GPS maps for Mexico & Central Am. - Garmin nuvi 1450LM
 

I tried to purchase GPS maps for Mexico and Central America for my Garmin Nuvi 1450 LM, only to find out that Garmin doesn't have them (!?!). So I have to get 3rd party maps. I've been searching the web - I found very expensive options as well as free downloads and I have no clue as to what to take. Any recommendations? Thanks a lot!!!

CENRUT and OSM
 

Try Cenrut.org for good free Central America Maps. You have to do the MapSource install on your computer first. Takes a little time but there are English instructions on the site.
Cenrut.org • Información

OpenStreetMap (OSM) is good in most of Mexico and Central America too. Check out this page of overall info. https://www.openstreetmap.org/
There are lots of different ways to download and install OSM maps. Probably someone else can give better advice than me.

Good luck!

For how to use OSM you can read this forum Navigation - Maps, Compass, GPS - The HUBB especially the top of the list sticky thread - there are hours of reading in that forum about maps and GPS.

Worked for me. Weird at first but plow through it.

Actually, the Mapsource install is not required for Cenrut.

I suggest you take a look at the English overview page:
Overview of the CenRut project

If you want to get fancy, you can overlay Cenrut on the (transparent) Centopo map, for which the Mapsource method IS required. Enjoy!

So if I download another map (openstreetmap for example), will that be an additional map on my GPS (besides the USA map that I have on there), or will it overwrite it? The thing is I need both and I don't want to do this on the trip. But if it overwrites it, then I will have to ... why do things have to be so complicated?

Moto_girl. Check your inbox.

So I tried the openstreetmap thing. I downloaded it to my computer and then to my gps device - I can tell it's on there, because now there is less free space. However, the device doesn't seem to recognize the maps. When I want to check distance to some place in MEX, it says "no match found". It looks like it defaults to the garmin base world map that's on there (meaning you can see major cities and highways, but you can't use the "go to" function or tell how far it is to some place) ... and I don't know how to tell it to use the other map. Any advice?

Yes, you can have multiple maps on your GPS. I suggest you go onto the Cenrut site, mention the GPS model you have, and ask the same question.

Cen Rut & OSN
 

Has anyone used Open street network data in Mexico and Central America? How good is the data? I tested it here in Canada and it has serious quality problems near where I live.

Same question for CenRut.

If you have used either of those datasets (doesn't matter on which device) please let me know. Thanks for you help!

? Do you mean Open Street Map (OSM)?

The OSM data can be changed by anyone (assuming no personal ban due to vandalism) - so you can correct any errors you know of. OSM has agreed licensing with various satellite views - these can be used to check/plot roads (and other things) on to OSM.

I do check the data before I go using the satellite views to see if it has the main data, add/alter as required. There are occasional errors ... mine included. I usually find and correct my own errors fairly quickly, the people that do a few edits and leave are the main ones I find leaving errors behind.

settings...
 

Well Moto Girls has no doubt moved on to other things, but I will post my advice for the next person. Here are the basic steps:
Go to Free worldwide Garmin maps from OpenStreetMap and figure out how to select the map you need, download, then take a bunch of steps to send the map to your device. Last step, on the GPS go to Settings > Map Info > click the box next to the new map set...done. I hope I got the sequence of screens right, if not then close. I usually deselect overlapping map sets, because I think its confusing to the GPS, but what do I know.

OSM rocks and the maps are getting better and better all the time. If you are going to South America, then definitely load up on OMS as there are a few countries missing from Garmin's South America Navigator map.

while farting around nicaragua in my truck and on the dr, i've used both osm on my android phone and cenrut on my garmin. neither one has shown any gross errors. however, neither one has proven to be as accurate as google maps on my iphone or gpstravel maps that i bought and use on the garmin.