Disappointed with Lexus GPS system
02-24-14, 05:08 PM
#106
I remember back in 2000 when I bought my RX300.
GPS was just starting to be installed in vehicles and every dealership I visited got all excited how great they were for a mire price of $2500.
After I put my order in without the GPS feature one salesmen told me good thing you didn't
order the GPS because the mapping system in our area and many states wasn't written yet.
GPS was just starting to be installed in vehicles and every dealership I visited got all excited how great they were for a mire price of $2500.
After I put my order in without the GPS feature one salesmen told me good thing you didn't
order the GPS because the mapping system in our area and many states wasn't written yet.
02-26-14, 06:50 AM
#107
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02-28-14, 05:35 PM
#109
03-01-14, 05:00 PM
#110
VAIS Technology iVIC infotainment system with Galaxy S3
So what you the tech savy folks here think about this as a replacement to the Nav system? VAIS Technology iVIC infotainment system with Galaxy S3
It looks like it plugs and and lets you use whatever apps on your android phone that you want to.
It looks like it plugs and and lets you use whatever apps on your android phone that you want to.
03-30-14, 10:27 AM
#111
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you can do it!
Someone probably answered this on one of the many pages of this thread, but I just bought a used 2010 RX450h and I had the same problem my first trip. I felt so frustrated that I wanted to return the car! The GPS never took one highway on my way to a location, and when a friend helped me find the freeway for the trip home, it told me to exit at every exit! I ended up quite late for my excursion and felt pretty stupid as this was my first GPS unit ever. So, I came on google and got to this thread. Other people touched on the answer here, but perhaps didn't explain it quite thoroughly enough. At least I didn't have a light bulb moment when I read the thread - I didn't think - oh i get it and go and fix it.
SOOO..... I will try to lay out the steps that fixed it for me.
1) Choose a destination. It can be one that you have already entered, and it needs to be one where you know for sure that you should go on the highways.
2) Hit the button that says GO TO with the red circle
PRIOR to hitting OK click EDIT ROUTE
Click PREFERENCES
IMPORTANT NOTE: In the explanation to come, whatever preferences you choose for QUICK, SHORT or ALT will be selected for ALL THREE versions of the trip. I assumed that one could select different preferences for the different types, but this is not true. The selections are used in calculating all three routes.
With the QUICK Route type Shaded blue, select which features to allow;
The Freeways and Toll Roads MUST have a YELLOW BAR down the left side of the rectangle to show that they are ALLOWED. If there is no yellow, you will be given the LONG arduous route.. So make sure they are yellow.
Click OK. The unit will now calculate your trip giving you three choices.
The unit then flashes to a map that shows you an overview of your route. Click the button that says 3 Routes. This page will give you the distance and travel time for each option, and show the tracings of the routes on the map in different shades. If the quick and short routes are the same, you may see only 2 colors (besides red for highways you don't need to travel on). At this point you can change to a different route among the three types (short, quick, alt).
BEFORE you click OK, there are two ways to check out what the GPS is giving you:
If your route is going to take you on freeways, when the first map overview of your trip pops up, it shows how many miles you will be on freeways (or toll roads if applicable) in the box on the upper right. If you are not going on highways, then the highway symbol is left unshaded, so you need to edit preferences in that case.
Or...Check out what the GPS is giving you by clicking on the top right where it says TURN LIST. It will flash to a list of the streets you will travel on. Scroll through all of the streets and check that the highway is listed. If the highway is not listed then you definitely need a map update because you must live in a really new area. or maybe you made an error, so you could go back and make sure once again that the YELLOW BARS are showing down the left side of the FREEWAYS option.
Once you are satisfied with the route, you can click OK. The route that you want to select will be shaded in blue, so make sure it is the QUICK route that is shaded blue.
If you know you don't want to go THROUGH a city, but prefer to go around it, then there are two options that might help you do this: The simplest would be to allow TOLL ROADS (yellow bars beside that selection) if you know that a toll road will help you bypass a city. More difficult, and without an explanation here because I haven't tried it would be to figure out how to put that city into the AREAS TO AVOID.
I have an 86 year old mother who won't go on highways and doesn't know her way around my city, and because she needs to follow me sometimes, for trips with her, I was fooling around with the choices for the ALTERNATE route, thinking that it would show me a route that would suit my mother, but still give me my own route for the quick one. Not so. The options that one selects for one, are selected for all three routes. And the last selections that one makes are saved for the next time you program a route.
