Garmin NUVI 200 NEWBE Question

What do you mean by "installed"? The Nuvis are designed to be portable. The window mount and power cable are made to easily removed. So I'm not sure why you'd feel the need to permanently mount it. That said, no matter what you do with it, I'd turn it off. If you leave it plugged in, its an unnecessary draw on the car battery. Also, consider that GPSrs are not only the hottest retail item, they are also the hottest theft target. A broken window isn't worth leaving it in the car.

Yeah, it depends upon how you did the power source as to whether it would turn off or not. If the power source is always on, then the nuvi would stay on. If the power source is switched to the ignition, then the nuvi would turn off.

However, as Doc_Brown stated, smash-n-grab is a big problem (in some areas), so you might want to use caution as to where you leave the unit in the vehicle.

Thanks for the quick response. What I was wondering , is when I leave it in my garage (safe and secured), if I had to turn it off or would it go to sleep by itself. I guess though, I don't want to run down my battery anyway!!!!

I recommend connecting to a switched power source, then you don't have to worry about draining the battery. It's fairly simple to add a 12V socket to the fuse box under the dash.

Thanks for the idea. Does it drain the battery if it is still connected to the cig lighter (hot) but turned OFF and it says charging?

Yeah, it will draw power. It probably wouldn't drain the car battery down leaving it like that once, but I wouldn't recommend it for the long term.

Until it's charged, then the draw would be minimal...will it kill your vehicle batter? Not by itself. But over time may shorten the vehicle battery's life a bit. I think it's best to take it out of the car when not in use.

When I park at home in the garage, I usually leave it on the dash and plugged in. I try to remember to turn it off but have forgotten it once or twice. The drain on the battery either way is pretty minimal. Remember, the onboard computer in your car and even the radio are always drawing power. Assuming your battery is healthy, I can't imagine a little ol' GPS unit making much of a difference.