"Total Traffic Network from Clear Channel - lifetime subscription* = $60.00"

i think it's a good deal unless oneday they decide to cancel their service.

""But remember it is the lifetime of the receiver itself not the GPS unit. The receiver can be used with multiple GPS units as long as they are on the compatible list""

I had the same understanding from all I found on the Garmin site, BUT I activated the FM traffic receiver on the Nuvi 765t (shows lifetime subscription) and then tried the FM traffic receiver on my Nuvi 750 and observed the following message - "No Subscription Activated. To Activate a subscription....."

Think I will call Garmin......

So far so good with my subscription! Lot's of traffic news and no advertising. (now watch, now that I said that I'll be bombarded with ads) (LOL)

I activated the $60 lifetime on the receiver while using my 760 and it shows lifetime traffic on the 760 and it also does when I connect it to my c550 and I get the traffic on both.

I will use this example when I call Garmin. It seems logical the subscription would follow the traffic receiver. I do not know why mine didn't work though.

I had asked that question of one of the "Advanced Product Certified Automotive Technical Support" people before I signed up for the $60 lifetime traffic program.

Question:
"I have a question about the new lifetime traffic. From what I understand the lifetime traffic subscription would be tied to my GTM 20 receiver and not my 760. If for any reason the GTM 20 receiver should fail does that mean that the lifetime traffic I purchased would be over? If it fails while still under warranty would that also still be true?"

Garmin's Answer:
"You are correct the service stays with the GTM20. If you need to get that repaired all you would need to do is contact us when you get the new unit and we can take care of transferring the membership.

Thank you for contacting Garmin International:"

Does this include MSN Traffic?

FPichon - your traffic receiver doesn't work with the 750 because they are different services. The 7x5 series uses Navteq traffic, while the 7x0 series uses TTN traffic.

Also, the "subscriptions" are different. On the 7x0 series, you have to pay $60 to get lifetime traffic. On the 7x5 series, you don't pay a subscription because the traffic is funded by ad revenue. Thus since the 7x0 series can't display ads, you can't use the 7x5 traffic receiver on the 7x0 series.

Is your 750 up to date on it's firmware?

One of the requirements that I received from Garmin when I signed up for lifetime traffic was that both the receiver and the GPS unit must have the latest firmware to have the lifetime traffic function.

Quote from Garmin:
"To enable your traffic subscription follow the steps below:

Step 1: Update the Software

Before enabling your new traffic subscription, you must update the GPS device’s software and the GTM traffic receiver’s software."

Thanks Gadjet Guy! This is a good clarification!
""The 7x5 series uses Navteq traffic, while the 7x0 series uses TTN traffic.""

Garmin certainly does it's best to make it difficult to make the distinction!

Thanks rjrsw -
I am up to date on the firmware et al.

While the Navteq traffic seems to have good reporting for the Phoenix area, it does not cover many cities where I travel. TTN Clear Channel or MSN traffic are better options for me as I have both receivers. .... and I can (for now) get rid of the commercials!!!!!

No it doesn't. MSN Direct service still cost $130 lifetime or $50/year.

I had to go with the Clear Channel traffic because Navteq Traffic did not include the Tucson area and Clear Channel does. According to what the tech at Garmin told me the 765T and the 760 use the same traffic receiver and you can also add the Clear Channel to your receiver with the $60 lifetime and use the same receiver and just select which traffic to use with the GPS you are using.

I may put the TTN renewal on a separate gtm20, and have traffic available for when I am traveling, or for others in my family to use with their Nuvi's that are not Navteq capable. MSN just wants too many $$$$ (I used it mostly for movie times, but my iPhone does it better).

Garmin's website is confusing. Which GTM can the 255 use? Is the GTM 20 only for US and 25 for Europe?

looks like the 25 for both!

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=203&pID=14994#produc...

FPichon

I received your PM on the cameras in Tucson.

We still have only the 4 intersections for now with both the red light and speed cameras.

After using the "free traffic" that was included on my 265T, I have found that using AM Radio for traffic updates was more useful (it halps that I live in a major city). If the paid subscription services were a much better upgrade (that what is included free), I would definately consider upgrading...

Hello,

I've read through this post and I am a bit confused.

I have used up my free traffic trial a while back, and it worked fine.

If I purchase this lifetime subscription for $60, will I be receiving advertisements?

Nope! No ads with $60 lifetime.

I discovered this by accident, but there is now a new Firmware Update for GTMxx Traffic Receiver.

