I´ve got Nüvi250 in Ford Galaxy with heated windshield. Its the SirfIII version and it has no problems with reception.

Could it be those specially coated windshields that some cars have to help reduce heat from the sun? I know that the electronic "Fastrak" transponders used to pay toll on SF Bay Area bridges will not work properly on those cars. The Fastrak website spells that out and they provide a special external transponder for those cars. They say you can tell if you have one of these windshields if you look at it from the outside with polarized sunglasses and the windshield looks purple. I have seen this before.

I have a Nuvi 750 about six weeks and have intermittant problems with locating satellites in my Nissan Murano. Sometimes I get satellite acquisition in less than a minute and other times it's taken more than 10 minutes. I contacted Garmin support and they had me download/reload the software. This seem to cure the problem for a couple of days, but locating satellites still seems to be erratic.

Have a Nuvi 260 in a 2007 Camry and it works fine, no problems with reception

My old GPS used to have problems with Corvette ZR-1 windshield, but Garmin Streetpilot C550 has work great with it.

I noticed that when I used the Nuvi 200 in my Toyota FJ Cruiser, it took a good 10 minutes to get a satellite fix, and the route recalculations were much slower than when I drive my Subaru Outback. So bad were these problems on a recent trip I took that I thought the unit was malfunctioning.

I have Toyota Camry 2008 and I own TMTOM 920 .
it works better and cach the satelits much faster then Magellan 760 in Toyota Camry 2002.
Its working perfect, SirfIII version, with no problems with reception

I have garmin nuvi 650 and i have observed a weird thing. If i mount the GPS unit near my CD player it does not work. The work around is to switch off the CD player or to mount the GPS little far from the CD player.

For any one if this is the case, try switching off your CD player.

I have two Toyotas, 2 Garmins...I have operated my Garmins in numerous vehicles and noticed no differences specific to the vehicles. I suspect an Urban Myth is behind this story.

Sounds like an Urban Myth has begun.

Folks

This is not an Urban Myth.

and FYI, if the package you received your Nuvi in does not have a SiRF reciver logo on it, chances are you DO NOT have a SiRF receiver.

Garmin Nuvi 2xx line is one of the most popular line due to price and if you would read this SiRF article it clearly reflects Garmin moving away from buying SiRF receivers.
You will find if a Garmin product includes a SiRF receiver, it will include a SiRF logo on the box.
Garmin has been trying to cut cost to compete with Magellan and Garmin lower end offering.

http://sev.prnewswire.com/computer-electronics/20080325/AQTU07125032008-1.html

Also, when testing the Garmin GPS receiver limitatioins, make sure you own a 2008 vehicle.

The GPS antenna is located on the back of the unit unlike the Nuvi 3xx which antenna can be flipped up for best receiption. This is not possible on the newer Nuvi 2xx and 7xx units which cause limitation issue due to the way the GPS receiver is facing and also the shielded windshield causing these receiption issues in the newer vehicles.

Don't take my word for it, just do some testing yourself

Good luck

Fletch, would it necessarily mean poorer satellite reception if the chipset was NOT sirf? Seems that some pretty impressive chips have come out from other suppliers this past year. Sirf's certainly not the only premium chip supplier to the PND market anymore.

My apologies Fletch. My question actually is to GPS4Me.

BTW, a nuvi 760 on the windshield of a 08 Tundra is certainly no problem. It's been in one showing 5 bars since Dec./07. What you likely are refering to is the "athermic windshield" problem mentioned on gpspassion and pocketgps on occasion This is not a specific problem with Garmin devices, but affects signal quality on ALL devices that rely on signal reception behind the windshield. That means TomTom, Magellan, Navigon, radar detectors, toll pmt devices, etc. Also, the nuvi 700's, since the addition of instantfixII, have FEWER issues with the effect compared to the flip up 300/600 nuvis. (The similarly featured TT920 and HP310 also have fewer reception issues with the special-coated windshields)

We were having a serious problem with our Garmin in my husband's new Volvo. It would work fine in my car, which is a Passat but not in his Volvo. So, we experimented by moving it over to the left of the dashboard and had no problem getting a signal. We then moved it back over to the middle of the dashboard and lost the signal. Needless to say, we'll keep the Garmin to the left of the dashboard, if that's what it takes to get it to work.

