Carmelstev

I’ve had my 2005 LS Modern Lux for almost 4 months now and we just took our first long road trip. I’ve always thought you really never know a car (or a woman) until you spend some time logging a few 500 mile days through unfamiliar territory. The LS is an amazing vehicle. It is supremely capable on long cruises, and a few things really stood out after logging about 1200 miles in 4 days.


• This thing rules the freeway. It is so smooth, it’s almost un-carlike. It’s more like a capsule. You get in and it delivers you to your destination. It is so easy and relaxing to drive that 500 miles is a snap.
• Gas mileage is surprisingly good. I know that from driving it for the last 4 months it was pretty good, but this was the first opportunity to do entire tankfulls purely on freeways. Averaged about 28.5 MPG-not bad for a large 8 cylinder car.
• The power at speed is seamless. I’d known this from driving it over the months, but you really appreciate it going over steep grades like the Grapevine into LA and never feeling like the engine was even working hard. This thing pulls like a Locomotive-it only needed to downshift into 5th to handle steep grades at 70 MPH.
• Steering is very precise. Actually this is kind of a mixed bag. I have 2 other cars that are less precise, but are actually easier to keep a straight line on the freeway. You just kind of give a little counter-steer on straight sections and they go right down the middle. I find you can’t really counter-steer the LS because there is absolutely no slack in the steering. The tiniest input moves the car. As I said, this is a mixed blessing. I find if you aren’t constantly watching the line, for instance looking down to select a number to call on the cell phone, the LS is more likely to wander off line than my other cars. On the other hand, I’ve had the opportunity to drive it on very challenging windy roads and it performs much better than would be expected.


• The Navigation!!!!!!!! Oh my God!! This is by far the worst navigation system I’ve ever used. I’ve only used it a couple of times since taking this trip and I was never in really unfamiliar territory so I never realized how inconvenient it is. Having to pull over off the freeway at midnight in a very bad neighborhood to find a destination was enough to make me homicidal!! In general, it feels like the first GPS systems from years ago. The GPS in my wife’s Acura MDX is light years ahead of this in ease of use, features, and of course can be used enroute. The Kenwood GPS I added to my Chevy truck 5 years ago is also much better in all areas. Heck, the $99 GPS I bought last year to use in rental cars is much better! Lexus should hang their heads in shame that this system is so unusable. It’s a good thing the ML stereo is so good, or this would be a total loss. If I had to do it over again, I might have considered getting non-Navigation. I hope Lexus will update this soon to un-cripple enroute navigation and possibly make the routing more intuitive.
• The seats were a little less comfortable after a few hundred miles than I realized from shorter trips. I know now what some have complained about. They are a little hard and less comfortable than I realized.
• The ventilated seats are a joke. Lexus really blew it on this one. We were in So. Cal this last weekend and it was in the 90’s. I honestly had a hard time knowing whether the seat was on cool or not, and yes, the filter is clean. I wonder if it is possible to add a more powerful motor to the ventilation fan?

Steve

warminwisc

Thanks for the input. I agree on the cooled seats, like a fart in a windstorm. Do not have the navigation so cannot comment. How was the backup camera?

JDMUSCLE

iTrader: (1)

Cooled seats I agree with.....they are not as good as the new ones!! On the other hand...why dont you override the nav so you can use it when you are driving!! Plus why dont you upgrade to the newer version!! Only bad thing about the newer one is that you cannot override!!

Nice write up!!

AlexusAnja

Nice and agree with your likes, but dislikes, only agree with the ventilated seats. They are a joke. You could have it on cold, take a fart, and the seats would warm up again.

NAV, I wouldn't say worse, but the "no-programming" once the car is moving is no good. What if I have a passenger with me, he/she can work the nav. without issues. Other features, I find to have been very logical. I programmed it the first time without even looking at the manual. I actually still have not read the manual so there might be some features I have not found yet. I have a NUVI 660, so it's not like I don't know there are better things out there.

