Is there a cheaper alternative to update our navigation software without bring it to the stealership and have them charge us...what?...$300-500. Is there a CD to upgrade the software or is there a device where the dealership plugs into our car somehow and upgrade? Is there some jailbroken USB or some sort I can get?? LOL

 

Don't use the stock navigation. Get the Beatsonic smartphone mirroring kit for $360 and use Waze, Google maps whatever navigation software you like with real time traffic.

 

Too bad you lose your USB ports in the center console.

 

I didn't know they had this, do you have it? Does it just mirror the left side of the screen?

 

But if you're traveling out of state and go into a zone where there are no reception then youll be lost for a bit, no?

 

Yes. and Yes.

 

I didn't like paying for the Nav update but I did. I like using the stock nav, and what I see people spending on lighting, wheels, other mods, it's not that significant. For me it will only be every 3-4 years (just had my orig '13 maps updated, so 4 yrs in this case). I believe I paid $330 installed.

 

 

Please explain...

 

What does the software update do? Does it only update the maps? If so, how much do the main city maps change over the years. I don't think it is that significant. You can always substitute with your phone.

 

Really depends on where you live. In my area (MD/DC/VA) things have changed A LOT in four years since my orig maps.

 

Agree! In my area (Dallas - Fort Worth) the Interstates, tollways, highways, streets and roads have really changed a lot too, along with the zillion of POIs like restaurants, shopping, etc. There were times when the NAV screen would show that I was driving in the middle of a large lake (like I was in a boat) or where there was no roads. There also have been many dozens of altered or new entrance ramps, exit ramps and completed extensions to major Interstates and highways, plus hundreds of new neighborhood streets, since the original map was factory loaded in my car's NAV . My 2013 GS 350 was factory loaded with the 2012 version of maps and POIs. I upgraded the NAV map in December, 2015 to Version 21-15-17 (Map dated: 2015-06-1). The three year newer update really helped.

 

i agree! It's the same here in Houston/ Sugar Land. It shows me driving off the freeway all the time and reroutes and does all this crazy ***** when I'm driving with the navigation on. Plus my neighborhood and more then half the master planned community that I live in doesn't even show up. So if I'm trying to go home I have to put in my old house address just to get myself heading into the right direction. I just use Waze. I do plan to update the maps soon but there is still too much changing around me.

 

Exactly! Before I updated my NAV map in December of 2015 I was on President George Bush turnpike one day going east to get on I-30. When I got just a few miles east of 75 near the Firewheel area my NAV showed I was nowhere near any road, much less a major multi-lane turnpike toll road. Then, a few minutes later I found myself in the middle of a vast amount of blue water (Lake Ray Hubbard) as I approached I-30. Even though I knew where I was, and where I was going, I knew I had to get my map updated. I had already experienced trouble finding some residential streets that were built three years prior.

My GS 350, being a 2013, takes the download from Lexus' mainframe computer to a Lexus dealer's computer, and then downloaded to the car via the USB port.

 

How does this work? Is it plug and play?