Hi, I cant use the Nuvi 260 in Camry hybrid as well. It cant detect the signal. The funny part is that both companies accuse each other (toyota and garmin)

It's not likely the Garmin. More than likely the windshield. I can pick up a signal inside my home. Double coated athermic windshields will block all the signal, Go figure.

Guys!!!!

I figured it out!!!
its the damn GPS not the toyota!! I change my model to nuvi 360 and i have a strong signal!!!!

get ride of nuvi 200 series and you will be ok

I am surprised that nobody knew that, I asked hundreds of people and companies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cheers

Folks

This is not an Urban Myth.

I thought I was clear about this but maybe not!

GPS4ME
I agree, it's not a myth. TT and Garmin have been dealing with this for a couple of years in Europe. The cause isn't a mystery. New windshield compositions.

I am having a HUGE problem with my 200 Nüvi Unit. I rented a car in Europe and my unit sometimes work. All of a sudden it starts working and of course, STOPS working. The strange part is: It will work all the time when the car is off. I mean, when I remove the key of the ignition, it takes around 20 secs to turn of the panel and the interior lights. And all the times at this moment, I HAVE A SIGNAL. But I have faced sometimes both working at the same time, what should be the normal way. I have tried to move the unit all over the places in the car... No solutions. I am driving a VW Passat btw.

I have a Nuvi 200 that has worked in numerous rental cars & in my Mazda - but will not work in our 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid. I have tried it on the sun roof, side windows, left, right, ctr on the windshield and it can't find a satellite. I thought it was the Hybrid, but sounds like it's Toyota.

I have a Nuvi 200 that I have been using for over a year in my center console storage box on my Mazda6 with full signal. It even gets a good signal in my house. I just bought a 2008 Highlander and it will NOT get a good signal in this vehicle.

I have a Nuvi 200 that ocassionally picks up a signal in my 2008 Toyota Highlander. I purchased the car about a week after I got the GPS and no one could tell me why it didn't work in my car. When I got through to Garmin after reading this article, they just said it wasn't their fault that Toyota built cars that blocked the signal. Circuit City won't exchange it at this point either.

I have a Garmin Nuvi 200W and a Toyota Sienna minivan, and once in a while, it can take up 45 minutes for it lock on to the satellites. I could have been lost all that time. The TomTom I had NEVER took that long--it was fast.

I have a Garmin C320 which would not work when I got my 2008 Highlander. I got the Garmin GA 27C external antenna and use it inside car on the dash. Since it is an active antenna, the amplification provides enough signal boost to overcome previous reception problems. No drop-outs since I started using this.

I can vouch that it's not a myth.

I have a Garmin C330 that works fine in my Pontiac Grand Prix, but very erractically in my new 2009 Toyota Camry.

Many of the calculations are way off and the run time does not correct itself. It locks up for long periods of time and has real difficulty holding onto a satellite for periods longer than 10 minutes. As someone who drives cross country a lot this is NOT a good thing. I'll have to reinvest my money into another $5.00 map.

I have pictures of the screen (taken while stopped) that shows my top speed as being 1,023 MPH!!! That's right...in excess of one thousand miles per hour.

Sure it looks like I'm making great time, but still many hours from my destination...and can easily overshoot it by 100's of miles...based upon it's calculations.

The Garmin is practically useless in my Toyota.

Any recommendations short of getting rid of the Camry? Thanks.

I have a Garmin StreetPilot C340 - It works fine in my 2008 Mazda, but cannot pick up a signal at all in my 2007 Camry Hybrid.

I've got a 2008 Toyota Camry LE and the new windshields Toyota are using (frost free?) gives my 200 trouble intermitently. But, a new 200W seems to work fine.

A friend just purchased a 2008 Highlander Limited, they were told by Garmin that this new windshield will affect the reception of any internal antenna: GPS, Sirrius/XM, WWVB, etc.

I have a 2009 Camry SE and my garmin wont work in it at all... Any suggestions? Do they carry an external antenna?

This problem is also common with XM or Sirius radio satellite reception...if you have an add-on unit with the antenna inside the car.

