btanchors

Hello all,

I have a 2003 GS430, which I purchased new. It came with the version 2002 DVD, but I upgraded it to the 2003 DVD which came out in October 2003.

I live near a major highway that is a toll road (Dulles Toll road connecting the 495 Beltway to Dulles area, for those of you in Northern VA).

Most of the time, except during peak rush hour, it's instinctive to use this road since the speed limit is 55, and it's the fastest way to get to the 495 Beltway and points beyond.

But I have noticed, when entering a destination, the NAV system seems to refuse choosing the Toll Road as a possible route...Even when I choose the alternate routes identified by the system, it never includes use of the Toll road as a possible route. It does this with both DVD versions.

For those of you who live near toll roads, do you find that the NAV system seems to avoid routing you over any toll roads?

For anyone who lives in Northern Virginia, has your NAV ever routed you over the 267 Toll road?

Wierd...

iammikey

The navigation system has an option to "allow for toll roads." All you have to do is change your preference to allow toll.

btanchors

iammikey,

Where is this option set? I thought it may be something like that causing the issue, but I cannot find this anywhere, under any of the menus on the NAV screens...

Dennis

LarryF

btanchors,

Your problem could be due to two possible causes:

1) You may have the NAV set to avoid toll roads. To fix this, after you've entered a destination, click on "Change Route" at the bottom of the screen, and then click "Route Preference" and make sure that you have "Minimize Toll Road Use" set to "Off." If you have it set to "On" the NAV will avoid all toll roads. If you already have it set to "Off" the cause could be the second one (below), and you may be out of luck.

2) I live in Maryland and occassionally use Interstate 66 inside the beltway, and I've found that the NAV never recognizes 66. The reason for this was explained in a very old posting on ClubLexus, and that is that since 66 is restricted to HOV at certain times of the day, the people who programmed the NAV didn't want to take the chance of directing you to take a road that might not be available to you at all times. Consequently, they pretended that the road doesn't even exist! Since the Dulles Toll Road is sort of the extension of 66 outside of the beltway, it could be that the Toll Road isn't recognized for the same reason (??). I've never used the NAV to go to the airport, so I don't know if this is the case or not. However, if this is the reason for the problem, I don't think there's anything that can be done to correct it without a programming change of the NAV DVD itself.

Hope this helps!

btanchors

LarryF,

Many thanks for your very helpful response. After hunting around, I finally found where the "Route preferences" button was -- It wasn't quite in the same spot you mentioned, but I did eventually find it. Sure enough, it was set to avoid toll roads. Problem solved!

I haven't noticed the Route 66 issue inside the beltway, but then I haven't tried to use the NAV in that area. I will try it the next time I am in the area.

Thanks again!

Dennis