Kansas

Map updates are not provided under warranty. Pay your dealer for map updates like we do. They are not expensive.

vlad_a

Buy a new car. That's why Navigation sucks in the first place - there needs to be a reason to upgrade.
Planned obsolescence via dated technology right off the factory floor. Everybody is doing it... Germans simply through different components engineered to last 4 years.
If that wasn't the case, they wouldn't route HVAC communication through the Nav, making it possible to go aftermarket.
Or pay a hefty fee to get the maps up to date, which is another way to raise the bottom line.

ColAngus

Yeah, what's $400 here and there every couple of years, right? That's about triple the price of an aftermarket unit that would come with free lifetime map updates and last a decade. The Lexus updates are QUITE expensive and it's a slap-in-the-face, cash grab from their loyal customers.

budwom

I'm thrilled with our decision to not buy the navigation option for our Lexus.

Randyp1234

Plus - with a GPS up on top of the dash there's less distance for the eye to travel between looking at the road and the GPS so it's safer. On the other hand - having the voice prompts through the audio system sounds better and is a little easier to hear and the GPS up on the dash or stuck on the window doesn't look very good.

I just bought a pre-owned 2015 and am trying to get used to the built in system but I'll probably end up getting a new Garmin.

Randy

ColAngus

A phone in a cup holder is free, updates free, is hands-free, speaks to you, always works and works 642% better than the trainwreck they crammed in our dash.

Randyp1234

Very true - we don't usually use our phones because of small data packages but it sure is a valid solution - especially since you cab BT it to your audio (maybe depending on trim level) and pipe it through your speakers.

Randy

NateJG

I like the navigation. It is not without wants - but it is convenient.

Zooming is very responsive/easy.
Flipping the map from North-up to Direction-up is effortless and quick.
Rerouting is quick.
Integration into Sirius Nav is OK (with respect to highlighting slow-downs and offering re-routing.
Displaying distances to points while traveling (hard for me to explain here) is handy.
Best part: I can do it all without lifting my arm or putting my fingerprints on a touch screen.


The cost (I've done two thus far) is somewhere between ridiculous and criminal - but not updating it is like watching TV back when I was a kid: where we watched a portable TV that was perched on top of the dead Color Console TV because it was too costly to get the Color Console TV fixed.

At least I can afford it now.

ColAngus

With the biggest want being that you need to come to a complete stop, put it in park, kill the ignition, light a prime number of flares greater than two & less than 11 while placing them in a pattern that pleases The Lord, un-recline the seat, sing a song in Gaelic, and hold your left hand on the wheel before you can operate the GPS to enter a new address. *Note that entering an address is a simple, 5 step procedure including stating the destination city because it's too stupid to figure that out or give you the option of selecting the correct city afterward once it guesses where you were going.
This compares (poorly) to grabbing your phone at 110 and pushing ONE button before speaking "how do I get to the nearest Carl's Jr. from here?" and the magic Google Lady immediately plotting a route for you where she includes turn-by-turn, vocal prompts.
It's not the same: ballpark, stadium, or sport. The Lexus GPS is terrible, period. It's terrible compared to its peers and it's about 10% as effective as a Galaxy S4 (3+ generations behind the current model).

salimshah

Not trying to be rude, but RX is available without Nav.

The real question then is .. who ever dished out extra $$$$, did they get what they paid for?
Is it worth upgrading maps every year, every other year, every third year ... so on.

Salim

NateJG

I find that knowing which airport I'll be landing at is more convenient than trying to figure it out after I lift off - and similarly, I prepare my journey using the Lexus Enform app on my iPhone and uploading the destination(s) to my car before I start a drive.

Once downloaded to the car, the destination phone numbers have been handy on a couple of occasions.

I think that having the Navigation option helps sell a car that's less than two years old; however, for owners that wish to keep their car as long as ten or more years, it will likely become more akin to a conversation piece than a useful tool.

My 2005 BMW Z4's emergency connect (can't remember the name for the system that calls the mothership in case of an accident) has been discontinued because of technological advancements that have obsoleted the "old" cellular technology. I suspect that my RXh's support network will similarly become obsoleted or priced out of reality as my car reaches the end of it's life-cycle, too.

I agree with Colonel Angus that the phone option is much more up-to-date; and while I have a dash-mount for my iPhone, I still prefer the car's navigation display and on-the-road use more efffective than the agreed-upon iPhone (or wife's Android) for general travel.

I also admit to using dueling navigators (the onboard, a Garmin, and Wifie's Android) during trips through places like Nashville, TN, Chicago, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and NYC - where road construction challenges the best of drivers and technology.

WAZE has let me down too many times - and I keep loading and removing it from my phone.

vlad_a

Hi Salim,

Not a single (non-custom-order) RX450h hit US shores without a Nav system.
No dealer would give me a time of the day to get one configured this way.

All newer Lexuses come with non-replaceable video displays where the Nav would go.
If you were not to get one, there's no way to replace it with an aftermarket unit.
Your options end up being a cell phone or a windshield-mounted unit.
So, those extra money spent on a sub-par unit is offset by the inconveniences created above.

I had my maps updated as a courtesy when we got our RX because they were seriously dated.
It still thinks I live in the middle of a field, but whatever. I'm not going to throw more good money after bad.
So, no map upgrades for the RX. My phone will fill the gap just fine.

Olasek

salimshah- phone navigation may be OK if you constantly move around metropolitan areas - I was often in remote areas - phone navigation completely fails, no signal.
Hence I would never consider phone navigation for my type of driving.
I do have portable Garmin in my old Z3 and I am very fond of this device.
I can't mount a unit to the windshield in CA - but mounting it on dashboard would be a hassle and would interfere with camera view.
Moreover I have an IS and could not get Mark Levinson sound without the Nav (this is how car is configured) so
overall it was no brainer for me to get Nav, I did not pay $$$$ considering what other luxury car brands charge for similar systems.
I don't think I will be updating maps anytime soon if ever - I feel it is mostly business locations that keep changing, I can always
find my destination's address before I get into the car.

salimshah

vlad_a : Here in central Texas, I was finding 20% non-nav models.
The incentive for the dealers is to get fully loaded (or as much loaded as possible) in their allocation.

Olasek is very prudent .. which ever gps you use, one should look at the overview or at least look at the estimated time of arrival as sanity check. I introduced my mother in law to GPS and after about 1/2 of driving she realized the address she keyed in was wrong.


Salim

vlad_a

Salim, I was specifically referring to the RX450h. I have never seen one without the Nav and my local dealer could not find a single build nationwide that would satisfy that criteria.