New Garmin RV-890 goes bonkers and gets Totally Confused….DISCUSSION.

[Dr4Film]

I had owned a Garmin GPS model RV-760-LMT since they were new back in 2013. I have now upgraded to a Garmin RV-890-LM.

Both of these GPS's are totally brainless when driving Interstate 77 through the northern Charlotte and Lake Norman area. Even though I have the GPS's configured for either the 40 or 42 foot coach plus towing a car, the GPS continually wants me to move left into the I-77 Express Lanes where there is an axle restriction. Frankly it is quite annoying to hear Miss Garmin constantly instruct me to use the Express Lanes.

Also, I programmed a trip into the RV-890 for traveling from Totem Pole Park in New Hampshire to my brother's farm in Dansville NY. On the first leg of the trip while driving west on route 7 in Vermont heading towards Troy NY, it wanted me to turn OFF of route 7 onto route 22 to go to Hoosick Falls then back onto route 7. What the hell? I specifically input way-points when needed to keep me on the roads that I WANT to use versus what Garmin wants me to use. After ignoring that turn the GPS kept wanting me to turn around and go back. I finally had to pull over and pick a way-point down the road on my route. The same thing happened on I-77 when it asked me to get off an exit for whatever reason when I knew that wasn't correct so I just ignored that one also. However, this time it didn't annoy me with requests to go back.

Bottom-line, do NOT trust your GPS 100%. I just read an article on the news about a man that had died in an accident caused by following his GPS and then drove off a collapsed bridge.

https://people.com/family-of-man-who-died-after-gps-directed-him-off-bridge-files-lawsuit-7972806

[Georgia Mike]

I have had the 770 LMT for many years. When it first came out it seemed to work pretty darn good. Over the years it has progressively got worse. It does the same thing as Richard described exiting the interstate just to loop around and get back on and having me do crazy stupid things that don’t make any sense. I have updated it all the time hoping that it would fix it but it just gets worse. I’m very leery about getting a newer one and so I just rely on Google maps and Waze which doesn’t account for bridge height and other things. Anyways, I feel your frustration Richard.

[planodp]

I'm with you Richard! I wanted the best and thinking that the Garmin RV-890-LM was the best choice. After a couple of trip I realize that the Garmin still think that I'm driving a car. Now I have my co-pilot check with Google map.

[Scotty Hutto]

I’ve had similar experiences with my Garmin RV780. Most recent:

- Heading to Fort Mountain State Park in GA, rather than taking the straight shot up Hwy 52, it routed me down several “Big Rig Unfriendly” back roads, including 5 miles of dirt roads. (I specifically have unpaved roads as an avoidance)

- In Cody, WY, traveling down the main drag (4-lane, RV friendly), it wanted me to turn off and route through neighborhoods for two blocks, then get back on the same road. 🤷🏻‍♂️

My point? I’ve learned to check my route via another source, usually my old-school (and sometimes slightly out-of-date) printed atlas (remember those?) or at least another routing engine like Waze or Google maps (not RV friendly, but good to check road construction and detours), or the RVLife GPS app (RV Friendly, but not quite as “slick” as Waze… yet. It’s new, and they are improving it rapidly. I used to use CoPilot, but now prefer RVLife.  I don’t know that one’s really any better than the other, I just prefer the RVLife interface. YMMV.

I typically will have Waze running in the background (behind my TPMS app - or I’ll have Debbie fire it up on her phone) and will check it if Garmin wants me to do something that seems sketchy. 

[ncsteve]

I agree with those above. I bought the Garmin wanting it to keep me out of situations, but ended up getting me in them or having to stop and figure out what it was trying to do. Total waste of Money. I don’t even bother turning it on. Waze has been good for us. 

Edited September 24, 2023 by ncsteve

[jacwjames]

Yup, learned some hard lessons so I check my route ahead of time.

Back several years ago we left St Louis heading south then west to a small town, had the address we were headed to and input it into the Garmin 760.  Started driving and after a while the Garmin had us heading east.  Pulled over and put the address back in and headed out again and after a while the same thing happen.  So we pulled out the Atlas and got us pointed in the right direction but by that time we were running pretty late and had to pull into a campground. 

In 2021 returning from the west I was on I40 and decided to stop off in Hot Springs, the Garmin routed me on a two lane road with sharp curves, steep grades.  I know there weren't many options to get there but I wish I would have looked at the route prior to committing.

