thinking of a Garmin as Amazon have one at £108 that apparently covers the UK and western Europe. Wondered if anyone on here can help with some questions pls:

how good are garmin's basic European ones in France and Spain?

do you have to buy the car charger/usb charger/mains charger as can't see that it comes with one?

how up to date is the software supplied and what do you have to pay for updates via garmin's website? presume you have to buy the usb cable for downloads separately too.

what are garmin like to deal with if it goes wrong? thanks guys

Mine came with all the accessories you mention apart from mains charger, but it charges while connected to a computer by USB. I've not used it abroad though so I can't comment on that.

Mine had the most up to date software on it when it came but it has been updated for free several times since. Map updates are a different story, they are normally chargeable but if new maps come out within 60 days of you first using your device you can get them for free too.

i have had a garmin for years, and its fine

i now also have a tom tom, which offers a choice of voices and colours?, but seems a bit harder to use? just my feeling!

thanks, so just a mains charger then or how quickly does it charge via the cigarette lighter socket while working in the car?