The window tint on some glass has an amount of metal in it. This works great to block sun UV radiation as well as RF freqs that GPS, Sat radio use. You have two varibles, some GPS receivers just have better, more sensitve receiving circuitry. Also, some window tint has a thicker metal film in it...naturally some cars will do worse than others.
In the GPS does not work in your car, either get a different on, perhaps brand and/or use an external antenna if your GPS has a connection for one. This is not a myth and is very common.

I own a 2009 Camry and my Nuvi will only work if in the rear part of the vehicle. Hold the unit in the back seet and it functions fine.

I own a 2008 Toyota Highlander Sport and just recently purchased the Navigon 2100 Max. For 5 days that I owned the GPS, I could not get the Navigon 2100 Max to work inside my Highlander. I called Navigon about this problem but they had no clue.

I ended up returning the Navigon 2100 Max for a replacement thinking the one I had was defected.

Today I tried using a Garmin 200 and I have the same problems. This makes me thinking it has something to do with my car so I decided to google and here I am, and now I know that I'm not the only person who is facing this kind of problem.

If anyone has any luck with the Navigon 2100 Max or a Garmin gps in a 2008 Highlander, I'd like to hear from you.

Ok, just want you all to know that this just isn't an import problem, but mine goes even futher. I own a 07 Mustang and a nuvi 200 unit, and it would give me the message lost signal for days at a time, but i never took it out of the car, and when I would turn it on it went directly to the where to/ view map screen. tonight I went to google to see what information was out there before I took it back back to the store and found this site. After reading all these comments I went out to the car unpluged the unit turned it on and sure enough within 30 seconds it went through the whole load up sequance found a signal and I had all the bars. This is no urban myth! GPS4ME was spot on with his information, so now I'm going to power up before I put the unit in the Mustang and see if it keeps it's signal, I'll do a follow up post in about a week if there are any futher problems, or if the unit works as it sould each time. This is a pocket unit after all.

I just got a 08 Toyota Highlander and my TomTom One XL just doesn't work, but works great in my 05 Camry.

Hey Ron,

Base on the problems I had with my Navigon 2100 Max and the Garmin 200 in my 08 Highlander last week, even if the gps is power on outside of the vehicle and after it already acquires satellite signal, the gps will loses signal after the gps is brought inside the vehicle. At lest that was the problem I had with two of the gps. Another problem I had with the Navigon was, the gps lost signal as soon as the car charger was plugged to the gps unit. Navigon claimed the car charger was defected.

After I tested the Garmin 200 and had the same issue, I concluded that the problem is with my vehicle and not with the two gps.

Have a StreetPilot 2720 & Nuvi. Works great in 01 Toyota & 01 Audi. Neither work in 08 Toyota Camry. Put in back seat, left & right sides. Just get "acquiring satellites" message.

OK, so I thought I was either going NUTS or just had bad Garmin Karma.
My Nuvi 260w worked fine in my BMW X3 and then we got our 2008 Toyota Highlander Limited Hybrid and now the Nuvi is very unpredictable. Sometimes it will take up to 20 minutes to find a signal when the car is started. And sometimes for what seems like no reason at all, it will just lose a signal. It seems to happen at the most inappropriate times too. I would say that its just a bad unit, but it happened to another Garmin that we had which led me to purchase this Nuvi 260w. Same thing is happening on both units. I've moved the unit around and it will work best if its mounted to my driver side window. But Geez, come on! I can't be riding around with my GPS on my window!
So to those of you who think its an Urban Myth, you are so wrong! Its happening to ME!

My old Magellan 300 refused to work in my 2007 Camry Hybrid but works just fine in a 2002 Camry. After I was told that the "compas" indicator built into the rear view mirror might be inteferring with the GPS sattelite signal I moved the GPS device to the far left of the windshield. It works fine there but now I need to find a location that is not in an airbag path.

I have a 2007 Toyota Hybrid Camry and a Nuvi 200 GPS. It hardly works at all in the car. It cannot really acquire a satellite signal. When it does, it gets lost and has no clue. It basically doesn't work and I want to send it back!

