The winter that never Ends

Actually... the old 50LM does not have posted speed limits on the display, just the vehicle's current speed. Our new 2557LMT does have posted speeds of many roads in Mexico - the difference might be that the 2557LMT has North America maps whereas I had to buy and load Mexico maps on the 50LM.
Both have performed well - the 50LM does not allow me to search distant cities hotels or points of interest but the 2557LMT does.
Yesterday the 50LM had us orbiting Villa Corona (destination) but not directly getting there easily.

This year is the first time I've noticed that Garmin has had speed limits in Mexico.

I use free Open Street Maps in Europe and Mexico and South America because they are free and as good or better than Garmin. Garmin map for USA is better because it has better lane info.
OSM and POI from other sources work with Garmin Basecamp 2 as well.

We aren't into microplanning the next day's drive so Basecamp isn't much used, but I do double check routes planned by the GPS before committing to them.

I cannot explain some of the things that we have seen happen with any GPS. That is why you have to look very closely at the planned route before you proceed. We have seen plans where the GPS takes us halfway to our destination and then turns around and goes back to the beginning or some other point you already passed some time ago. But if you don't look closely you won't know that is what it has done.

Another thing we have seen is where there is some sort of glitch in the program that is unexplainable. Example - going north from Phoenix to Flagstaff on I-17 - a major US highway - interstate. There is a whole section of that road one GPS we know of cannot see for reasons we cannot understand. If we go south on that same route there is no problem. If we blindly follow the GPS going north we would take a tour of the countryside.

By the same token a GPS can often take us through the middle of town rather than around it - going on city streets instead of a bypass route and a highway. And then the numbered highway can go directly through town (such as it does with Guadalajara) because it sees that as the main route and does not take the bypass around. You have to tell it what to do.

I looked at our Garmin and zoomed in on the Columbia bridge - I can go all the way down to a lane halfway across the bridge - the water is blue - pick the lane going the direction you want to go and put your waypoint there. In many cases you have to be very exact and precise where you put your waypoint. The GPS does not do it for you. And in the case of Columbia bridge I have still seen a GPS take you through Laredo and up I-35 and then back across on the TX side to get to Columbia. You have to watch the planned route and you have to make sure you zoom in to the level you can see exactly what the GPS plan is telling you it wants to do.

GPS can be one of the greatest inventions in the history of mankind but it is not yet at the level where it can actually think. You still have to tell it what to do. If you don't tell it what to do it could take you just about anywhere and back. And if you do not do the updates there will be roads that are not on the GPS so you may not be seeing the best possible route. It can mean taking your GPS and the Owner's Manual and practicing creating routes - and studying the map in the GPS to get more familiar with the areas you will travel - and zooming in to see all the local streets and not just the overview you get from any paper road map that has no detail at all - we want every detail available. Once you figure out how to properly use a GPS there is no logical reason to ever use a paper map again.

OH - I have no idea what it means to have an "RV" GPS. I was told it is so you know where the low clearances are so you won't tear your roof off. They have the same for truckers. Here's is a tip - I know of many low clearances that are on no known list of low clearances I have ever seen or heard of. If you trust a GPS to tell you where low clearances are there will come a day when you will tear your roof off.

I do not know what an "RV" or "Trucker" GPS is supposed to do. I think they are supposed to have campgrounds for RVers. To find RV Parks or Campgrounds you have to do > Where To > Categories > Lodging > Camp or RV parks - or your GPS may just have all RV related locations under Lodging. I do not think RV places have been entered for Mexico but I am not sure. Some of the info came from Woodall's and could be years out of date. I do not know. We do not rely on these things. We use many sources to seek information about where we are going. Once we are sure of where we want to go and how we want to get there we enter what we need in our GPS if it is not already there. We know we need to do the work. And it takes practice. I freely admit I still don't know how to use all the things in our GPS - every time we use it is another learning experience. Lots to learn in these little things.

Garmin makes a computer program called Base Camp they say you can use in your computer to plan a route and then move it to your GPS device. I am probably doing something wrong but I find this program just about useless as I cannot find a way to find a high level detail needed to accurately plan a route. If you drive coast to coast on Interstate highways it could be of some use. Maybe there is a more accurate use but I can't find it. I admit I have not tried very hard.

Garmin RV 760. We like it a lot but it does on occasion send us silly routes: Cuyutlan to Puerto Vallarta; SOUTH to Tecoman then via Guadalajara. Even putting Melaque in as a way point didn't help! Only when we passed Manzanillo did it sent us straight on, dropping a couple of hours off the ETA.

