I agree with you but some people like the route guidance and I know of one person who literally can not follow a Track for some reason but does fine with the Routing (turn guidance) except for the occasionally goofy turn right then left or worse doesn't tell you to turn until after the turn then tries to reroute you to Hell and back instead of just stopping and turning around. We never allow this person to be in the lead because someone frequently has to chase this person down since this person missed the turn. We have tried for years to teach this person, but no luck.

Early on when I started using GPS to assist with navigation, it was not at all uncommon for me to get a "turn left" message then 200 feet later a "turn right" when in reality I was supposed to turn right. It usually occurred in cities and I was getting a bit ticked off as the I would try to turn left based on the advance notification just to get across and then be told to turn right.

So I called Garmin and asked them what the deal was since I was using CityNavigator maps with a Garmin device. They said exactly what I said previously. The mapped position (where you/MapSource/BaseCamp put the waypoint on the map may be off slightly, especially on wide multi-laned roads or recently worked on roads. The maps and the mapping software (MapSource/BaseCamp) are supposed to put the waypoint in the center of a road or intersection. However, as maps are updated, it is pretty common for the old map to be slightly off from the new map. The problem is you have to recalculate the existing route/track based onto the new map before you send to the device. Otherwise, the route guidance will dutifully guide you to the original based on the old maps waypoint position which may be, say, 50' further to the left then the new, more accurate map.

So if you set your advanced turn warning say 500' before the turn, the device will tell you to turn left since may see you are way left of the "correct" turning waypoint, probably because you are riding on the right shoulder. Then as you get closer, the second imminent warning see you are able to turn right so it then tells you to right. So yes, you are technically correct in that if your actual route turns right and the device tells you to turn left, it will most likely then tell you to turn right so you can turn right in reality.

Like you said, my solution is to follow the line goes regardless of the audible directions because the directions can and are still off occasionally. I used to be an avid Route acolyte because it I like the idea of me deciding where to put waypoints. I have since switched to the Track side as the Routing can get quite wonky when you miss a turn, whether intentionally because you are going off route to a campground or unintentionally. For me, a Track is stationary so to speak and I can usually find my way back to the line instead of the Route telling me what it thinks is best way which usually is not.

Regardless, to me, it is still pretty amazing that the are as accurate as they are when you consider how far away the satellite is, how fast the satellite is moving, etc.