Buying a used GPS...

[Darin]

I'm looking for a used GPS since they seem to be flooding the market at great prices.  But I read you can't update it if it's not registered to you.  I'm guessing the seller would have to transfer the registration online?  Anyone went through this process?

 

[steveblonde]

You can buy a new one so cheap these days and new ones have so many features - we bought one new 2 yrs ago and its amZing we use it in renral cars when we travel for business

 

[Darin]

Cheap might be a relative term.  I only need it for a trip.  I'm looking at $30 used ones.  I'd much rather use my phone with WAZE, but Virgin coverage isn't nation wide. 

 

[Alfa38User]

Never heard of changing a registration of a GPS unit on line (or otherwise). Since they are registered by serial number, and no names etc are required for updates, I don't see how the updater programs could tell who is at the other end, at least with my Garmin lifetime updates.

You should be looking new and buying one with lifetime map updates (its lifetime, not yours!!). Since features of the various units are changing all the time, mostly for the better, you would be much better off that way. Updates the old way by paying for each is cost prohibitive today. Units built into many autos are that way and map updates are ridiculously expensive....

I use mine all the time whenever I think I need it as they have much greater accuracy than the older ever models had. I never considered it be a "one time" need. I have had 3 over the last 30 years including 1 marine unit with NO maps. The current one is the best I've had so far. There is no comparison to using a phone unless you are really stuck IMHO.

 

[darsben]

Look on ebay
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Garmin-Drive-50LM-US-Canada-Garmin-Drive-50LM-US-Canada/192893539176?hash=item2ce959d368:g:w4oAAOSwcjBcuZB4

It is a little pricey at $85.00 BUT it has lifetime maps so that next year or whenever you can use it again.
There are cheaper ones on EBAY but this is a factory refurbished and has a warranty. Plus you know who you are buying from

 

[Great Horned Owl]

Cheap might be a relative term.  I only need it for a trip.  I'm looking at $30 used ones.  I'd much rather use my phone with WAZE, but Virgin coverage isn't nation wide.

Put CoPilot on your phone. All of the maps are stored internally, so you don't need a phone connection. I have it, and no longer bother with a stand alone GPS.

loel

 

[Darin]

The reason I'm worried about registration is, if I buy used and it's stolen, it may be blocked from updating?  Is that a thing? 

 

[Isaac-1]

I bought a Garmin Dezl 770 (truckers gps) from a retiring truck driver a couple of years ago, and have had no issues doing updates.  I did however end up doing a factory reset to get some of the obscure preferences to work right, and for the guide me home function to take me to the right place.  Before doing so no matter what I set as the home address it would try to take me to Ohio

 

[MichaelInMA]

Are truckers one worth the extra money?

I have Garmin but find I use the Google Maps on my cell phone one about 1/4 the time.  The Garmin has a better user interface but it often cannot find a location or gives a questionable route.  Google maps always finds things and gives the best routes.

 

[Isaac-1]

The trucker model I have is very good about keeping people on truck routes, it will tend to send you around a loop at a small town vs driving through the center of town.    You also enter your height and weight, and it does a fairly good job of avoiding weight or height restricted routes.

The flip side of this coin is that I may want to  drive through the center of town in a small town, at which point I may get pop up warnings about not being on a confirmed truck route, or being in a no truck area even though I can see  18 wheelers doing the same thing as I want to do..

 

[Darin]

I downloaded the CoPilot and didn't know before I set it up that the price to buy it was $15 if you enter a car and $29 if you enter an RV.  And they tell you that you cannot change the vehicle.  I'll be deleting that app since I said RV.  I did try it a little around here.  The interface seems ok though.  Perhaps I can re register it with a different email address as a car.  I'd pay $15....maybe.  Still, I'd probably just rather have an actual GPS so it doesn't hog up 2.7gigs on my iphone. 

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

You can get a new Garmin Drive 5 for about $90.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Garmin-Drive-5-LM-EX-GPS-Navigator/103445019

 

[Polaris]

On a related note - as my wife and I study to buy our first RV I notice in nearly every photo the GPS is in a very small screen located way over in the center console. That seems almost impossible to drive safely while squinting over that small screen.

After having larger screens in cars and boats, located much closer to the line-of-sight, I wonder what you guys actually use. Have a hand-held in a holder on the dash? After-market screen with better location? 
Thanks

 

[Larry N.]

That seems almost impossible to drive safely while squinting over that small screen.

Which is part of why it's nice that most of the recent GPSs will speak the directions so that you don't have to look. In my Ventana, though, I have a Garmin 770 that is mounted atop the dash directly in front of my eyes -- the best of both worlds.

 

[On The Go]

I have a Garmon 760rv which the original owner gave me when we bought our 2017 Holiday Rambler.  No issues.  Entered ser# on the Garman site and have already done 2 updates.  They are free

 

[Isaac-1]

Here is a photo showing where I have mine mounted, using a suction cup extension arm stuck to the side window glass and braced by the dashboard to prevent bobbing up and down.

 

[Tom]

I needed a GPS for a car that resides at our place in the MidWest and gets used a month or two twice a year (the home and the car). I bought a refurbished (aka renewed) Garmin with lifetime maps on amazon. No issue with 'registration or updates.