It also does not seem to know about Columbia Bridge. In November we had just downloaded the map update and it still did not know it. We have done another update but haven't checked Columbia. If it's not there this year we'll try Briansue's trick.

As they said, you have to practice. And never blindly follow. You can send corrections and suggestions to Garmin and they will (eventually) investigate and correct if necessary. They used to direct traffic heading up island from our home to take a route that included two 5 kilometers sections that is signed "Single lane road, Two way traffic". We emailed them the details and within a month or so we received an email from them saying thanks, you're right, it will be corrected in the next update.

First - we have been Xrayed every time we have crossed at Columbia for quite a few years now. The first time they told wife and dog get out and wait a few minutes - no water - no food - no book to read - 2 hours later I finally got through the Xray. They never go in to look around - they just Xray. The last time through coming into Mexico we got Xrayed in this direction too - we have been told the US bought Mexico the machines so they are using them. Expect this to eventually happen all the time at every crossing if you are in an RV. If you Congressman or Senator voted for the Patriot Act or supports that particular legislation that suspends your rights under the Constitution you are not going to get very far with them - or get any sympathy from them. They have spent billions "securing our borders" and will probably go to spending trillions and still there will never ever be a way to completely secure the borders. You can expect the border crossing to take longer and longer as they continue to attempt to secure. Anyone with half a brain would know you can never secure a border - but there are not many brains in Washington - those with brains know to stay away from Washington.

GPS has been discussed many times on this forum over the years. Never ever rely on the GPS to design the correct route. You must always check the route and put in waypoints to force the device to follow the route you want. No GPS can decide the correct route. It sees every road and every option and picks one. More often than not the route is not correct. We have had to design our own route by sometimes putting in as many as 10 waypoints along the way. Sometimes the GPS can get it right but we usually have to put in at least one waypoint. Our Garmin is greatly improved over previous versions but no GPS will ever be perfect because they will seek and find what they think is the shortest or fastest route. There is no way they can know this. You have to tell them where to go. If you don't very carefully check every mile of the route the GPS will be taking you on you could be going just about anywhere - and back again. I cannot tell you exactly how to use your specific GPS but Garmin does have all the manuals online where you can download and print them out. Then practice. You can use a Trip Planner I think they call it to design and save routes you will use again. You can save locations to use again. When you plan a route you put in your destination and then check the route. If the route is not to your liking you look it over and touch the screen at the point you want it to take you an then add that point to the route - when adding a point you want to zoom in on it and make sure you put it exactly where you want to go and also make sure it is not a one way street or some other reason for the GPS to refuse to go the way you want. GPS is a great tool and extremely useful but is does require that you tell it what to do. It is on electronic device and is not capable of reading your mind.

The Columbia crossing is on our GPS but we have the zoom in far enough to be able to see it - then we have to touch the screen exactly in the middle of the bridge or it will not know where to go - extreme zoom in. Our GPS will sometimes refuse to take the way we want to go - for example always want to go through downtown Laredo - you have to force it to go the way you want. It takes effort.

Garmin does not write the maps. They buy the info from a 3rd party. Usually a year or more old. I have not tried my Garmin down south but although it shows all the towns and streets in Northern Mexico the routing is horrible. Even in the USA or Canada the routing is poor. Same for all GPS units. You have to check frequently for updates.

Moisheh

That's why I like paper maps better than electronics. The maps don't change or get lost. JMO

Like darsben said, good luck with writing to your senator. :)

Good luck writing your senator. You have no rights when crossing the border. You gave them up in the fight against terrorism. Now you have intimidation and absolute power in the hands of ICE. You can be detained by them for as long as they like and subject to whatever searches they deem fit. You have no right to a lawyer or due process until you are charged with a crime

As far as Garmin they just acquired DeLorme which should improve their maps immensely I HOPE

Wow, sorry to hear that. My Garmin zummo is about 6 yr old and doesn't seem to work as good as it used to. I have updated it but after trying to use it on a simple run yesterday and having it give 4 glitches telling me to exit etc, I decided to pay $55.00 to load the new maps. I ran the same route today and 2 1/2 of the glitches were gone. There has been a lot of road work in this area so I will be trying it elsewhere. I know it's a tool that is a guide and not 100% but it can really stress you out when it's throwing out bad info.

Same happens with my smart phone. It works pretty good but loses connection in some areas that are not remote by any means. It seems to have a lot of trouble around Denver. I may have to start going over google maps before I head out and write down all the turns. It's stressing me out and just far to intense. It seems to me that when I first got it, it was perfect and a real help.