brettc34

I have ordered a new Toyota 4Runner Lmt and didnt think I would ever change my mind until I went to the Lexus dealer this morning! That was the worst mistake I could have made for my wallet, but I have fallen in love!

The question that I have is regarding some of the options that I really love on the 4Runner that I cant tell if they are available for the GX. First off with the audio system and Navi. I was wondering if in the GX the navi has a contact list and address find and all that like the Runner. Also if it had an aux input for my ipod and if you are able to get satellite radio on it.

Thank you so much for your help!

lonewolf69

Hi Brett,

Welcome to the club! We all fell in love with the GX at the dealership...

Contact list/Address list in Nav - in the GX, I can type in the Street address and find it, the NAV also has a POI database and if you enter the name of the business and/or telephone number of the business it will show up as a destination. Not sure if this is what you mean?

Audio system, the GX has NO input for the IPod nor Satellite radio from the factory, sorry....

But there does exist an aftermarket kit that also offers an option for Satellite radio...

Vaistech - A little on the expensive side BUT for the money I believe this is the BEST and CLEANEST looking solution, IMHO...


Good Luck,



-Alex

http://www.vaistech.com/home.html

mlbpbg

You can use the ES330 XM/Sirius Kit in the GX. The AM buttom acts like the SAT button and all functions sppear on the Nav screen

yaro1

He's right. Although you would need the Viastech for 2003-2005, it has been confirmed that the 2006 Lexus GX w/ Nav natively supports the Lexus XM/Sirius kit as if it were an OEM option on the GX.

SilverLady

Hi Brett,

I know exactly how you feel! We originally rejected the GX (it is high up and hubby had trouble getting in). I had decided on the 4Runner, we were planning on going to finalize a deal, when hubby suggested we stop one more time at the Lexus dealer and look at the LX.

Long story short - I hated the ride in the LX, took a another "let's just check it out one more time before we go to the Toyota place" ride in the GX, moaned over all the little things the 4Runner has that the GX doesn't, and decided I just liked the ride better in the GX. We never made it to Toyota and now have a GX on order.

As to your question - the 2006 4Runner has a nice little audio plug for your Ipod. I beieve it takes a miniplug that should connect with a miniplug in the standard earbud output on an IPOD or any other player. You would still use the player to control the music. That circuit must cost $2 to put in (just about every $25 boombox always used to come with RCA jack inputs!) and why it is not standard on every vehicle is a complete mystery to me. Alas, the Lexus does not have it.

Worse, the Lexus with the Nav does not play MP3 CD disks! I didn't think there was a 2006 vehicle sold in the US that couldn't play MP3 CDs, but I have found it. Instead there is a very archaic CD changer in the glovebox for regular CDs. It makes the one in my 10 year old Ford Explorer look upscale and cutting edge. I hope that super duper sound system is worth it!

The G Man

I was in the same shoes, I had a 06 4runner on order. They told me 6 weeks and when 6 weeks came and went, they told me another 4 weeks. I got tired of waiting and thought I would check out the GX. Once inside the Lexus dealer, there was no going back. The whole Lexus buying experience is totally different than the Toyota one. The GX has a much better ride, better material and a bit more room inside. I ended up with the GX for about $5000 more than I would have paid for the 4runner.

BobsGX

Before going to the Lexus dealer I stopped at 2 different Toyota dealers to test ride a 4Runner Limited V8. About the only thing I liked better on the 4Runner was the normal hatchback that most SUV's have and the usual center console armrest without the individual seat mounted armrests. I really didn't like the interior, the power window switches were in an odd location on the doors and the whole dash just had a cheap layout and overall look. The navigation option looked like an aftermarket item. The HVAC controls looked wacky. And the Toyota dealers just wanted to push whatever iron they had on the lot. Very pushy atmosphere. Plus most Toyota dealers around here are dumps. Their idea of a customer lounge is a few old beat up magazines laying around and some old 19" color tv in the corner with a talk show on and some old dirty seats with huge spill stains on everything. Terrible. I knew from my previous cars from Lexus (SC400, LS400), that I no doubt would be back to Lexus, but I wanted to see what Toyota had to offer. Needless to say, the GX470 was an easy choice.

brettc34

thank you all sooo much for your help! i cant wait to get my GX! looks like the aux input will be easily replaced with something that will actually work better to run my iPod and the sat should go in with no problems, thanks again!

mlbpbg

The ES330 Kit works fine in my "05

BobsGX

If this was true, then why doesn't Lexus offer a satellite radio kit for the 06 GX as an accessory?

JohnAMG

It works for me also. And I have a 05'GX470 and I installed it couple of weeks ago.

John

brettc34

with that set up does that allow you to see all the channel names and song titles through the nav unit?

brettc34

if any of you have pics of how it all looks when it is done (ant and/or screen) that would be awesome!

JohnAMG

Here are couple of pictures I just took. You get SAT 1,2 & 3 for presets, and when you touch the "TEXT" it will lead to another page. The "TEXT" page picture is in the next post.

John

JohnAMG

And here is the "TEXT" page. The title of the song and the name of the artist do get cut off if it is too long.

John