GOOD luck and I hope this helps someone!
Maureen,
Happy in my new-to-me Lexus.
PS. I was sitting IN my car while typing this into my laptop, to make sure I didn't goof. I hope it's correct.
SOOO..... I will try to lay out the steps that fixed it for me.
1) Choose a destination. It can be one that you have already entered, and it needs to be one where you know for sure that you should go on the highways.
2) Hit the button that says GO TO with the red circle
PRIOR to hitting OK click EDIT ROUTE
Click PREFERENCES
IMPORTANT NOTE: In the explanation to come, whatever preferences you choose for QUICK, SHORT or ALT will be selected for ALL THREE versions of the trip. I assumed that one could select different preferences for the different types, but this is not true. The selections are used in calculating all three routes.
With the QUICK Route type Shaded blue, select which features to allow;
The Freeways and Toll Roads MUST have a YELLOW BAR down the left side of the rectangle to show that they are ALLOWED. If there is no yellow, you will be given the LONG arduous route.. So make sure they are yellow.
Click OK. The unit will now calculate your trip giving you three choices.
The unit then flashes to a map that shows you an overview of your route. Click the button that says 3 Routes. This page will give you the distance and travel time for each option, and show the tracings of the routes on the map in different shades. If the quick and short routes are the same, you may see only 2 colors (besides red for highways you don't need to travel on). At this point you can change to a different route among the three types (short, quick, alt).
BEFORE you click OK, there are two ways to check out what the GPS is giving you:
If your route is going to take you on freeways, when the first map overview of your trip pops up, it shows how many miles you will be on freeways (or toll roads if applicable) in the box on the upper right. If you are not going on highways, then the highway symbol is left unshaded, so you need to edit preferences in that case.
Or...Check out what the GPS is giving you by clicking on the top right where it says TURN LIST. It will flash to a list of the streets you will travel on. Scroll through all of the streets and check that the highway is listed. If the highway is not listed then you definitely need a map update because you must live in a really new area. or maybe you made an error, so you could go back and make sure once again that the YELLOW BARS are showing down the left side of the FREEWAYS option.
Once you are satisfied with the route, you can click OK. The route that you want to select will be shaded in blue, so make sure it is the QUICK route that is shaded blue.
If you know you don't want to go THROUGH a city, but prefer to go around it, then there are two options that might help you do this: The simplest would be to allow TOLL ROADS (yellow bars beside that selection) if you know that a toll road will help you bypass a city. More difficult, and without an explanation here because I haven't tried it would be to figure out how to put that city into the AREAS TO AVOID.
I have an 86 year old mother who won't go on highways and doesn't know her way around my city, and because she needs to follow me sometimes, for trips with her, I was fooling around with the choices for the ALTERNATE route, thinking that it would show me a route that would suit my mother, but still give me my own route for the quick one. Not so. The options that one selects for one, are selected for all three routes. And the last selections that one makes are saved for the next time you program a route.
GOOD luck and I hope this helps someone!
Maureen,
Happy in my new-to-me Lexus.
PS. I was sitting IN my car while typing this into my laptop, to make sure I didn't goof. I hope it's correct.
I have a 2010 that I bought in Dec. of 2009. After driving extensively and trying to use the gps, here are some major complain:
(a) I selected using freeways but the gps still wants me to use a regular street. Is there a way to make freeways a default option?
(b) I program the gps to go from Reno to San Francisco. It keep on telling me to exit and take a country road instead of insterstate 80. For every exit, it says to exit. It became so irritating I have to turn off the audio level. Why does it not recalculate right away?
(c) It will stay quiet for long stretches of road without assurance that you are still on the right track.
For comparison I brought along a Tom-Tom. The T2 is much better in my opinion. It will recalculate immediately if you take a different route. I wish I can replace the gps with T2.
(a) I selected using freeways but the gps still wants me to use a regular street. Is there a way to make freeways a default option?
(b) I program the gps to go from Reno to San Francisco. It keep on telling me to exit and take a country road instead of insterstate 80. For every exit, it says to exit. It became so irritating I have to turn off the audio level. Why does it not recalculate right away?
(c) It will stay quiet for long stretches of road without assurance that you are still on the right track.
For comparison I brought along a Tom-Tom. The T2 is much better in my opinion. It will recalculate immediately if you take a different route. I wish I can replace the gps with T2.