I'm in the same situation, an e-mail from Garmin says wait 4-6 weeks, WTF! I see others here getting codes, probably with phone call requests. Sometimes it don't pay to be congenial with e-mail only. I bought my new sub for a year in mid September BTW.

Question is: "Are you and I part of a group of suckers because we don't hammer the phone CS people?" 4-6 weeks is rediculious, and a good time for them to resist honoring the deal altogether IMO.

I got my code right away after they charged my credit card. I mean, it was like 3 minutes later.

If you click on the versions tab for the 25, all it lists are European 21s.

I'm a little confused. Does this mean that if I purchase the Nuvi 760, which comes with built-in traffic receiver,that I can have lifetime traffic for $60? I thought it was just on certain units.

If you haven't paid for any subscription and you want to subscribe, you'll get the lifetime one.

The traffic receiver is actually not built into the unit, but it comes integrated with the charger.

The nuvi 760 comes with an initial 3 month "trial" traffic subscription, so you wouldn't have to buy the "lifetime" until your free 3 months expire.

My 760 says that traffic expires on 12/16/20. I have not purchased a subscription. December would be the 3 month mark. Did they goof or will the unit fix itself in December?

This has always been a coding bug which only shows 8 digits. So your trial subscription will expire on 12/16/2008.

wow, this is really great deal.
thanks for sharing.

Thanks.
I didn't know this. My 90-day subscription that came with my C550 also will expire next week and I'm not sure if I want to continue. Now I better write it down while it's still working in case I change my mind to buy a lifetime subscription.

Seems like a good enough deal I may go for this, even though I don't live in a coverage area; I drive often enough in Milwaukee and Chicago that it'd probably be useful and save me $60 of aggravation (plus the costs of picking up a used receiver), not to mention unfamiliar places.

@ LennyD51 & motorcyclist

Your device's unit ID will always be there regardless of your subscription status. Look at it as an electronic serial number...it can't be modified or deleted.

If you're getting a solid yellow LED, your unit is not receiving any type of signal (solid yellow LED means "searching for signal"). Even so, you should still be able to enter the traffic subscription area of the unit to see the unit ID.

Make sure you are using Tools/Settings/Traffic to view/renew your traffic subscription/unit ID. Using just Tools/Traffic will result in a "No Traffic Data" error message if your subscription is not current or if you are not receiving a signal.

If you can't access the traffic subscription through Tools/Settings/Traffic and your LED is solid yellow, you'll likely have to contact Garmin.

The unit I purchased on black Friday was the 265 wt and I today I got to test the Free FM Traffic and based on this one test I found it to do very well.I plotted a stop for a Walmart in Hudson Florida.Anyone who has spent any time in Florida knows about US 19.Several miles before turning on US 19 the color code change to yellow on the traffic icon which is medium severity traffic and traffic is slightly congested.Clicking on the traffic icon I could view the traffic location and distance from it.The icon even displays the estimated time of the delay.I could do a manual change to go around it or per the instuctions manual it will re-caluate the route if a severe traffic delay occurs automatically. As far as the adds showing on the screen they only appear to show when you are stopped are going very slow.They were no problem at all.If I didn't have my glasses on I would not have even seen it.Small and top part of the screen.No ad everytime I passed a McDonalds.On this trip I only noticed the one.For the coupon savers when the ad appears with a coupon icon just touch the icon and you can copy the code down and go to the store and just give them the number for the discount.Touching the add will allow for you to search for closest location.

I've never used one of these traffic gizmos. What are some of your experiences?

I live in NW Houston. Anyone familiar with 290 west will understand how congested this freeway is. I would like to give this a gizmo try... Any feedback would be great!

I have used this feature in Dallas for 6 months, and so far I've never been re-routed in avoiding a jam. Don't get me wrong, I've maybe been lucky with traffic jams lately, yet it does make me wonder whether there is not just simple hype for much of this feature. I used to listen to the radio on my way to work before retiring, heard about traffic jams on the way, and most times it was basically cleared before I hit them. There's something lacking in the basic reporting of the jams, be it radio or GPS,,,the info is coming from the same sources anyway.

I'm techy and like the feature, I just don't know yet if it will really help in avoiding jams to any worthwhile degree. I'll be interested if others have better stories of how the avoidance feature really helped them out. sv

Thanks SV

like online, we should be able to connect to the traffic cams and see for ourself. simply seeing the jam on our GPS, there would be a camera icon, we would just click on it for an actual live update.

