where is your sat nav?

[Jack Russell]

Here:-

In this position it's not in the way of the road.

It did fall off once but not since cleaning the mount with the Auto-Glym Fast Glass.

[michael769]

Sorry Chris I have no idea what law would cover that , but the C&U regs would be logical

As far as I am aware the CUR only bans items that would obstruct the drivers view of the road. The swept area, I think comes from the MOT test requirements, however the MOT test requirements only do not exactly match the law, there are things that are illegal on the public road (such as exhausts modified to emit more noise than the manufacturers intended) but do not result in a failure, and the converse is also true.

Certainly I put mine in the bottom center of the windscreen. From my driving position it only block my view of the bonnet.

[Smiling Assassin]

My Garmin Zumo mounts in the centre of the handlebars! On the odd occasion I've used it with its car mount then it's been central across the windscreen and as low as possible, which seems to work quite well.

As others have already mentioned in this thread I too find it disconcerting to see the position some drivers located their satnavs, and how they use them! Some of the worst have probably been LGV drivers using a large laptop with satnav capability perched in the middle of the console - there's no way they see through it! One I saw recently had a coffee perculator next his laptop so his ability to see into the next lane was virtually zero! He wasn't using it as a satnav either, but watching a bl**dy movie!!! Grrrr.

[Laconic]

I was going to say 'in my hand-bag'. Then I read the answers and realised that wasn't the question. That said, I did once buy a replacement universal charger for my sat nav, which kept jolting loose on the road and turning the sat nav on and off, so I ripped it off the windscreen and tossed it in my bag where it turned itself on and gave me audio prompts. That was actually *useful*. To keep in mind.

Normally, I have my sat nav on the bottom right-hand of my windscreen and I glance at it when I go to check the off-side mirror. However, the bottom centre sounds like it could be handy. Will give it a try.


Dei.

[SeanP]

Mine's (actually a PDA running TomTom software) centre middle, as low as I can possibly get it, and in fact just above the display for the radio / cd / clock & outside temperature. It's actually the suction mount which one could consider obscures the view a little - about the size of a foot ball going under the front NS wheel.

Putting it bottom right would block the air-vents to demist the side window, and IMO would be more difficult to read, and as others have pointed out, for a passenger to read or interact with.

[Mr Cholmondeley-Warner]

Bottom right normally - it's the closest position for when you actually have to poke buttons. At bottom centre I wouldn't be able to reach it. If I have a navigator I encourage them to put it on their side and be in charge of it.

[hanse cronje]

on a brodit holder clipped into the dashboard just above the gear knob

[Angus]

I don't have one, I use a map. But if my understanding is correct, it is illegal to fix anything within the swept area of the windscreen.

Where's your rear view mirror then?

Mirrors are allowed to be in the swept area, but a sat-nav installed in such a way would be an MOT failure.

My sat-nag is in the bottom right of the windscreen and the sucker is fully within the swept area.

I deliberately left it there for the MOT test and it was not mentioned either as a fail or as an advisory

[ScoobyChris]

I deliberately left it there for the MOT test and it was not mentioned either as a fail or as an advisory

I wonder if that is a reflection on the law or on the MOT tester!

Chris

[jamei]

Middle bottom for me too. I tried for ages to find a way of fixing it to the dash but had to give up.

[faboka]

Bottom center for me. Main reason is so my passenger can remove or play with the route easly. However recently due to breaking the bracket it now sits on the shelf in front of the gear stick and as a result I have to listern to Jane.

What do people do regarding charging? In the fabia the 12v power is located next to the hand brake which is in less than an ideal location. No longer an issue for me as my Tomtom is on my iphone which charges from the radio.

[Gareth]

What do people do regarding charging? In the fabia the 12v power is located next to the hand brake which is in less than an ideal location.

In all our past cars I've had extension sockets permanently wired in - mounted on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel or centre console. In our Octavia, which has the nice feature of disabling the cigarette lighter when the rear windows are locked out (which I might do if young children are in the back), I've had a multi-way extension socket taking a feed from the radio power supply so that power is always available to the satnav.