sherrybrry

I have a 2012 CT200h with Nav System. Turns out the back-up camera, which shows the view on the NAV screen, has no reference lines, making the camera totally useless, not to mention dangerous. The back-up camera in the CT200h without NAV shows the view on the rear view mirror, WITH reference lines. Can't believe Lexus put in such a system and am getting nowhere dealing with Lexus corporate, who tells me "all the information was there" (meaning it tells you in the manual) and I should have known when purchasing the car. WTF?!?!?

MC5Wes

No Lexus has ever had reference lines on the back up camera.

You didnt put the car in reverse when you went for the test drive? I would think that if the system was that important to you. That you would have checked it before buying.

LexusNN

iTrader: (5)

Yeah, the GS is the first one with the lines

jerrsRX350

I had a RX without the lines, and many other cars without lines (Infinity FX had lines) but I test drove an IS250C and it had lines? I agree they are very useful and Lexus should have them in all of their cars. I am also surprised that the pronounciation of street names are hard to understand in the CT .... never had that problem in any other cars or mobile GPS's?

KillaIS250

iTrader: (1)

I'm sorry, but how does not having the lines make the back up camera dangerous? Any competent driver shouldn't have a problem without the lines...most people don't even have a back up camera. Sure its nice to have them, but i wouldn't call it unsafe to not have them. As far as what corporate told you, it's true. The system is explained in the manual, and this kind of thing is something you normally would notice on the test drive.

Irishpilot

We use the back up camera to make sure our neighbors kids are not riding their battery operated ATV up the driveway as we are backing out. It is also good in the mall/grocery store parking lot to make sure someone hasn't decided walk behind our car while backing. I am not sure why not having the 'lines' makes the system dangerous? Would the lines be nice to have? Sure. Do I need them to park or back? No. Am I glad that I can make sure the neighborhood kids are not behind me in my slopped driveway when backing up? Yes. Was it a factor in purchasing this car? No. I have thought about putting an orange cone behind the car and backing up to it to see when it looked like I was going to hit it and when I actually did hit it. Just thought about it...not important enough to actually do it ;-)

tfischer

I have a backup camera in my '04 RX and use it every time I drive the car. It is not useless by any means, and is a big help.
Besides, I would not believe the lines anyway - I have my own eyes and my experience.

Sango

iTrader: (10)

I have to agree with the others, you don't need reference lines to back up, it's called practice. I learned how to reverse in with the backup camera, simply when reversing in, get the sides of the parking lines in center of the camera view with each line about equal distance from the edge of the screen and you're good.

Sounds like, as a driver depending on the backup up camera too much, which would end up being dangerous as the back-up camera does not show blind spots if something there while turning in reverse. Need to do the shoulder check as well.

I recall testing the 2012 Camry Hybrid and I think it did have lines on it; I thought oh pretty cool!. Other than that, you don't need to depend on lines.

dochusar

I have had cars with back-up lines, stationary lines, moveable lines and no lines. I do not think that lines are really needed. A good side mirror is what you really need, because the lines are not very accurate.

sherrybrry

Thanks for your posts, everyone. On another issue - I've gone through the manual several times looking to see if I can get radio information to display (station, song, artist) while listening. Don't see any instructions for that.

DigitalEye

I've heard that the European versions have the lines. I think it goes without saying that the lines are more useful but if you simply measure the distance at which something disappears from view of the camera (about 8 inches if on the ground) you get a good idea of how far you are away form anything. That said, it definitely takes some getting used to, the camera has a wide angle lens and that isn't at all what we are used to as humans, you'll find yourself feeling perilously close to something while looking at the camera screen only to find you're a yard/meter or so away still. Reference lines would be much more helpful and there's no reason (lliability?) not to have them when Nissan's costing thousands less do have them!

tfischer

I use the backup camera for two things.
One: to be sure there is no car or light post behind me that I may be backing into. (Some of you may also look for people, which you are also free to do if you have that kind of time.)
Two: to back up close to the car or the wall behind me. It was pointed out to me that the back bumper of my car is visible at the bottom of the screen. Since the view is almost straight down, you can readily see exactly how far you are from, for example, the car behind you when parallel parking. It is easy to park your car within an inch of a car or wall behind you.
I have seen the lines, and many of them are in pretty colors, but I don't miss them at all.

lexuslover

i believe it depends on the radio station broadcast. unfortunately, not all stations digitally broadcast the station name/code, song and artist information. so all you will see is "92.1 FM" on your screen, for example.

if the station DOES digitally broadcast it, what you will see is a very slow page by page scrolling on the screen that goes from FM channel, song name, artist name while you are driving. to be honest, it's not particularly useful, as the scrolling is slow and truncated. so if you are dying to know what song you are listening to, you have to keep looking at the screen while driving which is not terribly safe.

i think Lexus will eventually step up and update this because a lot of other luxury brands have HD radio that show the full song name and artist name on bottom of the screen with little to no truncating.


p.s. i have stationary parking lines on the back up camera in our Benz. i personally don't like the lines as much as a clear view because they are distracting. it's just personal preference. a lot of times the screen hasn't even booted up in time for me to use the backup camera when i'm backing out of a space (this goes for both cars) so i rely on my own eyes and mirrors more than anything. the camera is only useful to me in tight spots

tfischer

If you want to know what song is playing, try Shazam, usually the first app to be installed on an iPhone. Highly recommended.

ACowabunga

I have the moving lines in my Audi and love them. I guess I will just have to get used to using the reverse camera without them until Lexus updates the software. I'm hoping it is an easy fix because I would like it if Lexus would offer that as a choice at our 5k service.

Ditto on the Shazam or Soundhound, both work well but I just prefer the latter because of it seems to pick up the songs slightly better at time, IMO.