GPS--rent or bring my own?
 

We are renting a car for 6 days while in Germany. I didn't know whether it was better to use a GPS the rental car company would provide me (about $7./day) or download Europe maps for $99. onto my own system and bring it with me. At least I know how to use my own GPS here in US. Any experiences to share?

I bring my own. I live in NYC and don't own a car but I bought a GPS w/ European maps specifically for my vacations.

We always take our own too. It's paid for itself in that we have also used it in the U.S. when traveling to a big city we're not familiar with driving in.

What type of car are you renting? If you're upgrading your car to one that has a gps any way. Go with that. If you're getting the littlest sub compact, then ask yourself how many more times do you plan on going back to Europe?

Rather than downloading a European map, I bought one on eBay. I got a Garmin and it was $20 less than from Garmin. I figured I could resell it after I was done with it and make most of my money back. Just a thought....

Just a thought, if you took your own and there was a problem with the car or (God forbid) an accident, are you sure using your own GPS (what COULD be described as 'attaching un-authorised personal equipment' to said vehicle) would not go 'against' you? Perhaps I'm being too cautious but I'd play it safe by using what's supplied by the hire company.

The GPS given by car rental xompanies are shipped to your home before you leave. Vuy your own map for your Garmin.

<attaching unauthorized personal equipment>

Norfolk, are you quoting that off a rental contract? Never heard that before.

When we rented a GPS from Dan Dooley it was handed to us at the pickup counter.

The ones provided are often substandard. If you do that, be prepared to buy a map. We always use our own and DL whatever maps we need. BUT, if you don´t travel to Europe often this may not be worthwhile to you.

sundried

> you quoting that off a rental contract? <

No sundried, just being cautious, PERHAPS too cautious.

We inadvertently had to rent a GPS from Europcar in Munich a couple years ago. I usually bring my own device but that time around had to become rapidly familiar with a Garmin. It was pretty simple to do and I ended up liking it more than my own device (which I had used in Europe in the past and liked a lot). We also ended up using one from Hertz when we rented a car in Florence later in the trip.

OUR experience: there wasn't anything "substandard" about the devices at all. They both seemed to have the latest maps and for the Italian portion we were out in the very back boonies of Tuscany and the thing knew every road, every speed camera location (and gave warnings in advance), the location of gasoline stations, etc.

I would not hesitate to use one again.

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. All very interesting. I will check with Andy at Gemut and see if he has any thoughts too as we are renting car with him and Avis. Perhaps downloading to my own device will ensure we go back to Europe soon!

We have always taken our Garmin, and it worked well for us. Last trip, however, in May I was with friends, and we rented a car with a "factory-built", (ie, not portable GPS in it), and whereas it worked ok, it took a bit of getting used to the different way of using it. Bottom line, I'd take my own.

I recently rented a car in Germany with a built-in "navigator" that didn't work at all. Took google maps and my own Garmin. Both were wrong in that they didn't identify road work or easiest route. Used paper maps a lot. Won't hurt to take your own sinc eit doesn't take up much space. Remember if you happen to wander into France, it's illegal to have a GPS tell you where the cameras are. Also France has a requirement (as of July 1) that you must have breathalyzers in the car. Stay in Germany. It's a fantastic country and we can use the business.

Another good reason to bring your own is that you can use it in 'pedestrian' mode to navigate while walking around cities. That was quite valuable to me in Florence and Rome among many other cities!

I had a built-in GPS in my VW rental last year in Switzerland... took a few minutes to try and figure it out but gave up and used my own. Did love the built-in one that came with my Mercedes in Germany though (after someone at Europcar showed me how to use it)!