Sat Nav

[Jcloughie]

I have used Tom Tom for years, the latest was the Caravan edition. On the whole I have been more than happy and very much like the Tom Tom interface. However, the Caravan edition gave up the ghost a while ago so I have been looking for a replacement. My Car has a built in Sat Nav but no Caravan option and the Volvo's attempt is far from the quality of the Tom Tom.

My car does not have the Apple car play or Google options, so that's out.


So I started looking for a replacement. Various Caravan type Sat Navs are north of £300, so, as I now have a large iPhone with lots of data allowance, I thought I would investigate that.

First the Tom Tom app. This would be absolutely great. But they do not support large vehicles. I think this is deliberate and short sighted of them.

Other options are Michelin, which seems fine.

Waze, not looked at that yet.

NNG, Not looked at that yet, but has a Which recommendation.

But I am now testing out a free 2 weeks with Co-Pilot. After that is about £14 per year. My first impressions are really good.

Has anyone else used it?

Will write write a follow up when I have the chance to use it properly.

John

 

[Johnb]

"Rest in Peace" whichever you end up with!

 

[Jcloughie]

"Rest in Peace" whichever you end up with!

Hopefully, but want reassurance that it will not send me down a road like this.




This was because my Tom Tom had been reset and lost the caravan dimensions. I had past a warning sign and was busy trying to remember my height. (Since then I have a sticker behind the sun visor). I managed to turn right and double back through a housing estate, then a 20 mile detour. Not the best of shocks. Turns out my van is 2.658 high!

Hence my question to see if anyone has experience with Copilot, particularly the app.


John

 

[Buckman]

What about the new TomTom Go Camper as TT themselves are doing a 25% discount at the moment. We used https://www.tomtomrepairteam.co.uk/ to repair our TT Camping and Caravan and it works fine. Cost was £25 and it was back with us within 3 days!

 

[Jcloughie]

What about the new TomTom Go Camper as TT themselves are doing a 25% discount at the moment. We used https://www.tomtomrepairteam.co.uk/ to repair our TT Camping and Caravan and it works fine. Cost was £25 and it was back with us within 3 days!

Thanks, I should have used the repair option before I had a go myself. But it was one of the original ones and was due to end it’s Tom Tom support anyway.

A new one is still at least the best part of £300. Though I very much like the Tom Tom system, things have, I feel moved on. Those that have cars with Google or Apple play built in seem more than happy with the Sat Nav provided for free. I am looking for an option to use on my large screen phone. So far the CoPilot looks really good, and only £14 per year.

As I said before, the Tom Tom app is really good. But they have failed to include a caravan option.

John

 

[Buckman]

Thanks, I should have used the repair option before I had a go myself. But it was one of the original ones and was due to end it’s Tom Tom support anyway.

A new one is still at least the best part of £300. Though I very much like the Tom Tom system, things have, I feel moved on. Those that have cars with Google or Apple play built in seem more than happy with the Sat Nav provided for free. I am looking for an option to use on my large screen phone. So far the CoPilot looks really good, and only £14 per year.

As I said before, the Tom Tom app is really good. But they have failed to include a caravan option.

John

Does the Co-pilot update you on traffic and offer alternative routes if there is an issue on the roads? I have no knowledge of the Co-pilot app and what it offers.

 

[Jcloughie]

Correction. The App is £14 for car only, Caravan edition is £26 per year.



John

 

[bertieboy1]

I have used Tom Tom for years, the latest was the Caravan edition. On the whole I have been more than happy and very much like the Tom Tom interface. However, the Caravan edition gave up the ghost a while ago so I have been looking for a replacement. My Car has a built in Sat Nav but no Caravan option and the Volvo's attempt is far from the quality of the Tom Tom.

My car does not have the Apple car play or Google options, so that's out.


So I started looking for a replacement. Various Caravan type Sat Navs are north of £300, so, as I now have a large iPhone with lots of data allowance, I thought I would investigate that.

First the Tom Tom app. This would be absolutely great. But they do not support large vehicles. I think this is deliberate and short sighted of them.

Other options are Michelin, which seems fine.