Even now the Garmin still cannot be trusted but what other alternatives do you have. 

[1nolaguy]

I have had similar issues with my Garmin 890 since I bought it last year. It is not essentially an expensive dash ornament. I trust it less than Google maps. In addition to the problems noted above I find the Garmin, like Google Maps, will reroute me on its own to its default route regardless of the way-points I put in, sometimes onto non-big rig friendly roads. Often this is do to the "live update" function that is suppose to reroute in the event of traffic or accident. I am not sure but suspect that rather than maintaining there own system they have found it cheaper to "buy" up grades from google with hopes of modifying using a logarithm  to modify routes to size specific vehicles but the logarithm is faulty resulting in the glitches noted above. Garmin was once the premier gps but in recent years it seams all the focus has been on bells and whistles  like larger screens and 3D and less on the core functions.

[Georgia Mike]

One thing about google maps that's happened to me is i will select a route and say to start then some where along the line its decides it found a better route. It will ask me if i want to change and i say NO and it will just change me anyways at some point. Its happened so many times that I have to keep checking if the route has changed. Has this happened to anyone else? 

 

[1nolaguy]

Yes. As noted before I think it is sloppy programing in their logarithms.

[jacwjames]

In 2021 prior to taking a long trip out west I made sure to update the Garmins (RV & auto) with the most recent info/POI's 

Traveling northwest from TN to SD I decided to stop overnight at a Bass Pro stop so I jumped off the highway and parked, all was good.  Next morning I got up and started driving to the next destination I had put in my Garmin.  There were no warnings, nothing but the highway was blocked off due to major construction and I had no option but to exit at the last off ramp available and into a residential area.  There were a couple semi's in front of me and a couple followed me off the interstate.  Driving through the residential area I could see where other trucks had been in front of me as there were tree limbs torn off laying in the road, which helped me as I am only 12' high.  Finally the semi in front of me just stopped, I waited for ~5 minutes thinking maybe he was trying to get the best route out from his dispatch.  Finally I gave up and pulled out to go around him, with 2 other semi's following me.  I zoomed out from the map on the Garmin and determined what general direction would get me back on the road and I got lucky as I was able to find the path to a better road and eventually the interstate, the 2 semi's still following me.  Pays to be lucky.

Then on the way back I was in OH and the same darn thing happen, got directed off the interstate because of major road construction and had to find my way through the mess, not the best situation to be in when driving a 40' coach pulling a Jeep. 

I'm getting ready to head out on another trip and will update the Garmin and HOPE it does provide the most recent info is trustworthy!

[96 EVO]

3 hours ago, Georgia Mike said:

I have had the 770 LMT for many years. When it first came out it seemed to work pretty darn good. Over the years it has progressively got worse. It does the same thing as Richard described exiting the interstate just to loop around and get back on and having me do crazy stupid things that don’t make any sense.  

Gee, I thought it was only my Rand Mc Nally that did stupid things like that 🤬!

I've felt like tossing it out the window on a few trips!

[Tom Cherry]

Curiosity….so this a Q&A plus my experience.

Assuming that all the issues were with all the firmware, software & map updates.  Was this done?

Assuming that folks are using the Garmin LINK on a cell or a cellular tablet (we use iPhone or iPad).  Was this done?

We have an original 760….bought for half price when Garmin messed up their web page price….many got them….as the goof was posted on the old Yahoo site. 

Some of the mischief is actually our US government’s random and poorly executed “OMG….this could be a national security issue”.  NOW…Don’t morph this into a political discussion.  Most of the GPS’ get confused or have their “information” scrambled around sensitive spots…like Fort Bragg (aka LIBERTY).  There are also some funky blocking or actually “erroneous information” around remote sites (Arco, ID) or some innocuously mundane looking “big cell towers”….many in places in rural parts of the US.  One in SC broadcasted a signal one time that locked and unlocked all certain GM vehicles in a several hundred square mile area.

I have maybe 50K road miles on mine….as we averaged 6K per year for over 10 years.

I also notice that the “angle” of the birds….and parking one night, can drive it crazy the next morning.  So I just reset and drive and it usually finds itself.

