I recently bought a 2009 LS460. The navigation system has not been updated since the initial purchase of the vehicle. I am going to get the nav system upgraded, but I have a couple of questions before I do the upgrade:

- I test drove a 2007 LS460L and the nav system displayed the speed limit on the current road, but my system does not. Is that a setting I can change on my current system, or will that come with an upgrade, or is it only available on a "L" model?

-When I do the upgrade, will I just get updated maps or will I get any additional functionality?

Thanks!

 

baxman

I have a 2010 LS 460L with Nav and mine does not show MPH? You bought a 09 which means you have a 2008 version of Nav. The Nav version is always 1 year behind the model year. I would suggest this. Wait until Oct or Nov to do the upgrade. By then the Ver 15 for the model year 2016 cars will be released and that way you will get the latest version. Also if you are lucky Lexus will offer deals to upgrade the Nav. Last year they had a deal to upgrade for $99 plus labor which in my case was a $108 so I was out the door for $207 plus tax. That was a discount of $100 on the Nav upgrade which is usually $200 or so plus the labor time. My upgrade version went from 09 to 14. It had new maps etc but I can't say it had any new functionality or at least none that I use.

Dennis

 

My '08 does not show speed limits. There should be no differences between the systems in the LWB and SWB cars.

I too am waiting for the 2015 updates to drop, and will spend the cash for the update once they do. The 2007 maps installed in my car don't include a fair number of new roads and freeway exits in my area.

 

I wonder if the speed limit was displayed because on the two cars I drove also had Sirius. I know that Sirius also provides traffic info, so maybe the displayed speed limit is a function of Sirius. Let's hear from Sirius users...

 

I have an XM Sat Radio in the 2010 460L and while I have never used the traffic info I have never seen MPH displayed on the Nav screen while using the Sat Radio?

Dennis

 

Received an e-mail this morning from Lexus that the Nav V 15.1 is now available at the Lexus Dealerships. It does not appear that they are offering a deal/sale at this time. One version was $169 and the other version was $210 both were plus labor and taxes. The difference in prices depended on which system was needed to install the update which depends on how old your system is.

Dennis

 

Individual dealers can set their own prices on the update. When I get a few extra minutes I'll be calling around to see if anyone in our local area will do it for less.

 

dal20402

Last year Lexus had a deal on the 14.1 Version for $99 plus labor and tax, hopefully you can find a dealership that will offer a deal.

Dennis

 

I have a '10 460L and never seen MPH on nav screen. I'm not willing to pay for the expensive updates because I have a GPS I can update for free. It show MPH, speed limits, school zones, name of town or city, etc.

 

dlbulkls10

I hear what you are saying. I think a lot of folks just use their phones anymore. I wish the Nav unit in our 2010 460L's showed the MPH. However I just could not put a portable GPS unit on the dash or hang one from the windshield, it just reminded me of another Honda Civic going down the road. I don't hang a radar detector from the windshield either. Maybe by the time I am ready to upgrade the LS Lexus will be using a more modern Nav System.

Dennis

 

Where exactly did it display the speed limits? The only place I can think of that shows anything that has to do with speed limits is when you're setting speed limits for different types of roads this way the Nav system is able to give you a more accurate ETA time.

 

[QUOTE=DJWLDW;9206986]dlbulkls10

I hear what you are saying. I think a lot of folks just use their phones anymore. I wish the Nav unit in our 2010 460L's showed the MPH. However I just could not put a portable GPS unit on the dash or hang one from the windshield, it just reminded me of another Honda Civic going down the road. I don't hang a radar detector from the windshield either. Maybe by the time I am ready to upgrade the LS Lexus will be using a more modern Nav System.

Dennis[/QUOTE

I agree 100% its not pretty hanging from the windshield and can be a little embarrassing in a LS 460 L. Very seldom do I used my portable GPS but its up to date, cheaper and advanced.

 

I agree with this, and I also like using my LS's nav system because it has a bigger screen than my phone and maps that are much more legible at a glance from a distance. Not having some of the roads in my area is getting old, though, which is why I want to upgrade the map once (I have the original 2007.1 map my car came with).

With up-to-date maps my built-in nav beats my phone for usability every time, even though the system is years older.

 

For usability, I find my phone easily outperforms my built-in Nav. The built-in Nav doesn't take into account traffic (i don't subscribe to Sirius Traffic -- or whatever it's called -- and the reviews of it have been poor.)

I generally just use the voice prompts for the phone navigation in combination with the map screen of the car. I agree that having more recently updated maps for your 2008 LS is thus a good idea. If you've a phone that has an HDMI-out compatible connector and the Advanced Parking Guidance, you can use an Vaistech product (IVIC) to mirror your phone screen to the car's navigation system, without losing backup camera functionality.