Time to change Satnav

I have just bought one of the Garmin satnavs advertised in the Club magazine, and used it for the first time in caravan mode this weekend.  Ensured full outfit measurements correctly installed, and regret I am very disappointed.  On two occasions device tried to take us down B-road specifically mentioned on the club directions guide as unsuitable for caravans.  Anyone else had this?

Well....I listened to all the good advice given on here and as I was getting ready to make a purchase, I stumbled on to the TomTom mobile phone app.  Looked interesting, considering that I have been a TomTom user for many years.  It also displays current speed on road.  The price was reasonable and the mapping looked clear and bright, so I purchased it.

No matter what I try, I can't get the voice to work for more than short periods.  Today, after TomTom support told me how to do a system reset, the voice still does not work.

I am trying to get a refund as the app does not do what it is supposed to, though I doubt a refund will be speedily forthcoming.

Back to drawing board.  Still have 3 weeks before trip to Scotland.

I started with a Panasonic satnav, but soon changed to a Tomtom.  Then I bought a later Tomtom with free lifetime updates. After this went back for repair, and began to give trouble after repair, I ditched it in favour of my earlier Tomtom, but did not update it because the cost was abortive.  Whilst still cogitating on a replacement, I changed my car to a VW Caravelle, and this has a built-in satnav.  It can be updated without cost, but the procedure is a bit comploicated.  Whilst it seems a general improvement over the Tomtom, using some of the menus is a bit daunting.  I tend to select my destinations based on GPS, and inputting these readings is a totally different method to anything I've done before. Switching on the road lights automatically changes the screen to nighttime mode, and a second view appears in the MFD, showing countdown markers and arrowed directions for left or right, etc.   I sometimes wonder how my satnav compares to those built into other vehicle makes.

Here's a strange thing. If I want to select a destination i can use the touch screen to expand the map and scroll until I locate my intended destination and then tap it to give me a route from my current position.  For a trial, in this way I selected a destination in France.  Suddenly the map inverted, putting north approximately where south should be.  There was no way I could correct this except by collapsing the map, but the inversion recurred when I expanded it again.  The only way to stop it was to switch off the satnav and boot up again from scratch.

This has only happened when I chose to "cross" the english Channel. To avoid problems on the day, I have decided to select my French destination only when we have docked at St Malo.  I do carry a printed route guide for back up as a precaution.

I select my next stop while sitting waiting to disembark. Satnavs increasingly seem to have become idiosyncratic. All these fancy pictures of which lane to be in. Perhaps it's all getting too much for these gizmos.