BUT….none of you are convincing me to upgrade.  I USE Google Maps…but I always let Garmin plan the route…keep it on…but will have my DW check out things from time to time on Google…

[Larry Laursen]

I have been using Garmin auto/rv for 20 years. l have a RV 760. Garmin gets their maps from HERE HERE Technologies | The world's #1 location platform

HERE used to be Navteq.  HERE provides basic information to many customers as shown on their site. Garmin provides the user interface (UI) and adds information from other sources for the RV and trucking units.  Like all the other mapping systems there are errors in the billions of data points.  I have had numerous conversations with Garmin tech support and PlanRV, the supplier of a lot of the RV park and rest area information as moderator of the RV760 group on groups.io Garmin760@groups.io | Topics.

I have had a lot of odd things happen because of errors in the data.  A few years ago it wouldn't let the RV on I 40 and then I 80.  The problem with I 80 was someone put the weight limit too low. A three years ago it wouldn't take I 75 through Atlanta.

In my case I plan my route using Garmin's Basecamp mapping software.  I know others have tried it and had difficulties using it.  I agree with them it's not easy to use and hasn't been updated too much.  The advantage is the program uses the same maps and data as in the GPS when you have the same version of the maps on both.  So, when you put a route in the program, it will show most of the problems.  Many times, you can change to auto and the route will go where you want.  I did this on US 12 in Idaho 2 years ago knowing the route was usable. I can also export the route as a .kml file and import that into Google Earth and see what is along the way such as sharp curves and steep grades.  I have several thousand waypoints in it which helps. The RV 780 and newer RV GPS' have are a lot of campground and additional points of interest.  I Download the daily routes to the GPS from the computer and they are accessed through the Trip Planning function on the GPS. The trips are indexed on the GPS by the departure date and time. 

The map routing algorithm in the GPS is different than what is used in the computer program. This can cause some differences in the route and the GPS has traffic and construction avoidance algorithms. Thus, I review the route for the day on the GPS before leaving the campsite.  This will show the unnecessary off ramp routing, etc.

 

[Georgia Mike]

As technology advances over the years you would think these gps systems would be fool proof by now. 

[jacwjames]

In ~2012-2014 I was traveling to Spain on a regular basis so I bought a SIM card with the Spain Maps on it.  Overall it worked pretty good but Spain had a huge interstate expansion (EU financed) and most of these roads were not in the map system.  The area I was in along the northern coast, had some deep valleys/ravines that they had built some pretty impressive bridges across.  The Garmin GPS didn't know there were bridges and would start the "recalculating" routine was I was in the middle of the bridge with a big ? on the screen.  

But in the  established/older areas the GPS worked fine.  I was able to get out and explore some on the weekends, don't know what I would have done if I had to be confined to the small Inn I stayed at closest to the mines. 

[Larry Laursen]

2 hours ago, Georgia Mike said:

As technology advances over the years you would think these gps systems would be fool proof by now. 

Mike, not to pick on your comment; however, I would like to clear up some of our ideas.  The "technology" is very good.  That is, the system provides very good location information.  It knows where you are within a few feet.  The problem is on the "human" side.  We realign roads, stores move locations, new roads are built, roads are closed, bridges are removed, etc.  All these changes need to be added to the data in the system.  In the one case I encountered I was told someone messed up and didn't allow vehicles over 5,000 lbs on I 80 across Wyoming after an update.  This only effected trucks and RV with a profile.  Jim above encountered new bridges in Spain as an example.  10 years ago Garmin sold users a new DVD disk once a year for $150 now they update about 3-4 times a year.  I lived in a rural area in Michigan where county roads were not updated and still showed passage through a river where a bridge had been removed many years ago.  My motorhome shows up at my brothers-in-law's property in Google Earth and hasn't changed for about 10+ years.  I understand there are some official government routes to feed this information.  We do know that Google has their own "cars" traveling around the country taking pictures to input to their maps and I have seen some vehicles with similar equipment that had different identification.  Incidentally, I have sent Garmin information on many of the errors, I encountered, and they were fixed.  PlanRV also changed a lot of information on rest areas and campground entrance locations.  Garmin and Google use significantly different routing algorithms and using geocode location information from Google can cause problems with Garmin GPS systems.

[Tom Cherry]

Followup…. Google Maps or WAZE (presumably….duaghter loves it….we “Google”) gives realtime traffic….so if we are, in any vehicle, stuck, we watch and decide whether to trust the AI suggestion or keep the faith. In MH, Google maps will put you on a tree covered side street to save a second….so we use GM to monitor traffic…. The Garmin 760 makes workable suggestions….

