It may drain the battery as many gps use the lighter to charge the unit

 

play it safe, unplug it after you're done. it does have the potential to kill a battery if unwatched.

 

Here is a connon sense response. I'd follw this advice. However to note, my GPS senses the car power turned off and turns off after 30 seconds.

I've also saw first hand on another friends GPS that it didn't turn off (she was watching a movie or listening to some MP3's) and it ran for 1 1/2 hours when she went to the mall. Her battery started up just fine, but some high school kids were hanging out by her car.

A GPS is a flag that draws attension to theves. A side tip of advice is to hide the unit when you park for extended periods of time. No one wants to come back to a car with a broken window (or picked lock) and their stuff stolen. Just ask Pson.

 

It's a low amp draw item, if you leave it on overnight, it will probably be fine. If you leave it on for a week without starting the car....who knows, depends on your battery.

 

I have a Garmin 260w I leave it pluged for 3 or 4 days without start the car and have no issues.

 

too bad that deal didnt include an ac plug in adapter charger that you can use in the house and not have any unsightly cord handing while having a fully charged gps.
next time at the shack p/u one.and read the owners manual that came with it

 

Thieves in the Boston area search out the cars with the tell-tale 'bulls-eye' suction cup marks on the windshield, break in, and often come up with the unit and mount the owner stashed in a glove box or center console.
Mine? I sucker it to the rear view mirror and angle the mount and display off to the passenger side. Kills two birds at once. No circular BMW (Break My Window) evidence, and no running afoul of "nothing attached to the windshield" laws enforced in some states.

 

how do you do that? attach it to the mirror? i feel like it wouldn't stay and would make the mirror droopy.

 

i leave my garmin 265wt on all the time and battery has not drained.

 

I have a Tom Tom permanently wired to the cars power. I wired a cigarette lighter socket into the glove box so no wires hanging out. I have not had any problem with it being powered all the time.

I also wired another socket inside the console for an iPod interface. The iPod is also permanently powered with no problems.