HertzDriver

Somebody from Hertz PLEASE respond to this. I've tried calling corporate headquarters, talking to every manager at every Hertz location I go to in a year (travel to about 25 cities per year) and writing emails. I have gotten no response.

First, Hertz used to have an after-market satellite navigation system built in to many of their cars, always available upon request from airport locations. I used this service for 17 years. For some unknown reason, the devices were removed from all of their cars. They worked great, and were always available.

In 2017, Hertz removed all of these devices. They now give you the option of getting a portable device handed to you at the exit gate. These new devices are laughable. They don't work. The use the same single that your phone uses, which is often times off. In any large city you are playing a guessing game. Even in small cities the signal is rarely picked up. The reason - its not a satellite system. Having a satellite GPS system is a business tool for me and many other people on the road. Replacing the satellite systems with cheap, unreliable units only serves to turn your customers away.

Even if your cheap systems worked, they have to be programmed at the gate, which backs up traffic and serves to anger all of the other renters waiting in line.

You have cars with built-in SatMaps. But, you can't specifically reserve/rent one of those cars. So, its hit or miss with Hertz these days on whether or not I will get a usable vehicle. I've been a Gold Club member for 17 years, ONLY because of the Satellite Navigation. I am looking for a rental company that can guarantee a Satellite Navigation in every car that I rent.

Hertz, please change this immediately or come to a resolution. I think you are about to lose a large number of your business traveling clientele.

AutoSlash

I think you are fighting an uphill battle here. The reason they are being removed is because there is little demand these days. Smartphones have gotten more and more powerful and navigation apps like Google Maps and Waze are far more capable and useful than many dedicated navigation devices. You can even download the maps for offline use when there is no cell signal. The days of aftermarket installed devices like Hertz Neverlost are gone for good. The world is changing, whether we want it to or not.

HertzDriver

I appreciate the response, but the mobile phone apps do not work nearly as well as the SatMaps that were built in. Even in the upgraded cars, the SatMaps work much better than google maps or Waze.

A way for Hertz to resolve this would be to have an option to reserve a car with a built-in SatMap. I'll pay the difference. It can save me a day on the road or save me from missing a flight.

If I am missing something tell me, but Google Maps or Waze on any device is far inferior to a SatMap. Agree?

m907

Agree with AutoSlash. The solution, if you don't want to use a smartphone which I get, is to carry your own GPS. They're cheap and small and you won't have to pay absurd daily fees.

jason8612

Personally, I think Waze or Google Maps are superior to the old SatNav systems. They show instant traffic info, reroute if need be and work quite well. I had more than one occasion where Waze helped me get to the airport using back roads where there was an accident on the highway and I made my flight. And I used it all over the world - from USA to UK, PL, DE, Oman, and other countries.I never used Hertz or the other rental cars SatNav as I've found my smartphone version to be better.
Only rental car company in the USA I can think of that has SatNav in every car is Silvercar.

Explorer789

I agree with everyone's sentiment that a smartphone is far more capable than whatever satnav a car has, even those in luxury cars.

These days, if I know I'm renting a car for a trip, I will pack a cell phone magnet holder that fits into the vent along with a usb cord. Both of these can be bought cheaply on amazon for under $10 and take very little room in luggage.

FlyinHawaiian

First, welcome to FlyerTalk, HertzDriver!

When NeverLost first came out 20+ years ago, I was very appreciative of the technology and enjoyed getting it as a free upgrade but I never felt like paying a premium for it. I quickly bought my own GPS and still use one for my rentals in the US and Canada. For overseas rentals, I use my mobile phone. As others have said, alternative technologies exist and are prevalent enough so that I suspect the number of customers like you who are willing to pay extra for NeverLost is small enough as to not justify the capital expense of purchasing, installing, and maintaining the devices. That being said, if you want factory SatNav, I believe this is still offered in all of the Prestige class vehicles.

Cymro

I'd reiterate that and, with the prevalecne of CarPlay, even the standalone, portable GPS systems will be gathering dust.

