Italy Rental Car GPS

Usually it would be an add-on at an exorbitant price, though there may be some car rental companies that include it as a promo. I recommend Google Maps on a smartphone. It may even be more up-to-date than the rental company's unit. Used with cell service it will provide current conditions and it can be used w/o cell service by downloading map sections for offline use.

I just want to note that Google says that certain services, like searching for a destination (or is it, a street address?), don't work when a downloaded map is used without data or Wifi available. Not sure what the true or current status may be.

If you are going to be using a car for 3 weeks or longer, look into a lease through company like Renault USA, all of their cars come with a GPS no extra charge, among other benefits. Otherwise, I would take my own GPS with a European map card. It has the advantage of being a unit that you know how to use as opposed to being in a rental car parking lot with NO MANUAL trying to figure out how to use the system from the rental car company. You can also preload it with your destinations before you leave, one less thing to do after you pick up the car. On top of that by the time you pay the fees that the rental companies charge for GPS you can buy your own plus the map card and likely come out ahead.

Some of our rental cars have had them but we use google maps or our own gps, easier. Last year the one in the car was hard to program so ignored it.

To Tim's point: when we were in Tuscany earlier this year I was able to use Google maps for point-to-point navigation, virtually data free, by initially entering destination information when I had a WiFi signal or data, and then turning off the data function while I motored along. Worked great, including verbal turn-by-turn instructions that were provided for the duration of the day's journey.
I was initially sweating whether I was going to blow thru my 500 Meg data allowance on the particular Verizon package I opted for but found that by doing it this way I used hardly any data at all. Fact is that after driving around Tuscany for 2 weeks, and using the map feature virtually every day, I barely touched my allowance ... didn't even come close to using up the 500 Megs. Google maps really is the way to go.

The GPS is not standard in either model, it’s an option that the buyer may request at the time of purchase. So the specific car they give you may or may not have it.
Do not rent a navigator from the rental company, it will cost much more than any international data plan your mobile phone provider gives you.
Google Maps on your phone works great.
Although I don’t care for Waze much (I don’t like the graphics) I use it in Europe because it warns you of any upcoming speed cameras, which is helpful in a country where cities like to balance their city budgets with traffic fines.

Don’t get too hung up on the model since some place on the rental company website, or contract, it says “or similar,” meaning you’ll get what the company has on the lot when you’re there. Our rental in Sicily did not have a built in GPS. Our rental in Wales earlier this year had a built in system so there was no additional cost for it. I have my own GPS and also have Google maps downloaded for offline use for wherever it is I’m going.

I had a SIM card so Goggle Maps was easy to access real time.