IronCobra

So, I'm curious. My wife just called (I'm in Houston on business) and she was SOO upset at how horrible the Track pad (or whatever it is called) is on her new ES350. She said it requires WAY too much looking at the screen. She also pointed out that the screen does not display the name of the channel on the preset buttons.

She is super regretful of her purchase now. She had all these cool features on her Durango's uConnect system. It had Favorite Song notification, Record and playback of live music, and all sorts of useful features. Granted, the ES has a larger and clearer display, but the technology is truly lacking.

Seriously, what 2013 vehicle with a Nav DOESN'T display the name of the channel on the screen? Even our daughters 2011 Elantra shows the channel.

Is there anyway to inform Lexus of how dangerous they made the vehicle for drivers doing such a simple task as wanting to SEE the channel name on their 36 preset stations?

I'm sorry, I'm just frustrated that I helped convince her to get the car and how she is upset with something that should be standard on any new Nav equipped vehicle.

Does anyone else with a 2013 Lexus w/Nav have this issue? Also, is there a way around it OR has Lexus announced a firmware update to address the issue?

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

moved to ES forum for feedback.

txes

Sounds like somebody didn't do their homework.

John

Bower

I really hope this isn't true, i'm planning on purchasing an es350 in a month, but now re-thinking it.

Mike728

You're "rethinking it" because you can't see the XM channel's name? XM sounds like garbage in the ES, so I rarely listen to it. Pandora sounds 10x better and is free.

To the OP: Make sure the sensitivity of the control is to your wife's liking. This should have been explained to you upon delivery. Once you get the hang of it, it's much less distracting than actually touching the screen to navigate things. She'll have to get used to the ch. numbers and no names for the presets. That's just the way it is. This should have been obvious during the test-drive.

bc6152

So, I'm curious. My wife just called (I'm in Houston on business) and she was SOO upset at how horrible the Track pad (or whatever it is called) is on her new ES350. She said it requires WAY too much looking at the screen. She also pointed out that the screen does not display the name of the channel on the preset buttons.

You are correct in that the radio does require one to divert their eyes from the road ahead to the screen when changing stations or doing other actions. This is a dangerous act - and for me - is only done when stopped for a traffic signal or other reason. I learned early on by missing a few close call rear enders not to tune the radio while in traffic. This is a definite negative IMO as far as design by Lexus.

Mike728

Did you miss the button on the steering wheel that does this?

bc6152

No, my good friend Michael. I did not miss the button on the steering wheel. As you know, and has been discussed on this forum ad nauseam, when one wants to change to AM, Satellite, FM, USB, or maybe 10-15 stations away, it is difficult to use said button. Even using the button you must look where the stations are going and try to stop where you want. Poor design...

bc6152

[QUOTE=Mike728;7977419]You're "rethinking it" because you can't see the XM channel's name? XM sounds like garbage in the ES, so I rarely listen to it. Pandora sounds 10x better and is free.

Hmmm. I didn't know Pandora was free. I'll check it out because XM sucks...

IronCobra

Very little was explained because the car was puchased on the last day of last month and delivered that evening, arriving at 11:30pm. The driver was clearly ready to head back and during the test drive, we didn't have the forthought to check how the presets actually stored the channel. I believe with XM or Sirius it is common practice to display the channel name over the preset.......except with Lexus I'm finding out.

wasjr

Re the name of the channel and the song titles on XM can be viewed on a split screen through the Map Mode function. Also, even without the split screen, as you go through presets the channel appears briefly at the top of the screen. Although as I posted on another thread, with my MDX I can voice command change specific channels (or change source or presets with the buttons), with the 5-6 different stations we listen to most frequently the 300h presets are an easy work around that I am now used to. Also, there are several threads here that discuss the navigation and voice command features and their shortcomings.

Did the dealership not schedule a training session with their technology folks to go over everything? My wife did this initially and after I had spent some time in the car I went a couple of weeks later. I did not get the answers I was looking for, but the tech guy was very knowledgeable.

IronCobra

I would say that this SHOULD be thought about when purchasing the ES. I would guestimate that you will spend at least 60% more time making simple selections and changes to radio features than you have had to in the past....

That to me is a major safety concern.....especially when Ford, GM, Crystler, and pretty much every other car manufacture (even our daughters Hyundai Elantra's Nav) has the feature our 2013 ES350 lacks.

Not impressed with the interface thus far.

LexBob2

As car makers add more and more technology to their cars things like this are going to happen. IMO two things are going to happen. After relatively short time with the car, drivers wlll adapt to the differences between brands. If the shortcoming is glaring manufacturers will make changes/updates to their systems.

We recently went from a Lexus to an Audi with their MMI system. There were a few things the Lexus had that I missed (primarily in the nav system) but we adapted to the differences and now enjoy the Audi system as well as the Lexus

Each new car will be different. These kinds of differences wouldn't be a deal break for me though.

txes

Use the buttons on the steering wheel to scroll through the favorites.

At least your wife won't have to suffer as much due to your poor choice in cars.

John

Fizzboy7

I have yet to own a new car that did not give me some annoyance or surprises that my previous car did not offend me with. This is just the natural transition from one car to the next. DON'T PANIC! To regret an entire purchase on something like the audio is unwarrented. In the event of new-car ownership, the first few months ALWAYS take some getting used to. Once over that hump, the mental thinking settles down and things become more clear and routine. Give it some time my friend! The ES is a top-notch and highly respected product.