DigMyM35x

Hi all! Just reporting in. I picked up my wife's RX350 today! She had no idea but was very excited. I wanted to replace her 330 since she didn't have Nav or Backup Camera and I wanted her to have them. I was looking for more power.

Well, I can tell you that Rockville's reviews have been right on. This is a great car! I do think the added power might put a strain on the suspension if abused. It feels pretty darn quick.

From the inside I don't even know if my wife would have known it was a new car (except for the nav screen ). I got her the same color since she loved it - Savannah Metallic.

The car definitely has more power. I like that so I can drive it more often on longer trips now. I also like the bluetooth. I called my wife from outside to open the garage door (I forgot the dang garage door opener) and she didn't even know I was on the handsfree bluetooth. I will be investigating this little bag of tricks later. Can't wait - but so far I am impressed with sound quality.

The Nav is a lot nicer than the previous generation. Graphics and screen are more crisp. I find the screen a bit busy but chock full of great info. This will be my 3rd Nav unit (Garmin, Infiniti M and now this one) so I'm sure I will get used to it pretty quickly as I did with the others. Just learning the new tech toys! It does appear that the voice input is not quite as intuitive or quick as on my Infiniti but I have LOTS of testing to do. I did get a wrong exit number right after leaving the dealership and had to go 4 miles out of my way and do a U-turn and 4 miles back to correct. Possibly operator error but I KNOW she said Exit 53 and the only exit was 51!!! I think this was a map issue.

The climate and audio are also accessible through the nav screen. Also, the front of the radio has an MP3 logo so I'm assuming it will play them (no Mark Levinson available yet - you can't even build one on the website).

Backup camera is nice but I haven't had a chance to fully test yet. Looks good though. No guidelines but a nice picture.

All in all I'm very impressed. I had a good purchase process at Lexus of Lehigh Valley - Jeff and the Sales Mgr Rich were good to work with. Not a lot of $$ off due to it being their first 1 or 2 sold but I knew I wanted the upgrade.

Anyway, I have been watching the brand new interactive CD-Rom for the Nav and Bluetooth on my computer but my eyeballs are knocking together from a long day. It's a pretty good tutorial. More research tomorrow.

Cheers!

Jay

Matters

My old man picked up one of the first RX350s (white/beige) in Australia last week. I had a quick drive of it, but not long enough to warrant a review.

Dad's came with Mark Levinson and the new Nav, but I couldn't find an Ipod jack. Can anyone advise?

I will post pics when I've had a chance to drive it properly.

her99rx300

I saw an RX 350 at Serramonte Lexus this weekend. Unfortunately, no matter how long you look for that aux iPod input you will not find it. THERE IS NONE There's no keyless ignition either. I've been wanting to buy either an RX 400h or RX 350 but you can't get either keyless ignitionn or aux iPod input in either of those models. The dealer said there's a $400 option for an aftermarket accessory to hookup an iPod but after spending at least $40k for a nicely optioned Lexus the last thing I want to do is plunk down another $400 for an iPod input. If Toyota can put a keyless ignition in a $20k Prius and many other auto makers have aux iPod inputs in their less luxurious cars I figure Lexus can do it too but chose not to. I'll just hold on to my '99 RX 300 for now until Lexus gets it right or another automaker does first.

DigMyM35x

The iPod jack and push button start were 2 things that I really wanted but alas it was not to be. I have them both on my other car and really like them but I figure my wife won't use the iPod while she's driving and now there is the MP3 compatibility so that should suffice for some of our longer trips.

I do miss the push button ignition but it's not the end of the world.

I am disappointed about the Sat. I have Sirius and would have strongly considered adding a subscription but I don't think I want to deal with the "aftermarket" install. I will have to investigate as the AM button now says AM-SAT so it's probably pretty easy for the dealer. I understand the hookup is simple and integrated but I'll wait to see what others are doing.

Jay

Rockville

I hope your wife will enjoy it. The transmission software has definitely been improved as has the fuel efficiency. The voice commands take a little practice. Try "nearest" POI of your choosing and then "Showlist". If you are travelling you will need to use the Nav hack to allow inputs by the passenger while moving. Menu, Volume, Speaker/lower corner, Speaker/lower corner then the service menu screen hit override and hold it until it beeps. Don't mess with the other buttons though as bad things can happen. Enjoy the quiet cabin. The Mark Levinson system is not that different from the Pioneer until they bring out the new design sometime in the Fall. I haven't driven the RX350 in the snow yet so I'm not sure if it has better traction than the RX330 which was good anyway. Enjoy the power....

