Stereorob

ok, so you just bought a beautiful last gen Ls400 with the factory GPS system, which is usually the first thing to for most of us that get these cars. sure there about a million different aftermarket options to modernize your infotainment system with bluetooth phone/audio, apple CarPlay, Andriod Auto, etc, however, some of us although we may be a minority these days, DO still use the old 6 disc CD changer, and listen to cassette tapes, provided if the OEM system is still working correctly. the old basic Pioneer systems in these cars are surprisingly good sounding, and the upgraded Nak system is even better. but lets say you get one of the rather rare and getting rarer Navi package cars? it looks great in the dashboard, has a great touchscreen interface thats very easy to use, and a mapping program. however, Lexus has not supported software updates for the Gen 1 system in a very long time. pretty sure it ended around 2002, plus the software updates were very expensive, so most people never really bothered. also, the map graphics are well, absolutley terrible and looks like a 3 year old just took a pen and scribbled on the screen. these units also discolor, wash out, turn yellow, and stop working sometimes after being exposed to summer heat for so long, especially in southern areas or the southwest. its two pieces. the head unit and also a hard disc drive in the trunk, which is the actual data drive for the system. as we all know, the trunks in our cars are prone to leak, humidity can also short out the drive which puts an end to that. if the screen blanks out, you loose control of alot of vital things as well like AC fan speed, radio controls, all kinds of stuff. yes, Lexus overbuilt these cars to the highest spec possible with insanley good quality materials, however time is the enemy of all things. now, if the system dies, you have 3 options, take the car to your dealership and spend a substantial amount of money to have another new-old unit installed, if they even have the part and theres a good chance they wont. you could roam the local junkyards and pull a system out of a car there if you can find one, and since only about 1/4th of these cars actually had the system, your odds are slim. if you DO find one, theres probably a 90% chance it wont work either or be on its last leg. clearly, the aftermarket option is way cheaper and easier.

now, lets say you actually DO have a functioning navi system in your Ls400, cant afford an aftermarket system, or just like goofy old stuff like me and want to keep it in place. not only keep it, but use it as well?

It is hilariously old and goofy in the 21st century, but back in the late 90s, it was cutting edge technology, and a Very big deal. Navi in your car back then was a status symbol, that you could impress your friends and family with and get lots of ooos and aaahs over. today however, propitiatory in-dash car navi systems are going the way of the dodo bird, even the higher end ones, more and more are turning to their phones for waze, google maps, and other projection systems.

so, after all said, you STILL want to use your old OEM navi system? well, heres a step-by-step pictorial on how to use it.
to those that have the system and want to use it, i hope you find it useful. to those that have never seen an LS400 with 1st gen lexus Navi, enjoy!


when you turn the key, heres the start/boot screen. it kinda looks like something you'd see on mortal combat, no?




next, youll get the normal warning and disclaimer screen much like you get today..



once you hit accept, youll be brought to destination input screen. unlike the systems today, this starts here, not the map.
however, if you are already in route, it will bring the map up. or if you are listening to a cd, thats the screen it will give you..

Next it takes you to either street address, or POIs if thats what you want. keep in mind that this is a time capsule, frozen in the 90s, and depending where you live, streets may be VERY different then they are today,
so if you are trying to go some place that isnt old, you wont see it.






dont bother trying to go to places that are not atleast 20 years old. my home dealership was my natural selection.



many many moons ago, my local lexus dealership had a different name. same location, but thats about it. youll see this alot as alot of businesses that were there 20 years ago, do not exist anymore or have been renamed.

but as long as you know where you are going, or have a general idea of where you are going, it helps.



after you make your selection, it will ask you for search conditions



unlike systems today that can take you someplace in a matter of seconds. this one you gotta wait for. but hey, patience is the key to virtue, right?

the Navi arrow blinks every second or two, and the "searching route" bar loads like a video game. this can take up to 15 seconds




once you confirm the destination and hit go, youll get 2 chimes, and hear "please proceed to the highlighted route", from the driver side speaker only.
in newer cars you can change what speaker the voice comes from, but when the voice prompts and chimes come on, it dims the sound down on just the drivers side



the turn by turn is helpful as it is annoying unfortunatly, because it will not transition back to the map unless you hit the map button




once you arrive at your destination, youll get a single chime and she says " you have arrived at your destination"

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

I had that in my old 98 LS, worked great. Lots of dinging noises.

