Pre 2010? In a very long list of ways...I posted a dozen or so of them in a previous thread... it's a nav system from last century in terms of features that a $150 Garmin puts to shame.

2010+ they improved it greatly, so that it's now caught up, feature wise, to what Garmin offered only 5 years ago!

 

The Lexus Navi / Audio (non ML) has it flaws. I am living with it but it does get annoying. (I have a 2010 350C)

Whats wrong:
1. Can't navigate while vehicle is moving. I understand the safety reason but what if you had a passenger?

2. When you scroll playlist, it wants to play the list that it scrolls to, even if it is not the list you want. Very annoying.

3. If you have a large music selection, it is hard to navigate to because it does not have a quick indexing menu. i.e if you press "e" it show all the songs that starts with "e". It does not do this.

4. Can't make phone calls on the go unless it is in your speed dial. Once again, what if your passenger, in this case my wife, has her phone paired to the car. She has to dial using her phone instead of the on screen dialing. Annoying.

So far there is no easy trick to over ride the "safe guards".

 

I like the Nav. I hate how hard it is to search songlist on Ipod.
Voice command works great for me and I almost forgot that Lexus did gray things out when moving since I don't go digging into my menus while driving.

 

thanks kurtz but i thought the only difference was dvd based and HDD base? iono heh

 

Nope, they updated quite a few features... realtime traffic is probably the most "obvious" one to most people (which Garmin offered at least 6 or 7 years ago for example...and even the G35 had back in 07 on its nav)

 

Should read this:

Part 1:
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2...-the-test.html

Part 2:
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2...allenge-2.html

I have the Lexus OEM navi but also the Garmin 885T to use on my GF car that does not come equipped with a navi. Yes, the Garmin does come with a lot of functions but it can be a hassle to use. I've noticed that the Garmin would choose a longer route than google maps on my smart phone even cars.com confirms that problem. The Garmin usually has problem locating my exact location and has poor reception in areas with a lot of tall buildings (downtown). However, it is portable and has real time traffic which I never used since I don't even take the GPS out of the glove box unless I really need it. I do not want someone to smash my window leaving my GPS out so it can be a hassle to put it away every time I park.

The lexus navi can be pricey but it is well worth it. Living in the city the backup camera is a must. Parking can be tight and it's just a PITA without one. I haven't have reception issue on the OEM navi what so ever. The only problem with the navi is that they lock all features while driving. Which usually isn't a problem since I did the wire hack. Also added a DVD player for passengers to watch movies while driving.

 

Links don't appear to work.


I'm a bit confused by the comments of the $2500 nav being worth it, but you usually don't bother using nav.

As to the camera, park assist tells you when you're about to back into something for over $2000 less :P

Personally though after 3 years of ownership I've been in a situation where I wished I had either exactly 0 times... the IS is a not a very big car and pretty easy to park.

Now, if you have kids who might leave crap all over the driveway behind you, or might be on the driveway behind you, I understand the desire for the backup cam more... otherwise even when I've had it in a loaner I've paid it no attention whatsoever. But you can add a backup camera to cheap aftermarket nav units too, and still save a couple grand over the OEM unit.


Realtime traffic on my Garmin on the other hand has saved me hours and hours of sitting stopped in traffic versus being routed around it.

Never had an issue with poor routing either, but I also keep my maps pretty up to date which many don't... (and it's $99 once for lifetime updates on the Garmin, versus $300 per year for updates from Lexus)

It does lose signal like in a parking garage or something, but I haven't needed a GPS to get out of one yet and it picks it back up pretty quickly once ourside.

So I'm really not seeing the "hassle" of a unit that's 10-20 times cheaper and does a whole lot more, plus doesn't cripple itself when you put the car in drive... and doesn't require extra button presses if you want to switch between say changing your radio presets and changing your climate settings either

 

I have it, and prefer integration and an OEM look. It would be nice if Lexus improved the aesthetics of non-nav dashboards, but given the implementation, I can see where its a bit more limited.

That said, even the 2010 Nav. isn't great, as the list of features and ease of use on my smartphone easily eclipses it in nearly all areas, except screen size (obviously). The nav. is functional, and I'll continue to buy nav. systems in my car-- but within my feedback, I make it loud and clear that Lexus needs to step it up.

 

Navi works great, especially with the hack to operate it while moving. Only thing I wish it does is pronounce street name or list the upcoming small streets when you're just viewing the map. Other than that, I never got lost and It lock onto the satellite quickly. I love how everything is integrated with the bluetooth, and music audio so you don't have to fiddle with the volume like you would with a portable TomTom.

The garmin I used for 3 years was a pain in the ***. Trying to find a place to stick it and then hide it so nobody would break your window and try to steal it. Or it take up to 10 min to lock onto a signal when you need it the most! And it would never stick to the windows or the beanbag dash.

 

Got to get Navi!, I use it everyday, It holds Contacts, POI, back-up camera, looks better in the car. Why even buy the IS without it, get a Camry.

 

All of which Garmins do, without even having to slice up the factory wires! Plus provide lane assist, junction view, 3D building views, traveling salesman solutions, realtime traffic data, warning for redlight and speed cameras approaching, plan your routes on a PC then upload to the GPS (and custom POIs too), etc, etc...



Was your Garmin a model from 1997 or something?

the Garmin nuvis fits perfect on the flat area above the center stack with the beanbag mount... doesn't move a bit even taking turns at considerable speed ...and a Nuvi fits in the center console easily to "hide" it.

I dunno where you get "10 minutes" for a lock though... they take 5-15 seconds for a warm lock, maybe 60-90 seconds for a cold one (like if you hadn't turned it on in a week or you moved 1000 miles away since last using it)

Again, an aftermarket GPS can do all that too, for $2000 less, with a lot more features on top. (well, not the looks better I suppose). The camry comment is just insane though...the factory nav does less than the aftermarket ones... so buying the factory nav is more like buying the camry really


I get that folks like the "look" of the nav... and I guess if a slightly better looking dash is worth $2500 then go for it...but I'm a function and feature guy, and every time I get a loaner with factory nav I feel like someone just asked me to build a supercomputer with, to borrow a phrase, stone knives and bear skins.

I mean, it reminds me of what using cell phones was like before the iphone... it's that primitive in comparison.

 

I have Nav in my 07 IS350.

 

I dont need to have navigation. I do want a TV though...

 

Kurtz makes many valid points. The value for me in having a nav is primarily the integrated look and the ML DVD changer. I guess I'm into the whole OEM-look and don't like the idea of having a nav unit sitting on top of a beanbag mount. The Lexus nav may not have all the bells and whistles of a state-of-the-art portable nav unit, but it gets me from A to B just fine.

 

i purchased a fly audio navi