Stroud109

I've spent a pretty good amount of time sifting through the various threads on ClubLexus trying to find out what most Lexus owners with navigation between 2007-2009/ Lexus IS250 2006-2009 etc, do to operate their navigation systems while the car is in motion and YIKES, it looks like quite a bit of cutting, splicing, heat shrink tubing and disassembly (possibly warranty voiding)!

This is my first post here, so I hope I don't put off any fellow Lexus owners by posting this, but I feel it's my duty to help when help is needed to improve my fellow owner's state of mind. Trust me there is a very simple elegant solution that I will share in the bit of text I'll paste below in a guide I created. Please let me know what you all think...I hope it's positive.

GEN 5 NAVIGATION VOICE ACTIVATION COMMANDS

VOICE COMMAND INSTRUCTIONS: TO ACTIVATE THE VOICE COMMAND PORTION OF THE NAVIGATION YOU MUST BRIEFLY PRESS THE FACE BUTTON ON THE STEERING WHEEL, WAIT FOR A *BEEP*, AND SPEAK YOUR COMMAND.

HELP: PRESS THE FACE BUTTON *BEEP* AND SAY HELP FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF VOICE COMMANDS.

ADDING POINTS OF INTEREST (POI’S): TO DISPLAY POI’S ON THE MAP YOU *BEEP* THEN SPEAK WHAT YOU’RE SEARCHING FOR, SUCH AS GROCERY STORES. THE NAVIGATION MAP WILL THEN DISPLAY ALL POI’S FOR THIS TYPE OF STORE. VARIOUS EXAMPLES OF POI’S ARE GAS STATIONS, RESTAURANTS, ATMS, BANKS, HOSPITALS AND LEXUS DEALERSHIPS.

NEAREST POINT OF INTEREST: TO FIND THE NEAREST OF ANY OF THESE POI’S YOU *BEEP* AND SAY (NEAREST) GROCERY STORE, ETC. THE NEAREST COMMAND ALLOWS YOU TO LOCATE THE NEAREST POI WHILE YOU’RE ON THE MOVE. IF YOU ARE STOPPED, IT GIVES AN OPTIONAL COMPLETE LIST OF ALL NEAREST POI’S.

REMOVING POI’S: TO REMOVE THESE ICONS FROM THE SCREEN YOU *BEEP* AND SAY THE WORDS "HIDE ALL ICONS".
ENTERING AN ADDRESS USING YOUR VOICE: TO ENTER AN ADDRESS: 1) YOU *BEEP* THEN SPEAK THE WORD ADDRESS 2) YOU *BEEP* AND SPEAK THE STATE NAME 3) YOU *BEEP* AND SPEAK THE CITY NAME 4) YOU *BEEP* AND SPEAK THE STREET NAME, 5) YOU *BEEP* AND SPEAK THE NUMBER IN SINGLE DIGITS.

GO HOME: PRESS THE FACE BUTTON *BEEP* AND SAY THE WORDS "GO HOME" AND THIS WILL DIRECT YOU TO YOUR HOME.

CELL PHONE VOICE COMMANDS: Say the words: "DIAL BY NUMBER" OR ("DIAL BY NAME" IF YOU HAVE ATTACHED VOICE TAGS TO EACH PHONE NUMBER).
BLUETOOTH APPROVED LIST:

WWW.LEXUS.COM/BLUETOOTH. PRESS THE LEXUS MOBILE LINK BUTTON ON THAT PAGE TO DETERMINE IF YOUR PHONE WORKS WITH LEXUS.

LEXUS ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE AND PRODUCT SUPPORT 1-800-255-3987
ALL OF THESE FUNCTIONS ARE AVAILABLE WHILE YOUR LEXUS IS IN MOTION, SO PLEASE DRIVE SAFELY.

MITCHELL STROUD
LEXUS OF PLEASANTON
mitchell.stroud@hendrickauto.com
Lexus Master Certified since 2008

LexBob2

Good recap. Thanks.

The one issue I had with my 2007 and 2010 ES350's was that voice command was spotty at best. I couldn't get either to work seamlessly and finally ended up not using it much. The 2010 hard drive based nav was supposed to have improved VR but I didn't see it. Maybe the new gen is better.

christcorp

I spend most of my "Texting" time doing "Speech to Text" that I've become quite proficient at enunciating, speaking somewhat mono-tone, and somewhat slowly. I've never had a voice command on the 2007 lexus fail once. Whether it's temperature, music, phone, or nav. "Unless of course I use the wrong command".

Stroud109

I prefer the Gen 5 for the "nearest" command, but the gen 7 and now 8 do that perfectly with the "find nearby" command, but the real difference is exactly as you stated, you have to use the correct comman exactly with the Gen 5.

Beginning with the Gen 6 and newer, the voice activation was supposed to allow "casual speak", but don't confuse that with incorrect commands (it still doesn't like that), but it will certainly overlook the goof ups of the ocassional "uhmm", or clearing the throat.

That's the great thing about Lexus, they always move forward and they do their very best to make it intuitive! That's what I tell my guests usually when I finish explaining the car, that with all the automatic features and systems in the car it only leaves talking on the phone, putting in addresses and texting while driving

*edit* Oh and the key to all of the operations involving voice is to have the patience to wait for that "beep"...she isn't listening otherwise

mlacomb

Not sure how it works on nav cars - but in non-nav, I typiclly have a need to switch out phone pairings (business/personal phone etc.) I hit the voice command button, say setup, then use the tune **** on the radio to select subsequent menus/options. Turn the tune **** and press in when the option you want is shown on the screen.

This also helps if you happen to have your bluetooth off on your phone when the car is started. The car won't continually search for bluetooth, so getting the car to "select phone" again is the only way to pair mid-trip.

Stroud109

Mlacomb, yes you're absolutely correct in regards to selecting with the tuning ****, I think the presets acting as speed dials is a super nice feature for non navigation cars. You can also use the "dial by number" command even without navigation if you want.

ThumperPup

i tired the VR yesterday for the adding an address and it worked good got thievery clear the first time

Stroud109

Grats Thumper! It beats the crap out of clickity clacking all the data in with the touch screen.

munkjeep

I can't get my voice command to do anything useful, I say "go home " and the voice command tries to make a phone call or something else beside give me directions home .

Stroud109

Did you try using any of the commands such as "Address"? or "Find Nearby Grocery Store"? Those are useful to me, but maybe we think differently, anyway...

If all you want is to "Go Home" feature to work, first you have to tell the car where your home is located.

Once car is running and navigation map is up...

1: Press "Menu"
2: Press "My Places"
3: Press "Home" (to the left side of the screen)
4: Press Address option
5: Enter your home address (However Lexus recommends an intersections comfortably close to your home without using your exact address in case someone steals your key...car...drives to your home...etc)

With your Home established and saved in your Lexus, then you can press the Face and after the BEEP say GO HOME.

The "only" trick to the Lexus Voice Command system is 1: knowing the exact commands the car knows and wants to hear 2: waiting for the beep before saying the exact words, otherwise she isn't listening.

You can find ALL of these commands by pressing the Face on your steering wheel and saying the word HELP...then use the buttons on the screen to look up the commands for the system in the car you want to learn the verbage for.