Don't know if you guys realize this or not, but I was at the dealership getting my first oil change, there was another guy there that had a IS250 and was really down and out. I asked what's the matter, he told me he did the hack to the Navi, and about 2 weeks later his Navi screen just went black (don't think it had anything to do with the hack), but when the tech saw the cut wires from the hack, they told him they will not repair the Navi under warranty he was going to have to pay for a new screen, it was going to cost him a nice piece of change. I felt really bad for the guy, but I guess that's the price you pay, personally I can live with having to pull over to enter an address, and using the speeddial list to make a call.

 

I wouldn't expect the dealer to cover the nav under warranty after someone went in there and cut wires. They have no way of knowing what else got screwed up while you were in there.

 

you can enter an address with voice commands. you can do almost everything with voice commands that require user input from the screen.

 

Yeah I initially thought that when I get my car the first mod I would do is the nav hack, but I don't think I will just because of stories like this. I guess I'll just have to live with a "handicapped" unit, but all nav systems are this way or will be in the next few years. While annoying it sure beats trying to fight the dealer over whether my $2000+ nav unit should be fixed under warranty.

 

Yeah I don't mind it, it really doesn't bother me, and I understand it's a safety issue, we already have enough people reading the paper, eating and putting on makeup when they are driving, I would rather these people not have something else to play with, when they should be looking at the road

 

But on a side note, I hope all you guys here that did the hack, never have a problem with your Navi, because it will be real expensive

 

An interesting article here:
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/aut..._repair_a1.asp

All of these high tech options will cost a bunch if they ever fail. If Lexus charges $2,000 for the NAV option on a new car, it could well cost $4,000 to $5,000 if the NAV head unit needs replacing. That should give one and all pause when they decide to do these hacks. It's not that the hack will actually cause a problem, but if the hacked unit fails for another reason Lexus can just void the warranty, just like Lexus did in the OP's story.

I've made the conscious decision not to do any electrical hacks. The chance for eventual financial disaster is not worth the benefit of watching DVD's or finding the closest Mickey D's while on the fly. YMMV.

Japanese electronic systems are pretty robust, but one only has to look at BMW, Mercedes and the other European designs to see how screwed up electrical systems can become a disaster to the ownership experience. I'll pass.

 

I agreed 100% with Evitzee

 

Yeah the risk vs. reward balance is heavily weighted toward risk. Huge risk, and really what is the reward? Most of us drive on the same streets every day, so being able to plug in addresses probably isn't that useful in the end. The phone thing I can see, but how many calls do you make in the car? Personally I don't make that many while driving, only when absolutely necessary. I'd rather than listen to music than talk on the phone. The only thing that I can see being really useful is changing the MP3 folder while driving.

 

I agree, it's just not worth the risk of having to pay out of pocket if something goes wrong with hacked unit.

 

My problem with voice command is its unfriendly user interface... to get a destination address entered could take up to minutes that's if you don't have a weird accent and speak the right tone the system could understand... oh well, go hybrid-nav DVD!

 

Yeah my voice command always thinks I want Auto Club POIs

 

you should have bought that poor soul a map.........

 

LOL! too funny

 

One should expect the nav system warranty to be voided whenever such a hack is performed. Unfortunately, even though there has been the many threads on this subject, lauding the virtues of nav hacks, this important downside is rarely mentioned.