LexusJoey

I got a NAV not only for the built in NAV but also for the backup camera, bluetooth etc.

I love the NAV for local driving, but the other week I did a family road trip from MA to VA.
Since I've been to VA numerous times before, I know I have to get off 95 and get onto 13 to do the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in order to get the shortest route. The NAV gave me 3 options, as it always does, but not one of them does it. What is a 10 hour drive, the NAV does it in 14.

For long trips, I'm borrowing my brother's garmin and look like a fool, with a nav on my windshield and a nav on the dash.

caddyowner

What version of the nav software / maps are your running?

mikevanle

iTrader: (1)

your "10 hour drive" is probably not speed limit. the navigation always calculate speed limit, or you can go into the options and change your highway speed.

AlexusAnja

No, the LS nav is goofy calculating the "3 routes" that it gets. I recently took a short trip to south Jersey. Where I was heading, I know the NJ Parkway is quickest and probably shortest too, but all three routes did not even consider taking the parkway. It was going and taking route 9, which is local and goes west inland, to come back out. Anyway, it figured the "quickest" was 2.5 hours, but I did the trip in 1.5 hours. And yes, I programmed my trip speeds already, local is 25 mph, main is 40 mph, and freeway is 70 mph.

Unless you have no idea where you're going, then use the NAV, otherwise, go with what you know, or do a google print and follow that and use the NAV only for finding POI or detouring.

LexusJoey

I have no clue. Probably the version the came with the car (2004). I didn't bother looking into it because, I didn't want to spend the $200 for an update.

I'm glad I'm not the only one seeing this weirdness. In addition, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge drops you off right at VA. Then it's a 10 min drive to see my family. On the way home I selected home back to MA. Not one of those 3 routes took me to the bridge.
As a matter of fact, while I was on the bridge, the NAV kept suggesting I turn around even 30 miles after I got off the bridge. Somehow it thought it was still faster after I been on the road for an hour.

If I can have my Acura's NAV system.......

Lust4Lexus

I'm with you Joey. Mine is also goofy. I don't think the update should make a difference because those highways were built long before the Lexus was, so it should be able to give proper routing info, even if the software is old. I'm a little dissapointed with my nav as well.

caddyowner

Hmm, I've only used it around town a bit. I'll have to program it for the trip to my inlaws in Ohio this weekend and see how it does. Maybe I'll end up cutting through NJ.

fencera

Bay bridge= toll road

Any chance that the gps is set to avoid toll roads?

(same for NJ parkway)

V8_Fan

I think there's a setting on it. You can tell it to prefer expressways or local roads. To make it take the roads that you want (I run into this when I drive to CA), use the option to add preferred road. You set the roads you prefer to take and the nav will recalculate the route.

CG lover

I have asked for the shortest route and it would still stay on the main highways,, the wife gets mad at me when I start talking back to the female voice,, have canceled it many a time as I know the shortest route and it cannot find it going there but will on the return,, figure that one out,,

Derry

cdnguy

I agreee with you - I wouldn't trust my GPS to take me the best route at all. I've had a number of times when I want to go downtown Toronto (I live north of the city) and it wants to take me there via Chicago. Not that I have anything against Chicago - in fact they have a great hockey team - but I don't want to visit it on my normal 25 minute drive downtown. I bought my wife a Garmin GPS - and it works very well. I always have to go to Google Maps, print out the directions, and just use the GPS to make sure I'm on the roads indicated by Google. Sad.

AlexusAnja

I thought about this last night, but then as I was playing around with the NAV, I could not find where these settings would be. Honestly, I don't remember ever setting anything like this. I thought it just was not available. If you could direct to where the screen is, it would be great.

If there is such a setting, it really could well be it's set to "avoid toll roads"

Again, last night I took the NJ Pkwy route, 1.5 hours, but the GPS route quickest estimated 2.5 hours...

Thank you.

LexusJoey

I turned on everything (even un-named roads) so that the NAV had no excuses. It did take me to the NJ Turnpike.

CarGuy89

I am new to the car, so forgive me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure you can specify to avoid toll roads once you have a destination planned. Click on the 8-9 icons on the right side of the screen and it should let you turn toll roads off, as well as expressways. Idk, I've only played with the nav for a little bit, took me from Chicago back home to Ann Arbor just fine. It did have a tendency to like toll roads though.

AlexusAnja

Holy smokes.. you were right, it was right there staring at me. I just never bothered to look in the past... when you put in your destination, it's on the first screen right after it figures it's 3 routes. It's on the screen that you hits for "3 route" so what I must have been doing was just hitting "3 route" once that screen came up and ignoring the whole option. Once it goes to the 3 options, the road option is gone.

All I had selected was "Allow for interstate" and that was it. I now allowed for everything except "Ferry' and loooooooooooooooow-n-behooooooooold, the quickets and shortest route to the place in south NJ is NEW JERSEY PARKWAY, est. 1.5 hours at 99 miles.

HOLY COW !!! Thank you other members for enlightening me. Now I might be able to say my LS430 is flawless...