Garmin is shite. Get it off your chest here.

[glenn2926]

Been using Garmin sat nav’s for donkeys years. Basecamp too. Very, very easy and straightforward to use plotting routes etc.
I’ve used numerous Garmin sat nav devices and all have been 100% reliable. Very simple and robust construction. Even after bouncing one down the road. Rain doesn’t bother them, neither does vibration. Current Zumo 660 is around 12 years old and still as good as new. The camper 760 is not as old but is equally reliable.
Sharing routes with other Garmin users is very easy. They are expensive but you get what you pay for.
Buy cheap, buy twice.

Edit. I have used Tom Tom but they’re not a patch on Garmin. Just nowhere near as user friendly. Also no route plotting system like Basecamp. I think I’ll be replacing like for like as near as possible come the day.

 

[Deleted account 250722001]

Looking online today, it seems that quite a few Garmin watches have been bricked by a botched software update and the users around the world are, understandably, well pissed off.

Strangely.... not just watches it seems.
The 'new' 710 montana has exactly the same problem !
Blue triangle of death like above.
Garmin say they have now fixed it.

 

[waterloo700]

Customer Support 2025

My experience today - called their support line (looking for help with the “ghosting” problem). Three times the call was disconnected by them after less than a minute.
Tried online to look up “ghosting” nothing there - clearly it’s something new to them
Off to the chat line - guess what - number one in the queue but I’ve been there for half-an-hour now and still waiting.

Honestly this is the worst customer experience I’ve had in a long time (and that includes dealing with HMRC)

 

[J biker]

Last time i used Garmin, it was sending me down side roads that were closed.
Tomtom app on phone which was also mounted on the bike at same time…choosing better routes and no weird detours.
Tomtom does have a navigation route planner. It is reasonable. Alternative, mra, then download to tomtom. Works very well.

Just bought a new r1300gs and having reviewed all options, inc the new BMW navigator, Im going to use my smartphone with Tomtom app. Mounted via quadlock. Been using it on my 1290Superduke and it works fne.

My two previous Garmin were always glitchy, sometimes refusing to start/connect to satellites, normally at the start of a ride when on tour. Taking multiple goes to run properly.
Unreliable and overpriced has been my user experience.

 

[Deleted account 250722001]

@J biker
'My two previous Garmin were always glitchy'
Which models did you have?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and FWIW, my 276Cx has only glitched once and it was my fault.
If I were to bin all my garmin units, that's the one I'd keep. Solid, buttons etc etc and some options not available on other units.
Good kit that.

 

[J biker]

@J biker
'My two previous Garmin were always glitchy'
Which models did you have?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and FWIW, my 276Cx has only glitched once and it was my fault.
If I were to bin all my garmin units, that's the one I'd keep. Solid, buttons etc etc and some options not available on other units.
Good kit that.

350lm it died after 3 years
Then a 395lm, which started to go nuts. Around 3 years also.
Btw, Lifetime maps, (lm) means as long as product is supported, Garmin speak for ‘not lifetime’ !

Over priced, over rated, just like a lot of US products. Having bought in to American guitars and fishing equipment over the years, I feel justified in standing by that comment.

 

[Deleted account 250722001]

Absolutely! and I'll stand by having a satnav which is reliable!
Isn't choice a wonderful thing? !

 

[Pepsi]

The original XT is excellent. I’ve never used the new XT so can’t comment on that.

 

[GrinningGSer]

Well , I love my XT2 and I also love the Tread app , which talks to it

HOWEVER , occasionally I tear my hair out when communication fails eg Tread suddenly cannot find anywhere, or Tread finds somewhere and the app crashes at the same time , or Tread stops sync with my many ‘collections ‘
I then call Garmin , who always sound surprised , despite others reporting the same issues at the same time .
As if by magic , days later it all starts working again.

 

[cookie]

Rejoice.

It's not only our little sat navs that are affected by shite software releases by Garmin.

Looking online today, it seems that quite a few Garmin watches have been bricked by a botched software update and the users around the world are, understandably, well pissed off.

Pictures courtesy of Garmin's subreddit

View attachment 380771View attachment 380772View attachment 380773View attachment 380774

Triangle of death - anything I can do? - Forerunner 965 - Running/Multisport - Garmin Forums

Hi! While scrolling through widgets watch resets. This happens sometimes and I didn't mind, until this morning. Now my 965 is in triangle of death mode, restarting

forums.garmin.com

That's the Squid Game Special Edition.

