$600 for a Nav udate on my 2001 GS!
 

I just purchased a one owner GS 300 with ML/NAV and realized that half the newly constructed roads are missing here in Salt Lake City. Took it to the local Lexus dealer (Larry H. Miller) for the 15,000 mile inspection and to have the nav updated and was intitially told that an update of the 2000.1 does not exist. I had a mechanic check the nav on a 2002 GS and it has all the missing streets from construction. It shows a date of 2001. I asked about a free update and was told an "update" did not exist but I could buy the disc in that 2002 for $600 and that this is the current retail price. I called Lexus central only to be told they do not do free updates and that I would need to buy the disc if I wanted the new streets/freeways to show up. This is VERY DISSAPPOINTING! If they arent going to give one free update, fine that reflects poorly on their supposed commitment to customer satisfaction...but to ask $600 dollars for a new disc is simply outragous. Not the way to impress a new first time Lexus owner. Technically, anybody who purchased a 2001 Lexus should have the right to a 2001 or newer database and not one that is a year older than the car! Anyway, I am sending a complaint to Lexus headquarters but based on the guys answers on the phone and his broken record comment about them not giving free udates.."you will need to purchase", I am probably screwed. Kinda unbelievable they would pull this on new customers spending 40 to 55K for one of their new cars. Anyway, the next question is can the new DVD be "burned" if I were to find a dvd burner? Anybody know about this and want to go in on a 2001 disc together? Let me know. Thanks, Britton

Hmm… nothing is un-burnable. You just have to find the right software to do it. For $600? You could purchase a new DVD-R burner and burn it yourself..

That is just plane wrong...

for 600, you can prolly find an aftermarket navigation system with the new streets and everything in it...

Im confused because arent you supposed to get a free update???????

I would have sworn that just earlier this week I was browsing the Lexus coroporate web page and it said that all owners get two free DVD updates that they can use at any time. I went to look for it again to send you the link and I can't find that anymore. Weird!

hey iceman...

let all of us know if you ever find that site again, print it out, save it, etc. That would be great.

Dealer told me ZERO free updates for DVD Navis.

yeah there was another thread earlier this week about it and a lot of people had used there one free and had two more... ill bet its a lexus consperacy...

funky, i was told we get three free updates. damn, $600 is a little outrageous though

guys it could be that the dealers in your area offer that package in when they sell the car, so it could be a non mandatory option and just a favor to show there aprectiation for you buying a lexus from them.

Couple of things to keep in mind: The DVD disc on 2002 GS WILL NOT work on 2001 GS. It needs the firmware upgrade on Nav computer first before you can use the 2002 GS DVD disc. Part of process to upgrade is Dealer has to do the firmware upgrade, not a simple change the disc. Second, you CAN NOT copy or "burn" a dual layer DVD disc in any avaliable DVD+RW unit. All the DVD burner avaliable today, includes the blank DVD disc are only capable of single layer, single or double sides. All the Nav disc used in Lexus are dual layer, single side DVD disc.

What's the conclusion? You have no choice to go back to dealer.......

On a side note, free upgrade during the first year with new car purchase were only applied to HD based Nav system, which would be 2000 model year or earlier. Therefore, such policy was no long in effect after introducing the 2001 models with DVD Nav system.

Just to clarify hzhao's comments further...

For HD navs '98s got a couple of free upgrades, I think '99s got one, and 2000's got NONE. I paid for my HD upgrade ($275 I think). It was still worth it in my opinion.

I know most of you kids are used to just ripping off music and software by burning this and that, but get over it as far as your car, car makers are smarter than record companies.

did your HD upgrade change anything else besides map? like different color, different options, or anything like that? I hate the NAV color.....

No.

Ok- i am purchasing a GS430 (2001) and getting it on Wed... it has the ML and nav, so what do i need to to do to see if it has the updated maps, etc???

2002 NAV Dvd burning
 

I'm just letting you guys no that the nav disc can in fact be duplicated. It's just like backing up a dual layer movie but without the re-encoding. At first I thought it didn't work, but it turned out that it was just the media I was using. Using a certified Pioneer general purpose dvd-r did the trick.

Hrrm.. I don't understand how that could possibly work considering there aren't any burners out right now that can do multiple layers. UNLESS of course its a dual layer disc that has less than 4.5GB on it. Can't imagine why the nav system would care in that situation as long as all the data was there.