Waze, not looked at that yet.

NNG, Not looked at that yet, but has a Which recommendation.

But I am now testing out a free 2 weeks with Co-Pilot. After that is about £14 per year. My first impressions are really good.

Has anyone else used it?

Will write write a follow up when I have the chance to use it properly.

John

Hi,
Do you really need a caravan type sat nav,all the cars I've had have had built in sat nav but no caravan type.Following the sat nav has never been a problem when towing.

 

[Jcloughie]

Absolutely, I have been directed down totally unsuitable roads many times. Just last year when my Tom Tom gave up. In northern France, the last 10 miles were a nightmare. My wife has no idea how to read a map or navigate. The Volvo SatNav is poor. Single track roads, one after the other with little opportunity to stop and take stock. Once you have tried one you won’t go back. But still it’s necessary to double check.

As said, the Volvo one is hardly fit for purpose, so if I am going to get one it might as well do vans.

John

 

[Hutch]

I am with you, John, Dedicated Caravan Sat Nav, I have an 20 year old Snooper 2000, I managed to get life long updates 5 years ago for £50. Its still great, the cars Sat Nav is done by Navteq, a terrible system, so I check the route between caravan, car and google maps for routes, but with the van on the back follow the Snooper.
Edit, The Snooper has all the CC, CCC and ACIS sites for UK and Europe. Cl's and Cs. Sites. Borg and Camperstop sites.

 

[RogerL]

I am with you, John, Dedicated Caravan Sat Nav, I have an 20 year old Snooper 2000, I managed to get life long updates 5 years ago for £50. Its still great, the cars Sat Nav is done by Navteq, a terrible system, so I check the route between caravan, car and google maps for routes, but with the van on the back follow the Snooper.
Edit, The Snooper has all the CC, CCC and ACIS sites for UK and Europe. Cl's and Cs. Sites. Borg and Camperstop sites.

How did we all manage before sat navs were invented?

 

[Jcloughie]

How did we all manage before sat navs were invented?

Good planning. But now we have the opportunity for enhanced planning. Thats progress.

John

 

[Hutch]

That's how a lot of us learned to reverse, by going down the wrong road, No motor movers, also in school we learned how to read an Ordanance Survey map, about hills, beaches, marshes etc.

I would still be wary about Porlock hill , to Lynton and Linford.

 

[Tuningdrew]

Or you could trust your Garmin Camper sat- nav........NOT!

 

[Jcloughie]

I would still be wary about Porlock hill , to Lynton and Linford.

Did that mid 1980‘s Fiat 132 auto towing a Musketeer. Just about made it. No SatNav to blame, just bad, or no, planning.

John

 

[Gozza2]

I use a phone app called Navmii, which is free in the basic version. It has "car" or "Lorry / RV" modes, I find the RV mode has never taken me on an unsuitable route for caravanning. It's also got cycling and walking modes, and a couple of others I haven't used. It's got a traffic monitor mode so you know if you've got heavy traffic or roadworks reported ahead of you. There are modes for "Avoid toll roads"and "avoid motorways" if you want to use them, and you can choose if your route is "fastest", "shortest", "easiest" or "most economical".

UK Mapping is also free, and resident on the phone so you don't need to have data switched on while you're using it (although data is needed for the traffic information) - you can buy mapping for overseas countries, I can't remember how much but I know it's reasonable 'cos we've always used it abroad.

You'll get a pop-up ad when you first open the app - usually for navigation-related software - but once you've closed that it's ad-free until the next time you open the app. Of course you can go for a paid ad-free version.

Optional paid add-ons includes a safety camera database and a variety of different voices.

As long as it works as well as it does for me at the moment I'll keep using it - I'd certainly recommend giving it a try.

 

[carper2]

I am on my second Pro - Drive Europe it cost £79.95. I love it you input Height, Width and Length, Weight and number of axles. I ave used it in the UK, France, Belgium and Spain. It comes loaded with Archies campsites and is very easy to use. There are other things which I don't bother using. I had my last one for 5 years and only got rid of it as I forgot how to update it. It took me wrong twice but that was because I put the wrong information in.

Les