Tom Tom Sat Nav And Wnro

A couple of weeks back I had an email from Tom Tom telling me that my TT sat nav would pack up in the next few days because they had decided it was 'end of life' and it had not been programmed to deal with WNRO, the 19 year roll over of the GPS system's clock.  In order to help me out of the hole they have dug for me they will give me a discount off selected models - but my old one worked perfectly well until early April and all I want is for it to be allowed to continue to do just that.  There is absolutely no way I'm going to buy another Tom Tom, I might end up scrapping that too. 

 

Does anybody know if there is a fix or a patch for this? 

Edited by Madmitch, 21 April 2019 - 06:58 PM.

They sent my daughter a link for her unit in a Clio I just downloaded the update from their site and installed it
But that’s a 2010 car

I visited the TT site and tapped in my serial number to be informed that it was indeed stuffed.  Had it running all afternoon and it will not pick up any satellites now.  

Edited by Madmitch, 21 April 2019 - 07:16 PM.

This has happened before - they declared mine defunct a few years ago. It still works ok just no updates.

I will never buy another TomTom again.

Edited by hairy, 22 April 2019 - 03:19 PM.

Likewise, I had paid for 4 updates but only taken 3 when they cut me off from updates but like yours it carried on working.  Now three or four years or so further down the line it has stopped working completely, nothing at all wrong with the hardware, just will not pick up any satellites so cannot function.  Like you I will never buy anything from this crowd again.

I visited the TT site and tapped in my serial number to be informed that it was indeed stuffed.  Had it running all afternoon and it will not pick up any satellites now.  

 

Ditto with mine, stopped working (across France). It's a bloody disgrace, I will never buy their sh*t again. They should be firebombed for such a deliberate design robbery.

Edited by Nev, 22 April 2019 - 04:27 PM.

I have given up with TT. Their updates are never up-to-date and I think thereare better systems available. I'm now using My Route but there are a few out there that might be worth investigating.

They are a direct competitor to us and I find it amusing when this happens. It's not like nobody knew about the rollover....

I believe TT stated no update for roughly 8 year and older devices.

Those are fubarred.

 

They are a direct competitor to us and I find it amusing when this happens. It's not like nobody knew about the rollover....

 

Right, so as I thought TT are cynically exploiting the rollover to kill off older TT sat navs that are still working perfectly well, hoping that those affected by this bit of chicanery will just accept the modest discount offered to buy another TT sat nav - not a chance, not a hope in hell!

 

Seb, I'm looking at a G****n and wondering if you work for them?  I ask because I can't find an answer to some questions I have about the model I'm interested in and wonder if you can help? 

Why is there still interest in getting a standalone nav system when there are very capable systems available for your phone, some of them free. The least amount of stuff i have to cart around the better. Am I missing a trick here?

Why is there still interest in getting a standalone nav system when there are very capable systems available for your phone, some of them free. The least amount of stuff i have to cart around the better. Am I missing a trick here?

Google maps for me, free traffic flow detail as well

Why is there still interest in getting a standalone nav system when there are very capable systems available for your phone, some of them free. The least amount of stuff i have to cart around the better. Am I missing a trick here?

 

No, don't think you are missing anything but my situation is that we have four cars here and none of them have a built in nav system.  Also I am the only person on the planet not to have a smart phone, my phone is just a tiny little thing that slips easily into my pocket, if I need a computer then I have a PC!  

 

Why is there still interest in getting a standalone nav system when there are very capable systems available for your phone, some of them free. The least amount of stuff i have to cart around the better. Am I missing a trick here?

 

No, don't think you are missing anything but my situation is that we have four cars here and none of them have a built in nav system.  Also I am the only person on the planet not to have a smart phone, my phone is just a tiny little thing that slips easily into my pocket, if I need a computer then I have a PC!  

 

ah ok, I was in the same predictament when my TT packed up about a year ago. TT told me as it was 10yo it was obsolete! but would give me a 10pc discount on a new one. Got me thinking about what I have to get together for a road trip, camera, S/N, phone, tablet. As my phone was a bit ancient I settled on getting a smartphone which would do all of the pre mentioned.

 

eta/ traffic, updates free, no more hidden expenses and not held to ransom in 10 years time by TT, happy days....

Edited by Sutol, 23 April 2019 - 10:12 AM.

So thank you chaps for your thoughts and input, all very helpful.  I've now ordered a Garmin with lifetime updates and maps of Western Europe, hopefully that should see me out!

Its really annoying when this sort of thing happens.  Years back I bought a top of the range Mio and it became useless because for some reason they chose not to give give any map updates for that particular model..  Once a company does something like that I won't buy from them again.  Presently I have a Garmin with lifetime updates - so far so good, but the limitation appears to be that it's quite old and there will soon not be enough memory for new updates despite deleting everything unwanted like the different languages etc.I think tablet/smartphone is now the way to go.

Edited by oblomov, 27 April 2019 - 07:34 PM.

Just to add insult to injury TT are now blitzing me with emails about updating my device which, on the same email, they identify by serial number and say has now lost it's clock but will still work in every other respect.  I left it on all afternoon the other day and it failed to pick up even one one satellite so it is scrap. On the emails is a 'buy a new one with this special discount of 30% off' not a chance - and a line saying 'was this email helpful' so I clicked the thumbs down and eureka - a box into which I could write a message saying why it wasn't helpful.  So I wrote one saying how instead of choosing to update for an event they have known about for years they have cynically chosen to exploit it by sabotaging many older machines that were still working perfectly and that I'll never buy anything ever again with their name on it because they might just do the same thing again in the future and I've now bought a Garmin.  Thick skinned or what! 

Edited by Madmitch, 30 April 2019 - 06:33 AM.

My wife recently received an email from TomTom for the fitted unit in her 2010 Fiat 500, this unit had also decided to "not pick up any satellites" I tried to downloaded the update from their site which failed to work about 4 times, we thought this unit was indeed doomed however I tried a different laptop and it installed OK, it's working again now without any issues !

I just updated my TT via which has the lifetime updates and it now works again. Perhaps someone with a lifetime updates unit could help you out?

I looked around when I bought my TT and found various moans about all the other companies. It's a minefield! TT seem to have issues with satellite connectivity even when it is fully working, G...n seem to spunk out their data occasionally and leave you lost. neither is helpful but you can fix the G when you eventually get home. It's a minefield.

Despite the smartphone revolution I still prefer a standalone unit.

Well, I agree it is a minefield and if I'm honest I don't know for sure if Garmin are better although my friends who have them say they are better than TT, we shall see!  It's just that I'm so angry with TT about what appears to be an utterly blatant and considered program of sabotage of perfectly good sat navs in the hope of selling a few new ones.  Thank you for the thought but I did an anticipatory update a few days before the 6th April, WNRO day, and it worked perfectly until the 8th April ie. after the WNRO date so that rather suggests that the update might have triggered the crash.