Community Forums

al2ride · 03-15-2015, 07:26 AM

I can't believe that after two seasons of nothing but bad experiences it is finally dead. I have to admit that I will never forget the time it told me to take this one road that went on for 10 miles that was only big enough for one car...and yes, it was programmed as Class A 35'. Half of the other trips we took we ended up in the wrong place...close, but not quite there. Then how after several years of being built, Hwy 33 on the east side of OH. It always showed I was off roading. LOL

On this trip from OH to FL it pooped out on our first leg. I didn't notice that the charger managed to blow the fuse in my 12v cig lighter outlet and the GPS ran until it died. Luckily I was somewhat familiar with the route and took the right exit. The tripmaker died and stayed dead. I had DW plug it into the laptop for power, but that didn't work even after an hour of charging. I then tried the reset button and this long bar came on. When the bar finally got full, it stayed there until the screen went blank. That's it. Left it charging overnight to no avail. Thank God for iphones to be able to make it to our next campground.

Now we need to get another RV GPS. What are the other options? Not happy with Rand McNally.

itgeekgal · 03-15-2015, 09:46 AM

We also use a Rand McNally... prior to this we were using a Garmin trucker edition but gave it up because it was no more accurate sending us on "big rig friendly" routes than the Rand McNally is. At this point before we head out we compare the Rand McNally route with Garmin & Google maps, if they all agree we feel fairly confident we'll arrive intact.

exgman · 03-15-2015, 02:19 PM

I think any gps device, whether it be a Garmin, Rand, or Ipad, etc will eventually send you down that 8' dirt road. If my route is going to be difficult I double check it on Google Earth before I go.

dennis45 · 03-15-2015, 02:57 PM

I have been using the Magellan 9165T from Good Sam for about three years. It is not quite as sophisticated as some others I have read about but for the most part it does a good job. In Alaska for some reason it worked a little strange but otherwise, OK.
I call these things an excellent guide to be taken with a grain of salt. Always confirm using good old road maps or whatever else you have at your disposal.

BobGed · 03-15-2015, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by al2ride

I can't believe that after two seasons of nothing but bad experiences it is finally dead. I have to admit that I will never forget the time it told me to take this one road that went on for 10 miles that was only big enough for one car...and yes, it was programmed as Class A 35'. Half of the other trips we took we ended up in the wrong place...close, but not quite there. Then how after several years of being built, Hwy 33 on the east side of OH. It always showed I was off roading. LOL

On this trip from OH to FL it pooped out on our first leg. I didn't notice that the charger managed to blow the fuse in my 12v cig lighter outlet and the GPS ran until it died. Luckily I was somewhat familiar with the route and took the right exit. The tripmaker died and stayed dead. I had DW plug it into the laptop for power, but that didn't work even after an hour of charging. I then tried the reset button and this long bar came on. When the bar finally got full, it stayed there until the screen went blank. That's it. Left it charging overnight to no avail. Thank God for iphones to be able to make it to our next campground.

Now we need to get another RV GPS. What are the other options? Not happy with Rand McNally.

I wouldn't necessarily give up on the unit yet. I personally haven't experienced anything like you're describing over the past few years of use.

You might try contacting their tech support at 1-877-446-4863.

Clayobx · 03-15-2015, 04:04 PM

I agree contact their tech support. They even post helpful solutions on this forum. I have the original RM going on five years. I thought about trading up for screen size etc., but it works great. DW is very accustomed with it and in the five years it's been error free except one time! I'm sticking with it, if it ain't broke don't fix it!

jplante4 · 03-15-2015, 04:31 PM

TomTom sent us down a county road in the Catskills that lead to a 13% downgrade through a state forest. I learned 2 things from that, one that I already knew but forgot.

1. "A prudent navigator will not use a single source of navigation information."
2. Set the GPS to fastest route vs. shortest route.

96 Wideglide · 03-17-2015, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by al2ride

I have to admit that I will never forget the time it told me to take this one road that went on for 10 miles that was only big enough for one car...

