Hybrid Highlander Review

[RX400h]

I use the internet (Yahoo directions) quite often to locate hiking trails, addresses of relatives, and other points of interest. Having NAV would be very helpful if "getting out of the house" means finding places on the fly or planning a long trip every year. Then again, I guess you can say the same thing about a cell phone and how often it is used. The nice thing about NAV is that you don't have to remember to bring it - it's there at your disposal at all times. The back-up camera is similar. You may never hit something without it, but once you have it, you'll eventually wonder how you ever got along without it.

[SW03ES]

Trust me, own one car with nav and you'll never go back. Getting things on printouts from Yahoo isn't the same.

[scoobie]

Trust me, own one car with nav and you'll never go back. Getting things on printouts from Yahoo isn't the same.

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Ok, I admit NAV could be an indispensible tool for people constantly on the go (like real estate agents), and perhaps for people with certain lifestyles (always going somewhere on the whim). When handheld GPS first became popular about 10 years ago, I was among the first on my block to get one (Garmin XL12) and found it a great toy; besides using it on hiking trips, I'd hang it on the rear view mirror and track my progress when I drive, even though I knew exactly where I was going; that got old in a hurry. Of course, the Garmin XL12 didn't have streetmaps and other convenience features now standard on vehicle NAV's. All in all, I think I can warm up to the idea of having NAV built-in when the price becomes more reasonable, it should be at the range of a CD changer ($500) rather than that of a drive train (like AWD, which also cost $2000).

[patt]

I don't particularly mind the Nav cost. It can repay itself by preventing one accident one would have had while fooling with a map or non-installed GPS to pay for itself.

Even when I have checked my route ahead of time, there are times when I would use it to find a gas station or other service that isn't visible.

More than the initial Nav cost, I hope that at some point the updates become more reasonable. I update my computer mapping program every year because it is around $25 - the streets don't move much but businesses change and such. That price usually includes feature upgrades. The upgrade cost is way out of line and it is recurring at least every few years.

[scoobie]

I don't particularly mind the Nav cost. It can repay itself by preventing one accident one would have had while fooling with a map or non-installed GPS to pay for itself.

Even when I have checked my route ahead of time, there are times when I would use it to find a gas station or other service that isn't visible.

More than the initial Nav cost, I hope that at some point the updates become more reasonable. I update my computer mapping program every year because it is around $25 - the streets don't move much but businesses change and such. That price usually includes feature upgrades. The upgrade cost is way out of line and it is recurring at least every few years.

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Actually, $25 for an upgrade is pretty reasonable, relatively speaking, considering you paid a whopping $2000 for it initially. Personally, I think in a few years, NAV's would become standard on all new cars and the prices then should reflect their real cost (few hundred vs 2 grand). Right now, the manufacturers are recouping their nonrecurring engineering costs by overcharging, consider it a "novelty fee".

[patt]

Actually, $25 for an upgrade is pretty reasonable, relatively speaking, considering you paid a whopping $2000 for it initially. Personally, I think in a few years, NAV's would become standard on all new cars and the prices then should reflect their real cost (few hundred vs 2 grand). Right now, the manufacturers are recouping their nonrecurring engineering costs by overcharging, consider it a "novelty fee".

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Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. $25 is the upgrade price for the map software (Street Atlas by Delorme) that I run on my laptop. It does a very similar job to the Nav system - finds routes, has locations of various businesses (though I think not quite as complete as the Nav system), attached to a GPS will give you directions as you go, etc. I would be very happy if that was the upgrade price for the car's Nav software.

I can't remember the exact price for the Lexus Nav updates, but I think it was around $300 which is pretty steep.

[SW03ES]

The Lexus nav update is at least $250.

Trust me, get one and see ;)