I just got a 2014 ES350 and love it, however, I have one issue I can't seem to figure out and I have to assume their is an easy fix. When I use my phone (bluetooth via car) and I'm using the navigation system, the voice still give me directions while I'm on the phone. 1) it's distracting for me to have a conversation the same time the navigation is talking 2) the person on the phone hears it as well. Is their a way to set up so that the voice automatically mutes while I'm on the phone?

Thanks in advance.....

 

No, you can only turn it down. Kind of sucks, but that's how it is.

 

We have an Audi and the sound system mutes for incoming calls as well as navigation prompts. I'm sure other cars do it too.

You'd think it would be an easy fix for Lexus to make. Having to turn the volume down for an incoming call is a PITA, but you do get used to it.

 

On the phone in conversation with the wife, female voice of NAV kicks in, "who's with you in the car? !!!

 

Haaaa. Then again, you could always use that excuse .

 

To quote the funny State Farm commercial, "she sounds hideous".

 

"And what is she wearing?".....er, Parchment Leather?

 

Guess it is a matter of priority. If you took the time to enter a destination into the Nav, it probably meant you needed/wanted the instructions. If it muted them when you were on the phone then you would miss the Nav info (when in the Pandora app, you don't get the alerts and I did miss a turn one time because I didn't know they were overridden by the Pandora app) and potentially miss a turn or other info. I agree it is startling and can be annoying. My Camry hybrid with Nav muted the instructions when on a call. I guess it is just a decision Lexus had to make and one camp or another would be annoyed.

 

When I started reading this thread, I was thinking exactly the same thing that you said. If Lexus had decided to mute the nav directions when the phone is being used, it would be a virtual guarantee that we would be seeing posts here in which people were complaining about how they missed important navigation directions because they were muted while a phone call was in progress.

Another thread here prompted me to do some reading on a couple of Infiniti Q50 forums. After reading the threads in those forums and seeing the issues that some are having with their Infinitis, it really makes many of the complaints from ES owners look to be truly trivial.

 

Maybe not trivial to the OP who brought it up as a question vs. a complaint.

 

You are absolutely correct. Any implication that the OP was complaining was inappropriate. I think it was the case that, having just read about real design and function issues on the Q50 forums, thoughts of what real problems are and of how quickly some here are inclined to complain about the trivial or about non-issues were fresh in my brain.

 

One simple solution to the problem is to use the gps in the phone.

This works flawlessly on my Galaxy 3. If you get a call or a text, the phone lets you know.

If you answer the phone then the music stops and it will restart when you hang up.

 

That probably would work if you live in and only drive in an area with good and constant cell phone reception. But why get a Nav system in a luxury car anyway if your cell phone is what you want to use?

 

I sometimes choose to use the navigation system in the ES together with one of the navigation apps on my phone. Because the information in the phone apps is regularly updated, there are times when the directions provided by the phone are better. However, while using the directions from the phone, it is great to be able still to use the map screen in the ES. The location of the ES map screen makes it easy to view by just moving my eyes and without having to turn my head, and the way that the screen is recessed makes it easy to read even in bright sunlit conditions. The ES map screen, both because of its location and because it is shielded from glare, is easily the best map screen that I've had on any of the 5 vehicles that I've owned with navigation systems.

Even though a vehicle navigation systems is highly over-priced, it is an option that I don't mind paying for, not only because of its utility, but, also, because it is one of the few options that is likely to return a good part of its initial cost at re-sale or trade-in time. A navigation system is one of the most highly-valued options by used car buyers, and dealership used car managers love to take in cars with navigation systems because they know that it is very unlikely that those vehicles will have to remain in their inventories for very long.

 

@Lesz, if it's a place I've really never been to or an area I am completely unfamiliar with I go really old school and consult or print a map.

EDIT: Using the phone and the Nav at the same time is too much of a distraction to me and too many things to try to be aware of when I am supposed to be driving.