That would be really cool. am I too late? is this already out? =)

I wish I could get this for my TomTom

Not sure, but I tinkered with a MIO C220 last week(no manual) and it had "Traffic Camera" features which I knew nothing about. Maybe it is a feature on some units. I'd love to have that real time ability too. sv

What are the chances of Garmin dropping clear channel in a year or two though now that they have navteq for the new units?

They only use Navteq for the free traffic units. They must have made a deal that ties in with the maps purchase.

The pay traffic option has always been clear channel and MSN.

It would be nice with all the competition now maybe they will add some new features with Navteq.

Is it OK to upgrade to the new firmware to get the Lifetime Traffic? I am currently on 3.1 for my 760.

I'll say, Yes, go for the latest 760 firmware--and also the separate GTM-20 upgrade (located with all the text and voice upgrades on the page after the main firmware upgrade page). You will need the GTM-20 update for your FM traffic receiver to be able to update to a lifetime subscription.

dpw the subscription works for any covered city in the USA

There are 3 major traffic reporting sources who represent the majority of media outlets in the Dallas/Ft Worth Area (Clear Channel, Traffic.com, and 3rd unnamed source). These companies monitor the TxDOT highway cameras as well as call all the area police agencies to get wrecks, stalled vehicle, and lane closure informaiton. They call on a frequent basis. Sometimes every 10-15 minutes during rush hour or if they know that agency is working a wreck, etc. They also rely upon their media helicopters and everyday citizens driving past an incident. Because there can be 15 minutes or longer between times they call a particular police agency, this can result in a delay of getting the information to the general public (by GPS receiver, media website, or radio/tv station broadcast).

Example: Clear channel calls Irving PD and Irving is not working any wrecks. From the time they called Irving PD, many other police agencies, and get back around to calling Irving PD again, a wreck may have occurred. The time between the two calls to Irving PD may have been 10 minutes apart or 1 hour apart or longer. This can be the reason you see a delay in the information. They have traffic systems that put the information out to Media websites, GPS units, etc. almost immediately. It's just a matter of them getting the information.

If anyone wants to help others, you can obtain the traffic reporting hotline number for your respective company (Clear Channel, traffic.com(NAVTEQ), etc.) and report to them an incident that you may have passed by that is not yet displaying on your device.

PLEASE: if you are involved/witness a traffic accident, stalled vehicle blocking a lane, road hazard (ladder,roll of carpet, box,etc.), please dial 911 immediately and give the location, which lane is blocked, and vehicle descriptions to the 911 operator.

After that, then you can report it to the traffic service.

Thanks for the info

Gotta love it. My 3 months free is just about up. Lifetime will make me jump on board.

I just activated the $60 lifetime subscription - had it up and running in under three minutes. I used the minus (-) sign to key in the activation code and left it in ABC mode, and it worked the first time!

I had a one year subscription, which expired a few months ago. My GTM-20 now shows:

"TTN(US): Lifetime Subscription"

I use this on the commute to Washington DC daily, and find that it beats WTOP and the broadcast traffic updates by 5-10 minutes. That's just the edge I need to take an alternate route before the un-savvy clog the secondary roads.

I have traveled all over the country and found that the traffic service works as advertised in the markets listed on the Garmin site.

WAR STORY:

A coworker and I were traveling in two separate vehicles to a conference in downtown Pittsburg in 2007. Unknown to us there was also heavy construction on the interstate going downtown. We both had Garmins, but mine (660) still had the intro traffic subscription active. The other guy followed his old faithful 350 (no traffic) into a construction delay. My garmin chirped with construction update and guided me the "long way" around the construction zone.

Long story short - I was at the hotel nearly an hour before he was!

I just got the lifetime code upgrade after pinging Garmin again about the deal. Cool! Have not entered it yet, yet I know it will work. WooHoo!

It worked just fine going to the Garmin website. Had it working in about 5 minutes.

Yesterday, I bought the Lifetime FM Traffic. Everything went smooth with the Garmin site.

Had updated the receiver with the firmware a while back, knowing it was the update for the Lifetime subscription and I was going to get it. I have entered the code 3 times now and each time the unit says that its updated to lifetime subscription. Everything looks fine until it's shutdown and re-booted. It goes back to telling me today is last day of subscription. Even left it on (12v. jack is always hot) for a while. Came back later and it said that subscription expires today.

Will see what happens tomorrow, since today is the last day. If it won't take, then I guess I'll have to contact Garmin.

Anybody else experienced this?