Hiring Satnav from Ebay for USA Holiday

tarkytarks

We rented our car through dollar.co.uk and the package I chose included a sat nav with the hire. Is it possible for you to add on a sat nav with your car?

lynzpower

The sat nav option for us was expensive as about £8.00 per day - over 100 quid. Its a lot cheaper to hire one here in the UK and take it with you,.

problemcashback

lynzpower wrote: »

I think we will need one, quite a complex journey we are doing! We also dont drive often in the UK as we dont have cars, so want it to be as relaxing as possible!

you havent been on a highway and missed your turn off and had to go 30 miles to the next

ferf1223

meer53 wrote: »

It's much more fun to drive in the USA without a Satnav ! I've driven there loads of times and always found where i wanted to be without one, i think their road systems are quite user friendly. Mind you i don't use one here either, can't stand them.

I'm American - and I agree that the road system is very user-friendly most places (usually a grid, so only have to go around the block to get back on track)...but one of the best things we've ever done is buy the North American maps for our Garmin - it's so nice to be at point A and think 'hey, you know what - we could swing by point B on our way back to the hotel' and be able to fire up the Garmin and get there with no fuss, no guesswork. We used to print out loads of maps - our hotel to various points...but now we have the Garmin and can skip all that.

I think for interstate driving it can be handy too - especially with those pesky left exits.

Teahfc

lynzpower wrote: »

thats a brilliant idea so thanks for that.

I think we will just do that. there is a walmart just around the corner from the airport, Im sure we will find it ! If I can order it to store then that sorts out a major problem. I can see one for 60 USD on there now, so I think we shall keep an eye on the prices ? Do they change much ?

I have just spent a few months over the pond and to noticed how cheap sat navs where .... they had been same price less than £50 for the 4 months I was there

Bogtrotter

meer53 wrote: »

It's much more fun to drive in the USA without a Satnav ! I've driven there loads of times and always found where i wanted to be without one, i think their road systems are quite user friendly. Mind you i don't use one here either, can't stand them.

Actually I would actually say the opposite is true I found it much more interesting driving with the help of a Satnav. Yes its easy getting around without one but I've discovered places and seen things that I would have missed had I not had the use of a unit.

I used to do fly drive to the USA the oldfashioned way planning where we were going beforehand using a paper map.

That ended in 2001 when we got a free upgrade to a car with a built in Magellan unit. We still had plans to where we wanted to get to but we found so many other places to see along the route using the points of interest and more interesting journeys by selecting avoid main highways on the Satnav.

Ever since we have made a point of hiring Satnav unit and eventually buying one when the prices dropped to a reasonable level.

If its a one off trip buying one there and sticking it on ebay when you get back sounds like a good idea. But if you regularly drive in USA or Europe on holidays I would suggest a bit of research and invest in one that suits you. Its a great tourist tool.

balt

photome wrote: »

How much would that cost to use for 2 weeks in USA?

Once you buy the program there is no charge to use it. Its also available on iphone i think for £2.99 a bargain, worth it for a backup anyway.

lynzpower

We did without one in orlando and we did manage to get lost a couple of times. Once we ended in a rather dicey place :eek:

So this time OH says we have to have one.

I am thinking I can preload the locations on my googlemap, then when we get to the states, we will buy one, then open the laptop connect the usb and then "send to my GPS" on google maps? then it would upload all the places to the sat nav?

lynzpower

balt wrote: »

Once you buy the program there is no charge to use it. Its also available on iphone i think for £2.99 a bargain, worth it for a backup anyway.

Im not sure that can be true.It must need to update, and therefore use the download/ or wifi. I doubt there is a lot of wifi on the road for free?

photome

balt wrote: »

Once you buy the program there is no charge to use it. Its also available on iphone i think for £2.99 a bargain, worth it for a backup anyway.

Is that really the case? Doesnt the phone use any type of paid for connection to keep track of where you are?