New Garmin Drive 51 USA LMT-S isn't working - HELP!

I purchased this new unit 2 weeks ago to replace a Garmin Nuvi 1450 which died after giving me 4 years of service. While the new unit is working, I can't select a specific address that I want to navigate to. When I click on Where To? and click on an address, I get a message that Map Data isn't available. I then go to the Trip Planner App, and click on New Trip. This brings me to a screen to select Start Location, and Select Destination. The Start Location, using my home address, works fine. However when I use the "Enter Search" Block at the Top Left, any total address (451 Carter Rd, Clarksville, TN 37042) as an example, I get a message that they can't locate the address. Am I using bad punctuation? They're telling me to enter Keyword or Address, State, and I can select a City and State OK, but I can't successfully enter a complete home address. I miss my Nuvi.

 

When I click on Browse Map, I can maneuver around to locate all of Florida, and I Imagine that I could, with some work, move around the Continental States, but it would be cumbersome.
When I try to use Trip Planner, I don't have the option of Favorites, Junctions or Towns. I have all the others.
I hope that this helps. Thanks.
Don Filiault

 

I guess, but I'm still concerned that you may have Favorites, Junctions or Towns on a specific GPS, but I don't have them on my GPS. I'm assuming that all Garmin Maps are updated through Garmin Express, but there are better, newer, or more expensive GPS units that contain better software. I've had prior Garmin Units, and they all worked the same way. You had to enter The State, City, and physical address, but this would allow you to get to almost any address on the map. As a "For Instance", My test Plan address was 100 Fronton Blvd Blvd, Dania,FL 33004. I can find this location easily on MapQuest, AAA Maps, etc., but it doesn't seem that I can map the route on my new GPS, and If I can't do this, the unit can't do what I need it to do. It is, luckily, returnable.

 

OK. I see your point. Dania isn't on the Garmin Maps no matter how much I Blow it up. It isn't on the Mapquest or Google Maps either, but both of these mapping programs can navigate correctly to the Destination. A large map of Florida will show Dania (or Dania Beach). I'll concede. The GPS will probably work in 95% of the destinations, but it won't work in this specific case.

 

Sorry; I got enough info from other sources to convince me that the Drive 51 is working, but the capacity to navigate to the specific address isn't there. That's because the City where Fronton Road, Dania, FL, isn't on the Garmin Map. Dania is just South of Ft. Lauderdale. It's a real town, and other navigation software like Google Maps and Mapquest can locate it. I sent the Drive 51 back to Amazon.

 

"With the right map" is the issue. Apparently what is supplied with the Drive 51 doesn't have enough info. There may be "add-ons" that I could purchase at extra cost that would make it work, but I'm pretty sure (but not positive) that the newer Tom Tom GPSs will do what my Garmin Nuvi 1450 did when it came from the manufacturer.

 

Sometimes it's easier to find an address if you use the zip code rather than the name of the town. In Florida some names of communities are unofficial and may not show in the map, but if you have the zip it should get you there.

 

I think that the 33004 zip code might get me to Dania, but beyond that, there's still not a way to get me to 100 Fronton Road. It appears that instead of Post office addresses, the only way to identify a destination is by using the name of a Restaurant, Hospital, tourist sight, etc. If you finally get to Dania, they give you a chance to drive to a Garage or Storage Warehouse.