I couldn't agree more. When I got my first Garmin aftermarket nav a few years ago, it opened up a whole new world of interesting and helpful possibilities. It was entertaining, and made driving on road trips far more fun ... it was helpful, and made it easier to find that new dentist's office, or client appointment, or Chinese restaurant someone told me about. But as much as anything, I LOVED being able to glance over and see where I was on the map during a road trip. It gave me a real, live point of reference.

Then came cars with nav AND voice recognition. I could just ask it for what I wanted to see or where I wanted to go, and like magic it routed me there.

But some Luddite car companies - and sadly ours is one of them - just don't get it. A navigation system is a driving aid. As such, you need to be able to use it *when driving*. Having to interrupt your 75mph interstate drive to pull over and stop to use this driving aid is like having to get in front of your car and jerk on a crank to start the engine.

On those cars where I've had full nav functionality, it is a really useful tool that enhances the driving experience, genuinely helps you find destinations and points of interest, and therefore makes your driving safer by taking you there efficiently and seamlessly.

On road trips, it gives you a much richer driving experience by allowing you to explore places and things along your route, and learn more about your surroundings. When I come into a town, for instance, I like to check out the restaurants, tourist attractions, historical points of interest, etc. to see if there's anything I want to explore further. We've found some really fun stuff that way.

But if I have to pull off the highway, stop, search, then pull back on the road, I'm just not likely to do it. And driving again just becomes a rather dull exercise in getting from one point to the next.

Suffice to say I friggin' HATE the lockout. Hate, hate, hate. And I think Toyota is being stupid to include a really useful piece of modern technology in their cars, only to deny owners of that technology the ability to use it.

Toyota: Look at Honda, Acura, BMW, Mercedes and others who DO allow their owners to use their navigation systems fully ... this is the 21st Century. Stop fighting it. We paid good money for this system ... now let us use the damn thing!

.
.

 

Mike - Well said especially the last paragraph.

Mama Lexus FYI. Last week I took my in-college daughter to checkout the IS350 to replace her MB Compressor. She loved the car but her main beef was the nav lockouts. We ended up placing an order for a fully loaded BMW 328i coupe with the anticipated delivery date around mid March.

 

the bluetooth integration isn't as good with the portable units at least when i have tried.

 

Happy to report that I finally got the PS unit installed this morning after our initial hiccup. All features working beautifully as promised. I have the button pad located near where the passengers left knee rests. My nav is extremely pleased now that she can manage her music files on the go.

 

Bear with me guys....new on board here and just started researching the purchase of the LS460 (first test drive was yesterday)....if I'm understanding all this correctly, there appears to be a 3rd party "fix" that will allow you to input addresses and watch a DVD while driving, correct? I think I saw where this "fix" costs about $300. I am not much of a car tech person, so is this "fix" easy enough for a car dummy like me to do or will there be additional costs for installation? I will be having Lexus transfer my Escort SRX system from my current GS300, and I'm sure they will charge something for that, but wondering what the average cost to install the "fix" would be as obviously they (Lexus) will not install it.

Also, from reading other posts on here, it appears that other car makers do not have this Navi "lock" that Lexus has while driving, correct? If so, has there been any indication from Lexus that they might fix this on their own in the near future? I guess the 7.1 version I keep reading about does not fix it?

Thanks for any information.

 

welcome to clublexus. yes, there is an aftermarket fix for it, it's being brought over by prestigious society. you can email them at chung@prestigioussociety.com for pricing and availability.

to install you need to take apart the shift place, and then the radio and nav unit. i won't say it's trivial for everyone, but if you have worked on your car before you should be fine. it takes about 1 1/2 to 2 hours

lexus has the lock out, i don't know of another brand. there is no words on them unlocking in the future, and i doubt they would do anything in the near future.

 

Lexus is NOT the only brand with an in-motion lockout of nav features.

There is of course, Toyota, and Infiniti/Nissan and the various GM products. I think Ford and Chrysler also lock you out while moving, as do some other Asian makes and a few of the European imports.

The mfr's who do NOT lock you out are Acura/Honda, BMW, M-B (although their nav systems are primitive), and I understand maybe Volvo (although I'm not sure about that). These are modern, forward-thinking carmakers who recognize that this is the 21st Century and that navigation is a driving aid, and they actually let you use it to aid you in your driving.

.
.

 

The general lockout features are annoying to me, not just the Nav. For me, the most annoying are the music change lockouts - you can only change the mode or track on the steering wheel, not move from one HDD to another. You also can't even see the lists except when stopped. The worst part of the NAV lock for me is that if you are on the freeway and change your mind where to go, you have to either stop on the freeway (stupid and dangerous) or pull off at an exit to change the NAV. It isn't so bad of you are on city streets, where you can pull off the road easily.

The fundamental issue is that Lexus is taking a big brother attitude, where there is a legitimate reason not to - if you have a front seat passenger who can make the changes and not distract the driver. For the safety belt sensor, Lexus doesn't make you buckle the passenger side safety belt if you don't have a passenger. They have a sensor (as all cars do) that detects if there is a passenger. They could use that sensor to enable the NAV, phone, and audio lockouts.

 

oh infiniti still has the lockout? somehow i thought it's gone already.

astrotoy, changing modes and tracks, you can also use the buttons on the audio head unit, not just the steering wheel

and there is always the nav override kit you can purchase

 

Thanks, Henry. You can actually change backward and forward to the adjacent CD on the main audio unit. I was on an extended trip and hadn't driven the car in about a month. I had forgotten about all the features on the audio head unit. However, you can't jump around - a real pain for someone like me who has over 100 CD's on the Hard Drive.

 

Can you imagine, if Lexus dropped the lockout on new models, and existing model owners would be banging on the doors asking for the same favor?

 

Well, not really...Do you expect a "favor" out of Lexus when they update your model for next years line, and you just bought one a few months ago?

 

Well I didn't necessarily mean a free favor...rather if they dropped it, all those existing owners with lockouts would want the ability to upgrade somehow.

 

True, they would.

And Lexus could either make a software update & charge for it, or, simply tell owners that the option is not available on their model.

 

I picked up my car on 1-31-08 and it doesn't have the NAV Lockout when I turn on the car. When I turn on the car, the first thing I see is the blue tooth command.

I just want to be able to use NAV while driving and of course watch video. Does anyone have a product for this yet?