Maps.Google directions SUCK

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eyecandy86

Senior member
Apr 17, 2005
648
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i needed to go from St. Pete to Bradenton (~20 miles) to go to this mall.
Never made it to the mall. The mileage was way off on the directions and half the steps didn't exist - like changing from state route 41 to 301 by bearing right.

Any one else try google maps for 15+ miles and it not work?
 
DaTT

DaTT

Garage Moderator
Moderator
Feb 13, 2003
13,295
121
106
I had mapQuest give me directions once, told me to get off the highway, then right back on it.
 
C

chrisms

Diamond Member
Mar 9, 2003
6,615
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0
I think you suck at following directions. People say mapqest, yahoo, google, etc. suck and give them wrong directions, but I've used these sites countless times and they've always been right for me.
 
Legendary

Legendary

Diamond Member
Jan 22, 2002
7,019
1
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Anytime I need to go south on I95 near NYC Google Maps tells me to cross the Hudson over the Tappan Zee Bridge and then cross back over the GWB and get onto the turnpike, completely neglecting a highway that is 1 mile away from my house that will go there in half the time.
So yeah, sometimes Google Maps sucks.
 
CRXican

CRXican

Diamond Member
Jun 9, 2004
9,062
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I use mapquest and so far it's always gotten me where I needed to go.
 
I

isasir

Diamond Member
Aug 8, 2000
8,609
0
0
Mapquest has supposedly gotten better it seems. My cousin came down from Canada. He used to bitch about Mapquest's directions, but said they were very accurate this time.
 
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eyecandy86

Senior member
Apr 17, 2005
648
1
0
Mapquest always works for me. Although sometimes it tells me to get off the interstate prematurely and take 19 (which gets you there, just slower).

I thought google would be ok, but i guess not.
 
D

dderidex

Platinum Member
Mar 13, 2001
2,732
0
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I just use Google maps to get a feel for the area and get the satellite view (very cool). The ability to drag it around is handy for that.

For actual DIRECTIONS...always maps.yahoo.com.

And MAKE SURE you print out the 'Turn by turn' options - it shows a picture of each 'turn' you make...so when the directions are referring to the road you need to go down by one name that doesn't happen to be the name for it used on the road signs, you can still figure it out.

(That's what really bugs me about ANY mapping solution - no way to know how the road is listed on the signs! Most roads in major cities I've been in have at LEAST three different names for the same stretch of road - never mind when they cross over another road or bridge or something and change to a completely DIFFERENT set of 3 names! VERY annoying!)
 
mobobuff

mobobuff

Lifer
Apr 5, 2004
11,099
1
81
They all screw up at some point, because they're just using a database, which can be wrong or out of date, or incomplete.
 
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eyecandy86

Senior member
Apr 17, 2005
648
1
0
Originally posted by: dderidex
I just use Google maps to get a feel for the area and get the satellite view (very cool). The ability to drag it around is handy for that.

For actual DIRECTIONS...always maps.yahoo.com.

And MAKE SURE you print out the 'Turn by turn' options - it shows a picture of each 'turn' you make...so when the directions are referring to the road you need to go down by one name that doesn't happen to be the name for it used on the road signs, you can still figure it out.

(That's what really bugs me about ANY mapping solution - no way to know how the road is listed on the signs! Most roads in major cities I've been in have at LEAST three different names for the same stretch of road - never mind when they cross over another road or bridge or something and change to a completely DIFFERENT set of 3 names! VERY annoying!)
Click to expand...

Very true and annoying also.
 
HardcoreRobot

HardcoreRobot

Lifer
Nov 7, 2000
16,403
3
81
sometimes you have to use a little common sense when interpreting directions. if you follow them too literally you will usually get lost
 
shilala

shilala

Lifer
Oct 5, 2004
11,437
1
76
I just used Google maps for my wife's trip to Erie. I gave her direction and maps from home to the hotel, from the hotel to the convention center, from the convention center back to the hotel, then from the hotel home.
She had no problems at all.
 
M

monk3y

Lifer
Jun 12, 2001
12,699
0
76
I had some problems with google maps myself. I'm just gonna give it some time. I'm sure they'll perfect it soon.
 
C

Caesar

Golden Member
Nov 5, 1999
1,686
178
106
Originally posted by: InstincT
I had some problems with google maps myself. I'm just gonna give it some time. I'm sure they'll perfect it soon.
Click to expand...

yeah I have used google maps twice in the last week and both the times it screwed me. The second time luckily it was off by about 0.5 mile (instead of right turn it was left) so I got to the destination when I drove around a bit. But the first time it made me get on the wrong direction on I95 and I got lost completely.
 
M

Merlyn3D

Platinum Member
Sep 15, 2001
2,148
0
0
Nothing's perfect, and it's not like they can pay people to follow every conceiveable route to check their directions. All these maps sites have disclaimers saying they MAY be in error.
 
P

Parrotheader

Diamond Member
Dec 22, 1999
3,434
2
0
Originally posted by: dderidex
For actual DIRECTIONS...always maps.yahoo.com.

And MAKE SURE you print out the 'Turn by turn' options - it shows a picture of each 'turn' you make...so when the directions are referring to the road you need to go down by one name that doesn't happen to be the name for it used on the road signs, you can still figure it out.
Click to expand...
I know Google and others have that feature as well, but I know Google doesn't seem to include it as an option on default prinouts and it's why I haven't left Yahoo for anyone else. Very nice feature.

It's funny how willing to forgive people are when it comes to any shortcoming on Google though. If this thread had been about Yahoo or Mapquest people would be piling on and saying they'd never use the service again. ;)

 
Drakkon

Drakkon

Diamond Member
Aug 14, 2001
8,401
1
0
i use streets and trips 2005 + GPS and it works great...every intersection i get a voice command telling me "YOU WILL BE TURNING IN 30 SECONDS ON MAIN ST" or something like that...its worked great so far...
 
L

lowfatbaconboy

Golden Member
Oct 21, 2000
1,796
0
0
ive had mapquest give me directions to the correct street it was just like ~8 miles down the road where the place /actually/ was

 
rh71

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
Originally posted by: DaTT
I had mapQuest give me directions once, told me to get off the highway, then right back on it.
Click to expand...
all of the mapping systems do that for some reason... even software you install on a PC will tell you to do that once in a while... you asked for shortest/quickest route, you got it.

Just have to familiarize yourself with the route before actually following turn-by-turn instructions.
 
J

jalaram

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
12,920
2
81
I check out all of the big 3 (yahoo, google, mapquest) and hope one is somewhat straightforward. Google's is the best IMHO for getting an overview of the area and quickly scrolling around. The directions then somewhat make sense.

 
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thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0
i've had bad experiences with all of them. i try to use certain sites for certain cities. avoid yahoo and oakland, CA like the plague!
 
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