Richie7

I presently have an 09 ES350 in which I did not buy navigation for because of complaints about it. We are getting ready to buy a 2015 ES350 and am wondering if Lexus has improved their navigation systems? If you had to do over would you buy a nav system in your car if you had to do over again?
Thanks.
Richie

PS: I have attempted to search the 2013+ forum about this topic but Speed Perk ad will not let me get past their ad unless I sign up. Not interested in their ad.

A320pilot

iTrader: (1)

I need navigation for the work I do. None of my cars have been without it. The navi system in my 2015 is much improved over my 2014. I also have a 2104 Jeep Cherokee that has less limitations then my Lexus's navigation. I've read people using their smartphone or Tom Tom, Garmin, I'm not one for wires dangling or more gadgets stuck to my windshield or looking down at my phone. Just my opinion.

atoyota

Yes.For me - I wouldn't buy a car without it. Not necessarily because they are always that great but because of the other info-tainment apps and features that come usually bundled with it and because a car with Nav tends to trades in better

Most people say that their phone's nav or a third party nav is better than the car, but they say it about all car's nav systems. I hate the look of anything bolted onto the windshield or dash for a third party device or phone. Others may feel differently.

But - why not try out the nav on the 2015 BEFORE you buy it and see if YOU like it rather than base your decision on what others think? No system will please everyone and the people who complain most are often the ones who never post about things they do like - just my experience in the forums anyway.

Mike728

I rarely use mine, but when I do, it works as well as any other nav I've used in a car. Without it, you would be missing out on more than just the navigation function.

lesz

I've said, in other threads here about the ES navigation system, that I will likely never by a vehicle in the future without a navigation system. While I have no question that other navigation choices may have more up-to-date routing information, I still find that there are aspects of the built-in navigation system that I don't want to be without.

First, even though I don't often need route guidance, I find value in having the map screen available to me at all times so that I can glance at it and see what streets and intersections are coming up, what streets are running parallel to the one I'm on, etc. Further, it is especially important to me to have that map screen is in a location where it can easily be seen. Not only is the ES screen in a location where it can be viewed by simply moving your eyes and without even having to turn your head, but its location in the recess of the dash makes it such that it doesn't get washed out by sunlight, and it is free from glare. Besides the utility of the location, I agree with others, that add-on screens look tacky, and they are not something that I want in my vehicle.

Even though vehicle navigation systems are over-priced, they are also, of various vehicle options, among the ones that, at re-sale or trade-in time, return the highest percentage of their initial cost. Used car managers at dealerships want to take in vehicles with navigation systems because they know that, with used car buyers, navigation systems are highly-desired options, and they know that it is rare for a used car to sit on their lots very long if it has a navigation system, and, thus, they are willing to pay substantially more for cars with navigation systems.

In the last 15 years, I've bought 6 or 7 new vehicles. Only one of them did not have a navigation system. Soon after purchasing that vehicle, I realized how much I wished that it had a navigation system, and buying a car without one is a mistake that I won't make in the future.

Dave Mac

Yes, I held out for a long time and even though I rarely use it I will buy it in the future, one reason being resale or in my case higher residual value. The times I have used it the benefit has been well worth it. And I think even though the models without nav now have a backup camera it is not as good as those with nav - and I do like the backup camera...

Dave Mac

kxaz145

I drove a 2004 Nissan Murano before my ES350 which was the first car with NAV that I used on a regular basis. Nissan uses a "birds eye view" on the screen rather than the flat view on the Lexus. All in all I prefer the birds eye view. Day to day if you come upon a traffic jam you can quickly see if the next intersection provides a way around it which is very handy. I really appreciate being able to summon help on the screen and the ability for them to download the destination into the NAV. Saving many steps keying in numbers and letters yourself. I've noticed the Lexus NAV is a lot more accurate than the Murano (which I would expect). For several years I belonged to a golfing team that would play at a different course every time. I'll never forget a trip one early Saturday morning where the Murano NAV routed me off a main street into a neighborhood. Some courses are in neighborhoods so I didn't think anything of it. Five minutes later I was routed back onto the same main street a hundred yards farther down :-)

JimB

Poppa

I absolutely would buy the nav again..... when I first got the car I was a little unsure about it so I kept my trusty old garmin in the glove box just in case.... so far haven't needed it.... the only thing I wish my lexus nav did that my garmin does, is post the speed limit on the display...other than that, I'm good.

Poppa

Mike728

I guess I'm glad I live in IL. They post the speed limit on signs, here.

atoyota

LOL - people in TX just ignore them anyway.

Richie7

Thank you everyone for taking the time to respond. You have all been a big help.

Nelexus88

Navigation is usually part of an option package so its not easy to exclude it without loosing other desirable features you may want. I have it, but often use my Garmin when I need to do serious navigating.

Three useful things my cheap Garmin does that are not part of the Lexus navigation:
1. Continuous speed limit display.
2. Free lifetime map updates
3. Destination inputs while moving
(yes,I know about assist )

nflguy

We are in the market for a new or used lexus. We are currentlly trying to choose between the hybrid 300h or the ES350. I visited a dealership in North Texas that had several used 300h available but none had navigation. I thought that was strange since I assumed most everyone wants navigation as an option these days.

lesz

A good part of the reason for that is what I explained earlier in this thread. Used vehicles, especially Lexus vehicles and vehicles from other similarly-classed manufacturers, with navigation systems move quickly off of used car lots and, and those without navigation systems tend to sit on those used car lots much longer and end up having to be much more heavily discounted before they are sold.

I'm sure that there are many used car managers at Lexus dealerships who have lists of people who are waiting for and hoping to buy an ES with a navigation system, and it is often the case that, when a used vehicle with a navigation system comes in, it is sold within the next day to someone on the waiting list. Again, that is the reason why dealers are willing to offer substantially more on trade-ins for vehicles with navigation systems than they will offer for vehicles without navigation systems, and that is why navigation systems, at trade-in or re-sale time, return a higher percentage of their initial cost than do other options.

If I were interested in a used ES with a navigation system, I would contact the used car managers at a few dealerships and ask them to call me when they took one in. Also note that, because those navigation-equipped vehicles are in higher demand, you are not likely to see as much discounting on them as you would see with a non-navigation ES.

SW17LS

To the OP, I've bought the nav on every Lexus but the first one, and I would never buy one without the nav.

The 2015 has a birds eye view function.