Larry’s comments are spot on.  One has to go back to the dark ages of Hertz’s NeverLost.  I rented a car 3 times per month.  Lots of times, I would take DW and do weekend “business trips”.  We were in San Diego….and wanted to go to the Hotel del Coronado…. When the Gate sentry stopped me at the Naval Base, I showed ID and he laughed.  “Hertz rental”.  It routed you through the OFF LIMITS base….

I had one “gee….why did I turn here” adventure headed to Cabot’s Trail where the Garmin took us on a 3 mile loop around something “unknown” and if you zoomed, it would have been easier to go straight on the main road.

THEN….get lost in the mountains around Cherokee in NC….and the Yukon Nav system bails you out.  Google Maps would be great….but where we end up, one would need a Satellite Phone.  The Garmin has served us well on all our west of the Mississippi trips….

Way back in the dark ages, again, I made a patch cord and hooked my Garmin hand held up to my laptop and used Delorme’s software.  It guided us from Crater Lake back to Portland on roads reminiscent of making the Pike’s Peak climb in a power sliding dune buggy…

However, based on the previous experiences of trying to find a new plant or office or remediation project based on a hand drawn map that was faxed to me before I got on a plane….I’ll choose what we have now….

[1nolaguy]

Tom, you are so right. As much as we may complain about the accuracy of today's GPS technology , relative to the days of paper maps and hand drawn directions things are much more accurate if not better.

[96 EVO]

Most instruments make you angry at yourself for 'not' believing.

GPS make you angry at yourself for believing 😖! 

Knew my RM was a deeply troubled instrument right from the get-go!

Wife purchased it for me as a gift, and since we had no upcoming RV trips, I threw it in my PU to get used to it.

Entered 'Home', while in my driveway.

First outing, went to a shop about 30 odd blocks from my home, on the street I live on. As I left the shop, I entered home as my destination. When I got within about 10 blocks of home, it started telling me to take a left turn at each and every cross street! I ignored each 'request'.

When I passed the last cross street before my home, it decided I should stay on the current street till I reached my destination in 400yds, on right!😂!

Edited September 25, 2023 by 96 EVO

[dandick66]

I have the Garmin 780 and  it’s pretty good for the most part.  However, I don’t fully trust it.  I try to look at my route with Google Maps using the satellite view before I start my trips.  
I figure you’re pretty safe on the interstates since they have to accommodate big rigs.  If there’s construction or a road closure the DOT has to consider that.

Just for fun, try getting directions to the TA Petro in Manning, SC from 95 South using Google Maps.  The TA is located right off of 95 Northbound.  Google Maps has you get off at the exit and turn right, and take a local road North for several miles, cross over 95, then turn right again and follow that road to the TA Petro.  The correct route would be to turn left off of 95 South and then cross over 95 and the TA Petro would be right there.  If you use the Apple Maps, it routes you the correct way.  
                    
Trust but Verify!!

[96 EVO]

18 minutes ago, dandick66 said:

   
I figure you’re pretty safe on the interstates since they have to accommodate big rigs.   

 

Yeah, you would think!

In SoCal my Rand McNally has taken me off the I-10, 20mi trip through a twisty 2 lane road (Box Canyon?), then, back onto I-10.

No apparent reason 🤔!

*edit* May have been called 'Painted Canyon'.

Edited September 26, 2023 by 96 EVO

[cbr046]

17 hours ago, dandick66 said:

I have the Garmin 780 and  it’s pretty good for the most part.  However, I don’t fully trust it. 

Sorta like the Monaco gauges, my Garmin 770 is there for entertainment.  I'll swap with Google Maps, but most of the time I'm going to the same dozen places for almost 20 years now.  Google Maps is much faster and more reliable at picking up traffic jams (if you look ahead every hour or so). 

I like seeing the big picture.  I just wish it gave more detail on zoomed out settings (and yes, map detail is on max setting). 

I looked into RVLife GPS app . . . $65/yr.  Maybe not.  Getting lost adds to the fun.

- bob

[96 EVO]

5 hours ago, cbr046 said:

   Getting lost adds to the fun.

- bob

Sure.... Until it's dark and pouring rain, you have to unhook the towed to make a U-turn !!

Edited September 27, 2023 by 96 EVO

[Guest Ray Davis]

11 hours ago, 96 EVO said:

Sure.... Until it's dark and pouring rain, you have to unhook the towed to make a U-turn !!

Drive in the dark?      😁

[96 EVO]

Try not to, but it happens!

Once got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic going thru Portland for close to 5hrs due to a multi vehicle pile-up.