As for seats, I have the Custom trim with semi-analine and I find the seats too soft at times, so it might be a "trim issue" rather than in general.

Anyway, seems you enjoyed the ride overall.

vietdeluxx

iTrader: (2)

Haha.. Very True!

As far as the navigation... I bought a DVD/Navi override plug and play system from Prestigious Society... So now, DVD and Navi can be used while the car is in motion (of course, its for the passenger's entertainment not mine )

You can e-mail chung@prestigioussociety.com for more info.

Carmelstev

So to answer a couple of the questions to my write-up-

-I do have the Lockpick Ultimate, but I also upgraded to 7.1, so no Override for me!!!
-The Backup Camera is very nice
-My issues about the Nav mostly center on not being able to input destination enroute. While I still find the system overall to be inferior to the others I own, it is servicable, if it weren't for this.

I guess I just have really high standards for the LS. In most other aspects it is superior to just about anything else out there. The navigation system is just such a central point of focus in the car, so I'm amazed Lexus didn't put in a better system and am totally flabbergasted why they crippled it. The really frustrating part is that they can undo this with an update, but refuse to do so. Very Un-Lexus-Like!

Thanks for the Comments-Steve

CG lover

another one in agreement about the seat ventilation and the nav system,, both are substandard for a car of this class and $$$,,

Derry

LSGarry

I'll throw in my dislike of those dang cup holders too. They are useless. I hate to have to clean up coffee on my nice white leather seats all the time.
Otherwise, absolutely the best car I've ever owned.

Tee

I agree with hate the "Cooled Seats" (Bad joke) and cup holders. I hate cleaning the wood from condensation from cold drinks, I keep a towel in the door for that purpose alone. The Nav works fine for me (newest version) although i do hate the override is gone.

With all that said I love my LS!

cpcc

Seats are way too hard for long drives. I got a seat cushion from the better back store made from tempur foam and it is fantastic! Just drove 1400 miles and it was seamless and comfortable.

David M

Is there any way to defeat the nav with the newer software? I just got an 06 (yay!) and am very familiar with gps systems, but not with this one. That said, I used it several times on 2 trips in 2 days to Atlanta from Huntsville, Al. Of course, that is between 2 of the DVD's "regions." I also had an iWay 500c and a TomTom Go 930 in there at the same time. The Lexus nav would have me literally going in circles if I hadn't had the other two gps's with me. I don't know Atlanta area at all and was relying on the GPS's to direct me. I can't rely on the Lexus version so unless I fouled up as a beginner (and I hope that is the case) I may have to just ignore the car's GPS. Bah, humbug.

And Lexus, I'm a big boy. I can decide whether I want to change or search an address while I'm driving -- NOT YOU! So get your lawyer limits out of my machine.

Carmelstev

David-

I have been researching the question of being able to override the enroute navigation lockout. There does not seem to be a way to simply do this after the 6.1 update. The only 2 options are to create a "hybrid" disc with an older disc and a newer one (see extensive write-ups on this) or to start cutting wires to install inline switches to make the Nav think you are parked. Neither option is very appealing.

For now, I am regretfully doing what you did-using a stand-alone GPS. Virtually any one you get is easier to use and more accurate, even inexpensive ones. Pretty sad when a $99 GPS outperforms a $2500 nav unit!

Steve

cpcc

Sheepskin seat covers that are one inch thicker or more are of help.

DNC

Steve,

When were the air filters last changed in your seats? Maybe this would be of help with air flow.

warminwisc

I am having an upholsterer rebuild my seat, I just bought it with 55 k on a 2004. Do any of you have problems with the seat settling, or are folks just heavy here in the midwest and the seat develops a slump in it(I test drove 6 and half of them had some unexpected settling IMO.) 100 bucks to pull the lower leather off and repad the seat. Dealer wanted 200 to replace the seat cushion and 600 for the labor.

Another thing, I sat in a 2006 M35 Infinity and the wood was so flat natural looking. The wood in the LS looks almost plastic. Otherwise a great car.