chatrathi

Just dropped off the RX300 at local dealer to have the GPS issue (sometimes it doesn't track to the street and shows me driving between streets!!) looked at.

They ran out of Lexus loaners, so the local Enterprise on-site dude put me in a 2006 Camry with 84 miles on it. New car smell but still such a blah to drive. I was hoping for a 330 but was denied.

However the urgency of getting the GPS issue looked at over rode everything else. The car comes off of warranty next Monday

I'll keep the group posted on what they find with the GPS unit.

-chatrathi

chatrathi

So the service advisor called to tell me that they need to keep the car overnight. I said that is fine, as long as they don't expect me to drive around in a Camry

But the guy was really nice, had me come back and put me in a 330. Much happier. If I end up having to spend the weekend without my car, I felt I should at least have something equivalent. Now I am just hoping that the issue with the GPS gets resolved quickly.

Details to come as they become available.

-chatrathi

nopcbs

You find a Camry more "blah" to drive than an RX which is based on the Camry, but has worse vehicle dynamics and acceleration? Or are you just referring to the nicer interior of the RX?

- GRL

chatrathi

The RX feels, looks and sounds much better than the Camry. Right from the way the door thunks shut to how the engine vibration is darn close eliminated - even at a complete stop. I would be terribily disappointed if there were no differences because Toyota feels that there is enough to charge me the equivalent of two camry's (pretty close) to an RX.

Of course the isolation, plushness and comfort of the Lexus is not for all. The Acura/Honda-philes prefer a more direct conversation with the vehicles they drive. I don't subscribe to that school of thought.

As they say, to each his own!

As for an update on the GPS situation. Lexus updated the software on the GPS system free-of-charge. I have to wait and see how it performs and if it fixes what appears to be a calibration error.

Stay tuned.

-chatrathi

HarrierAWD

The GPS issue may be the DVD map's fault. In Colorado, I often find myself driving "off-road" for miles on. I believe the GPS antenna puts me in the right spot, but the map does not have the roads in the right places. Too bad mine is out of warranty, otherwise I might try get a free update like you.

I don't know why people keep saying the RX is based on Camry. I compared my RX300 with my neighbor's V6 Camry a while ago. Other than standard Toyota shared parts such as cruise control stalk, there's nothing in common among the two. The powertrains are similar, but still different.

chatrathi

That used to happen on my unit and is understandable. The GPS unit is tracking correctly, it's just that the software can't support that particular road/path yet. It happens everytime I drive over newer/redesigned intersections like 101-85 (in Nor.Cal), 87-85 etc.

However in my case, the unit wasn't tracking on roads that already existed in it's database. For example, when i pulled out of my house, it would show me driving in a line that is parallel to my street! According to that, the RX is doing a batmobile and driving over houses and tall buildings

As for the RX and Camry comparos, my understanding is that the RX shares the same underlying platform as the Camry (that family of shared platforms includes the ES). At least that was the case with the 300s, not sure if there was a departure with the 330s.

-chatrathi

chatrathi

Final diagnosis - I guess Lexus didn't want to spend time trying to figure out the problem and thought it might be more efficient (cheaper!) to get me a free upgrade. I will drive this around for a couple of days to confirm that the issue is fixed.

Here is the part that they added in:
00230-DVD04-CY. I believe it's Version 4.1.

This one finally contains starbucks locations Otherwise it seems to be the same interface (I shouldn't have expected that to change).

-chatrathi