LexusLifer

Hey Guys -

Question...

I bought my '08 IS250 early in January without the integrated navi system. As time has passed, however, I've been deeply regretting the decision to go without it. I've taken a look at the numerous portable nav systems out there (i.e. Garmin, Tom-Tom, etc.) but haven't taken a liking to many of them. So here's where my question comes in. Is it possible to replace my current dash with the integrated navi system? I know it'll be pricey, but it really doesn't matter to me at this point. The current dash display is so dim and difficult to view during the day. I would rather have a nice display with everything available at my fingertips. Can I purchase one aftermarket? And, most importantly, is it worth it?

Any helpful insight would be HUGELY appreciated! Thanks a million.

andyboy

iTrader: (2)

Yes, all you would have to do is to replace everything above the CD player....unless you want the ML Navi then you would need to replace the entire unit.

someone was selling their non-ML Nav here. Don't know if it got sold though. Good Luck!

iKenn

iTrader: (1)

And get the rear camera and the gps stuff and the mic and the steering wheel controls. Not worth it unless your really desperate.

Rash

iTrader: (1)

I remember someone did that long long time ago.

tex2670

There's other threads on this. It's not as easy as you might think. For all the $$ you'll spend, you might as well trade up to an '09 with nav. Given the economy, you'll probably get a fantastic deal in December.

lexudv

iTrader: (1)

I would trade up to an 09', but with the miles that i have on the car it would be more expensive to do this. Plus, I've had my car for 2 1/2 years and I would hate to start from scratch on a new loan.

The aftermarket nav systems go for about 3k on ebay. And yes, you will have to do a lot of work to install it. And no, I haven't done it myself, but I would like to. With the way things are right now, and since I might be looking into buying a house soon, spending 3k at this point, is not something I want to do.

dojoman

iTrader: (5)

Pnice did the retro fit. I had the shop installed on another IS too but ended up taking it off because the wire harness problem. This is probably the hardest mod for IS. I wouldn't recommended it.

ffpowerLN

iTrader: (1)

Not worth it...

For GPS navigation alone, any $200 portable system works better than the factory navi (had it in the ES350 and RX400h loaners, not impressed). The screen is nice though and I wish Lexus would consider to make that standard in the future Lexus models, like Infiniti does, whether the car has navi or not. However, at the end of the day, nice is where it ends.

Back in '06 I had a choice between an almost-loaded (except the adaptive cruise) IS250 or a bare-bone IS350 with only the 18-inch wheels for about the same price. I choose the latter and do no regret that decision one bit up to date.

ajmtbm

I believe someone on this forum did put the nav into a non-nav car; you may be able to do a search. I also remember someone posting that a replacement NAV unit was like $6,000 - that was just the head unit. And i agree with you that it looks better with the nav, but a $300 garmin is sadly more useful. And it says the street names. and you can use it all the time... you dont have to pull over to figure out where you want to go.

LexusLifer

Based on the cost (even though I said it didn't matter) it seems a bit unreasonable to spend that much money on such a complicated project. I've seen some pretty creative installs of aftermarket nav systems (i.e. Pioneer AVIC N5).

Any recommendations on favorite systems and dash mods required?

plutonium

Buy a Garmin Nuvi 880 and be done with it. The only factory nav that I have found to be worth the added cost is Acura's which last I heard was designed by Alpine.

tex2670

There's some smokin' deals on GPS's this weekend...