Ha, I got that beat!
Mine try'd to take me down a "road" that was only wide enough for a mountain bike

!!

al2ride · 03-17-2015, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobGed

I wouldn't necessarily give up on the unit yet. I personally haven't experienced anything like you're describing over the past few years of use.

You might try contacting their tech support at 1-877-446-4863.

I did. Explained the whole thing and their response was a link to their store so that I could buy a new charger. I don't think they read a word I wrote :(

Between this product and the TST TPMS I've batted for my team.

al2ride · 03-17-2015, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 96 Wideglide

Ha, I got that beat!
Mine try'd to take me down a "road" that was only wide enough for a mountain bike

!!

LOL. While I was going through that one skinny road, I passed a couple of people hanging out in their porch looking at me like I was out of this planet. It probably reminded them of the movie RV.

Pigman1 · 03-17-2015, 07:18 PM

Blindly following a GPS got some people killed within the past few years in Death Valley.

It's a machine, not GOD.

VERIFY VERIFY VERIFY

Papa_Jim · 03-17-2015, 09:39 PM

We have used Garmin, Tom Tom, Google Maps, Rand McNally RV, etc. etc. etc. We have learned that you can't trust any of them further than you can throw them down the road ahead of the RV.

We have learned that you have to plan your next day, and know where you want to go, so you can laugh at your GPS when it starts giving you stupid instructions. Eventually it will conform to your wishes and tell you that you are going down the right road, which you knew before it told you.

They are all helpful navigation planning tools. None of them are worth a lick of salt as directional navigators.

Jim

RandMcSam · 03-20-2015, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by al2ride

I can't believe that after two seasons of nothing but bad experiences it is finally dead. I have to admit that I will never forget the time it told me to take this one road that went on for 10 miles that was only big enough for one car...and yes, it was programmed as Class A 35'. Half of the other trips we took we ended up in the wrong place...close, but not quite there. Then how after several years of being built, Hwy 33 on the east side of OH. It always showed I was off roading. LOL

On this trip from OH to FL it pooped out on our first leg. I didn't notice that the charger managed to blow the fuse in my 12v cig lighter outlet and the GPS ran until it died. Luckily I was somewhat familiar with the route and took the right exit. The tripmaker died and stayed dead. I had DW plug it into the laptop for power, but that didn't work even after an hour of charging. I then tried the reset button and this long bar came on. When the bar finally got full, it stayed there until the screen went blank. That's it. Left it charging overnight to no avail. Thank God for iphones to be able to make it to our next campground.

Now we need to get another RV GPS. What are the other options? Not happy with Rand McNally.

Hi al2ride.
It's never a good thing to hear about a poor customer experience. I'd like to ouch on some of the points you had mentioned so please bear with me while I do. The experience you mentioned where your device took you down a one lane road big enough for a car for 10 miles, have you spoken to a representative about this? We would like to know what road you are talking about so that we can double check in our database to see if that is not a road you should be driving on, if your maps are up to date, or if we need an improvement to be created to adjust the attribute of the road. The Tell Rand option on your device helps situations like these as the GIS team do evaluate every Tell Rand sent in. Truck Tools>Tell Rand. This would also correlate with Highway 33 through Ohio. It is also said that the cigarette lighter blew a fuse in your vehicle. I would make sure you are not using any type of splitter with your device, although if your charger has gone out on you, we will replace it free of charge within the 1 year warranty simply by calling technical support. I'd like to get you in touch with someone who can assist you and help you get your dead unit back up and running. Please PM me your contact information and i'll have a supervisor or manager of technical support reach out to you.

Thank you,
Sam

RandMcSam · 03-20-2015, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by itgeekgal

We also use a Rand McNally... prior to this we were using a Garmin trucker edition but gave it up because it was no more accurate sending us on "big rig friendly" routes than the Rand McNally is. At this point before we head out we compare the Rand McNally route with Garmin & Google maps, if they all agree we feel fairly confident we'll arrive intact.

Hi itgeekgal,

Where do you find the device to not be accurate? Have you tried reaching out to us for support? A new map update has been released last month so if you haven't done so already, please update your RVND to latest!