Tom558

So we get in the RX today and call the Destination Assist person saying we want to go to the Marin Discovery Center in Sausalito. She brings up a lof of Marin stuff and can't find it, pauses and then says, "Did you mean the Bay Area Discovery Center?" and I say yes that is the place.

Then I say I am glad you folks know where we WANT to go rather than where we SAY we want to go and she starts laughing and says no problem. It has happened to us several times, sometimes some one tells the wrong name of the place or we just remember it wrong and the Destination Assist folks figures it out.

This service was on the must have list and it has worked great for us.

We will be renewing when our year is up.

mshumack

Last week, I was on the road and wanted to order a pizza (ready for pickup when I got to them on the way home) but I didn't have the phone number. So I called Lexus Assist and had them download the navigation/directions to my car which includes the phone number (I knew where it was located - just didn't have the phone number). I was able to call ahead and everything was ready for me when I arrived.
Nice feature.

fastnoypi

is the subscription term yearly? how much does it cost? It might come in handy in the event i leave my phone at home.

kitlz

Glad you find Destination Assist helpful. I rarely use it but would rather have the ability to have a destination downloaded while driving instead of pulling over, trying to find the place and entering the address manually. Or when driving in unfamiliar areas. Plus I love the ability to send addresses to the vehicle from the computer. It's a time saver. The benefits of Safety Connect, well, that's self explanatory. The extra sense of security on the road is worth the cost IMO.

I received my renewal notice last week. It's $264.90 plus applicable taxes for Destination Assist and Safety Connect annually. You can get Safety Connect only for less. But Destination Assist is not available on its own. It has to be grouped with Safety Connect. I believe there's an option to prepay multiple years at a discount. Contact Lexus Customer Care at 888-849-4505.

Tom558

We don't use it every day but when we are one the road we might use it two or three times a day.

The service works well, they figure out where it is you want to go and load it right into the Nav System. Yesterday we had a destination programmed and she asked if the new location should come before of after our current destination. That was nice.

We look stuff up using the Nav System before starting out but the system is still new to us and the Destination Assist folks have not let us down yet.

We figured $300.00 or so a year and that is OK for having the service. I can't remember what OnStar cost per year and never go to the point of finding out if they could load a destination into the Nav System but they were about the only other service in the running.

Cough

Wow she is really smart. if you type into Google "Marin" Discovery Center Sausalito", the first page of returned items all come up as "Bay Area Discovery Museum"

So you are paying a fortune for someone to do a Google search for you. Give the credit to Google, not Lexus

markrivers

I rarely use it. There was a time back in 2011 when the trial expired without us using the feature.
I agree that it's useful and make our lives easier.

Same with Kitlz, the few times i use it, it would be to download destination from my computer to the RX.
But those 2-3times a year road trips, in my opinion doesn't justify the price of subscription.

Majority of the times, WE drive on familiar roads and don't even Need the navigation.
Maybe it's an age thing.

Tom558

It doesn't matter to me how they figure it out, Google, Bing or some other search engine. I am driving and don't have to deal with it and after Destination Assist finds the location they load it into the RX's Nav System. Worth every penny to me. Oh, if $300.00 a year is a fortune to you what are you doing in a Lexus? Take a look at Kia, it may be more in your budget. :-)

yardie876

Precisely. It is a convenience feature. If you don't want to pay for it you don't have to, like me. If you can't be bothered to google an address while on the move, you give destination assist a call. This coupled with e destination is perfect for someone like a realtor who has many addresses to input.

premierick

Lexus Assist works great ... when they answer. Saturday night apparently they're understaffed, and destination assist didn't answer on several attempts. The phone just rang for a while, then disconnected. Very frustrating. I've had the problem before. I had to rely on the old fashioned directions.


It makes it hard to feel comfortable relying on Lexus Assist for directions! Don't throw away your maps.

Leap

Wow, I've used it maybe 20 times since I bought my RX in December and haven't had that happen yet. Good to know!

BertL

First welcome to Club Lexus.

Sorry you had this problem. Like others, I've always received a fast pick-up when I used the service over several years. Since this is meant to be available 7x24x365, I'd suggest it may be helpful to provide the feedback directly to Lexus of your location, date and TOD when you had the problem so they can at least internally look into it, or better manage their subcontractor as may be the case. It won't resolve your past problems, but it may help improve the service for you and others for the next time. Two ways for you to do that -- via phone/email/snailmail via THIS SITE or you could post your feedback on the new Lexus Customer Service Forum here on CL.

Tom558

Overall, we are still happy with destination assist but have had a few times recently when the call just rings and rings. When we got through one time the agent said they had been very busy. We have also had a few times were the call gets lost just as the destination is downloading and we have to start process all over again.

We will be traveling for almost two weeks in a rental car in June and see how we get along without destination assist or anything like it. We will use Google Maps/Navigation and will enter destinations into the calendar to make starting navigation easier.

FastTags

Ive had a few hickups. After i told them the location it would t show on my NAV. I had to call again. This happend 3-4 times.

DunWkg

I find eDestination and Destination Assist indispensable. Preplanning a trip and download it to the navigation and when on the trip asking for specific or general locations. Most often asking for "brushless car washes".

In five years don't remember a location not being downloaded. Cell network busy a few times and the amount of time the assistant chats with you has shortened over the years.

I like the service and perhaps a bit of a luxury. Price consistent and refunded unused amount when you sell or trade the car. A no hassle service I'll keep.