First, I’m much happier writing really positive product reviews. Unfortunately, this Magellan RV GPS review is not a happy one! Read on and I’ll tell you why.

Quick Overview

• Magellan RoadMate model RV9165T-LM
• 7” Touch Screen
• Good Sam/Trailer Life Directory onboard
• Lifetime map upgrades included
• Lifetime traffic alerts included
• Bluetooth capable for hands-free phone calls

The Magellan RoadMate model RV9165T-LM is a GPS unit that was marketed as “The Ideal RV Travel Companion” and came loaded with the Good Sam/Trailer Life Directory to make it easy for RVers to locate RV parks/campgrounds. The LM in the model number stands for Lifetime Map updates. The incorporation of the Trailer Life campground & RV park directory, along with the lifetime map updates were major deciding factors when we purchased this GPS at Camping World. A couple of years ago.

Features

See the overview above – some of the other features include

• Highway Lane Assist – verbally directs you to the correct lane when coming up on highway exits
• Verbal Speed Warnings so you at least know when you’re a candidate for a speeding ticket
• Several “Points of Interest” categories, including restaurants, emergency/medical facilities, banks & ATMs, gas/diesel/service stations, grocery stores, airports, and more
• Vehicle Profile – based on the length, width, height, weight, and type of your vehicle or vehicle/RV combination – can yield a custom routing suitable for your equipment

In short, this unit has a nice feature set that covered the things that we wanted from a GPS to use during our Rving excursions.

Our Experience

Laugh if you want, but the “voice” of the GPS was female (I guess we could change it to the male version) so we named the thing “Sally Magellan.” Sally was easy to position in the vehicle using the suction-based mounting arm included with the unit, and a mounting disk (obtained separately) that adhered to the dash in my GMC Sierra 2500 tow vehicle.

Getting the various settings the way we wanted them took some study of the owner’s manual and two or three outings to test things. We set the volume, brightness, night map display, time zone, enabled traffic alerts and speed limit warnings. We entered our vehicle profile information so that, hopefully, Sally wouldn’t route our 10½ foot high rig under a 10 foot high bridge! After a number of attempts, I even got my not-so-smart cell phone paired with the Magellan via Bluetooth so we can do hands-free calling while on the road. All in all, the setup process wasn’t too bad.

Most of the features worked pretty well. We finally turned off the audible speed warnings because we couldn’t seem to get the setting for how many miles above the speed limit would trigger the alert. The warnings repeat frequently and I didn’t want to hear it until I hit ten miles per hour over the posted limit. Nevertheless, Sally issued her loud warnings as soon as I exceeded the limit by just a bit.

We also were surprised the first time Sally directed us off of the main road onto a side road that, as it turned out, simply paralleled the main road for a couple of miles and then rejoined it. Since then, the unit sometimes tries to direct us onto a route that isn’t the way we want to go. It would probably get us to our destination, but by a much longer or otherwise less desirable route. We’ve learned that while the GPS is really handy, a good road map is a very necessary backup. We’ve also learned that this behavior is not unique to Magellan GPS units.

Now the reason for the 1½ star review:

As I noted above, the included GoodSam/Trailer Life RV Park & Campground Directory, along with the lifetime map updates, were the two things that made us decide on the Magellan GPS rather than another brand. The updates insure that the unit reflects the latest changes in highways/roads and points of interest, including RV parks and campgrounds, emergency services, fuel stops, restaurants, etc.

Now, nearly two years after buying the Magellan, I have STILL been unable to install an update on the unit! The only mechanism Magellan offers for obtaining the updates I paid for is by installing and using a piece of Magellan software called Content Manager. Using this software, an Internet connection, and a USB connection to the RoadMate, one is supposed to be able to download and install an update whenever a new one is available. I have two different computers, a laptop and a desktop. They both work just fine for other applications, Internet access, wireless connectivity, communications, and so on. On one, Content Manager will simply not recognize the GPS when it is connected via USB cable (and I’ve tried several different cables). On the other, Content Manager will recognize the GPS, but every time I try to download and install the update, it yields an error message and quits the process.

I’ve got emails back and forth with their support department dating back to 2012. I spent well over an hour on the phone with one of their technical people. Still no solution to the problem. I’ve done every single thing they’ve suggested, including uninstalling some software from both computers, turning off firewalls and virus protection, and other things. Nothing has worked. The last person I spoke with promised that he would escalate the problem to someone higher up the technical support ladder, but that has never happened.

I finally asked if they could send me, or I could download, the necessary update files and install them via the device’s USB connection – without using their Content Manager software. No response! I submitted another “trouble ticket” and asked again. No response! I’ve been polite, patient, and cooperative. I managed Technical Support for a software company for years and we would never leave a client hanging with no solution to their problem. If a client couldn’t install an update online, we’d send a DVD, or find another way. Period. To make matters even worse, Google led me to more than one GPS-related forum where I read that I am far from the only Magellan customer to have this problem and experience Magellan’s poor response. One fellow wrote that he finally solved his Magellan GPS problem with a Stanley two pound hammer…and bought another brand!

Well Magellan, you got my money, but you’ve lost me as a customer. It’s too bad because the GPS itself seems to work well and has some neat features. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for your service.