Ian

MXT275 is the way to go. Throw the mic in the glove box or center console and no one knows its there. 

I'd like to be able to see the map with __all__ coverage circles __at the same time.__ Should make it much easier to tell where repeater coverage is required!

We'd have to rename it something like "guaranteed minimum radio service."  :-P
 
I've had the same fantasy, but I'm not going to get emotionally involved without a path to agitating for the cause.
 
Edit:  Anonymous delivers, and so do I:  https://www.retevis.com/handheld-gmrs-two-way-radio-rt76

https://www.retevis.com/shop/Mobile-GMRS-repeater-RT97-Handheld-GMR-Radio-RT76/
 
Two handhelds and a repeater for $457.  Be still my heart!
 
I think I could use like four of these things, including one for the truck.

Very good point for us newbies!
I have found repeaters not listed here, but local in the area.  I figured that the repeater owner would not hear me trying to locate the CTCSS until I had found the correct code to get  tone or, no static.
 
I am on the very outer edges of two repeaters AND ONLY HAVE LIMITED time in areas that I can make contact in the mobile situation I am in.  But I have found one owner that now listens for me every Weds morning as I pass thru an active area where we can chat.  Hes happy his equipment is reaching the far and I'm a happy to know my rig is actually working as designed too.  

If the transmitter is at the antenna along with the necessary power the the transmitter can be coupled with Bluetooth with the GMRS (or other service) transmitter sending the signal. What people are assuming is there needs to be coax involved. The transmitter is part of the antenna. Think cellular BDAs or WiFi range extender.

The Retevis RT76 is everything I hoped it would be, and no more.  This pleases me greatly.  What I wanted was a dumb-as-bricks radio I could hand to "limited users" (hereafter, "lusers") with little they could screw up but changing the channel unintentionally and turning the volume too low.  As a result, I am very fond of this radio.  It is … nearly perfect.  Side-button 1 is limited to "alarm" and there's no scan mode I can bind instead; disabling the ability to start transmitting an alarm tone (AKA "jamming signal") with an unintended button press is possible, but it doesn't let you bind a function you want in its place -- and indeed, there is no scan function.  This is the only thing separating this thing from perfection.
 
The Retevis RT76P is… Not so pleasing.  The menu doesn't function as the manual describes, the menu won't let you change wide-narrow in spite of letting you select it; hitting the "confirm" button causes the radio to say "Canceled".  It has a scan function!  But you still can't reprogram SK1 to scan.  Until this thing gets a firmware update, it's hot garbage.  Feels like a Baofeng missing a few buttons, and with worse translation in the menus.  It looks like it had potential, but the potential was squandered.  Still don't regret purchasing it, though; I have a spare charger and battery for my RT76 which I love.  This one… I don't.  Avoid.
 
Edit:  Just tried the programming software.  Instead of flashing the codeplug I just created (not compatible with RT76 codeplugs, natch; this thing has nothing internally in common with the RT76, I'm sure) it unlocked the 2M amateur band and changed the CTCSS on channel 1 to 2100 Hz.  This thing is in dire need of some day-1 DLC.  
 
Edit:  As of February 2024, the most recent firmware for the RT76P (released quite a while ago, actually) is genuinely functional.  It works with the CPS, it works with CHIRP, and the menu on the front panel works as intended.  This has gone from a hard pass to a recommend for me.  The one remaining pain point is that the top side-key is not programmable, and is hard locked to setting the S-code and sending an alarm tone.  If anyone needs a cheap GMRS jammer, this thing here will do the deed…  S-code is like some kind of poor man's trunking system.  It'd be suitable for large worksites with a limited number of frequencies, but GMRS licensing is incompatible with those use-cases, so … this "feature" is still essentially useless.  
 
What I'd like to see in the next firmware revision is the option to drop both functions from SK1.  This will open up SK2 for a monitor function, while still allowing you to activate both broadcast FM and weather radio modes, which are far more useful than the proprietary PTTID function.  In addition, if you want a PTTID function, Retevis, may I suggest something that uses either audible or modulated-CTCSS tones to broadcast the user's callsign in fast Morse?  

Update 2:  Wrote a review of the 76 and 76P.  
 
TL;DR:  76 is recommended, 76P is not.

First:  WELCOME!  Welcome to the forum, welcome to the hobby.
 
Second:  The Midland magmount is disposable.  The environmental sealing around the magnet lasts about a year, then the magnet rusts and the thing falls apart.  
 
Third:  What kind of car do you have?
 
Fourth:  What do you mean by "clean install"?  Do you want it in-dash, or just screwed to it with a bracket?  Me, for example, I went for the MXT275 and a passthrough mount.  When done, it'll look utterly factory and stealth.  Other options I've considered was ripping out the stock head unit for a single-DIN unit with CarPlay, and a single-DIN two-way radio below it.  (None of the links constitute an endorsement, just an example.)
 
