I led off my Mazda CX-90 first drive with an anecdote about GPS misadventures. This annoyed some of you in the comments, but I thought it was a nice setup to preview my conclusion.
I digress.
The wild goose chase that Google Maps sent me wasn’t the first time I experienced — or heard of — a reroute to nowhere.
Last night, returning from Easter dinner, Waze tried to direct me around a traffic jam by having me exit the expressway — and then by asking me to immediately reenter. Despite the fact that I was supposed to turn left or right at the bottom of the exit ramp.
I don’t know if the GPS really thought it would save me time or if there was a bug, but I had to break traffic rules to get back on track.
I, and several other journalists, encountered this same issue on our first drive of the Ford Explorer some years back — we were using factory nav that time.
I also remember a Hyundai event from a decade ago when I heard about two older journalists plowing down a dirt road and tearing up a Veloster’s front fascia after the nav guided them into an off-road adventure.
We all know GPSs fail. And this QOTD isn’t meant to ask what the best one is. I am merely asking if this has happened to you — and if so, how often? Furthermore, has it resulted in hilarious stories or just minor annoyances? A few days from now, I will forget what happened last night. But maybe an unexpected detour led to you meeting your spouse or having a wild night that can only be recounted in letter form, starting with the words “Dear Penthouse”?
Sound off below.
[Image: one photo/Shutterstock.com]
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