I own the Garmin Nuvi 200 WS, and when I first turn the device on, it takes at least 10 minutes to acquire satellites. I own a 2005 Honda CRV. What, if anything, can be done? I purchased this NAV system, to get to where I am going quickly, but it doesn't help if I have to wait for my system to acquire a satellite before the device works for me.

Greatly appreciated.

I rented a Volvo c40 today at National Rental car in Dallas and when i tried to use my Garmin Nuvi GPS, it wouldn't pick up any satellite reception. So I returned to National Rental Car and rented their Garmin Travel Pilot GPS unit and it worked fine in the Volvo. What a head scratcher...

Not a myth as far as I'm concerned...rented a Volvo S40 (National) and brought my nuvi 260w for a trip from Philly to Washington, DC...Constant troubles acquiring satellite signals from start (20 minutes+), drops due to poor signal (every 5-10 minutes), etc...After trying a number of locations within the car, decided to open the sunroof and hold it above/outside of the car...voila, 4 bars within minutes...Safe to say that if owned a S40, my garmin would be collecting dust somewhere...

I have honda accord, 200W takes little long then usual to acquire signal. I bought 2008 highlander and it stopped working at all. I wouldnt pickup any satellite reception. I have moonroof and it worked under glass just fine but not under windshield. Any idea how can I connect external antenna to 200w?

I am so glad I found this site because I thought my unit was malfunctioning. Interesting that I found a site that questions the possibility that the car is the problem. It never occured to me that it was my car, but like many of you, I just bought a 2009 Camry and cannot get my Nuvi200 to work. I have had no trouble with the unit before in my older toyota. This morning I had the unit on in my house for 2 hours and brought it into the car; I lost reception before I got out of my driveway. The question is can anything be done about it shy of replacing the unit and how can we be certain that any new device will not suffer from the same problem.

Placement may make a difference. Two areas you might try. Up as close to the mirror area as you can, or very low towards the driver side windshield pylon. If neither works you may neede to resort to Garmin's external antenna.

I have problems with my Camry 2008,
I found out that if I use the unit without pluging it to the lighter, using it with its battery it works find, but as soon as I plug it to the lighter I get the lost sattelite signal message

I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who has wasted so much time trying to get my Nuvi200 to work in my Toyota Matrix. It initially worked like a breeze, but then the wind died down and now here I sit in the doldrums! I'm lucky to have found my way home! I'm extremely disappointed in this little device that held so much promise.

I bought mini-USBs (plural) to try to reactivate it, but even the mini-USBs don't work! I'm moving on to another manufacturer!

The same complaint has been posted by European TomTom users, so I don't think it's specific to any manufacturer. Metallized windshields are going to interfere with some other devices that rely on receiving a broadcast signal behind the windshield. Better to play with the placement.

I have a Garmin i3 and I have a 2009 Camry. The i3 works fine in our 2001 Avalon and 2005 Highlander but not the 09 Camry. Then I read a comment that "some" new windshields have an area low in the center that does not have the metalized coating. So I tried getting the suction cup as far down in the front as possible. It takes long arms but eureka!, it works great now and gets the satellites locked in very quickly and reliably. The i3 is a small GPS which helps in this case but I suspect other models with larger screens can be placed far enough down front center to get a clear sat view.

I have a Nuvi 250. We use it in a 04 Toyota Sienna. The unit was working fine in the van till this summer. I did a firmware upgrade and a few weeks later we started having problems.
The unit does not find a satellite signal or it looses it every few minutes. Then it may take 10 or 15 or more minutes to get the signal again. 2 minutes later it is gone again.
Recently I was waiting outside a grocery store and took the unit outside the vehicle. Even with the Nuvi outside the car it did not find a signal.
We also do live in the Dallas area.

I've had my Garmin - nüvi 200 for 15 mos. I own a 2006 Toyota Corolla. Today, I had it plugged in and mounted on the windshield and 2 hours into my trip the Garmin shorted out, and now it does not work. I loved my Garmin - nüvi 200, I will buy another, but I don't understand why it shorted out.

Garmin Nuvi 200 letter P is now an @ sign cannot correct this are there any known issues like this and or repairs

Garmin Nuvi 200 letter P is now an @ sign cannot correct this are there any known issues like this and or repairs