I always thought about replacing the NAV hard drive with an SSD with a clone of the data on the OEM to see how fast it would run.

Stereorob

now, keep in mind the urban landscape may have changed tremendously since 1999 depending on where you live, for example on this screen, youll see the 414. once just a state road, its now a legit highway, and has been expanded 3 times since this system came out. you may find yourself in the middle of a swamp, lake, the woods, etc and the system will relentlessly ding thinking its off-roading someplace. Kennedy Blvd for example, used to be swamp, but was dredged and developed ages ago. in 1999 this was the country. now its fully built out as far as the eye can see.



note the blue dots. thats a route trace. it drops dots everywhere you go, and comes in handy for roads that didnt exist yet. under POIs, you can search plenty of stuff, but if you want that burger from Krystal, you may be driving 15 miles in the wrong direction. and if you are craving a Rubin sandwich from the Holiday house, i hope you brought your own food and a picnic set as the only thing youll find is a weedy lot full of broken glass, garbage and a homeless man that may or may not want to rob you. Shader Rd is also long gone now, buried under the John Young pkwy extension




so yes, the POIs are totally worthless. but its fun for the nostalgic aspect of it.

ive seen a few people mention the washed out screen like its no longer working. this happened to me this morning. apparently its related to the cold. about ten mins later it warmed up and slowly got all its graphics and color back.



this is basically the worst thing you ever want to see. it means the disc drive malfunctioned and stopped spinning.
everything has a limit. can you think of a computer hard drive with a spinning disc, constantly spinning for 20 years that still works ok? no neither can i.
it comes and goes, but the people that owned the car before me never really used the system so it was just floating around randomly all those years. thats probably what saved it, as the more i use the navi guidance, the more frequent this screen is popping up..



there are some useful other things as well, like a trip computer with recorded logs, voice volume controls, day/night mode, etc











theres more, but i also dont want to take up more space on the server then i have to, but for what it is, it does its job. i remember the 90s and what a big deal it was to have Navigation back then. i was a kid, but it was huge!

hope you guys enjoyed this tour of the first generation navi system that some of our cars have.

Stereorob

that can be done? its incredibly slow. ive also been wondering if theres a way to tap into the screen and run my phone through it. anyone ever make a kit or attempt it with a gen 1 car?

saleenssc

my 98 has the nav screen. I truly enjoyed reading your write-up. I too enjoy the nostalgia of my 98 with the NAV screen. However my NAV screen is just a blank white screen 99% of the time now. doesnt matter if its cold or hot outside. The touch screen still works but everything has to be done from memory. e.g. you have to know exactly where on the screen to touch to get the a/c to kick on. My question is will a non-nav hvac unit plug right into a NAV car? One day this NAV screen is going to go out completely. just want to be prepared in case that day comes soon. I dont really listen to the radio/cd in the lexus anyways. so losing the radio aspect of the car is not really a concern for me.

thanks

Yamae

You can use a non-nav hvac unit to your 98. All you need is to find and use a hvac for a 98-00 and it's plug and play although you lose all audio sounds. Everything is written in Japanese but photos here can help you to know how it goes. This is applicable for a 98-00 LS400 too. http://celsiorup.com/custom20/2087multiles_aircon.htm

I once have tried this and the A/C worked perfectly although I had a bit hard time to install a genuine Toyota navi system for a 2006 JDM Camry to my 98 Celsior. Finally the navi worked well but the audio sound was not as good as the original Celsior's navi/audio system loosing the sub woofer sound.

saleenssc

THANK YOU for the link. That is good to know that a non-nav hvac unit will plug n' play to control the climate control. I see quite a few on ebay for sale for the 98-00 cars

Yamae

You are welcome. I just shared what I knew and I have confirmed.
Anyway it's nice that we have a place like this Clublexus Forum where we can share our knowledge and experience. Let's keep our precious cars on the road long. As a guy who knows some about behind the scene, I will be posting what I know.

400fanboy

This is an awesome test to run on such outdated hardware.

I don't really have anything to add other than this is basically the best touch screen I've used in any car outside of a Tesla. And it was made 30 years ago. A capacitive touch screen that's stood the test of time! It's incredible. The UI has zero lag, the menu's are easy and simple, the screen is in a great location with easy to touch buttons... it's amazing.

Really shocking how many other OEM's get it wrong these days with the tablets glued to the top of the dashboard.