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Lexus RX 330

3939 messages,  Last post on Oct 15, 2012 at 9:35 PM

You are in the Lexus RX 300/330/350 Forum.

What is this discussion about? Lexus RX 330, SUV

Messages Page 115 of 394

#1139 of 3939 Rx 330 Navigation by alanek

Jul 31, 2003 (6:34 am)

I've had my RX330 w/Perf/Nav for about 2 weeks. I love everything about the car,however it is a real inconvience to stop the car to use the Nav. Yesterday my kid wanted to go to a Burger King. The good news is that the POI found one. The bad news is I had to stop the car to look for it. For me it seems to be more dangerous to have to pull over on the side of a busy hwy than for my wife sitting next to me to be able to program the navigation while driving. I know there is a sensor in the passenger seat that senses weight in order to deploy the airbag. Why couldn't they just hook that up to the navigation.
 
Is there anyone at Lexus that will listen to our complaints?
 
Thanks, Alan
2004 Lexus RX 330 Silver/Black Nav/Perf
2001 BMW 525 Nav
2002 Audi A4 Avante

#1140 of 3939 RX330 Navigation by blackrx330

Jul 31, 2003 (7:54 am)

I too have the Performance package and navigation. I can understand Lexus' concern that a driver would take his eyes and mind off the road and attempt to use the nav. The decision to control this was probably driven by Lexus' attorneys and fought by their marketing/development folks.
 
Do you know that Lexus' NAV allows you (while driving) to add POI's to the display? You can pick categories such as gas, restaurants, etc., and they appear as icons on the screen. The icons can then be touched to reveal the name of the establishment. And if the vehicle is stopped you can even see the street address and phone number if it is in the database. Perhaps your wife could have found a Burger King using this method or even a Jack's or McDonalds?
 
I can't believe that someone would be so moved by a child's demand for Burger King (specifically) that they (2 adults) would pull a car off a busy highway endangering themselves and others! I would imagine that the same adults would attempt to enter a destination into a NAV (whether there was a capable individual in the passenger's seat or not).
As a fellow driver I would rather take my chances with someone darting off the side of a highway and sitting there than to have someone trying to spell Bugrer Knig on a touch-screen while driving 70mph.

#1141 of 3939 Voice activated? by gteach26

Jul 31, 2003 (10:24 am)

Isn't the nav in the RX voice activated? When the vehicle is moving, does the unit lock you out of voice activated use as well? My wife's '02 RX nav does not have voice activation so I'm not sure.
 
Also, perhaps you've seen that Honda Accord commercial where the guy asks the nav to "find nearest Chinese restaurant" while driving around town and it does for him. Isn't that how its supposed to work?

#1142 of 3939 RX330 Navigation by alanek

Jul 31, 2003 (10:47 am)

I used the busy highway as an example. However I do not see why if there is someone occupying the passenger seat that the system still will not allow any type of input. On the POI screen there is a button that will bring up all the restaurants in the area in alphabetic order making it fast and easy to find any restaurant by name or distance. It is a great feature however you have to stop to use it. As for touching the icons, if you have 10 icons on a screen you still have to take your eyes off the road to read the name of each restaurant, gas station etc till you find the one you want how is that safer?
 
What I am saying is that the owner of the car after agreeing to use the system safely(as everyone has to do before using the system)should have the option to let a passenger use the navigation.

#1143 of 3939 alanek.. by gteach26

Jul 31, 2003 (11:21 am)

I agree with your point. If the car senses someone in the passenger seat, it should allow for passengers to fiddle with the nav system while the vehicle is moving. There is no safety issue there.
 
Also, any driver who would try to input data (or do any other distracting activity for that matter) while driving is reckless, careless, and should know better -- cell phones anyone??
 
Still, I don't feel that companies or the government should try to over-regulate and overprotect us to point of nausea. As adults, we should know better.
 
The following statement was only my opinion and no harm was meant by it. Please press "I AGREE" to continue!

#1144 of 3939 RX330 Navigation - lackluster at best by damormino

Jul 31, 2003 (11:34 am)

The consensus is that the Lexus navigation system is not as good as Acura and Infiniti, but better than BMW, Mercedes and Porsche. This was the conclusion of a leading consumer magazine and the leading technical/computer publisher. It is also echoed by those who have used many of the systems on the market.
Lexus's decision to disable functionality of the navigation screen is more appearing to be concerned with safety than anything else.
The situation you describe - having to pull off the road and stop when you otherwise wouldn't have to - happens frequently among families. And Lexus creates this unsafe situation with it's poorly-designed system. There are plenty of situations that warrant the nav unhampered, so blackrx330's comments about Burger King are not relevant.
Sorry gteach26, the RX330's navigation is not voice-activated. You'll have to move up to a Honda Accord to get such functionality.
My contact at Toyota is trying to get more information. So far, she is hearing that Toyota (as probably Lexus) know that there implementation is unpopular and without good basis. Rather than backpedaling, they are hoping they can wait out the issue. By 2005 or 2006 model year, all 2005 Lexus and Toyota models with navigation system with voice activation. I do not understand, nor have I been able to get any information on how that really helps. So it appears Lexus is listening, but not really doing anything.
so no help is offered there.

#1145 of 3939 I just don't get it! by gteach26

Jul 31, 2003 (11:40 am)

Rx has more gadgets and features than the more expensive and more off-road capable siblings GX and LX, yet those vehicles get the voice activated nav, while the RX does not. Go figure!

#1146 of 3939 safety??? by damormino

Jul 31, 2003 (11:53 am)

Several weeks ago, the results of a major survey were release that showed that, in accidents cause by distracted drivers, cell phones were the number one contributor. What was inferred by many, was that cell phones should be banned. But what not many people realized was that radios, the number two contributor, trailed by a small and almost insignificant margin. Therefore, anyone who concluded that cell phones should be banned, would also have to concluded that radios should be banned as well. When this was pointed out, much of the drive to ban cell phones died down.
My point is that you really need to be careful jumping to conclusions about the dangers of things like cell phones, radios and navigation system.
If those devices could be used most of the time without taking your eyes of the road - through things like steering-wheel mounted controls and voice-activation, then drivers would use these methods almost exclusively. But manufacturers should not preclude drivers from using controls on the navigation unit when they are need during driving. If that were true, then all the radio buttons would be disabled during driving - only the controls on the steering wheel would work.
How does this all relate to the RX330? Lexus has created a really nice vehicle (as they usually do) with a couple glaring problems. For some, those problems, like the inept navigation, may be enough to cause them to be unsatisfied with the vehicle.

#1147 of 3939 Voice Activation by JBaumgart

Jul 31, 2003 (12:03 pm)

Just read where the Nav System in the new 2004 Toyota Prius will have voice activation - the base price of this vehicle is $19,995. I don't know why Toyota/Lexus decided not to include it on the 2004 RX330, which costs about twice as much.

#1148 of 3939 Voice Activation by alanek

Jul 31, 2003 (12:26 pm)

While looking at the Acura MDX the salesman told me it only works if the car is perfectly quiet. While sitting still he turned off the air conditioning. He said the wind noise while driving is enough to throw off the device.
However being able to search by phone number is an option I would like on the Lexus,which is still way better than the Nav in my BMW.

Messages Page 115 of 394

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