Anyone know if Lexus has officially acknowledged that there is a calibration problem with the addresses in the '04 LS430 NAV unit...and have they issued a fix yet? Mine is starting to get on my nerves.

 

I asked about a month ago and was told that I had the most recent version. I picked up my car in January 2004.

I plugged in a location this past Saturday and the Nav system told me I had arrived when I still had about a mile to go before I got there. There are gas stations that are not on my system that have been in their location for about 3 years.

 

If everyone who has an '04 with the NAV problem would post here, I can compile it and perhaps get the attention of someone higher up at Lexus. I don't consider this a real big deal, but I would like to see it fixed.

 

Even the 03 navigation disc will say "You have arrived at your destination" too early. Not sure it's a mile, but it has been talked about here before. Just look for the target on your map after it announces you have arrived at your destination. The map database is provided by Navigation Technologies (NAVTECH) and Geographic Data Technology (GDT) and POI's from InfoUSA. It's these databases that need to be updated to include new roads or businesses. Once put into the database you can expect Lexus to use the latest data when building a new DVD map disc.

 

So what does all that mean in terms of who has the problem (ME!) and when Lexus is going to fix it?

 

Even my 98's nav says "You have arrived at your destination" half a block early.

 

I remember reading somewhere (in either my owners docs or at the official lexus site) that the destination arrival announcement occurs shortly before arriving at your destination. The reason given was so that you could begin looking for parking.

I haven't had much experience with my nav system but so far it has been pretty accurate. I wonder if some areas are mapped more accurately than others?

 

Nope! I don't buy it. Mine is 100% accurate on the road, but when it comes to addresses it's WAAAY off the mark. Too much for normal "preannouncement".

 

I just got an '04 with Nav. It came with a CD-ROM that teaches you about Nav. It states among other things that you aren't taken directly to your destination for 2 reasons:

1. To look for parking, which makes sense to me.
2. As a security measure, so that if your car is stolen, a thief can't find out exactly where you live (if they set your Nav destination for Home, they will be taken right to your house). I may be confused about this, though. Lexus may have suggested that you don't set Home for your exact residence.

Also, remember that Nav is accurate only to within 100 feet. I've never been off by a mile before.

The problem I have is that they have several streets in my neighborhood incorrectly named, including my own. I reported the error to GDT. Here is a link.

http://www.geographic.com/ER/er.cfm

 

Again, I'm not buyin' that this is normal. My streets and overpasses are 100% accurate but the ADDRESSES are GOOFY they are so far off.

I am more interested in the CDROM you got. I wonder why I didn't get one when I bot my car in December. I'll have to ask for one.

 

It's called the Lexus Navigation System Audio CD and Interactive CD-ROM. It's copyright is 2004. Maybe that's why you didn't get one with your December purchase.

 

I have to agree with daryl40. My '04 with nav is waaaay off in some places. However, in my experience, it is very sporadic .. which makes things even worse. For example, there is an intersection near wher I live that has a gas station on each corner. The icons for these gas stations are shown on the nav about .75 miles south of their actual location. Near where I work, however, the icon for a popular restaurant is shown about 1 mile north of its actual location. I have also found that most POIs are mapped accurately, you are just never sure which ones until you actually get there.
On the brighter side, I was in Montreal a couple of weekends ago for the Formula 1 race and the nav was incredibly useful and accurate. I was able to find ATMs, gas stations and resaurants with just a voice command and everything there seemed to be spot on. So go figure ...
But, I do wish Lexus would at least acknowledge the problem and give us some hope of a fix.

 

Could this inaccurate presentation of POI be caused by the weather or hilly surrounding? Is this inaccuracy consistant or happens only sometimes?

 

Mine is consistent. I also own a portable Garmin Streetpilot 2610 and it's completely accurate. Which makes the Lexus thing even more aggravating.

 

Mine is also consistent. The icons stay in the same place regardless of weather or terrain. If they are in the right place they stay in the right place. Ditto if in the wrong place. I have a Garmin iQue that is totally accurate.