TerryK

I use waze or google on my Android phone even when I receive a car with built-in navigation. I am familiar and trust waze/goolge more. Plus I can have favorite places preset. Case closed.

neo_781

I agree with the others. I have a built in Navi in my personal car and I still use Waze or Google as I find them more accurate and convenient.

thunderlounge

Waze for the win. It's not perfect, but considering the cost you can't beat it. I use it all the time, across the map and have never had a problem making it to where I needed to go. Now that doesn't mean the route won't be a little weird at times, especially to a local, but you still get where you need to go (again, with a free service) in the end. It's not miles and miles out of the way, just on occasion the routes are a bit unnatural to a local. Not being local? You'll never know the difference most likely.


Some rare exceptions can happen with new construction that hasn't been reported yet, and some very rare exceptions where it thinks the entrance to a place is here, but it's really over there (like somewhere the main road is elevated above the parking lot so the entry is off the side, but the app doesn't know that.) Those problems can be corrected by their user community, although some places have more users who can/will do that than others.


The best part is you always have it and don't have to rely on a company having something in stock.


There's always the option of buying your own dedicated GPS setup as well. Garmin, tomtom, whatever. They're not big, nor heavy, so easy to travel with.

jackal

I'm actually quite shocked to find someone actively defending Hertz Everlost.

As others have said, there's a reason that Hertz has phased them out.

The Neverlost systems were clunky, at best. The UI was unintuitive and hard to read. The POI database was painfully out-of-date. Even when Hertz started to refresh them with the newer touch-screen versions, they remained significantly more difficult to use than options from industry leaders like Garmin (although even the GPS device kings of yesteryear are starting to get out of devices entirely and haven't found a ton of success in the app market). The company that supplied the units to Hertz, Magellan, was an early pioneer in the GPS field, but their small market size led to a lack of product investment, and it showed. Hertz continuing to use the Magellan-powered devices actually reflected poorly on Hertz, showing them to be a dated, out-of-touch company.

If I was in a car with both a Neverlost and a Garmin (such as a friend traveling with one), the Neverlost was always eschewed in favor of the Garmin. And every time I ever got a car with Neverlost, I completely ignored it and just used Waze or Google Maps on my phone.

I find it interesting that you're claiming that the phone-based services are not GPS. That's factually not true. In fact, the aGPS system that phones use is actually more accurate than a satellite-only system, since it can provide full standard satellite triangulation plus locations in areas where GPS signals can't penetrate (city streets between tall buildings, etc.).

I think you are on a one-man crusade here. It's unlikely Hertz will pay attention because their market research bears out what I and others have said above. If you really, truly need an independent, non-cell-data-based map and device, Garmin still sells perfectly capable units, and if you used and paid for Neverlost as often as you imply you do, you could have bought one probably a dozen times over by now.

HertzDriver

OK - I wish Hertz would have responded as succinctly as those in this thread.

But, I still get very unreliable and slow results when I use my Android with Google Maps and/or Waze. Hertz also offers a portable version, which is equally as bad. Is it possible the GPS system in my phone is damaged? If so, why are the Hertz mobile systems also so ineffective. The old Neverlost systems had GPS antennas attached to the cars, and the mobile systems at the gate do not have these systems.

Yes, Jackal, I could have purchased a Garmin many times over. But, the Neverlost was built-in, didn't slide off the dash and always worked for me.

So, I guess I can go to Verizon and ask them to test the GPS sensor on my phone, or get a new phone? Can't figure out why everyone else swears by their phone GPS, and mine is so ineffective and the portable GPS that Hertz hands out at the gate is also unreliable. I'm missing something here.

Yes, I understand all that. I've been using GPS systems for 20 years.
My issues are with functionality. Its not that the routs are unnatural, its that both Waze and Google maps will, for instance, show that I am driving through a neighborhood next to a highway, when I am actually on the highway. This happens more often than not in certain cities, such as San Francisco. And happens frequently in other cities.

Maybe my Android GPS sensor is damaged?? Is that possible?

HertzDriver

jackal - I just sent you a direct email

trooper

Couldn't agree more.... you know where you are going so can tailor the loaded maps for each trip...its your unit so you know exactly how it works/how to get it to do whatever..... I wouldn't be without mine now... I paid a little more when I bought it for "lifetime" maps....and given what rental companies charge for GPS units...well.... the cost was pretty negligible...