The life of a mobile loan signing agent/notary public. Don’t you love it when GPS not working properly? I just recently spent $1,800 on car repairs this week and still needed a rental car to complete two assignments for $250 each. My car wasn’t fixed and needs to go back to the shop. The rental car’s GPS kept malfunctioning and misled me as I was trying to get to my 9 AM loan signing assignment from Jacksonville, FL to Green Cove Springs, FL. Despite inputting the correct address, I ended up taking the long way to my destination. I was directed to take I95 South and should have taken I10 West. Anyone familiar with Jacksonville, FL would know those interstate highways are on different sides of the city. Eventually, I reached my 9 AM destination, but the GPS issues continued for my 3 PM appointment as well. On my way to Hastings, FL from Jacksonville, FL, I ended up on very narrow roads with very deep ditches along various farm lands. Now, I’m normally comfortable with county roads. I am so happy it was during daylight hours; I wouldn’t desire to drive on those roads at night. After my 3 PM assignment, the borrower told me all I had to do was make a right turn and then a left turn and eight miles I’d reach I95. It was just one of those days!
@cfletcher Yes, technology is usually very helpful - but, sometimes . . . not so much.
You may have encountered difficulties with a GPS [Global Positioning Satellite] system that was configured to AVOID Toll Roads/Turnpikes. Thus, it would have taken you on an “over the river & through the woods” route.
It could have been configured in that manner because the leasing company wants to ensure Tollroad/Turnpike Fees aren’t charged to them by leasees. . .
Or, it could have simply been the previous driver who configured that choice.
Or, (less likely, but not impossible) the GPS was not navigating efficiently in that region.
So, always remember to check the ‘default’ configuration in the GPS within a vehicle new to you.
Regardless, that must have been quite difficult to manage. Glad that you reached out for a “lifeline” to provide you with ‘Air Traffic Control’ [ATC] guidance to your final destination. 
There have been times that I’ve needed to ask for ATC guidance. Nice to know that it’s there, if you need it!
Hopefully, the challenges your vehicle is currently facing will be promptly resolved so the two of you can successfully “team up” once more! 
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@cNsa5 I can’t even lie, it’s so true there are so many different variables that can impact a GPS device. Those two malfunctions made me drive 58 additional miles and reduced my net profit. We put a lot of miles on our vehicles, which increase our auto maintenance costs:rofl:
Really don’t like it. It has tried to drive me into a lake; taken me in a huge circle, made me drive (on vacation) into NJ rush hour traffic to ‘save’ 3 miles; dumped me in the middle of nowhere telling me ‘you’re at your destination’; told me a river was a road; took me for many miles down a dead end road. And, this is more a ‘silly’…when I’ve missed a turn (usually because I’m in the wrong lane for the turn) it sounds like it’s saying ‘make an illegal U-turn’. I really prefer county paper maps, but they are disappearing. What I use is MapQuest cuz I can customize the route with the shortcuts I know & I’d rather listen to the radio than GPS.
@cfletcher WoW!! 
Not good!
For my Navigation, I rely on Apple Maps via Siri (on my iPhone).
I no longer 
pay the expensive annual fees to update “Here!” the software installed within many vehicular navigation systems.
When I’m not familiar with the place I’m going, it’s super hard to avoid driving unnecessarily. Back in the day, I printed my routes, and I’d carry a Rand McNally — USA Road Atlas with me. But these days, there are so many new housing developments and other changes, hard copy maps become old real quick.
@cfletcher 
I still carry the Rand McNally Road Atlas of the US as well as county maps for the region I serve; albeit, their use has become quite nominal over the past few years.
The lack of paper map use is overarchingly due to two factors:
- Increased familiarity with/trust of the Apple Maps APP on my iPhone
- New housing developments (as you’ve accurately noted above)
I discovered some time ago that your car GPS is programmed into the automobile at the time of manufacture. Periodically you will need to have the program updated. Roads and directions change a lot more frequently. That may be different with newer cars perhaps.
I regularly use my iPhone GPS instead and I believe Apple Maps is superior to Google maps though both use the satellite system and real-time road conditions. Just a thought.
Why don’t you use Google Maps on your cellphone? It occasionally gives wrong directions but generally speaking, it’s pretty reliable.
I know I could not function without my GPS! LOL
I wonder if the person before you adjusted the GPS settings to avoid toll roads and that is why you were sent willynilly the long way. What a pain!
The problem with using cell phone apps is you have to create the route in a place where you have cell phone coverage, or at least download the maps you need while you have coverage. If you’re out in the sticks and need to create a new route beyond the edge of whatever map you’ve downloaded, it won’t work.
Yes! This precisely why I rely on my Garmin GPS rather than my phone.
I have not found that to be a problem. I have my cell set to roaming so that I automatically connect to any open hotspots.
I was actually using my cell phone and connected it to the car’s bluetooth function. Live and learn is what I always embrace.
Fortunately, I rarely have to use Google Maps in a “remote” location (I’m in the greater Los Angeles area), so I can’t attest to what would happen out in the boonies. The biggest issue that I have is that in some areas in the hills, cell reception is spotty, and when that happens, Google Maps doesn’t work. I then have to get to a spot lower down where reception picks up again. Another issue that I have is when going to a gated community, sometimes Google Maps will send me to the “exit only” gate instead of the “entrance” gate. I’ve never used a built-in GPS in a car, so I don’t know if that works any better.
@steves11 Yes, I often experience that scenario as well with the Apple Maps APP.
These function perfectly when the car is brand-new. Most of these systems are NOT dynamically updated; ergo, the system is quickly out-of-date.
Those types of installed navigational software systems within the vehicular GPS are only updated once a year & are pricey. Once the vehicle is approximately 10 years old, the software is no longer updated for multiple manufacturers.
Easier to rely on Apple Maps APP that is dynamically updated throughout the year with housing addition expansions, etc.
Hi always love your comments. I also prefer old school maps in comparison to auto gps. I continue to use Google maps and print hard copy of text prior traveling to assignments and tracking mileage for assignment. Between Google maps on my android phone and hard copy map arrive ok. Also ask signer for landmarks, etc. Only place had issue with Google maps was Kitsap County WA ~ so much new construction and slow to update maps and many areas have no cell service. World keeps changing.
The reasons you stated are why I chose not to pay extra for built-in GPS in my car. I really don’t want to pay a subscription fee to update the system each year, in addition to the initial cost.
I’ve never tried Apple Maps. I’ll have to download it on my iPhone and see if I like it.
“World keeps changing” - Spoken truth!
I use Google Maps on a tablet. I check directions before I leave the house and also use it in deciding whether or not to take an assignment.