Last edited by MoHutch; 04-07-14 at 03:36 AM. Reason: Preferences are used in calculating all three route types
03-30-14, 11:35 AM
#112
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bit more info
When you want to enter a route, whatever you entered as the last route preferences become the default for the next time you turn on the car, or enter a route. And the same preferences apply to all 3 of the types of trips - QUICK, SHORT or ALT. I assumed that you could set a preference for each type of route, but this is not true. What sticks is the last choice you just made. If you choose freeways for one, then freeways are chosen for all of them.
Last edited by MoHutch; 04-07-14 at 03:19 AM.
03-31-14, 09:48 AM
#114
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04-04-14, 10:33 AM
#115
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1) It attempted to send me through Indianapolis instead of around. (I knew better)
2) It sent me through Cincinnati instead of around. (I didn't know better)
On the way home it made these glaring mistakes:
1) Going to my hotel in Lexington it said "make a U-turn". I did. It said "make a U-turn", again. I did. It said "make a U-turn", again. I pulled over and called the hotel with my location. The desk clerk said, "turn left at the next intersection".
2) I programmed a Lexington restaurant into the NAV. After several correct directions it said, "turn left". Fortunately I could see the entrance to the restaurant to THE RIGHT.
3) It again tried to send me through Cincinnati instead of around. (This time I knew better and saved 15 minutes over last time)
4) It again tried to send me through Indianapolis instead of around, and as I took the fast way home, It kept trying to send me back into the city instead of around to my home.
Buy a Garmin, save a couple of thousand, and get good directions.
04-04-14, 10:34 AM
#116
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08-06-14, 04:34 PM
#117
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Lexus nav let me down again
The navigation system in my 2013 RX is probably the worst I've ever used. On my last trip to Santa cruz beach board walk it didn't get me to the destination but to some street about 7 miles away. I know what you're thinking: that I might have selected the wrong address but no, I've selected the correct one among the entries. It's a good thing I always carry my phone with Google maps which saves me every time.
There were numerous times Lexus nav has let me down. Two previous times I can remember was a trip to San Francisco golden gate bridge in which it guided me to use some scary steep streets and scared the hell out of my passengers (the proper street to use probably Van Ness ave). The other time was going home from Los gatos vasona lake in which it used inside streets (hillsdale into capital expressway) that were long and traffic-bound instead of freeways.
If it's a once-in-a while thing I wouldn't get upset but it happend quite frequently. My girlfriend has also opined on how badly the Lexus nav computes the route on many occasions. My current feeling is I absolutely cannot depend on the Lexus nav! How are your experiences with it?
I feel that I should request that Lexus refund the money I paid for this pathetic nav system. F-sport model came with it so that was how I got it.
There were numerous times Lexus nav has let me down. Two previous times I can remember was a trip to San Francisco golden gate bridge in which it guided me to use some scary steep streets and scared the hell out of my passengers (the proper street to use probably Van Ness ave). The other time was going home from Los gatos vasona lake in which it used inside streets (hillsdale into capital expressway) that were long and traffic-bound instead of freeways.
If it's a once-in-a while thing I wouldn't get upset but it happend quite frequently. My girlfriend has also opined on how badly the Lexus nav computes the route on many occasions. My current feeling is I absolutely cannot depend on the Lexus nav! How are your experiences with it?
I feel that I should request that Lexus refund the money I paid for this pathetic nav system. F-sport model came with it so that was how I got it.
08-06-14, 07:47 PM
#120
Intermediate
I have been a bit of an apologist for the Lexus nav system but we have encountered some real issues with it giving us just plain wrong direction.
We were using the system to get to a Starbucks on our trip to the KC area and the nav system had us making a left turn at the end of the trip. While in the left turn lane waiting for a light we looked through the intersection to our right and there was the Starbucks we were looking for. Took a bit to finish the turn and then get turned around.
We were going to a new to us restaurant in Petaluma last weekend and while I know how to get to Petaluma from Napa I was uncertain about exactly where in Petaluma the restaurant was located. The Lexus nav system told us to make a turn along the route that was just wrong and would have taken a bit of driving to recover from. At another point, the nav system wanted us to take a much longer way to Petaluma than anyone in their right mind would take. Going that way would have worked but would have added 15 or 20 minutes to a 45 minute trip.
We really like the destination assist feature and being able to talk to a live person to get the destination set in the system but we always double check with a map or Google map if it is someplace we are totally unfamiliar with.
Such an expensive "high end" system should just work better.