TomTom Via 180

Great! Lifetime maps still downloading 11 years later! – TomTom must hate me. Bought this in 2010 and still getting free maps. What's not to love about that. Obviously many others have had bad results from the reviews, but as of today Nov 23/11/21, I just downloaded Maps v10.8 which is the latest Show details

Discriminates – My Tomtom won't recognise female command only male. Even when male voice asks for places or commands it fails miserably. It replaces places and street that have no similar phonetics Show details

My backup still going after 6 years – This is my backup unit after I binned my GO500 (reviewed elsewhere), used in my run around car. It has no frills, but is still working after more than 6 years. The only problem is having to buy map updates, although I last took up a 6 months extra offer. I figure that has saved me from buying another piece of junk. And I get to listen to Wallace… Read more

and Gromit! But maps are accurate, more up to date than my Alpine Sat Nav in another car. It's a bit finicky connecting to MY Drive on the PC, you have to remember to physically turn it on rather than auto switch on.

But when it fails, I'm not sure what to replace it with.

No free maps? – My TomTom Via 180 did not come with lifetime maps. Does that mean I must purchase maps for close to $100? If so - will TomTom change this soon and give us free maps - given that Google maps works perfectly well on smart phones which 90% of us own.

What , No free Maps ? – I feel the promotion at the time I purchased was misleading . I assumed free maps for Australia for life of device . Not just free Software updates so you can install and pay nearly as much for a map as a new GPS . Perhaps the new promotion advertised does actually give free maps of Australia for the life of the device . Buyer beware . Apart from… Read more

the misleading information about free maps the Tom Tom Via 180 has served us well for three years now .

I Hate this thing! – The touch display interface is terrible. It's jerky when trying to move the map and selects roads and your finger touches it. Slow refresh makes it worse to navigate a map on the screen. Non intuative menus, Editing a favourite route is confusing. Re-routing is completely stupid if you miss a turn. Try finding the battery status icon, it's burried… Read more

under multiple screens.

Programming a change to route with the unit inside (house) will cause it to look for GPS signal forever. I just wanted to change the number of the house! Nope, delete favourite and start again is easier.

I cannot update this thing without expensive maps.

No......... it' cheap and nasty.

TomTom is bad – I got lost three times in 3 days, using a new map, the maps are hopelessly outdated, wrong and overpriced. When I contacted TomTom for advice, they ignored me. I have gone through 3 fixed speed cameras, that was not signalled by the software. I would urge anybody thinking about buying TomTom, NOT to do it, please.

TomTom website useless – This device works reasonably well, but the .Most of the time the website is down and when it does work it takes ages to update, locks up and then have to start again.Try sending them an email ! impossible the link does not work. They only want to sell you stuff , no support. Device works reasonably well TomTom website is terrible - email link does not work

Very poor performance – The 10 year old Navman I was replacing with this TomTom is, in my humble opinion much better. I was continually given misdirections or told a street or house number did not exist. Luckily I had my ipad and could refer to google maps. Don't follow speed limits on your Tom Tom unless you enjoy speeding fines.To be fair, it did get time changes… Read more

correct at state borders and mileage over distance was fairly well spot on. However as far as finding destinations, not good. Voice control, ridiculous, only good for a laugh. Do not buy this unit. Took it back to Dick Smith but they only have a 7 day return policy, very clever if you are testing it on a long trip. bounces well when thrown across water and did not sink quickly. See above

Love it! – I don't know what everyone is complaining about, I got mine about 6 months ago and haven't had any issues so far other than some pronunciation is a bit funny and often I find the speed limits are off, usually only by about 10km/h, but still annoying. I keep my maps up-to-date, so I'd expect the speed limits to be up-to-date also. Overall, I… Read more

think it's pretty great, I love the lane assist (especially when travelling back home through Sydney). I think it's pretty great for long trips, as well as in tricky, unfamiliar roads. It's aesthetically great, user friendly and has hands free use. Lane assist, great maps, clear, big screen, quickly recalculates alternative routes Touch screen could be worked on, some pronunciation, speed limits unreliable

No modification possible at all – The GPS works fine, however if you want to add new maps or other items, this is impossible. You can't add new maps, or update your map for that case - the model is then again a cheap option. If you travel a lot, and want to avoid hiring a GPS unit for almost the same price as buying a new one, buy a World device. The device doesn't work with… Read more

TomTom Home software and therefore community content can also not be added. But, this device is now only $99, and a new Australian map is also $99, so you could as well buy a new device... Good big screen, easy to use Updates impossible. Additional content impossible.

Unit faulty – Unit was faulty from day 1 so I returned to Dick Smith and was promptly given full refund. The sales rep even mentioned that this model was a dud and many had been returned to the store. I also purchased several character voices from the Tom Tom store at additional cost - to give the unit some character. When I contacted Tom Tom and told them… Read more

unit was returned as faulty and I would like a refund for the cost of the voices I was told no! Poor service. Poor product. Stay away.

Kept my money and would not refund additional voices even after unit was returned as faulty

Not honouring free lifetime maps – Reasonable first GPS purchase. Passable device if willing to pay for map updates, given they have not honoured their lifetime free map promotion. Won't be buying another Tomtom, and will definitely wait until a lifetime maps promotion is around before buying another brand. Very dissapointed with the customer service (or lack of it!). Clear screen, relatively inexpensive Free lifetime map con. Finicky touch screen.

Avoid Tom Tom – Nice display and maps when new. Worked well for 6 months until I paid for upgrade. then I was unable to connect unit to computer for connection to downloaded upgrade but no go. Since have not been able to upgrade unit at all. It has now locked up. Software problem. Run around from Tom Tom. Never again. Recommended by JB Hifi sales. No service from Tom Tom when problem with software appeared.

