I have a little Garmin nuvi which is nearing 5 years old, it only cost 50chf on sale and it's been a great little device, normally in the wife's car and perfect for finding the way around the area..

However on longer journeys it's a real pain.. It's determined to take the shortest route, always, even when it's stupid. For example, usually the best route for a long journey is the autoroute, not farm tracks and through tiny villages .. But this is what it does. Yes i can ignore it but in a totally new area it's not so simple. I've done 1000km through Burgandy last few days and i reckon it's wasted a small fortune in fuel.


I've been through the settings etc obviously and it's limited, i can avoid tolls and avoid autoroute.. No much else.

So any recommendation for a SatNav which can be programmed for sensible routing? Stick to major roads where possible etc. Or even view and edit the route before starting.? I'd probably just use it for longer trips and leave the gamin in the wife car for local stuff.

Does it not have a "fastest route" option?

It has a few things like that but I've tried them and it seems to make no/little difference..

It has latest maps etc.. It just seems determined to take short routes..

Yesterday I was on a main road.. Through vineyards for miles in all directions.. I could clearly see the road ahead was curving to the right, like a great big semi circle.. Satnav wanted me to take a rough single farm dirt track and rejoin the main the road again a few kms around the bend!

It's all a matter on how you setup the device (i.e. avoid toll routes) and whether or not the device was updated within the last 5 years.

I have one of the recent Tomtom Go models... for routing options, it has fastest, shortest, and eco (what-ever that means). Anyway, I have selected fastest and for what I need, I'm quite happy. Only gripe is that it's a bit 'aggressive'... what I mean is, it will try to re-route me to save 1-2min on a 2-hour journey, in this case, I simply ignore the re-route and stick to the major road.

I use Tyre for those long routes. Written by a Dutch Biker, it works with both Garmin and Tomtom.

It's free too for the basic version but is only available for Windows presently.

If you select "Avoid Toll Routes" and select "Shortest Route" you will indeed end up driving along farm tracks.

You have to accept Toll Roads here, as Switzerland has the Autobahn Vignette.
You should also select "Fastest Route" as then the Navigator will include the Autobahns and city ring roads.

The same advice has already been offered, but you seem to ignore it.

Otherwise buy the TomTom Start 25, it is cheap and good with free map updates.
https://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/sat-nav...ucts/start-25/

You can buy it at www.microspot.ch

I said my unit has these options. I didn't say I'm using them.
Of course I'm not driving around with shortest route option selected and then complaining here that it always takes the shortest route FFS.

I have toggled on / off all of the available options regarding fast/short/toll/ECO. It still wants to take silly back roads.

Silly question, but why not use Google Maps on your smartphone? Its free, has constantly updated maps and the killer feature is 'over the air' traffic updates (from multiple reliable sources) which means re-routing you around snarl ups.

However if you really want a stand-alone unit then I would get something like a TOMTOM GO 6200 which has a built in simcard for lifetime OTA traffic and speed camera updates. Its a little expensive upfront, but you do get a lifetime of worldwide maps, speed camera and traffic updates with no data charges even when roaming outside Switzerland.

I have Co-Pilot on my iPhone and i like it.. But i'm suspicious of it for long term use, like many hours, the phone gets really pretty hot.. Of course google maps would use data, maybe not ideal for a 6 hour drive.

I also have built in navigation in the car but the volvo interface is clunky and i don't like it. My xc90 is a few years old and has the maps on DVD which are stupidly expensive to update.

All of the options i have are fine for sub one hour local jouneys.. I was just hoping for a better, occasional long journey unit with good interface, ability to see the route before setting off, change it if i want, good POIs..

I've found hundreds of threads today of people with same complaint about the same unit, seems to be a suggestion that hard reset might help it.. So will try that before buying. Next long drive is a few weeks away.

Does it have to be a dedicated satnav? I'm a convert of Waze on a mobile phone - does smart routing, traffic analysis and notified of speed traps (police or fixed cameras)

Until now you have never said you tried these options. You could communicate in a better manner, then neither of us would waste time writing crap!

Ok I'm terribly sorry if post 3 was not clear enough. I thought that covered the point that "I've tried them" .. As in various options.

Anyways.

Can you tell us the exact model of your Garmin Nüvi? You will wonder what mind boggling options and hidden switches some of devices have. For example it can make a difference if you set the option while a route is loaded (option will only affect current route) or when no route is loaded (option will affect all future routes).

I would suggest using Google maps on your phone if thats an option. Its generally more up to date and you get traffic and dynamic routing included. Just watch the roaming charges if you drive abroad. Its possible to download/cache the map now for certain areas so it works offline (i.e. if you turn data roaming off or don't have network coverage).

Been using Windows Maps (formerly: Here) offline for years on my Nokia Lumia for years now. Never a problem.

Tom Tom. Used for years. Third unit now. Never sends me in the grass field

+1 Only grieve I have with mine is that it always wants me to drive through Zurich when going to Wallisellen. But then that may be my settings.........

Sounds like you have it set on scenic route.

No, that surely not. But maybe the quickest way is through Zürich according to TT