 

[er-minio]

or the Void:

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Fookin’ bastardin’ useless piece of shite

So, I am in Thirsk today and fancy going to the bakery in Hovingham
GPS set to ‘avoid motorway’ and shorter distance
The direct route across country was about 13-14 miles and takes in some excellent bike roads and pretty villages
I set the GPS going to max adv routing and the sodding thing takes me along the A170 up Sutton Bank and towards Helmsley - some 18-20 miles
So I set off and ignore it, going my chosen route and it automatically recalculates at every end & turn taking me back to the A170
When we’re about 3 miles away, it still does it and tries to send me backwards towards the main roads again - some 9 miles of a journey instead of 3 the cross country way, only when we’re 2.9 miles away - it chooses the same route as the one in my head
After Hovingham I set it to Hutton Le Hole and it does it again trying to take me via Helmsley, instead of cutting the corner going via Nunnington to Kirkbymoorside - increasing the actual mileage by nearly double
I ignore it
After Hutton I set it to Helmsley and it tried to take me via A170 again, despite the quickest route is via Fadmoor & Gillamoor - eventually it catches up

Fookin’ thing - what’s the point of Adv Routing if it just uses the main bloody roads

It’s bastard useless

 

[PitaNaanRoti]

Fookin’ bastardin’ useless piece of shite

So, I am in Thirsk today and fancy going to the bakery in Hovingham
GPS set to ‘avoid motorway’ and shorter distance
The direct route across country was about 13-14 miles and takes in some excellent bike roads and pretty villages
I set the GPS going to max adv routing and the sodding thing takes me along the A170 up Sutton Bank and towards Helmsley - some 18-20 miles
So I set off and ignore it, going my chosen route and it automatically recalculates at every end & turn taking me back to the A170
When we’re about 3 miles away, it still does it and tries to send me backwards towards the main roads again - some 9 miles of a journey instead of 3 the cross country way, only when we’re 2.9 miles away - it chooses the same route as the one in my head
After Hovingham I set it to Hutton Le Hole and it does it again trying to take me via Helmsley, instead of cutting the corner going via Nunnington to Kirkbymoorside - increasing the actual mileage by nearly double
I ignore it
After Hutton I set it to Helmsley and it tried to take me via A170 again, despite the quickest route is via Fadmoor & Gillamoor - eventually it catches up

Fookin’ thing - what’s the point of Adv Routing if it just uses the main bloody roads

It’s bastard useless

“Adv routing” is an absolute joke. It’s anything but.
Compare it to the Connected App winding route set to least winding and it’s a joke. Max winding and Connected will take you on UCR’s, BOAT’s and greenlanes

 

[Wapping]

It’s bastard useless

Don’t forget to put that in your ‘For sale’ advert, JB.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Don’t forget to put that in your ‘For sale’ advert, JB.

Have you got any point to point suggestions - A to B

Sat in a market square and wanting to go to place B with an interesting motorcycle route ensuing

No MRA

Just using the XT to plan a bloody route !!!!

My 2610 would go the preferred shortest route in my head and so would my Montana ….on the fly, but the sodding XT ….oh no siree

 

[John Armstrong]

Have you got any point to point suggestions - A to B

Sat in a market square and wanting to go to place B with an interesting motorcycle route ensuing

No MRA

Just using the XT to plan a bloody route !!!!

My 2610 would go the preferred shortest route in my head and so would my Montana ….on the fly, but the sodding XT ….oh no siree

The 396, XT and XT2 all have the faster roads problem as you found. It produces routes that don't match the logical ones the 595 and before did, as the newer GPSRs want you to use an A road / motorway over a B even if the B road gets you there in the shortest time.

Have become fed up with my XT2 and returned to the trusty 595, even though the screen is nowhere near as good.

 

[Wapping]

Have you got any point to point suggestions - A to B

Sat in a market square and wanting to go to place B with an interesting motorcycle route ensuing

No MRA

Just using the XT to plan a bloody route !!!!

My 2610 would go the preferred shortest route in my head and so would my Montana ….on the fly, but the sodding XT ….oh no siree

You know the XT doesn’t work for you JB, whether that is asking it for A to B routes or, seemingly, running otherwise perfectly good bespoke routes. Why keep banging your head against a brick wall and shouting that Garmin need to sort it out. Even if they can hear you (which they can’t) they are ignoring you.

Stick it up for sale, either here or in the local Co-Op window and cut your losses. You might even make a modest gain.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

The 396, XT and XT2 all have the faster roads problem as you found. It produces routes that don't match the logical ones the 595 and before did, as the newer GPSRs want you to use an A road / motorway over a B even if the B road gets you there in the shortest time.

Have become fed up with my XT2 and returned to the trusty 595, even though the screen is nowhere near as good.

Why though?

On a supposed motorcycle GPS it’s stupid

Are they car GPS …..just made waterproof?

I would sooner have sensible ‘on the fly’ routing than audio or weather crap

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

You know the XT doesn’t work for you JB, whether that is asking it for A to B routes or, seemingly, running otherwise perfectly good bespoke routes. Why keep banging your head against a brick wall and shouting that Garmin need to sort it out. Even if they can hear you (which they can’t) they are ignoring you.

Stick it up for sale, either here or in the local Co-Op window and cut your losses. You might even make a modest gain.

Why should I have to, though

It’s barmy

You should be able to set a destination ‘on the fly’ sat in a lay-by and it should plan an interesting route (subject to any avoidances being preset)

I like the screen and the speed alerts etc - but the routing is abysmal

You keep defending it - but someone should have set up a class action by now

You shouldn’t have to buy MRA app to make it work satisfactorily

 

[Barnoe]

Sat Navs are good for getting you there when you don’t know the way.
granted it might not go the "local knowledge" route but it will get you there.

The problems with sat Navs always arise when someone forces it to go a certain way.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, they have an uncanny habit of recalculating another route

I've had TomTom and Garmin, both have the same short fallings and I wouldn’t say one is better than the other TBH.