Fifth:  Nagoya now makes an antenna specifically tuned for GMRS.  This may be your best bet.  (This is an endorsement)

Ultimately, my goal with a garage repeater is essentially a chunky base station radio with a pocket-sized "terminal".  But I live in a coverage gap between all the repeaters in the area.  When conditions are good, I can occasionally hear one ID.  95% of the time, I hear nothing from them; 100% of the time, I can't open them up.
 
I think there's a role for the garage repeater, but that role goes away if there's preexisting good coverage.

Retevis RT76 is as close to that as you're going to get.
You'll have to do all the programming up front (BaoFeng cable) but after that, it's just a knob with thirty channels, the last eight of which are repeater inputs.

I'm betting the Retevis with a J-pole will do the job, but you'll want something like a solar charger to avoid killing your car battery.
 
re: SamCom, they sell them as GMRS certified, but I have my doubts...

It's always worth it to find a good (acceptable) expendable radio.  But even a good radio is cheaper than an iPhone 11. 

Until this week! Retevis submitted the RT97 for FCC Part 95E approval and got it. The FCC ID is 2ASNSRT97.
 
The interesting thing is they are only certified for 5W whereas the other RT97's are rated for 10W output.
 
The best part? You can preorder yours now from myGMRS! 
 
I have 2 on the way from China and will place an order for more based on demand. Current ETA is mid-June for the first batch, but no idea how accurate that date is. Shipping to the US has been very slow lately due to the lack of flights from China. There are things I've ordered from early March that still haven't left the country, but they were not Express shipments. 
 
I think these have potential to explode in popularity for GMRS. Everyone wants cheap repeaters that are plug-n-play, and these are about as cheap as you can get while being type-accepted and not just 2 HTs taped together.

I think the biggest problem is, there are too many opinions AND most new users don't even know "what" they want to do.  For the most part, many new radio users don't know what tech is the correct tech for any intended purpose.  Until they get in and find out something they like and figure out how it will suit their needs, we wouldn't even know what advice to give.
 
I have tried to help, though.  I actually have a published article I wrote about the pros and cons of each common service, what they could potentially used for, and just a really brief overview of the science behind it.  It was focused around off-road communications, but applies to everything.  I can always share it here, but I haven't due to potential bickering. 

The more I learn about the FCC's General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS), the more I am fascinated by RF in general. It touches everyone's lives every second of every day, yet few people pay much attention. How cool is it that after 42 years and 14 billion miles away, the 22-Watt radio on Voyager 1 is still sending data back to earth every day (how important is that antenna?). So why aren't more people interested in GMRS or RF in general? There's no test to get a license like amateur (ham) radio. It's $70 for a 10-year license, and is really easy to get started. So here are some theories.
 
People don't know:
GMRS exists  Why GMRS exists  Why they'd want to use GMRS  How to envision themselves participating in GMRS  What it takes to get started with GMRS  What it takes to continue and improve with GMRS Technical information they should know about GMRS Etiquette when transmitting (TX) on GMRS What a GMRS "Net" is and why Most people within the GMRS community are helpful once you're in, but the community is very inviting in a go-figure-it-out-yourself way, and no one has assembled everything you need to know about GMRS all in one place.
 
We GMRS people are putting the onus on outsiders to sift through thousands of painfully esoteric webpages with a winnowing fork, separating useful info from useless, poorly written, or incomplete info.
 
When I first heard about GMRS on a 4x4 trip, I arrived home and Googled around and settled on a Midland MXT-275 because it seemed perfect for mounting on my truck dashboard. At the time, I had no idea that Midland doesn't manufacture a GMRS radio capable of operating on split-tone repeaters (Dear Midland, I know you're reading this: why do you squander so much potential?). Edit 6/28/2021: Midland heard our cry! They just updated the MXT-275 to include split-tone programming on repeater channels. So for example, now this radio is able to reach a repeater that receives (RX) incoming transmissions on 467.550 with a PL tone of 103.5 and repeats the transmission (TX) at 462.550 with a PL tone of 88.5.
I didn't even know what "split tone" was or even what "tone" meant, or carrier or squelch or hundreds of other little things you all take for granted. Since then, I realized that if the big, bad manufacturers like Midland, Kenwood, Motorola, and iCom can't even invite the public to learn more and provide useful content for each stage of the customer journey—Awareness, Consideration, Purchase, and Loyalty—the 2-way radio industry has much deeper problems and aren't there to help guys like me.
 
As we get involved deeper into GMRS, there's little-to-no hand-holding going on at each level of knowledge. I ending up relying on the Ham community here and there and a guy who is basically a saint at a little radio shop in Phoenix, Arizona (hope Tim over at Procomm and the others at the nonprofit AZGMRS.org don't mind me giving them a shout-out).
 
Edit 4/14/2020: By the way, AZGMRS made this awesome list of FCC-approved GMRS radios that they recommend. If you live anywhere near Arizona and are reading this, now would be a great time to become a member. Their repeater network covers some 100 miles around Phoenix with more and more repeaters joining the network (check out their sweet coverage map).
 
But it's still frustrating.
 
