Bass Mech

for anyone who is frustrated with the navi i can say its not hard to do at all it took me about 20 minutes, the hardest part was getting the air vents out.
i was going to leave it but when i found out the caller id doesnt work while driving that sent me over the edge!
anyway i need to order that switch so i can program destinations on the fly, i dont do it often but when i need to ill be glad i can.
also hacked the DVD so it plays while driving, not that i really care but i do have kids and they like to watch movies.

BTW does anyone have a schematic for the power seats? i would really like to clip that park wire so people can adjust their seat while driving.

you know i like this car, but some of the luster is comming off for me knowing i have to damn near rewire the stupid thing to get what i paid for working.
what kind of retard sits in their car in park to watch a movie all day? what kind of person pulls over to the side of the road to program a destination? i mean if you think of all the features the car has nearly 1/2 of them become non functional while moving. DUMB!!!

Evitzee

These are all old arguments that have been debated in detail here. Lexus has their own idea of how they want to design their cars and their functionality while moving. For those that like to 'clip and snip' there are ways around most of these lockouts. Haven't heard of anyone restoring memory seat movement functionality while in motion. But let us know if you tackle that one.

Be careful while the kiddies are watching movies, you don't want to get distracted while you are carting the little darlings around.

IS350jet

Both driver and passenger seats are fully operational while in motion. You must be speaking of using the memory preset. However, IMO it is a stupid and trivial complaint. Are people really going to risk hacking their car just so that they can push a seat memory button while in motion? I guess it's just to much of a PITA to do it manually.

Bass Mech

no its the obvious, why the hell have a preset if you cant use it?
picture this, you get in the car, your passenger gets in and uses preset 2. by the time they are all seat belted in, realise the seat is not set to their preset location and i have already started driving, are you seriously asking me to pull over, put the car in park just so they can push 1 button?
why the hell even have presets if they never get used?
maybe i want to use mine to preset the seat a little forward to give a little more room for the rear passengers? another preset to move it back a little?
i can easily reach the preset button from the drivers side but the seat controls are a bit of a stretch.

if my wife drives the car we use a similar seat setting, if her remote isnt programmed (which it isnt) she will have to remember to select her preset before she drives away, usually after either of us gets in we realise the seat is not set correctly but pretty close a preset is what this is for and basically if you have to wait for a light to stop at to adjust it why do they have a preset in the first place.

maybe people who buy a lexus have no place to be at any particular time, can drive like they have no place to go and can sit in the driveway making sure to preset their destination on the nav before they leave, be sure everyone has their seat belts on and has selected their seat memory. watch a movie and wait for a few phone calls so they can see the caller ID show up?

for me, i get in and drive.. and from the moment i shift out of park and start rolling, half the features i paid for stop working!!!
its so damn agrivating im just about to take this 1 week old car to the dealer and get my money back, buy the acura TL type S right next door.
at least when i drove an acura everything worked all the time, no matter what driving, stopped, ect...
i understand safety, but good greif! so lexus doesnt want you to adjust anything look at anything or be able to touch anything while driving? i get the DVD while driving, and since they allow voice control why not allow all the navi functions to work by voice just like my acura?
in the acura by voice i could work absolutly EVERY feature by voice except the calendar and calculator but i could still operate thoes using the touch screen.
if you can ask for a resturant, why can you not ask for a hotel, gas station, ATM or Parking garage? why can these commands not be enabled by voice? you dont want me pushing buttons on the screen fine! ill use voice commands, but not in a lexus!
do the people that design these cars actually drive them? i think not, they drive an acura, because if they did drive a lexus and paid as much as we pay they would be pissed that half the toys they paid for are useless!!

Lexustom

Wow. You sure made a big mistake buying a dumb Lexus. What were you thinking?

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

OK, but here's the rub - I can buy an aftermarket nav that updates from the Internet at no direct cost to me, and provides all the functionality of the Lexus system without all the lockouts. I've already sent Lexus an email telling them I will never buy another Lexus nav because the unit is castrated while in motion. The aftermarket does a far better job, especially when I consider what I paid for the feature. I could have an Eclipse unit (identical interface because Eclipse and Lexus are one in the same) and I can have a hard drive, USB interface for updates, even portability when I leave the car.

