

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[simmons]

This is one of the problems when relying on technology, it always disappoints.

We use the standard Zenec sat nav but my co pilot has a paper map who tracks the journey on it, ocassionally overriding the sat nav or suggesting an interesting place to stop. A blend of tech and paper maps when driving we find works really well.

What did people do before sat navs ! ( most did not get lost)

Thanks for the info. To be honest we have always got paper maps with us as we like to plan our journeys. So a combination of both tech and paper maps seems a good way.

 

[Brains]

Thanks for the info. To be honest we have always got paper maps with us as we like to plan our journeys. So a combination of both tech and paper maps seems a good way.

A paper map to see where you are going.
A Sat Nav to see where you are.

 

[Allybob]

We've had Aguri with built in dash cam for years. Useful to have ACSI and stops listed. Rarely puts us wrong although I always use a paper map aswell. It takes a long time to boot up though.

 

[Brains]

We've had Aguri with built in dash cam for years. Useful to have ACSI and stops listed. Rarely puts us wrong although I always use a paper map aswell. It takes a long time to boot up though.

That is no way to treat you other half!

 

[Bibbers]

I've had a Garmin Camper 770 LMT-D for over 4 years and so far it has been a great buy. I update it over WiFi every couple of months and have put our MH dimensions in. We have used it around northern Europe and the NC 500 and have yet to get stuck or have had to back track due low bridges etc. It also has a 'Motorhome Fun' option that finds sites and stopovers, including site details. Don't want to speak too soon but would buy again no problem

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[Claris]

Hi. We are trying to decide on which sat nav to purchase. We have a autotrail hiline Imala 720 and plan to go to Europe this year. We are trying to decide between Tom Tom go expert 7, Tom Tom camper max 7 or a Garmin.

Can we have your advice please. There doesn’t seem to be a lot between them which is making it an even harder decision.,
Many thanks

Garmin for me, have the 795, with ASCI site preloaded and also incorporates dash cam.

 

[Rapidorob]

For road width or height I would suggest that you don't rely on a sat nav. I understand that the maps don't include road widths and therefore the only way that dimensions avoid narrow roads is by keeping you on major roads. If that's okay for you then use one of those along with other large vehicles but, keep your eyes pealed for "narrow road" signs or "low bridges" so that you don't end up having to backtrack or else, at worst damaging your van!

 

[Gordo]

We recently got the Garmin 795 - it's terrific but don't get the version with the dashcam. We did and wish we didn't - 2 issues with it.
1. It only comes with a screen mount (which is no use in an A class) - I've had to cut / adapt the mount to make it work upside down. Garmin don't sell any other mounts for it (I asked them).
2. The dashcam only adjusts left to right, not up and down, which means you have to have the screen tilted further forward than is natural to have the camera pointing in the right direction when it's flat on the dash.

G

 

[Peter_Cooke]

Try the CMNAV Trucker model, you can input vehicle dimensions to avoid the 'silly' routes some standard Sat Navs might try and send you down.

 

[Coolcats]

A paper map to see where you are going.
A Sat Nav to see where you are.

I normally look out of the window to see where I am but agree with you having both helps a lot