Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Assembly required. Instructions were just a few sentences and were not enough. The ram mount does not bolt on properly to the main unit. There is not enough space. I had to fasten it with only one bolt that was provided instead of two. It turned out not to be an issue though because one bolt holds it on strong. Yet I don't understand how the mountguys (who make this unit) sell this, knowing both screws don't fasten properly. I also had loosen the hinge and flip it so it traveled vertically instead of horizontally. It seemed this was a rubiks cube problem! You use your own garmin cradle and it attaches to the unit. There is very little space to attach one end of the garmin car charger to the back of the cradle once the cradle is attached to the mount, though it is just enough.
I finally configured it to work on my car vent despite the instructions and flawed assembled parts. It took a lot of time. However, it now works and it's pretty sturdy. I use it for my nuvi 350. I must say I am now pleased with this mount.
One other concern is the heat from the vent hitting the back of the garmin. I e mailed mountguys but they never responded. Garmin says that the temperature of the Nuvi should not exceed 145 F degrees. I measured the climate temperature with a thermometer of the heat coming out of my car vent when set at the highest temperature. It was 145 degrees F. Not good.
To deal with this, I have to turn down the heat or redirect the heat to the floor vents so I don't have to risk too much heat hitting the nuvi. After two weeks I found myself being very aware of the garmin by feeling it to see if it is too hot when using the heat. I had to fiddle with the climate control settings frequently. I tried to direct the louvers to blow the air towards another direction away from the garmin, but because of the mount, you have little room to move the louvers. Finally I stuffed velcro across the vent to block most of the heat. That works. However, when I feel the top of the dashboard directly above that vent, it is about 25% hotter than the other vents. I wonder if blocking the heat backs up the heat, causing heat sump and possible damage to the air channels or wiring underneath the dashboard. Again, I am forced to redirect the hot air to the floor.On a plus side, having the car charger continually plugged into the cradle means that I never have to charge my garmin in my house. This is convenient and might outweigh the inconvenience of fiddling with the climate controls. I think mounting it on the vent allows me to hide the car charger wire more easily, as opposed to if it were mounted on top of the dash or on the windshield with a big black ugly wire hanging down.
I did talk to a Garmin tech about battery replacement and he told me the lithion ion battery will last 2-3 years. A probable $200 estimated charge will be the cost to replace it, said the tech.
Another plus is it is easier to reach out and touch the screen when the nuvi is mounted on the vent. It is just inches away from my right hand.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Car Vent Mount for Garmin Nuvi 750 760 770 650 660 670 680 200 200W 250 250W 260 270 350 360 370 GPS
Innovative and highly practical, this mount uses your existing cradle. A lot of our customers worry about security. The vent is a great location for your GPS. It keeps it within arm's reach and out of site from the bad guys. The mount uses your existing Nuvi cradle. Like the factory mount, we use the round hole in the back of the cradle to attach to our vent mount. The power port can be fully accessed.