I love my TomTom! – First GPS I bought and was freaked that I was going get stuck with some useless unit that would get me lost all the time. I use my GPS a lot and have no sense of direction so an easy to use and accurate GPS was a must. I've never had problems with reception (unless I was in underground carpark or inside a building). Super easy to use, large… Read more

screen, easy to use voice command, handy bluetooth.

I recently bought a more expensive Garmin alternative because I was excited to get lifetime free maps, and between the twoI much rather keep my old tomtom. I usually stop paying attention to the GPS and miss an exit or two, the Garmin unit gets me even more lost, the tomtom unit quickly realises I've gone the wrong way and finds an alternative route. Easy to use touch screen, bluetooth, easy to use interface, good maps, quick connection. About 2 months after I bought it started to have problems with charging and had to be sent for replacement, no lifetime maps

Good, no problem at all – I have read the other reviews and i was surprise with them, i ve got a tomtom via 180 that i bought 6 months ago, and i have no issues with it, i think works perfectly fine and i have never had eny problems at all, the only thing that i can say in not great is the touchscreen as it is not like a iphone, but if you have just i bit od pacience you will never have any problem. i am very happy with my tomtom. Easy to use Touch screen is not very good

the worst of the worst GPS ever – Do not buy it.. its rubbish my phone does even better. always lost and takes forever to connect and you will be lucky if it connect right. most of the time, it will keep recalculating route. Battery is another issue. since bought, always needs to be connected to power. battery won't last for 20 mins. Bluetooth connectivity, and high way exist. Battery is terrible and connectivity issues and re-calculation of route is always occurring.

Absolute disgrace that Tomtom sell this product – - TomTom failure to honour free map upgrades. - Software site is a disgrace and almost impossible to log into. - Device very slow in picking up satellites until well into the journey. - Don not waste money on these useless GPS';s - Speed limits that have been changed on the highways for over 12 months, are still not recognised by TomTom. Very bad customer service

Terrible – Do not buy TOMTOM. All the old units with the old software are being phased out, and the new units are not ready and are un-updatable. It looks good when turned off. I bought the Via 180 , partly based on the positive feedback here. I have enormous buyer remorse, and will be taking it back to DSE as soon as we return from Surfers to Sydney. I… Read more

think this gps is absolutely [censored word removed]. 9 times out of 10 when it is first turned on, it takes between 8 to 15 minutes to get a fix, and even when it does, it drops in and out for a while. Who cares about the features when it takes this long to lock on and work ??

Then there is the software. How can this company be allowed to sell these units when the software is not working yet ? MyTomTom is only working for some units, and not the Via series. So whilst you get the 'latest map guarantee', its useless because you can't update the Via – it's just 'coming soon'. So that means no map updates , and no software updates, including the all important gpsquickfix , which sounds like it's apparently vital for TomTom in order to reduce the 15 minute wait.

Sure, there's some people who seem to have no gps problems, but I've found that parking in a garage , or taking the unit inside , and then turning it off so that the battery doesn't run out, means that the sats are lost and hence the 15 minute wait. No normal wife, and especially young children, will stand for waiting for 15 minutes whilst this unit tries to find the satellites.

This new unit, part of the latest Via series, also has an infuriatingly insensitive screen. I'm used to iPhones admittedly, but I feel I have to smash this screen for it to register.

I just turned the unit off now, when it had full signal and I am out on a balcony. Turned it straight back on... no gps. Took 5 minutes to find the sats, but gave me a location about 400 metres or so from when it was (did not move the unit at all). After another few minutes, lost the sats again. Just to label the point, this unti is [censored word removed]

I just want a normal gps unit that works. Tomtom is off the list. It's on to Garmin and Navman.

Gets itself lost! – My old satnav needed new maps, but the price on the TomTom was such that I thought I may as well upgrade the whole device. What a mistake! This pinnacle of technology consistently behaves erratically, and the maps themselves are something of a disgrace. The device can suddenly think it is somewhere else - just yesterday I drove a short… Read more

distance and the view showed I was on a street a kilometre or more away.

It will from time to time, insist I drive in a direction I know is opposite to that which I wish to go. The voice prompts can come and go, and it once stubbornly changed destination on me and had to be shut down - it was the only way to clear the route.

There is no entry in its maps for Whitehorse Road, Blackburn, nor Mount Eliza (Victoria). If I use the voice-recognition feature, I can say "Emt Eliza" and have it accepted, but who on earth would speak like that?

Inner Melbourne streets are a hit and miss affair, and it doesn't matter if the streets have been around for decades or not - they just don't seem to exist, and whilst in Maribyrnong, it twice asked me to execute a right hand turn into a non-existent street.

Recently, I wanted to find a different route because of slow traffic, but couldn't because the device decided to zoom out and stubbornly stayed there.

Battery life is poor - the battery goes flat in about a week even when turned-off.

The MyTomTom software is as erratic as the device, advising updates are complete, without this necessarily being so. And it defaults to living in the systray, adding to boot times.

In all, this has been something of a disaster, and my previous satnav never exhibited any of these flaws. It accepts "Mount", and has Whitehorse Road, Blackburn in its maps. The speed readout is good, and very handy in Victoria, but my phone does that better Poor maps and software, inconsistent behaviour, loses its location and destination

tomtom via180 – the tomtom via180 is useless, cannot find a satalite signal. absulute rubbish. dont buy anything from tomtom. i paid $247 for it and it only worked half a dozen times. cannot update maps as their web site does not work. no online support. im supprised the side of the freeway isnt covered in tomtoms from being thrown out of car windows. avoid… Read more

tomtoms unless you like throwing your money away.

the via180 is useless, cannot find a satalite signal. absulute rubbish. dont buy anything from tomtom.