I like having it in the dash with a big screen. If your phone works for you, save the 2,100.

 

Mazda CX5 includes Navigation in their $780 in the Preferred Equipment Package. I'm told that some of them come with a Nav slot that the dealer can add navigation by inserting a card for $400? Lexus seems over priced especially when you add the updates at additional expense.

 

I could be wrong, but I believe you need the navigation package if you want the 15 speaker ML sound system.
Also I really like the big screen for looking at anything else other than navigation.

 

Navigation and non navigation options both have 9 speaker systems. You are correct. The luxuary package will give you the navigation withe the ML sound and the 15 speakers.

 

$3,000 in Audi Q5.

 

Not a lot of choice here in Jacksonville. Most on the lot have it.

Would never buy buy a vehicle without it.

 

I bought a 2017 Lexus last month with the navigation. We got it only because we wanted the 12.3" monitor for the park assist. My personal opinion the navigation system is junk. I prefer to use Waze and Goggle maps. I was unable to figure out how to save current location as an address. It is absolutely not intuitive.

 

JUNK is perhaps a bit of an overstatement I'd say. If so, you wasted a pile of money for big screen park assist.

 

Maybe reading a little bit of the manual. . . .

 

Even though automobile navigation systems are an overpriced option, they return a larger percentage of their initial cost at resale or trade-in time than most other options, and that is especially true for luxury brand cars, including Lexus.

There is a person who is a used car manager at a Lexus dealership and who has posted here at CL. He has said, in his posts, that Lexus used car buyers typically expect to buy a vehicle with a navigation system and that used Lexus vehicles with navigation on his lot are likely to sell quickly. On the other hand, he has said that, cars without navigation sit on his lot for extended periods of time until either he dramatically lowers the price or ends up selling them for a lower price at auction. Thus, he has said, when he values a trade-in without navigation, he immediately drastically discounts his trade-in offer to take into account how much harder it is going to be to sell the car. Further, when potential buyers realize that they can buy a brand new Buick, Toyota, etc. that is fully loaded, including navigation, for less money than it would cost them to buy a used Lexus without navigation, many will decide to buy the fully loaded Buick or Toyota.

In the last 20 years, I've bought 8 or 9 cars. Only one did not have navigation, and, as soon as I bought it, I regretted the fact that it lacked navigation. Even if I don't often need turn-by-turn guidance, I've come to value having a map with a large screen in an easy-to-view location readily available at all times and that I can use to check to see what street/road is coming up, where I am in relation to my destination, etc. I know that I will never again consider buying a car, new or used, without navigation.

While the Generation 9 navigation system on the 2016-2017 RX is far from perfect, I have found that it is a vast improvement over earlier generation Lexus navigation systems. If you take the time to read the manual and to properly use voice commands, the system works very well with using voice commands to enter destinations. And it works even better if you take the couple of minutes needed to use the mode that trains the system to be able to recognize your voice.

 

I have watched the Lexus Nav system get better and better year after year. I would not have a vehicle without it.

 

I went today to get the non-nav RX350, but ended up getting the navigation unit. Did not realize that the non-nav screen was smaller in size than the navigation screen. It fills up the scalloped out space in the dash, where the other looks lost. It does do a lot of stuff, but probably not worth the extra dollars per month ($29). It looks great, especially at night, and the mouse/features are better than the ****.

 

I knew I was paying for Park Assist and some free junk. No regrets. It is what it is.

 

The day I have to read a manual to use Google maps or Waze, I might consider reading the 389 page Lexus Navigation Manual. Until then, I am satisfied using Google maps on my iPhone 7S+ and very soon on the iPhone 8.

 

Enjoy! I do not allow Google to do anything for me. Never will.