sofranke

Hi,

I am the current owner on an '04 GX470, which is totally loaded, except for the Nav/Levinson system. When I originally purchased the vehicle, my thought was that the display was tooo busy, and therefore did not even consider this option (although I was very interested in the Levinson stereo). Now, I am considering an '05, and I'm toying with the idea of the Nav/Levinson system. My concerns are:

1. Is the display easy to operate when in the audio and climate control mode?
2. When in these modes, what does the display look like?
3. Any regrets with the Nav/Levinson system?
4. If I am primarily interested in the Levinson system, is the additional cost worth it?

I realize any feedback will just be opinion, but all responses will be appreciated nonetheless.

Thanks,
Eric

looknow12

1. The display is easy to operate the climate control and audio. There are separate buttons for the most common functions of both. Temp Up Down/Auto/Defrost, etc. And Audio volume controls on the wheels dials, tunning dials, etc. You don;t need the nav screen to really operate 90% of the audio and climate functions.
2. Audio screen shows all of you preset buttons. It displays an option to change balance and fade and ASL On or Off. Indicator how much ASL is helping out. Climate Control has fan speed buttons along the bottom and blowing modes across the top. There's also a button for Dual Climate. Again, leaving things in Auto, you pretty much never need to touch the Fan or Blow Mode buttons.
3. None, truly an amazing piece of engineering. Everything is well thoughtout. The bluetooth technology you'll appreciate as well.
4. Definitely. You'll use the Navigation System a lot too. It now has 5 Million businesses in it. I needed to find a lockset/door hardware company and I knew the phone number. I punched it in and the Nav gave me directions, very cool. The flip side is if I remembered the name, I could have punched that in. In an area where you don't know where to eat, the system will give you a listing sorted by name, distance your preference

squeege

1. Is the display easy to operate when in the audio and climate control mode?
2. When in these modes, what does the display look like?
3. Any regrets with the Nav/Levinson system?
4. If I am primarily interested in the Levinson system, is the additional cost worth it?

Eric,

I have a 2004 with everything except the rear entertainment system. I have found the display & functions very intuitive and easy to work with. As for the Levinson audio, I found it is well worth the cost to me. I enjoy all types of music, mostly jazz; today I felt like rock & had my Boston CD in at a very loud setting (level I haven't used in years) and I found no distortion whatsoever.

Louise

RAM MAN

I just got my new 05' GX470 this week. I cant belive I almost did not order the ML/NAV or the RSES. The GX is a great car but the tech. options you can get make it that much more. And your already on the hook for 45k whats 4k more.

gs400jon

The main reason I got the Nav was for the backup camera.

yaro1

Don't go into that territory questioning Nav/Levinsion with me! My god, that is the only way to go in my opinion.

The screen is beautiful and belongs in that spot. It apears you have a GX w/o nav and you probably know how open the control area looks w/o the nav. They built this car for the Nav and it just works great. I love it and would never even question it.

I would rather not get a Lexus at all (Gasp from the audience, a man in the back row's heart stops beating due to his shock) than get a Lexus without the Nav .

Once you get the Nav, you will never believe what you were missing. You go into non-nav cars feeling akward not having such a beautiful screen to look at . Take my word, spend the extra money and enjoy it.

As for the Levinsion, it is well worth it. No matter what you listen to. My son insists on Linking Parkers (somethign like that) which is a heavy metal rock band which from an acoustical sense sounds great. When I throw in more civilized tunes such as jazz, there is no comparison with such a superior audio system. I find reasons to go into the car just to listen to the Levinsion (did I admit that out loud? I feel like a loser )

The choice is yours, but there really isn't a choice at all now is there .

Capirato

Is it even possible to get a GX without a Nav ??

~ Cap

jdh62

There are some 'features' that are annoying on the NAV: such as the disclaimer screen you must accept everytime you start the car. Another thing that is annoying is that the NAV does not let you enter any destination (other than home) while the car is moving. I can't say that I have been impressed with the Mark Levinson system as I was certainly expecting more from a high end manufacturer. Haven't heard what a non-ML system sound like.

That said, I would still buy it with a NAV/ML system as the NAV is nice to have..

looknow12

The one area the ML System can improve in is increasing the dynamics at lower audio volumes. The ML sounds amazing when cranked up, but when at low levels it sounds like anything else.