Question: are they really worth the extra expense

Hi Peter,
I have built in satnav but I still take a look at each sites entry directions as a back up in case there are any unexpected narrow access routes or a preferred route in.
I did see a decicated Garmin unit on the c and c club website but this was well over 300pounds!
Considering you can pick a good unit up for around 60 to 70 pounds these days, the investment for me would not be worth it as I think its only that last mile or so that the route becomes potentially tricky. Most sites seem to offer good "last mile" directions.
Andy

Hi Peter, I'm also pondering whether or not to buy an additional caravan sat nav to the one fitted in my car. They are very expensive particularly if you opt for the Caravan Club system (£350ish).
I've spotted a ProNav PNN350 UK on eBay for less than £100 for a refurbished model. Argos are selling them for £250.

I might put a bid in on eBay, the ProNav PNN350 UK is presently under £50.

Regards
Ray

To put it bluntly no they are not, I have to go out now but will explain later when I get back and it should put you in a better frame of mind.

To hammer it home, all sat navs use the fastest routes when routing you towing a caravan, and remember the fastest route is not always the shortest route and the shortest route is not always the fastest route and if the shortest route is say 20 yards shorter than the fastest route and you have chosen the shortest route the sat nav will always do what you have asked of it and take you on the shortest route even if it takes you an extra few hours toget to your destination. Asking the sat nav to take you on the shortest route or an eco route is defeating the purpose of a caravan sat nav
Until a manufacturer can incorporate all the functions that I have outlined for a caravan friendly sat nav I will stick to my present one, and by the way a tomtom via 135 can be had for as little as £80 not £500 some are asking for their products and the via 135 can do a better job, on routes that I have never been on I use Google Earth to check the roads just for bad hills and bends etc not for turn by turn directions.

Good luck.

Hi I'am back.I hope that this post will help many of you who are looking to buy a sat nav system.
There are 2 main sections in a caravan friendly sat nav, obstructions and routes.
Obstructions, these are such things as width restrictions, low bridges weight restrictions etc. All these truck and caravan sat navs have these but you have to put in the dimensions of your outfit to take advantage of them, however be warned, if you put in the exact measurements of your outfit the sat nav will route you through, under and over an obstacle with the same measurements, resulting in a damaged outfit so always input measurements that give you some leeway.
Routes, what I mean by this is hills, bends, road widths etc. a caravan sat nav will always route you using the fastest route, why, because it uses the biggest roads.
There are some roads in the UK that are unsuitable for caravans and roads which are banned to caravans, at present I know of only 1 namely Sutton Bank that is banned if anyone knows of any more I will stand corrected , if a road is unsuitable for caravans and that road is part of the route the sat nav has chosen it will use it, sat navs cannot read notices.
Hills, for an outfit to safely negotiate a hill the sat nav has got to know the gradient and the power to weight ratio of your outfit to be able for the outfit to reach the top, I think there is only 1 sat nav that has the gradients of hills in it's brains but you cannot input the power to weight ratio of your outfit so how can it know your tow vehicle can pull your caravan up it. Ok there are many of you who use a 4x4 to tow with, great, power to your elbow, but there are many who use a family car it's these people that need to be aware of this problem.
Bends, again the sat nav needs to know the angle of the bend and the length of your outfit to be able to get round it, the length is already in it's brains but there are no sat navs that have the angle of the bend in it's brains it is trying to negotiate, I found that out by accident I came upon a very tight bend and could only get round it by moving over and facing oncoming traffic, when I got home I did a little experiment and changed the length of my outfit in increments of 10ft each time and the sat nav routed me round this bend I gave up after a total length of 100ft was reached and it was still going round that bend.
Road widths, again I do not think there are any roads in the UK that a caravan is banned from on width alone and I would imagine that this topic is self explanatory, if your outfit is using a road that will just accommodate the width of your outfit how on earth are other road users supposed to get past you.
I got in touch with one of the manufacturers of a so called caravan friendly sat nav, and these were one of the market leaders, I asked the head guy if he knew of Winnats pass in the peak district he said he did and had been up it many times, I then said would you tow a caravan up it, he said not on your nelly, I then asked why then does your sat nav use it when towing a caravan, he said because it is not banned in it's brains, need I say anymore.
I had one of their sat navs , it soon went the journey. My current sat nav, and I am in no way saying you should go out and buy one, is a tomtom via135, the reasons I bought this one is because you can purchase the camping and caravan maps to load onto a SD card ( so that I can use the vehicle dimensions part as they are not on the ordinary car maps) and you can switch between this and the normal car maps, you can mark and block any roads that you come across that are unsuitable for your outfit and they remain in its brains until you either remove them or download map updates, in which case you have to block them again, you can also change the road speeds should you come across any that have changed and again they remain in it's brains until as above, other sat navs make you upload those changes to the website where they become available for download at a price.
As I said go out and look for a sat nav that fits your needs but be warned and don't take tha salesmans advice ( they are just after your money) there is no such thing as a caravan friendly sat nav.