Kendig

Settlement on our prior house should happen soon, freeing up cash flow. We plan to trade in our 2001 Chrysler minivan for an RX 400h. I've done a fair amount of research, but more info never hurts. We know about the direct tire pressure monitoring and new gen nav system that went in in 07, and found the excellent info here on colors by year.

So, is there a big difference between the gen4 nav system in the 06 and the gen5? Ignoring the issues about usability while driving, is the gen5 significantly better?

What other differences are there between these model years that might affect our decision?

tommewin

Well one of the major differences between the 06 and the 07+ is the engine (3.5L for the newer ones). I don't have NAV so I can't really comment on that. Also remember that the 07+ auto transmissions take WS ATF for fluid, not the Type-IV like the previous generations.

meowmix52

My '06 GX had Gen4 while my new '09 RX has Gen5. The menu is a blackish/dark blue background with white letters and in general looks much more pleasing to the eyes. Also the maps itself are not that different, but they support up to a thousand colors now instead of 256, so it looks more "colorful." Usability is about the same, I still think the interface is a bit more "clunky" compared to the Garmin I use in my other car... I just like the bigger screen on the factory.