Rock

DigMyM35x

One other thing I forgot to mention is that I think the stereo system sounds superior to her 2005 330 system. Not sure if it's my imagination or the extra tweakability with the new settings (i.e. seat position sound focus) but the "base" system sure sounded good!

I will post my Gen 5 nav experiences as they happen. Looking forward to that!

Rockville, sorry if you mentioned this before, but you did try the override on this nav system and it does work correct? Thanks again!

Jay

DigMyM35x

Hi all.

Quick update. I had to go back to the dealership yesterday (I liked the power so much I upped the miles on the lease and they were nice enough to do that for me - I got them just before they filed the paperwork.) Again, had a very nice experience with Jeff and Rich (Sales Mgr). I would highly recommend you check out Lexus of Lehigh Valley if you are in the northern Philadelphia Suburbs! Nice alternative to the not so great Lexus dealership experiences I've had closer to the city. Hopefully they will service the car with the same level of attention. I am confident they will!

Anyway, I had posted earlier that the GPS seemed off because it gave me a wrong Exit number on a highway. Well today I drove up to the dealership in my Infiniti and it had the EXACT SAME mistake with the exit number. There must be something with the info sent to the mapping companies or a recent change in exit numbers (highly doubtful). The "name" on the exit signs were accurate. The actual exit numbers were off. It listed Exit 51 as Exit 53 on 78W/309 from Lehigh Street to the exit for the Turnpike. If you pass the exit you have to do a 4.5 mile stretch to get to the next exit to turn around.

Anyway, thought I would update the post since this is not a Gen 5 or even Lexus Nav specific issue.

By the way, wife LOVES the new RX! Only issue is that there is a slightly different way of selecting CD's in the changer. No big deal but I'll have to help her with that. This weekend we tackle the GPS and Bluetooth - should be fun!

Jay

jfelbab

Is that exit near a military base or research facility? In these areas GPS is purposely made inaccurate.

DigMyM35x

I don't believe so. It's actually the Exit from I78 to get to the Turnpike entrance in PA so it's a pretty well known and used exit. At first I was very disappointed as this was my first Lexus Nav experience and it already made a huge mistake 10 miles from the dealership but I was heartened to see that my Infiniti had the exact same error (actually - not heartened but relieved my first impression of Lexus Nav accuracy proved incorrect).

Anyway, if people are interested I will keep posting observations!

Thanks!

Jay

Rockville

along the highway. Here in Washington, DC the Beltway exit numbers have changed in Virginia so we tell people not to go by the numbers but the turn guidance. The Route preference settings from the factory will avoid toll roads, seasonal road closings, time of day road closings or directions, ferry's and border crossings. If you see the little red X's when you input the destination, click on them and adjust accordingly. I leave them all on ( without the X) You can revise them at any time by touching the route button when you are under route guidance.

Yes the NAV hack works the same as before.

Rock

jayskinner

The exit numbers in Virginia have not changed in a long, long time, so any GPS system will likely not have an issue with that. They're mileage markers now, too, so the exits do not have to be re-numbered when a new exit is created.

hogchow

Here's a helpful hint for the new NAV system:

If you want to NAVIGATE WHILE DRIVING:

1) I Agree Button
2) Menu, Volume
3) hit the top left, bottom left, top left, bottom left...
4) A menu should come up. HOLD DOWN OVERRIDE for 5 seconds
5) While HOLDING OVERRIDE, click the DEST button on the right.
6) Hit BACK on the top right

now you can Navigate while driving.

rai

Here's the thing. Some people don't mind trading in a car every 2 years so it may not be a big deal for them if things like 'keyless go" or iPOD integration are not present in this year.

But some people (like me) want to keep the car 5+ years. So I would like to have these features present and accounted for. Or else I'd just as soon wait or go to a car that does have them.

It's not an escuse (IMO) to say these features are better built into an all new model say 2009 MY or when ever that comes out. The point is Toyota went to the trouble to make this a very nice upgrade with new engine, nav, etc.. It wouldn't have killed Toyota to spend a few more $$ to make keyless go and iPod etc. happen..

AJL0365

does the new RX350 have the 5 speed automatic of the new 6 speed automatic? either way love the RX saw a newer one not sure if it was an 07 but it was black with the HID and with the chrome wheel package, and it was night time when i saw it, so the lights were one ( of course) that car was beautiful

DigMyM35x

I totally agree! I really do wish they would have had them but the back up camera, Nav and especially the increased power were fine. As I mentioned my wife won't use the iPod and could care less about the keyless ignition (although she would love it if she got used to it!).