Fogcutter

Clearly the NAV is a bit of a clunk, but I'm catching on to the thing. It's nice not having the Nuvi stuck to the windshield, but I miss it sometimes.

My hope, and admittedly it is a blind hope, is that things will get better with software updates. Since the system is HD based, Lexus could have control of nearly every aspect via software.

Locking out the stereo folder selection, phone control, and NAV address functions while moving is a Royal Pain indeed, but I haven't sprung for the override module as yet.

Otherwise the machine is a dream.

jetnoise

+1

Even the arrival time estimate is poor. It's based on a preset mph average not real time like the Garmin

Terrapin

Integrated automotive Nav systems are one of the biggest ripoffs going. Typically, manufacturers ask ~$2K for them while featured-packed Garmins, Magellans, etc can be had for around $250, or even less. True, the integration with the car's controls is good, but for nearly 10X the price of over the counter units, many will pass.

iewiew

On a recent long trip my time time to travel from point A to B was way off. I finally figured out that I have to set the average speed, is this not insane in this day and age? You have 3 little speedometers in setup to manage. Maybe the Japanese don't know that T=D/S. Same situation with the avg MPG & MPH, if you don't reset after stopping, turn on speed control, turn off speed control these do not reset automatically. This can be accomplished by pushing enter button on steering wheel, each separately! After driving from Dallas to California and back I am not impressed. And you are right, for $2 grand this damn thing should make toast. I won't even go into the change course while moving problem. Why should I have to pay $300 to have it fixed?

The G Man

For the most part, the Lexus nav is really not that bad, better than the German's, except fro that idiot nav lockout. Personally, I would never buy a Lexus nav again because of that lock out.

Fogcutter

I found out last night that the lockout extends to the calendar of all things.

Good point on the German NAVs being horrible. I had a MB S class and never could get useful navigation out of the thing. It should have been locked out all of the time to save frustration

After the holidays I'm going to buy the module to fix the lockout. No point in putting up with such nonsense when there is an easy fix.

I have to agree with just buying a Garmin for NAV. Better, cheaper, and it follows you from car to car.

One consolation is that some of the cost of the NAV comes back at resale time, but the depreciation would buy several nice Garmins anyway. Oh well.

livenow

I got my RX 450h two weeks ago. I have hard time using it on my trip to Tahoe.
I completely agree that Lexus Nav is overrated. I am still using my 2007 Garmin 350 extensively.
For a simple thing like sorting the destination in Address Book by distance from the car, it is not available. It can only be sorted by name or date. If you have more than one page of destinations, it is very hard to go to it very quickly.

buckse

You guys sure are picky. I think the built in NAV system works fine for my needs. I use it several times a month and on long trips. You can't beat the large, easy to read screen and the "mouse-like" interface which makes the system very intuitive and easy to use. I had an RX07 with the touch screen interface which I really loved, but I quickly got use to the new interface which seems far superior to some of the other systems that use the wheel based **** interface (like BMW I-Drive, Infiniti, etc).

I don't use the voice interface because the GUI is so easy and I didn't bother to learn any of the voice commands because I have yet to see any voice activated system work consistently and reliably in a vehicle due to all of the ambient noise (radio, AC, road noise, talking, etc).

Regarding the ETA times, I think you are being a little hard on the system. It doesn't know the speed limit of every road, it doesn't know if your city/state has raised or lowered speed limits lately, it doesn't know if you are going to continue to drive 10 mph over or 10 mph under the speed limit for the duration of your trip, it doesn't know how many times you are going to have pull over so your wife can pee because of her tiny bladder, and even if you get the XM-NAV traffic updates, I'm not sure if it fully adjusts for traffic, construction, and weather. Remember its just an estimate based on averages--if you drive fast you will beat the ETA and if you drive slow or run into traffic, construction, or bad weather you may arrive later than the ETA. You can't expect it to be accurate down to the millisecond.

I do a lot of business travel and I always get a GPS with my rental cars. Between that weird proprietary GPS that Hertz has bolted to the vehicle and the portable Garmin and Nuvi units from other vendors, I have to admit that I always miss my RX NAV system compared to the ones used by the rental car companies. I absolutely hate the time it takes to plug in the portable units and they all seem to take such a long time to "lock-on" to satellites after power up before you can punch in an address. I also hate the hassel of plugging and unplugging the cables--I'm kind of paranoid and believe that the little portable gadgets are too much of a temptation for someone to break-in and steal (like a radar detector), so I always unplug the portable units and hide them in the glove box.

