JohnAMG

Well guys, it looks like we will be taking the plunge tomorrow and putting down a deposit on a 2005 Blue Meridian GX470 with 3rd seating, NAV, grey interior, rear spoiler, rear hitch and wheel lock/mats . MSRP is $52788 and the selling price is $47000. We will take delivery at the end of September. We are planning to keep this car for at least 5 years and I am hoping the Lexus reliability live to to its reputation. Now I just have to pick the right blue tooth phone. Anyone use the Motorola V710 with the GX470?

John

batmobl

Congratulations John. You will love the truck. We bought an 05 on Aug 30th. We got the black with ivory interior with 3rd row seats, NAV, spoiler, rear hitch, Rear seat entertainment and wheel locks/mats for $48,500. I think yours doesn't have the DVD player (which i think is $1500). I definitely think this is a good price. Enjoy!!!! :-)

lonewolf69

Wow, great deal, congrats on that! The Meridian Blue looks sweet!!!

Quant

Canadian Invoice prices are available if you pay a fee. I used apa.ca this year in January, and was informed of a dealer willing at about CAD$2000 below msrp. This discount over msrp may vary depending upon the time of the year, as well as within the month.

However, I had developed a good rapport with the salesman and he offered me a similar deal, even before I told him what apa had negotiated for me. After I told him about the apa deal, he actually beat it by CAD ~100.

irv09

Hey John:

Congratulations! You will enjoy the truck. I also took the plunge on an '05 and I am very happy with the car. In terms of the phone, I have the V710 and the e815 and they both work the same, but I think the e815 is a better phone. You need to find a V600 or another BT phone to get the phonebook into the Nav, but once your contacts are in you can use the V710 or the e815 just fine. The "one touch" dial feature is nice even though I can understand the complaints about getting locked out of most of the dialing features when the car is in motion. I use the one touch feature and I like it. . .

JohnAMG

Thanks for replying and I am looking forward to the delivery date. Now about the one touch dialing. I assume some phone numbers can be store in the NAV unit, separate of the phone itself, and I can do speed dial during driving correct? And is the "one touch" dial feature through the touchscreen or can it be voice activated?

John

bunka

John Congrats agian on hanging onto your CLK55 (read it on the AMG forum). For price comparison details I paid $46,400 for my blizzard white/grey interior 04 with everything (NAVI w/Mark Levinson and rear seat entertaiment + 3 row seating) except KDSS. MSRP was $52,168 (I think). I bought mine in Nov of '04 and had to wait for it to come in. The '05 you have has a little more power and the Bluetooth but these are great trucks. enjoy!

Even though I don't have Bluetooth in my GX470, I do have it in my 04TL. To activate the voice recogintion all you have to do is to push a button on the steering wheel and say "dial Home". The car will do everything else itself. Nice feature I wish was in my GX as well.

JohnAMG

So for 2005 GX470 it does have the voice recognition calling while the car is in motion. Can other shed some light or confirm this. I have the voice recognition function in my Mercedes but I am not quite sure if the GX470 has it. Any comments will be greatly appreciated.

John

irv09

Hey John:

Unfortunately, the GX has no voice recognition. . . You have to dial from the nav when the car is not in motion or use one touch dial when the car is in motion. You can also dial from the phone. The Moto V710 or e815 do not support the BT OBEX protocol so you cannot get your phonebook into the Nav. I have a BT module in my BMW 330i and it is really nice in that you have voice recognition, phonebook support, and the car rings with an incoming call. Once you have your numbers in the Nav, you can link any phone and use the phone book.

JohnAMG

Thanks for replying. At least you can speed dial from the NAV. I hope some day some one will find a way to hack into the NAV to allow nav/phone function in motion for the GX470. BTW, which phone will allow download of phone book? I am a Verizonwireless user and their BT phones are not very useful. Also will any of the PDAs in the market allow phonebook download? Thanks in advance for any suggestion.

John

irv09

Hey John:

I borrowed a Moto V600 which allows you to load contacts one at a time. I had looked at getting an older BT phone, like the S55 but I have a coworker who has the V600. I tried my Palm, but I could not get it to work. I am also with Verizon, and was first on the block to get the V710. If you have the choice, get the e815 which also uses a protocol called OPP that allows you to synch your phone book with the BMW module. There is the potential if Lexus allows this protocol, perhaps with some software update, that you could synch the e815. I do not believe that there will be any additional work on the V710.

JohnAMG

Many thanks for the advice. I will ask my friends to see if any of them have the compatible phone. From what you are saying once you download the phonebook once it will be permanently store in the NAV unit. I can't wait to get my first Lexus. I wonder if Lexus will ever have their own permance division like Mercedes' AMG?

Another question. The Motorola 815 has voice activated phone calling. Can you do voice calling from the phone and will the GX470 NAV recognize the outbound call, mute radio and allow hand free communication?

John

JohnAMG

Man! What a ride back home It was so comfortable and quiet, it is beyond my expectation so far. It handles pretty good too! I have the non-KDSS version but exiting the offramp at 40MPH was very sure footed and body roll is not as bad as I thought. Now I am a Lexus fan for life. This is going to be a one hell of family hauler

John

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

Congratulations JOhn

What settings did you have it on when you made the turn? If you have it on the sport, then it's really good, even on non KDSS.

So is this soul-less like every Lexus John?
j/k John since every MB and BMW owners complain about this on Lexus.
Enjoy the GX

Now you know the drill, post pictures please

BTW, you're ready for the nav and DVD bypass?

Edit: I haven't responded regarding the bluetooth function. Ask away when you have time fiddling with the functions. I have the cingular moto V600.

JohnAMG

I have the setting in the middle/#2 and it was surprisingly stable. Granted it wasn't a really tight turn offramp like some in Monterey Park/Rosemead CA where I used to live. But it was curve enough for a good test.

Soul-less Lexus? That statement is so god damn over use and over rated I have own AMG cars for years( and the ML320 too) This Lexus has plenty of soul and very entertaining to drive. I will always love German cars but the Lexus is surprising good. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Lexus.

Oh, the NAV bypass was so easy to do by pressing those buttons All I can say is money well spent on the GX470.

John