Driving in the states / GPS

Praetorian

I'm heading to the states (California & Nevada) with my girl friend and some friends next Saturday. We intend to rent a car over there and I'm looking for tips and advice for driving in the states. I heard driving around LA for example is a nightmare :v:

I’m also investigating getting some kind of GPS system so that navigating will be less troublesome, although the quotations for a car including one of these systems were surprisingly high ($10 per day extra!) so can anyone suggest reasonably priced hardware that I can buy in Dublin; does it come with west coast USA maps? I acquired some “Navigon” maps recently, so maybe this covers the software end.

Alternatively, if anyone who reads this message would be kind enough to rent me a suitable PDA, I’d be very grateful and I’d make it worth your while

Ernie Ball

Praetorian wrote:

I'm heading to the states (California & Nevada) with my girl friend and some friends next Saturday. We intend to rent a car over there and I'm looking for tips and advice for driving in the states. I heard driving around LA for example is a nightmare :v:

Driving in LA is not really bad at all, provided you're not intimidated by 12-lane motorways. Traffic on them is often moving at a snail's pace anyway... Otherwise, things are much more orderly than they are here and there's plenty of space for cars.

Remember that you can turn right at a red light unless there's a "No Turn on Red" sign.

Our man in Havana

Hertz offer a GPS system for $30 per rental.

deRanged

I used a Hertz Nerverlost system in North Carolina last year - it was great.
Each night I'd look up adresses of the places I wanted to go to,
input them the next morning and get directions right to the place.
It never let us down once, and recovers if you make a mistake.

You can also search by category, but we just used street addresses.

AMurphy

Is there a convention or cheap travel.

Anyway, look up GPS systems on

Radio Shack
Big5 Sporting goods
The Good guys
Circuit City
Best Buy

see what they offer.

And if you do get the urge to purchase some stereo eq, make sure you can set to tuner in 0.1MHz increments as US is typically on 0.2 increments.

Praetorian

Thanks for the replies guys. Hertz is cheap for the GPS but unfortunately I'm only 24 so they won't rent a car to me.

PaulieC

as a previous poster suggests, driving in the states is easy. I did a similar drive to what you mention (Santa Monica -> Las Vegas -> Death Valley, Yosemite -> San Francisco -> LA) a couple of years ago and it was a doddle. Best navigation device is a wife who can read a map...

Praetorian

My girl friend got us lost in Italy this time last year, so I don't know how reliable she will be

I'm looking forward to the challenge. Thanks all for the replies

unkel

How long are you going for? If it's a fortnight or less, I'd fork out the $10 per day. At least you'll know it will work

cambo_gueno wrote:

Best navigation device is a wife who can read a map...

I believe they are extremely rare

ElNino

The last time I was in Orlando I was hiring a car from Hertz and they said that GPS was $10 a day extra. However the girl behind the counter pointed out that I could get a bigger car for $10 a day extra which had GPS free. So check out your options.

dingding

Sorry you cant get a car from Hertz but for the other readers, I ordered a mazda 626 with neverlost for 3 weeks in orlando last year. When I arrived the smallest car with the neverlost was a Jaguar XJ8 which I got for a slight extra charge. I could have haggled and got it for the same price. The system is brilliant.

The previous year i used my PDA with a bluetooth GPS GPSMART. The system while it worked OK in Ireland was more prone to error in the US and was useless.

I would never rent a car in the US without a navigation system as I got lost once and it was scary.

Do any of the cars you rent have a oem navigation system. these tend to work much better than a GPS and seperate PDA.

Worth the extra 10 bucks for piece of mind.

unkel

dingding wrote:

I ordered a mazda 626 with neverlost for 3 weeks in orlando last year. When I arrived the smallest car with the neverlost was a Jaguar XJ8 which I got for a slight extra charge

You did well

dingding

Very well except petrol went up 50c per gallon when I was there.

they offered me a larger car for free without GPS, should have haggled and se of neverlost. said the only reason I chose hertz was because of neverlost.

The truth :cool:

AMurphy

This may be of use;
http://www.delorme.com/

Plus Google Maps are pretty good. You only need the details at the sto off points. LA and SF, getting between the two ie one of a fw options, unless you want to go wandering.
Maps are pretty cheap and available in most gas stops, combine that with Google maps and you'll be fine.

Our man in Havana

I would never rent a car in the US without a navigation system as I got lost once and it was scary.