I tried typing in an address on one of the portable rental car units while driving once and about had a wreck so I think it's probably safer to that the system is locked out while driving. I don't text while driving either. Maybe the lockout feature really is safer, but I agree that it would probably be OK for a passenger to be able to use the system while moving.

You have to be realistic about the maps and updates. This is not a Microsoft product where you are going to get daily updates. I'm sure Lexus will come out with some updates at some point, but remember that the car has not even been out a full year yet.

As far as the look and feel of the screen layout, maps, and text, I think it is one of the most polished looking systems I've ever seen compared to other built-in or portable systems. Everyone that has ever sat in my car has always gushed over how easy to use, how well it works, and how well it looks.

I'm very happy with the built it NAV system.

DunWkg

I agree with many of the things Buckse has stated. Unfortunately, I've only had two navigations systems to compare the Lexus unit to, the Nissan system and an iPhone. The iPhone does not do turn by turn without an additional application and the Nissan had "Bird's Eye View" which I used exclusively. The Nissan also locked out when in motion like the Lexus, so I'm used to that pain-in-the-neck feature. Whenever I've been in a rental car there is usually two people in the car, so I've only used portable units in a "driver and navigator" scenario.

It's the voice command system in the Lexus I find frustrating. I think with time I will learn the commands, although I would also like the push to talk button located down at the remote touch **** where my hand usually is resting. If I had more examples of "casual speech" commands in the manual, that would be beneficial too.

I really like the eDestination feature and have used it extensively to set up destination folders and arrange destinations. I have not used the call a person eDestination function, but will I'm sure when taking a trip of any length or tying to find that special restaurant.

So overall I like the navigation system and really like the split screen with the interstate interchange window and countdown bar. So although I don't give it two-thumbs up yet, I do give it one.

SALTY2

I believe that any NAV system that come with the car is over-rated and over priced specially in this day and age. Navigation Systems are like computers in less than 2 years you can get something twice as good for half the money. So why get stuck with an on board NAVi system. I got my Nuvi for 1/4 of the price of Lexus Nav system it has all the features, I take it to Europe and in a year or so I just get another one with more features and a more updated map. For the life of me I dont know why car companies make their Nav system so expensive!

ajs

Getting a Nuvi for 1/4 the price of Lexus nav. is actually pretty expensive. I got a brand new Nuvi model with all accessories for $200, while the Lexus nav. option price is $2500.

The G Man

Lol, thats a good one

they have to take apart your center concole to install that unit and each time you bring the car back to the dealer for electrical warranty problems, you have to take out that unit or else they will not honor the warranty.

Fogcutter

Yeah, I hate the thought of doing major surgery on a pristine dash, and I had wondered about the warranty thing. From what I've read around the forums this lock out issue really has people p*ssed.

I might do the smart thing and just wait for a while. They can fix this with a simple software update. Lexus does so much right I can't imagine they won't address this down the road.

I love the USB stereo -- my entire music collection fits onto a single 16 gig flash drive and is always there. No disks. Just plain cool.

That was another gripe I had with the Germans. I had a 2 year old MB SLK that would not play an MP3 disk nor did it have an AUX in for an iPod. My daughter's Camry Hybrid of the same year did both. Come on MB and BMW, these little things are cheap to implement and not having them standard makes you look foolish.

The G Man

I would not do it, it may cause rattles and such and you know that the dash will never be as good as new. It seems like this lock out trend may be spreading instead of going away, no thanks to our law suit happy society. I dont think Lexus will release a software update to get rid of the lockout, they are run by lawyers instead of car designers these days.
We have a new Audi, and there are so many muisc options: hard drive, USB drice, two SD card slot and a Ipod interface all standard, and no lock out

Fogcutter

Cool. The Germans are getting with the program now.

I would be really hacked about the lock out, but like you say it seems to be spreading among the car makers aside from your Audi.

Took the RX out on the ice for the first time yesterday -- really nice. Couldn't get it to slip. I used the Hybrid Snow mode, but I'm not sure what it does but the control on slick surfaces is great.

Now I need some deep snow. My X5 was the best deep snow vehicle I had ever driven, so I'm eager to see what the RX will do.

Back to the lock out, the dealer keeps saying to use voice control, which I suppose is OK, so far I haven't had trouble, but some folks just can't catch on it seems.