I'm sure the region plays a big part in what type of vehicles are available. In February of this year when I started my search for the ES in LA, Orange and surrounding Counties all of the dealerships had the ML non-nav version available. A lot of people on here didn't even know that was an option.

 

I'm trying to do the same thing.

 

I can't wait to get my new ES350 in December to give Google Maps a try. It' s got to be better than the Lexus system. I do still like to use the factory system because of the distance and time to either destination or to home but if Google Maps has that too that will be great.

The Lexus system has sent me on too many crazy routes over the years to trust it. It had me take a right on an interstate split then take the first exit, circle back under the interstate and come back up on the other side going the direction I should have been going in the first place.

 

You have the map option "never stop driving my es" turned on I suspect.

 

Not really. I only average about 5000 miles or less a year so I don't use navigation that often. This '17 IS200t I have now is my 4th Lexus so I'm just ready to try something new for navigation.

 

Here's my problem with the Lexus Navigation system.

There's a route I travel once a week. It's a 45 minute drive. When I enter my destination, it tells me that the trip will take 58 minutes. It bases this estimate partly on an inefficient highway choice. When I get to the point in my trip where I take the shorter route, the Lexus Navigation revises the time estimate downwards by about 8 minutes.

Since I know the route by now it's not a matter of trying to find the shortest route. There's a big construction project going on right in the middle of this route. So far, the construction has not caused any delays. However, I suspect that one of these weeks the construction is going to result in a traffic backup. That's where the navigation comes in. I'd like the Navigation to tell me the best route based on the traffic. But if the Lexus Navigation can't tell me the best route without traffic, how can it possibly tell me the best route taking traffic into account?

 

Chattanooga, TN to where I live is about a 90 minute drive. But if I'm coming home once I get on I-24 west heading out of Chattanooga the nav tells me the time to get home is way over 2 1/2 hours. Even once I get to about 50 or 60 miles from home it's still over 2 hours. At some point the route it will drop down to a more realistic ETA but I just haven't figured out where that is.

On a trip it will give my popups saying that there is traffic congestion ahead and do I want to recalculate. I'll also get an audio notice "X number of miles ahead on the route, slow traffic". But I don't really trust it because I rarely run into the traffic congestion it's talking about.

 

The slow traffic warnings never seem realistic and im not sure why buy I ignore them at his point and just switch to Waze when I know theres a traffic mess along the way.

 

This has been my experience as well, on previous Lexus vehicles. I don’t have enough experience with the 2019 yet to have an opinion, but I would not expect it to be any better.

 

Yep exact same on the 19 ES as my wifes 17 RX.

 

I just purchased a 2019 ES350 with the Premium trim level. Overall love the car and even the Navigation except for one part of it: the ETA (estimated time of arrival). Let me explain and hope someone can help me.

The best part of the Navigation is using it in conjunction with Voice Commands. It actually works flawlessly. Just press a button and say outloud "Go to Starbucks", it finds the nearest ones via your car GPS location, tell it which one you want and off you go. Very user friendly, accurate, and convenient, etc. Which is what I expect for paying all the cost here.

Now I rather use this method than using my phone via Bluetooth to access Google Maps, or Apple Car Play or Android Auto (though its not an option on the 2019 models). Why? Well convenience, I don't want to plug into a USB port or use up my phone battery. Plus, I paid a lot extra just for the Navigation.

Despite the positive experience, I noticed during test comparisons between the Lexus Navigation and my Phone Google Maps, that the Lexus ETA shows longer times? Its the same number of miles, sane route, etc. Yet different ETA?

For example: Go to Work

Lexus: 20 miles with ETA 60 minutes
Phone Google Maps: 20mikes ETA 40 minutes

And while driving with both Navigations running, as I get about halfway to work, Lexus self corrects and reflects the same ETA as Google Maps?

Please note I factored in Navigation Detailed Settings already (sane preferences like include toll roads, highways, etc).

Any idea why this happens?

 

I agree, the voice recognition is very accurate. I've used VR on my PC and it wasn't nearly as good.

Regarding the ETA, I've experienced the same thing. My guess is that for that big a difference, the Lexus is starting out using less efficient route. Once you travel the more efficient route, the Lexus recalculates. The Lexus navigation does tend to overestimate travel times, but not by 50%. More like about 5% to 10%, in my experience.

 

My older 2014 was initially horrible at overstating ETA estimates....until I went into the menu and set all of the “driving speed estimates” (residential/main/freeway) to their max. Still not as good as my previous Garmin estimates but much closer. I suspect that Lexus thinks the normal speed on a “main” is much lower than reality and that some “freeways” may be designated as mains.

 

Perhaps the poster is speeding. Let's check his driver score on the new app😁

 

Ha! Seriously though, you can’t even set the freeway speed as high as the posted limit in some regions.