Bond-007 reporting from Las Vegas, Nevada, local time 8.11pm

Got my car from LAX on Sunday, upgraded to the mazda 6 with neverlost. Best investment I ever made. Driving around the freeways of LA is scary. I made a few mistakes but the system recaluted the route and I was back on track quickly. It is in valuable for finding shops and places off the beaten track. Spent the day driving the back roads of Las vegas getting to walmarts and to the hotel, never a foot wrong. I am impressed with it so far.

I couldn't live without it.

AMurphy

Bond-007 wrote:

..... Driving around the freeways of LA is scary. .....
.....

You survived I see. Even I find them scary. Narrow, congensted and fast.
btw, did you observe the fast lane (Carpool lane) to fast lane intersection overpasses that are popular down there.

And if you got to LV, you must have intersected "Historic Route 66" at some point.

ps, the San Francisco Auto show is this coming weekend if you are passing that way. I passed a transporter load of Audis under wraps this morning.

Ernie Ball

One other piece of advice: pay close attention to the geographical restrictions (if any) on the car hire contract. If the contract says you can't drive outside of certain states, don't. Many of these cars now have tracking devices on them and they know where you've been. The charges for going outside of the areas on the contract can be prohibitive.

Also, don't even think of going off-road for the same reason.

Our man in Havana

Ernie Ball wrote:

One other piece of advice: pay close attention to the geographical restrictions (if any) on the car hire contract. If the contract says you can't drive outside of certain states, don't. Many of these cars now have tracking devices on them and they know where you've been. The charges for going outside of the areas on the contract can be prohibitive.

Also, don't even think of going off-road for the same reason.

Mr Hertz doesn't care so long as you don't go near Mexico.

AMurphy

Interesting some of hte restrictions sure enough.

once before we got the van, I needed something larger than a car to go to Tahoe, in any degree of comfort and in winter.
A minivan would be cheaper/day, however came with a 200miles/day restriction and no Show chains allowed, and only available in FWD.

A 4x4 GMC suv cost more per day, but no mileage restriction and came fitted with Mud&Snow tyres.

Overall, the SUV worked out much cheaper.

Mac 3

I was there 2 months ago, did a similar route, had a few 4X4s and then my mate got a Harley and I rented a new Mustang Convertible for the drive down from San Fran to LA. Fabulous car, scenery, great trip. Also, dont know if you'd be interested, we rented a Ferrari in Vegas, Expensive but worth it for the blast...

AMurphy

Well for those of you traveling in the USA tomorrow or today as the case may be, Thursday 24th. You'll have figured you hit the highway during Thanksgiving and yo are probably alone for the most part, you have several choices, stay the speed limit or enjoy the opportunity. However have a flat or run out of gas... pray, cause we is taking a holiday.
Alternatively you can tune into the Thanksgiving Nation Anthem, Alice's Restaraunt by Arlo Gutery.

Here is the genera l plot;
Because they couldn't find a dump open in Great Barrington, two youths threw a load of refuse down a Stockbridge hillside on Thanksgiving Day.

and if you wish to sing along while you wait for the tow truck which will arrive on Friday, here are the words, Classic, enjoy;

http://www.arlo.net/lyrics/alices.shtml

Our man in Havana

Arrived back in LA on Thursday evening. Driving on the 101 fwy is mad to say the least avg speed about 10mph. I have been driving around for the last few days and finding it ok at least on the surface streets but the fwys are a nightmare. Whats the deal with metering lights and on ramps that cross off ramps? A receipe for disaster really.

I found driving around San Francisco to be ok. I had the pleasure of handing over $6 to cross the bay bridge twice. I went across the golden gate for free. I see there are no barriers on the tolls, how do they enforce the tolls?

I am off home tomorrow so I will be leaving the car back to mr hertz some 3000 miles more than 2 weeks ago. A good trip was had by all.

AMurphy

Glad to see your making progress.
Well, LA is LA is not called La-La land for nothing.

As for the bridges, perhaps you did not notice you pay in one direction only, or used to pay in one direction only the last time I used one.

How do you many, "how do they enforce the tolls". I do hope you paid and/or did not scoot through the EasyPass line. Al but the EasyPass line are manned by a toll taker. Cameras also monitor the reg plates as they pass through the tolls and there is always a couple of cops on duty, so you'd not get far had you simply done a runner, or it may show up on your rental bill.