Sorry, but Lexus's desire to protect themselves from liability lawsuits means they will never get my money again for a built-in nav unit. Unless they change their absurdly restrictive ways. Christ, I nearly rammed a car in a parking lot the other day when I was pressing the idiotic "I Agree" button because I get in the car and I expect everything that was working when I stopped to continue unabated when I restart. I guess getting coffee at Starbucks and wanting the nav to continue my trip without interference is just too much...

(and you can bet your *** I would sue them if I'd hit that car if for no other reason than to get their lazy legal department to reconsider their position!!!)

oliveryo

just hope that your system does not fail, otherwise warranty will not cover this

ben_r_

+1 Preach on brother!

Evitzee

Yes, but if you almost hit a car in the parking lot just trying to press the 'I Agree' button wouldn't it be much more distracting if you were out on the open road and inputting street numbers, street name, and city on the Nav unit? It sounds like you have demonstrated Lexus' reason for locking it out, i.e., it is an unnecessary distraction. I don't necessary agree with the level to which Lexus locks out the systems, but they are based on some reasonable human interaction factors and their limitation while trying to multitask. If you were fully engaged in the driving operation you would have known that you have to press the 'I Agree' button everytime as it would be second nature. But it sounds like you were thinking about other things when you stopped at Starbucks and got back into the car. It's natural, but it is a reason why the lockout is there, you should keep your mind focussed on driving the car and not being distracted with pushing buttons on the Nav unit to direct you to some other destination. Hope you didn't spill any of your Latte.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

No, because I can control when I interact with the system ONCE IT'S WORKING. I can't do squat until I AGREE.

Magellan

Now I’ve heard it all. You take these factory installed safety devices and throw them out the window, voiding your warranty for the nav system and chancing disaster for you and your family, and then call us dumb for leaving them alone. That’s real chutzpah!

What kind of person pulls over to the side of the road to enter destinations? Most of us I guess. We may be dumb, but our air bags will never go off suddenly at 70 mph in that few seconds you took your eyes off the road.

iSuxeL

iTrader: (21)

This is why Im not doing jack-ish to my electronics!! No system, no hack, nothing Im perfectly content with the way the car performs in every aspect. Yes the buzzer for seat belts is annoying, just put on your seltbelt! It'll save your life and stop that annoying sound.

jdanon

Personally I agree with some of the other comments on here that some of the most expensive parts of the car are essentially disabled while it is out of park. That said, I will not do the hack either for fear of voiding the warranty. Yeah I know most people will do the hack and be fine, but is entering destinations or watching movies while driving worth the $5,000 replacement cost should I need to replace the navigation unit for some unforseen reason in the future? Also, how useful is the hack? I mean yeah it's cool initially, but how often do you find yourself needing to enter destinations or watch movies while driving? I know I spend 95% of my time in the same place driving to and from work everyday, and I'd suspect most people spend most of their time driving in familiar places as well.

I don't think Lexus should impose their will on us, since after all we are the paying customer. The safety excuse is just that. It's not mandated by the government. Can Lexus prove that disabling these features has saved lives? For the record I'm also against the laws restricting cell phone use while driving unless it's hands free. Driving while holding a cell phone isn't the problem as the law claims. It's the talking on the cell phone hands free or otherwise that's the problem. As long as a driver is doing something else while driving that means he/she is not paying 100% attention to driving. Using a cell phone, eating, reading, watching movies, changing the radio station, looking back at your kids, etc. all reduce the attention paid to the road. So, unless those are all going to be banned too, I say let us have our navigation features back.

Magellan

We’ve argued the nav hack issue countless times on this forum, so I don’t see much point in doing it again. But I will say that pointing out one bad behavior to justify another is a specious argument, for in fact, all of them are bad on their own. It’s true that some drivers are distracted by cell phones, for example, but that doesn’t mean it’s somehow OK to hack the nav system.

jdanon

I think it's fine to hack it. The only thing stopping me is the warranty issue, as it's certainly not illegal as Acuras already allow the behavior we want. Guess no one wants to sue Honda, it must just be Toyota that has lots of money. What if they locked the radio station controls? I'm curious if people's opinion might change then.