Nuvi 205 future map updates

 

I have a Nuvi 205 that was originally a 49 states model. I bought the lifetime maps deal many years ago that included the North America maps. It has been running fine ever since.

Recently did the 2022.1 map update but the Sandisk 8gb SD card went bad after that. I have a new 8gb card installed.

Now Garmin Express wants to install the 49 states maps which is the only map choice. I did not install it. MapInstall will only install maps that I choose which is 157 maps total. This is all of the North America map.

Will I lose the lifetime maps after this update? And will I be stuck with the 49 states map?

A good question

That is a good question.

Often in the past before Garmin's devices came with lifetime maps, the roughly $100 lifetime map update was a popular purchase from Garmin, Amazon or wherever. Unfortunately, some owners of Garmin devices that came with no City Navigator map assumed that buying the lifetime update would give them the map and all future updates but they sadly discovered that the Update purchase only worked on devices that already had a City Navigator of some flavor (North American, 49 States, or whatever) and to use their $100 Update, they needed to spend roughly another $100 for an original City Navigator. Those especially disappointed were those who realized that they could buy a newer more functional GPS device with lifetime North America updates for less than the $200 it required to update their older devices.

In your worst-case scenario which is what you currently fear, the purchase of the Lifetime Update should only have given you 49 states and although you received all of North America until now, your Lifetime Update is now offering only updates to what your nuvi 205 originally had. This certainly seems possible to me and that your earlier received updates for all of North America were a bonus you were not entitled to, not that it was due to anything you did.

I'm a little confused about the MapInstall issue. I'm guessing that during the update with the 8GB SD card failure, you also chose to install the map to your computer and the computer map was the entire North American continent. Using MapInstall to install a map from your computer to your Garmin device will not include the extras to the device, like Junction Views.

There may be other causes and solutions to your current 49-state-only update offer for your nuvi 205 and maybe others can offer assistance. We'd like to see how this is resolved for you.

In the absence of other suggestions here in the next few days, I suggest a call to Garmin Support to see what they have to say.

Given all this, if mine, I would not spend more money to get North America installed to your 205 but if it can be done, do it and be a happy camper. But if not do-able, and if you really need Alaska, Canada or Mexico, I suggest looking to buy a newer device that has Lifetime Map Updates and has all of North America included. I would not be averse to looking to refurbished or used devices but would try to find a Factory-Refurbished device with Garmin warranty. On the other hand, you could take a risk and buy a used device on eBay, and from my experience, you would likely do well assuming you are buying from a Seller with a lot of great feedback and even better if they offer Returns.

I do see that you already also own a nuvi 55 and 57, both with lifetime maps and thought maybe you'd just switch to using one of them, but from what I see on Garmin's site, both the 55 and 57 were only offered in the 49-state version sad

In any event, good luck.
____
Later
____

Ah, to further muddle the issue, the nuvi 205 was only offered with:

nüvi 205 comes preloaded with City Navigator® NT map data for the contiguous U.S. or one European region or country...

meaning that it was never offered with all of North America and that you'd need to first buy a City Navigator North America map (assuming it is compatible with the nuvi 205), then apply a lifetime update. If correct, it doesn't suggest to me that you'll succeed in restoring a current North American map.

Updated to North America Map!

Did some playing with the updates and was able to install the full North America map to the Nuvi 205.

I did the first installation on Map Install but turned out that was a waste of time. It did install all of North America but turned out it was a 2012 version! I suspect that was from the one time map purchase when I updated my girlfriend's old Street Pilot gps years ago.

Garmin Express was able to detect that the 205 was due for an update but was only going to install a portion of the lower 49 states version. Was able to install the South East part without an SD card.

Next step was to install an SD card and run GE again. This time it detected the card and offered to install the complete 49 states version to the card. However, if you continue on it will ask if you want to install the entire North America map which I selected to do so. It took a few hours but it was able to do the entire map.

It's working with the new map. Though I don't plan on going I can see places like Barrow, AK, Mexico City and Yellowknife.

thanks for getting back to us

We are glad it turned out positively. It is surprising that the NA map was offered.

dobs108 smile

Interesting. Sounds like

Interesting. Sounds like all went well after all your work.