Where were you for the terrible storm on Thursday?. or did you get any of it.

Right the filter lights on the overpasses between highways is a bit of a pain. However, unless you were traveling alone, there are many Carpool-to-Carpool lane transfer lanes that do not have these filter lights.
On ramps are filtered at rush hour times also.

Our man in Havana

AMurphy wrote:

Where were you for the terrible storm on Thursday?. or did you get any of it.

Yes we were!!!!! A whole INCH of rain fell!!! No bad winds or lightening etc! Its what we would call "rain"

There should be a law against the use of the word "storm" We were in stitches laughing as we watched the news!

unkel

Bond-007 wrote:

Yes we were!!!!! A whole INCH of rain fell!!! No bad winds or lightening etc! Its what we would call "rain"

There should be a law against the use of the word "storm" We were in stitches laughing as we watched the news!

LOL @ use of "storm"

An inch of rain is just under half the annual rainfall in Dublin :eek:

Manic Moran

Dublin, California, I presume?

IMO, people around here can't drive worth a damn. The driving test was stupidly simple.

As for GPS thingies, it's a little late, but I own a Garmin iQueue. Never leave home without it. European maps are pricey though, but it was navigating me through the tiniest laneways of Milan, as long as I had a satellite signal, of course.

NTM

AMurphy

Bond-007 wrote:

Yes we were!!!!! A whole INCH of rain fell!!! No bad winds or lightening etc! Its what we would call "rain"

There should be a law against the use of the word "storm" We were in stitches laughing as we watched the news!

it depends on where you are in the "storm" at the time. You could have sheet rain at 1"/hour or day and zero or 50mph winds. Anything with rain is called a "storm" whether it includes wind of not is irrelevant.

one item to keep in mind, the water does not flow off the surfaces easily, so aquaplaning is common, especially where the wheels have depressed the tarmac over time.

also, it was the first rain of the season, so the oil is still on the roads, hence it would be very slick for that first day. Odd you did not see the usual circus at the traffic lights.

And, finally, because there are rarely strong winds during the summer, many dead and weak branches are still on the trees, so on the arrival of the first "storm" all this deadwood comes down in quantities, especially if there is any appreciable wind, does not have to be a gale.

I remember a few years back, went out with the truck and a chainsaw on a Sat morning after a storm on a Friday and brought home 10 trucks of firewood, just by collecting the deadwood blown down on the streets, some of these logs were 18" in diameter. Took me a whole day to split it with a hyd splitter.

Very different conditions to where you are likely to have wind and rain any day of the year.

I'd agree the test is fairly easy to pass. Drive around the block, park and collect your liscense.
Still for all that, you rarely see teenagers getting into much trouble even when they drive a V8-mustangs or a WRX's. (actually did the other weekend) Obviously a teenage or very early 20's driver, judging by her (cute) looks, clipped the rear end of a MB something and spun it right around, with a 5L Mustang, dry streets. Nothing like a clash of the Titans.

Talking to a guy a few days ago, his dad bought him a V8 Chevy at 16.

unkel

Manic Moran wrote:

Dublin, California, I presume?

Nope and not Dublin, Ohio either

AMurphy wrote:

Anything with rain is called a "storm" whether it includes wind of not is irrelevant

Interesting how you define it on your side of the water. The definition over here seems to be more like: a general term applied to any type of weather system associated with strong surface winds

AMurphy

unkel wrote:

Interesting how you define it on your side of the water. The definition over here seems to be more like: ....
a general term applied to any type of weather system associated with strong surface winds[/URL]

Yeah, I know, well lets say "strong" wind at any rate.

nonetheless, wouldn't want to get too excited about definintions either within Ireland or Ireland relative to anywhere else. there's plenty confusion to go round, here are a few.


"lamp" can mean match, as used for lighting a "fag", "fags" are generally burned or dragged if you catch them. While you may want to drag of your fag with your lips.... I'd have to ask, my God what sort of animal are you at all.

"Dike/Dyke" and "Ditch" seem interchangable. Though one is subterranian and the other above ground. Which is which and what you do with them depends on who you ask.

"Buns" and "biscuits" are another source of confusion and frustration. you might want to sample the cooks biscuits, but not her buns. If you really wanted to get your teeth into her buns, ask for a scone, simple it is not.

You could also ditch your dyke for a fag, or ditch your fag in a dyke, confused yet.

Two countries seperated by a common language, right?. All a storm in a teacup really.