I wish a GMRS expert—presumably a manufacturer—would just come out and say exactly what a total newbie needs at each stage of their involvement or level of need. Two-way radio manufacturers should stop wasting time trying to sell, and start marketing and branding, which means educating the public about the 5 W's (Who, What, Where, When, Why [+how, +how much]) without trying to sell to them.
 
Most new users don't know what they need because they don't know what's possible. For example, I wish I knew that manufacturers don't typically include the best antenna on their radios right out of the box. It took me over a year to realize that the best bang for the buck for a portable base antenna to include in my go bag is N9TAX's Slimjim and that Smiley Antenna makes the best bang for the buck antennas for hand-held radios (which by the way, everyone just assumes newbies are supposed to know that hand-held walkie-talkie radios are called "HT" for "Handy-talkie" and what a "QSO" is).
 
How would a newbie know that the cheap Nagoya 771 "upgrade" antenna for Baofengs that everyone talks about actually isn't the best bang for the buck for the GMRS frequency band of 462–467? How would a newbie know that antennas work best when tuned exactly to what they call a "center" frequency that accommodates 5 Megahertz in each direction (+5 and -5 Megahertz) at the expense of hearing other frequencies?
 
I learned the hard way that in order to properly install an NMO antenna mount on the roof of my truck, I would need a drill bit specifically made for drilling NMO antenna mount holes, and that yes, it is worth the money to do it right the first time.
 
I'm still in the middle of learning how a "quarter-wave" or "5/8 wave" antenna works, the difference between dB gain vs. dBi gain, mic gain, antenna gain, because again, everyone seems to just assume I already know what all this means. I still don't understand what antenna "tuning" means and why you have to "cut" an antenna to "tune" it. Can I make my own antenna right now in a pinch with a copper wire in my garage? Ok, show me! How do I measure it or test it? What is SWR? Can I measure it myself? What do I need in order to measure it? Is one SWR meter better than another for my level as a newbie? Is there something I should learn to make it worth buying the better meter that opens up a whole new world of capability? Is it worth learning all that?
 
This graphic did a great job beginning to explain what dBd gain means for those of us who know next to nothing about it, but now I need to go find out on my own and sift through a thousand webpages to find out if dBd is something new I need to know. Speaking of dB, I know that "dB" is a decibel, but is it the same as my stereo volume? Why do I see manufacturers saying that the microphone and cable have a dB rating? What is going on here? This is madness! We can Google things all day, but which info is true and correct and the most helpful?
 
I think that the entire industry is sitting on a Gold Mine of consumers sitting at home for weeks on end who would love to buy GMRS equipment and communicate via GMRS to friends, family, neighbors, and other GMRS users. Whoever provides the most useful, relevant, and engaging content that stops making assumptions about what people know or don't know will win.
 
STOP ASSUMING. START EDUCATING.

I'd like to be able to see the map with __all__ coverage circles __at the same time.__ Should make it much easier to tell where repeater coverage is required!

There are 1659 repeaters listed at myGMRS.com and assuming that 20% are inactive and or otherwise not on line, that still leaves 1328 repeaters. How many of those are WB versus NB?
 
I would submit that most of them are surplus WB "legacy" repeaters. Many owners have a ton of money invested in them, so if GMRS were required to go NB only, I'd bet that many of them would simply pull the plug, thus impoverishing the utility of the service.

That's deeply rude to the people who weren't involved.
 
… Especially to other fans of the MicroMobile series.  Love that handheld control head.

Just get both. 

I've reached out to my reps at Midland and they said nothing new in the Spring, and nothing to announce for later in the year yet. I think any plans they had are put on hold because of the pandemic. I'd expect something out by Q1 2021 realistically.

Once again, for some reason the original post has been edited, but in this case, the subject line sums up the original question, and several posts agreed on a valid answer.
 
There is already a well established "Highway" or "Travel Channel" for GMRS, and it is 462.675 with a CTCSS Tone of 141.3Hz.
 
Again, on a Midland MicroMobile, (and many other GMRS or Combo radios) that would be channel 20 with a "Privacy Code" of 22. (However, check your radio's owner's manual for the privacy or quiet code that matches 141.3 Hz.  Not all radios are mapped the same for these codes.)
 
This frequency can be used in repeater mode, or simplex if a repeater is not available in the area.
 
...and if you don't want to miss any possible action, then use WRAF233's suggestion, and just set the radio to "SCAN".
 
Also of note, just yesterday, I was traveling on US HWY 81 in North Central Kansas, and heard 2 truckers using channel 20-22.

Topic locked for the greater good.

"Breaker one-niner!"
 
But yeah, when I'm between cities, I do 20-22 as well.  ORI where I can find it, and I welcome the chatter.

I'm honestly a little annoyed you deleted the first post, because we're still having a discussion, and I missed the beginning.
 
CB is useless and nobody operates (here) any more, ham has told me to get new friends with ham licenses, and all I wanted was a way to keep in touch with my nerd friends at ren faires with no cell coverage.  My weirdest requests here have been in service to this singular goal, too.  I just want to solve a boring practical problem.
 
What the heck is this about dodging bullets and out of lives?  Be courteous and don't redact our history, please.