Does anyone else think the lexus nav is kind of dumb? Usually it'll route what it thinks is the most convenient or the safest route... such as routing right turns instead of left turns, keeping you from having to cross 2 way traffic (at least that what I think its intent is)... sometimes it'll tell you to take a meandering path into a residential area when it could have just said to pull an unprotected uturn. The problem with avoiding these kind of situations is that it ends up routing a much longer route, sometimes adding up to 3 or 4 unncessary miles.

Is there somekind of option in the nav that I'm overlooking to make it always pick the shortest route or to stop playing it extra safe all the time?

 

From the little bit I have played with it, I noticed that it usually devises 2-3 different routes to take to your destination. It also tells you the mileage and time in minutes each route should take. As far as the shortcuts you speak of, Im not sure. Sorry if I wasn't any help. I'm still readying through the manual about everything, have you checked in it regarding your concern?

-JB

 

i forgot to mention that i run into these problems when I go off course and it reroutes.

 

I've got some weird routes a couple of times without rerouting. It wanted me to drive around a big block apparently to avoid a left turn, but it was pretty obvious it wasn't a good routing. I just ignore the directions, and make the left anyway where it's legal and it figures out what's happened pretty quickly.

Maybe there are certain "staff attorney approved" routes and they don't want you to take any risks with an "unapproved" route.

 

you guys are silly. there is absolutely nothing of the kind in the lexus nav. lol

 

No, the nav system is definitely annoying. When driving in the city, it seems to have "favorite" streets. So if I'm traveling down a street parallel to one of its favorite streets, it keeps telling me to turn and get over to that street, even though it takes longer to do that. Not to mention that I don't take its favorite street because its typically slower.

 

Most of those problems you noted are addressed in the thread called: New members go here first and check the Nav system tap. For me, the system works great and I've had no problems getting from here to there.

 

A lot of times it'll pick a route based on assumed speed. For example, if the road you are running parallel too has a higher speed limit (i.e. not a residential street), it'll try to route you over to it, because in it's time calculations, it takes that into consideration.

Also, if your destination is not that far away, it may route you through a town instead of it's bypass even though the bypass is obviously quicker. Sometimes you may not even get 3 route options.

You can have the system remember "Areas to Avoid" if it's tripping you up on slower streets or heavily congested areas. I suggest you use that.

 

You can switch it's routing style using the input, it usually includes up to 3 different routes. When entering your destination you can choose one of those routes, or give the voice commands "Quick 1", "Quick 2", or "Quick 3"

-Brian

 

again, none of this is new. same/similar problems in all nav systems in all cars. if your nav was consistently screwing up and the competitors didn't, i would say you might have something. i have had 99% success with all my routings....but then again, this is flat kansas where all the roads are practically straight.

 

I'm 95% satisifed w/ the Nav. But for the most part, the thing is pimp.

 

the thing is pimp.

and what does that mean? You know. For all us old farts out there...

 

The thing works well

 

There are a few things that confuse the nav. One is complicated highway interchanges: sometimes it will tell you to go down this exit, drive for a little ways, exit again, take an overpass, etc, all to get to a certain road, when there is a much more direct exit leading straight to that road. Another thing is like you said, it does not always think you can make a u-turn when in fact you can. It will never say "pull into someone's driveway and turn around", but in real life, that is almost always an option in residential areas. Instead it will route you around the block. Lastly, it sometimes thinks surface highways are as fast as big interstates. There is a part of MA where it always tells me to take Rt 20 instead of the Mass Pike, even though 20 has a few stoplights and is a 4-lane undivided road, while Pass Pike is a 6- or 8-lane divided road. Also driving up the NJ Tpike into Manhattan, it tells you to get off at the wrong exit and drive a weird way through Jersey City. You get used to it after a while and learn to ignore it. Like others have said, it is right 95% of the time, and where it is consistently wrong, you can just ignore it. When in doubt, if the street signs say to go one way, but your nav says another way, follow the street signs and not the nav. If you have no idea, just do what the nav says, and it will eventually get you there.

 

Nav is still just some kind of AI so the NAV can not really be as smart as a real human brain. For example, human can easily do pattern recognition whereas computers or AI will have problem with it since it will require a lot of training on the AI.

When I use the NAV, I will be making my own judgement and let the Nav take the general part of navigation. For example, sometimes the nav will tell you to make 3 lefts and 1 right (make a square) and you can simply make a U-turn. It is hard to the Nav to make the most correct judgement on how you should drive since there are a lot of factors like the current travelling speed, traffic condition, etc. A lot of time, it gives direction which is the safest way to drive, not the fastest way.

However, I am very impressed with the re-route time. With that function, I can just drive using my own brain in the area where it make sense to take a different route and the Nav will do the rest.

And of course, if you do not want to think much, you can still rely on the nav and it will get you to the destination, just not the fastest.

I think the LEXUS Nav is very good compared to other navi systems out there.