i have an 02 sc430, and i despise the nav system. i hate it so much that i grad a portable garmin every time i need directions on the road.

if i upgrade to the most current navigation system disk will the result be more like the garmin's output, or will the system merely upgrade to the newest maps with no discernible difference in the output i see on the screen?

 

The 2002 which I have owned since new has been upgraded twice......same maps and format...........just added routes and streets.

Its the 2002 version..............my wife has a 08 G-35 and her NAV is way better but in 5 years NAV will be even better than hers.

Look at it this way...........You have a damm sweet ride.............

 

love the car, just hate the nav system. no big deal to throw the garmin in on long trips. i was just hoping that the updates would be "real" updates...and i wanted to find out without shelling out the cash.

thanks.

 

What is it you hate about it? What does the Garmin do better? I have a 2002 SC and the newest version of disc (8.1) I don't know what my navi could do to be any better. My wife's 2007 Acura navigation isn't any better than mine and it's much harder to use because it's not touch screen.

 

the display looks like ****, imho, and it is hard to follow along on the screen while driving. it is also a good deal easier to enter things on the garmin given the very simple input.

still, maybe i have not given the nav system a fair chance. the first time i used it i got hopelessly lost, which irritated me til no end. maybe i should try it out when i don't really need it to give it a fair shot.

 

i fired up the nav system a little while ago, and just like that i have resolved never to use it again. what a pita.

a $100 garmin unit is infinitely simpler to use, and looks a world better to boot.

maybe there is some interesting thing i can do with the nav screen...i will never use the damn thing for its intended purpose.

 

I have the 02 nav upgraded to system 3, and looked at 7 - no change, still inferior to Garmin Nuvi. And, lately it seems to get "lost" for a day or two until it finds the satellite ("GPS" shows up on the screen in the upper left). Garmin has its own problems - sometimes foolish routes, and "searching for satellites" for 30 minutes...
Still curious - my car icon on the lexus nav blinks - do all the 02's??

 

I also have an 02 with the newest generation of navigation, and my gps seems to be lost. The entire screen turns that beige color, and it will just show my arrow in the middle of the screen, then the roads eventually come back. its quite strange.

 

I think it depends on where you live. I've never had my GPS get 'lost', but I live in a very populated area. My brother lives in a more rural area in another state and his gets 'lost' all the time.

You might try adjusting your display settings, too. You can change the colors, brightness and layout of the display, and you may find settings that are much easier on your eyes and/or easier to interface with.

I've found that every GPS system has it's limitations....

 

Boy, this thread really got my attention! I am a GPS lover, and I have Lexus Nav in both of our cars and I recently bought a Garmin Nuvi 205W to use with rental cars when on a trip. I agree the Garmin works real good and I even have that software on my PDA cell phone. However, the Lexus is very convenient being built-in and integrated with the car radio. The lady's voice is more pleasant too. I also agree that the Lexus menus are hard to find where to change options and as all on here complain, "you can't operate the Nav while the car is moving."

I have software version 5.1 in the LS430 and 8.1 in the SC430. The SC430 Nav is much better, but maybe the one model year newer vehicle makes a difference too.

The Garmin is a real pain having to store it away when leaving the car to keep from getting it stolen although it is nice to walk around with it. The Lexus Nav display is bigger and easier to see in the daylight.

Bottom line, I like the Lexus Nav and would like a newer model Lexus Nav even more.

 

My first GPS was a Garmin 620....installed in our SUV....and got use to it's features. 6yrs ago it was state of the art. The joke around our house is I went out looking for a new GPS for our other car and I came home with a Lexus.

We fought with the Lexus nav system because it didn't work the same. First problem was trying to input while in motion. My wife would try to start a route while I was driving....didn't work....I would pull over and do the same thing...it would work.........Then We Read the Manual. Now that we know the rules and the way it was designed to be used we are pretty happy with it....thou....I like the POI features on the Garmin handles better.

I upgraded the disc last year and saw some improvements. These parts of SC are still behind in mapping issues. The one thing I don't remember from the old disc was the if it had the '3 route choice' feature? Once we played with that we had more success. As for voice.......agreed Lexy is sweater sounding....we call the Garmin voice...'the b#tch'...she seems to get more intense ever time she says "re-calculating"

 

Jace, when you say that you have the latest generation NAV, do you mean that you used the latest upgrade DVD to upgrade or changed out the hardware? Going the DVD upgrade route only changes the streets & maps (& maybe a couple of choices).

BTW forum members, I just heard that a new NAV DVD release is coming out in September and it is expected to be cheaper than the current version out. (Sewell has a deal (NAV08) going on for $199 currently that is supposed to be better than the forum (CL911M) deal.)