Will my GPS cigarette lighter adapter work overseas?

June 15, 2014 6:50 AM

I am going to Ireland. Yay! We forgot to request a GPS with our car rental so I'm bringing mine from home (USA) in case they don't have any when we get there. Unfortunately, my GPS no longer holds a charge and has to be plugged in to work. Will my US cigarette lighter adapter work in an Irish car?
posted by elizeh to Travel & Transportation around Ireland (6 answers total)

The lighter adapter will work fine. Does your GPS have maps for Ireland?
posted by Confess, Fletch at 7:03 AM on June 15, 2014

Yes.
posted by chasles at 7:06 AM on June 15, 2014

Yes, it'll work fine. Good tip about the maps, be sure to load them on before you travel.
posted by arcticseal at 7:13 AM on June 15, 2014

Yes, all cars run on 12V - no US/Europe/Anywhere difference.

But check you have Irish maps, as they don't automatically come with US purchased GPS products.
posted by Brockles at 7:23 AM on June 15, 2014

Response by poster: Yes, I have an Ireland map. Thanks!
posted by elizeh at 8:22 AM on June 15, 2014

If you have a smartphone, you can use that. My wife and I got Tesco SIMs for both our phones off eBay and topped them up before we left. Waze worked fine in most places (even without service, it will cache the maps around your route as long as you have service at your starting point). If you don't want to get a SIM for your phone you can get an offline GPS app for it.
posted by kindall at 8:49 AM on June 15, 2014