350 routing wierdness?

I have to say. I did the same thing. Simulating a trip to my parents about 10 miles away on my 660 it gave me a pretty crazy route compared to the way I go. Same route fastest or shortest. I thought that was kind of odd.
From my understanding there is no way to upload routes to the Nuvi......is there a work around for this? For instance if you just add a bunch of way points or POIs along the route you WANT to take will that then take you the way you want to go rather than the way it *thinks* you should go?

On the main screen, hit the wrench, then "Navigation", then "Avoidances" and see what is selected...if 'highways' is selected, unselect that, and see if your routing changes.

funny story, i was driving to the bay area from LA. after my pit stop, i routed an address to san jose, and the thing wants me to drive on rural roads. darn that "avoid highway"... i forgot to change it back when i had to avoid the freeways during rush hour.

Thanks - I'm *pretty sure* I checked those options, but truth be told, I was playing with my Nuvi in bed late last night When I get home, I'll check the options & report back. Thanks!

I did not have highways check as "avoid." I tried routing again, and the same thing. Just not sure why. Oh well. I take the Nuvi on it's first trip tomorrow, but it's an easy one I'll tax it a bit more in a few weeks. Thanks everybody for the input!

I also encountered this oddity. My Nuvi 350 suggested getting off a highway and taking a 7 mile winding street route rather then simply taking a transition to another highway. Fortunately, I knew this part of the trip so was able to ignore the unit. Double checked Avoidances and only U-Turns and Unpaved Roads were selected. Odd thing was is that this problem only occurred on the return part of the trip. Since the unit was only two weeks old, I simply had Fry's replace it. I'll write more if it happens again.

...by my being stubborn and using the type of road and route I want. Eventually, after she's recalculated many times, she gets my drift of the route I prefer, and will then give me the rest of it.

My guess as to why the nuvi is doing weird routes is that it's using whatever algorithm it was programmed with, and it thinks, rightly or wrongly, that it's route is faster or shorter. I'm only using it to plot routes for me on roads I'm not familiar with, typically long trips, and whether it's the best or not I don't know, but it works and gets me where I'm going. That's what I bought it for. So, I'm still a happy camper.

GC

Excellent point. When I'm heading north, my 350 takes me to Rt95 via a different exit than the one it directs me to when I'm coming home. Since I know which exit is best, I ignore the other, but I also know, either way, it will get me pretty close to where I want to go.

bfk

Came across this thread and thought I'd share.

I just got my Nuvi 350, and I think it's a fabulous piece of electronics. I'm in the custom kitchen industry and travel to a LOT of different address' in the city (Ottawa, Canada). The unit usually works flawlessly.

The only 'funny' thing I've noticed, is when it plots my course from home to my office (about 60kms) it has a hard time trying to find the best route.

I have three ways to get to my office, all are open highways. My Nuvi seems to want me to take a different route everyday. All highway routes are approx. the same distance, and neither route is wrong. Although I have my favorite route, I'd have to travel all 3 to see which one is actually shorter.

Just thought it was funny that the GPS wouldn't pick one and stick with it. I've changed the settings many times trying to entice a particular route, but it still can't make up it's mind.

It also has this wierd 'quirk' which sometimes wants me to turn off of a direct roadway and make me go down some back streets to my destination. Yesterday, I was traveling down an open road and I could clearly see my destination... yet the Nuvi wanted me to turn off the road on a two block detour.

I find the routing unpredictable... but accurate nonetheless.

GG

I recently decided to use my GPS to go to Western Virginia from my home. I have been doing it for years by using interstates. My NUVI 660 took me through 2 lane roads in Virginia and it was a very pleasant drive and took about a half hour LESS than my usual interstate routes. When it steers me wrong for sure, I will change but right now I am not sure it isn't right.

should be checked in "Avoidances"

Thanks
Milt

U-Turns & Unpaved roads. Don't have any toll roads or ferries anywhere near me, so I leave 'em unchecked, and I don't use the traffic receiver, so that is unchecked, and I leave highways unchecked, as there are more of those than interstates in my locale.

One bug in this is "unpaved"...since out here in flyover country, for E-911/Emergency dispatch considerations, every property has a traditional street address, and every road has a traditional name - ie: Road, Avenue, street, etc. - even if unpaved. I'm fairly certain Naveteq does not know that all the things known as avenues & streets in my rural locale are not paved...sometimes, I think they assume those are all paved.

I always knew exactly the best way to the library, the pizza place, the chinese restaurant. Yet when I punched it into my Nuvi 350, sometimes I would be astounded by the time saved by its route. Now I have also had it route me right through downtown in a major city in rush hour, BUT..
And yes it DOES learn. There is a street right next to my house that does not exist but shows on every map I have ever seen. Eventually Jane stopped telling me to go up the street.
Had it over a year now, and I cannot imagine driving without it. My son just started serious driving and it is a lifesaver for him. He just trusts the hell out of Jane and she has never let him down. A couple of weird routes but he always gets where he wants to go. The estimated time of arrival is usually within a minute or two. Always impressive!
One gotcha that you must calculate into driving to a restaurant or or store is that the name and the arrow pointing to it will have the miles AS THE CROW FLIES. It can sometimes take a lot longer to go that 5 miles then you would imagine.

I think that's what I'm going to do. The next time I travel the route in question, I'll let the Nuvi take me how it wants to, and compare the time & ease it usually takes me. Like you said - it may know something I don't Overall, I'm not really that worried about it. As other posters have pointed out, if you are in unfamiliar territory, you won't know it's taking you on a strange route, and the bottom line is - does it get you where you need to go?

Thanks - Jevid

I have been using my Nuvi 680 for about two weeks. One thing I did notice without fail is that it always wants me to take the first turn-off even though I can reach my destination by going straight and taking the latter turn or exit. Because of this, it will never route my the same way on the return trip as it did on the initial route.

That's not possible. It does not have a learn feature. It be nice if it had it.

My 350 been telling me to go the same route which I always ignored to work everyday. Maybe your Jane is smarter than my Dan. But, my Jane can't seem to pronounce any numbers in the 80s. They come off as 30s.

Make sure to go on garmins website and download the program called Web Updater. this will check your unit for the latest bug fixes and such. Also check to see what avoidences you have turned on if traffic is it my do all kinds of weird things in routing check all your avoidences in navagation.
hope this might help..
KB5RIR..

While I don't believe this is true, I have seen my Streetpilot c330 start directing me on my "preferred" route home from work, instead of the route it used to give me (which I would always ignore). Not sure why it changed routing. I hadn't changed any settings.

-Tom