mhnr@yahoo

I have a new RX400h and the GPS seems inaccurate and is very unreliable. Lexus says a 300 foot error is normal. My $300 Garmin has a 2 meter error. Any others having similar problems?

csaxon

You're not a cruise missile, 300 feet puts you across the street. That's close enough.

slimpiggy

that's untrue friend, the GPS in my RXH (costs $2000) is usually deadon (within 1 M on a good day), and my $750 Garmin is also deadon, a paying customer should accept nothing less

UnCon

Do you know how many satellites you were hitting? The accuracy is very dependant on that. Were you under trees or in the shadow of high buildings?

Lil4X

Welcome to CL!

Anytime a dealer says "they're all like that" I think they are simply blowing you off. Go find another dealer who will take the time to investigate and explain the problem. It is important that your dealer demonstrate a little more responsiveness than that.

A 300 foot error is not acceptable. For the past six years or so, GPS units have had a resolution measured in a couple of car lengths at most. If you have a good 3D fix from three or more satellites, that should be easily achievable. If the error you are seeing is consistent, there may be a simple calibration issue that can be adjusted, other problems will require further investigation.

Lexmex

I also want to welcome you to Club Lexus.

As Lil4X mentioned it is not acceptable. I have an old turn of the century Garmin eMap now used by my cousins. That would hit at most 15 feet maximum in terms of far it was off. I just can't picture in my mind how something could be 300 feet off if it is supposedly working normally.

nobuddy

Yep, try to find a different dealer. There is definitely something amiss.

nb

mhnr@yahoo

it is not my dealer who is telling me a 300 foot error is acceptable it is Lexus corporate. In the manual it says a error 0f 200 to 300 is normal. I am planning to go to arbitration because this is not acceptable for a $2500 option

gwong

Just curious to find out what you mean by inaccurate and unreliable. Forget about this distance thing. Is the gps showing you in a completely different location? If it is, there is a TSIB for that issue. The dealer has to order a new navigation disc with an updated firmware to fix the wrong location issue. As an example, I'm in MA and we had a customer come in with navigation stuck in Florida. Other times we have people with the navigation telling them they're driving over water. Have you taken the vehicle to the dealership so they can look at it? Not sure why you would call corporate for this issue.

mhnr@yahoo

I called corporate because the dealer told me a 300 foot error is acceptable and there is no other dealer within a few hundred miles

herbvdh

On my 2006 RX400h I find the GPS is pretty darn close right down to make turn ahead about 100 foot away. On the other hand I had entered the town where I have property in New Mexico and it simply did not exist.
(Rio Grande Estates, New Mexico) for the curious.

motoman

I have to agree on the lexus nav system. It really sucks. I have a tomtom 300 that is far more accurate and a hell ofa lot cheper. I was in upper Michigan, looking for a particular restaurant, and it said I arrived, when in fact the location was about 1 block away. The tomtom had it dead right. They should have contacted tomtom for their nav systems. Oh yeah, no plug in for the ipod. What a joke, on a 50k vehicle, but that's another story for another time.

Rockville1

Ok, I think I see the issue. It seems that those complaining about inaccuracy are basing this on the Lexus' Nav system telling them that they have arrived at their location when they are about 300 feet or 1 block away from the actual destination. This is indeed normal and how Lexus chose to set up their system to allow you time to spot your destination and find parking or the entrance. If the system let you know you were there as soon as you were beside the building, you would likely pass the entrance (for example) and would have to make a U-turn or go around the block.

This does not mean the Nav system is inaccurate, its just the way it was set up (and I personally think this set up is preferrable).

There are several ways to check the accuracy (a completely different issue from the arrival message). For instance, in the map mode, the symbol indicating your vehicle should exactly match locations (buildings, parks, POIs, street intersections) as you physically pass them on the road. My does and it is dead on. For instance, as soon as I enter a real intersectionon or pass a cross street on the road, my Nav map screen shows me doing the exact same thing. That is an indicator of accuracy.

Another way is to put the screen in compass mode. In that mode you will actually see the street addresses of the buildings as you pass them. This is very helpful when you are driving down a busy street looking for a particularl address and can't make out all of the addresses on the building.

So my reading of the complaints is that the system is perfectly accurate, but some are not happy that the system lets them know that they have arrived about a block early. Again, if this is the case, this not an accuracy problem but an issue with the "you have arrived" feature.

silvervett

There could be two different problems.

The Nav may not be locking on to the correct Long and Lat coordinates. I suggest that you take a reading of your Lat and Long and compare them to another unit. If they are correct it means that it could be the second possibility, the map can be incorrect.
I have had three different units and they all have the same problem. All the GPS units get my position dead on but get the street number wrong. My mothers house is #23 but when I am in front of it I get a reading of #87. The problem is that the town or city assignes a street number to a street at a specific location, but when the developer comes in the size of the lots my throw the location off on the may. My future house in SC has the same problem. The house number is 4026 but 4026 is about 1/4 mile away. If you google map the street the location comes out the same as the Garmin and the Lexus.

I could explain it better if I could post the street and number but I don't want the location of my house posted on the net.

memasterac

300 feet is a joke. I have a RX400H as a loaner and the nav workes just fine. Your dealer should be responsible to adjust/fix the navigation for you and it is your reaponsibility to tell them do their job.