JimHand00

I received an email from Lexus yesterday saying that the eDestination feature is going away in July. That was my primary way of entering addresses into my car's GPS. I found it the most convenient way to enter several addresses that I know I was going to visit on upcoming trips or when traveling to new locations in my home city. With that going away, I know I can enter the addresses manually in the car, but attempting to use voice control for an address is extremely frustrating due to the poor voice recognition or translation to the proper street names. I also don't really want to pay to speak with a live person and don't find that very convenient or worth the price of the feature. I guess this will mean that I'll need to sit in my car for a few minutes before going to a new destination and enter the address using the car's manual interface.
This removal of a feature that I use fairly frequently has me worried about the direction Lexus is going. The feature works and is useful, yet Lexus is removing it. Lexus is not embracing new technologies, such as Android Auto and Apple Carplay, I assume this is because these features would cut into revenue that Lexus is generating with their Destination Assist feature. I think it would be great if we could display Waze on the the car's screen instead of the Lexus maps.
I feel that if Lexus properly supported the Lexus Enform App Suite, it would be easily possible to send addresses from the app to the car. As far as I can tell, that doesn't appear to be possible.
What are you all using for entering destinations or as an alternative GPS? How do you all feel about this feature going away? I feel like a major feature in my car is going to be severely crippled in July, for no apparent reason.

jollick

I logged onto Lexus Drivers and got this notice!
eDestination will no longer be available beginning July 12, 2017. Destination Assist Agents will still be here to help you. For more information, visit our FAQ or call 1-800-817-8742.

jollick

What alternatives can I use after eDestination is discontinued that provide similar functions?

You can still get to where you're going with the peace of mind and convenience of knowing that Lexus is on your side.

· Destination Assist offers convenient 24-hour, en-route navigation assistance from a live response center agent who can help you find locations and automatically upload them to your Navigation System for turn-by-turn directions. You can preset your favorite five addresses, as well as save additional address book entries.

· Lexus Enform App Suite* has the functionality to explore places to go, and things to do using your smart phone.

- Destination Search-Find and save up-to-date points of interest, addresses and more, which you can then download into your vehicle by syncing your phone via Bluetooth.

- Saved Destinations-Gain instant access to your recent destinations.

(*Available to customers who chose this subscription package option.)

JimHand00

The Destination Search description seems promising if the addresses can be synchronized to the car. I guess I'll have to go through the navigation screens in the car because I haven't seen where to select the address. I saved a few addresses in the app and will give it a try later today.

dchar

I never used eDestinations since I found it cumbersome to use on a tablet or phone. The search function wasn't that accurate unless you had everything precisely entered. I won't be missing it.

Lexus is probably ending eDestinations since they already have Destination Search and Saved Destinations in the Enform app, and the low rate of usage of eDestinations.

lesz

And, for those like the OP, who have had difficulty with the voice commands on the in-car navigation system, I suggest trying to use voice commands with the Destination Search app on the Enform app. When I had my 2013 ES, I found that the navigation system's voice commands worked very poorly for finding and setting a destination, but I also found that finding and setting destinations using the Enform app worked very well.

Kijug

I haven't had a problem using the voice for addresses...OK, one or two, but very often it understands me fine.

I wish Lexus would use Apple Car Play as well (or Android for those folks). I don't think their reasoning is just when the masses demand otherwise. However, they are a business at the end of the day and if supporting two platforms vs one neutral platform is easier for them, oh well for us.

The auto industry is just not catching on to doing car-media yet. It's still a good 10 years away at best IMO. I'm a software engineer, so I know things can be done, but it's a paradigm shift the auto industry doesn't know how to work yet. Mice and touch screens are good for desktops and hand helds, but designing a HMI (human-machine-interface) for a car is still in its infancy and being worked.

JimHand00

I tried the destination search today, and that looks like it will do fine, although it would be nice to have some type of folder structure.

Also, half the time I have problems with voice, it's because my daughter and her friends are talking and laughing from the back seat while I'm trying to enter an address.

mjeds

I've never used any of these features on my Lexus. The only thing I find the nav useful for is traffic alerts.

I use waze exclusively for mapping. The last 4 vehicles I've had with OEM gps have been horrible. And the Lexus is no different.

CarToys

Mazda has recently announced they will support CarPlay: https://9to5mac.com/2017/03/13/mazda...pdates-connect

This leaves Toyota as pretty much the only car maker which doesn't support it (and insists they never will).

freddreger

Personally, I am furious about Lexus discontinuing this feature. I am in the commercial real estate business and as a part of my job I frequently have to drive by 5 to 10 or more properties on a given day. Being able to sit at my desktop, create a folder and then type and upload these addresses into my navigation system is invaluable to me. Having to sit in my car and now enter multiple addresses into the system with the unreliable voice commands or wobbly joystick is going to be a real pain in the rear end. I am so angry about this I could scream. I contacted Lexus via email and got a form response. I also called and they could basically care less. I was also informed that the human voice assistant will only enter one address at a time. The only thing I can figure is that Lexus has now become the true "old people's" vehicle and they could care less about folks who use their vehicles for business related reasons as opposed to visiting their grandkids. This is my second RX and will be my last. I just don't understand how they can tout a feature as a selling point in the showroom and the subscription renewal and then just discontinue it.

LexBob2

When we had our last Lexus, I used eDestination a lot when planning trips for hotels, stops we wanted to make etc. (we already know where the grandkids live ). Too bad it's going away.

bc6152

I'm very disappointed with Lexus. First, they charge you a subscription for navigation assistance AND to start your car remotely after a year. Many manufacturers include RS as standard equipment. Now this, and they won't consider adding Apple or Android Play to the car. Other manufacturers are going forward and it seems that Lexus is in reverse. I really like my car and want to buy a new one but am having second thoughts. I'm hoping for some changes for the 2018 MY.

Another unrelated note: I just read an article stating that Toyota is investing 1.3 billion into their Kentucky plant - where the Lexus ES350 is built - and where the redesigned Camry line is being created.

atoyota

Thanks for the info and link to FAQ.

Also, any folders and destinations you've created and downloaded to the car will still be available in the car after 7/12. You just won't be able to access them on the Lexus Driver's site or add any new ones.

Will the destinations I’ve saved be deleted out of your systems completely?

You will not be able to access your saved destinations on the Lexus Driver's site after 7/12/2017. However, any destinations downloaded and saved onto the head unit in your vehicle will still be accessible.

RJQMAN

Please forgive what may be a stupid question, but does this mean that I will still be able to call destination assist from my Lexus vehicle? Just that I will not be able to load my destinations from an app? It is not clear to me. Thanks.