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Is Nav Worth It?


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I've read that article and disagree. I see a big difference in value on the used market in favor of the nav, .

Do a work up on KBB.com of your car with and without NAV.

That $2550+tax and interest if financed option becomes a paulty $500 on a trade in and if you think you'll get anything close to that $2550+ extra selling it yourself,I think you'll be in for a big surprise.

I will say it's a plus to a potential buyer,though.

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Yeah, to be honest, I'm gonna stick with the mountain of research by people who track used car prices for a living over "what you see in used car prices"

How you "don't see the value" in realtime traffic, especially living near some of the worst traffic on earth, I guess we will indeed have to agree to disagree there.... it certain has a lot more value than the backup camera, which is the only thing on the Lexus nav that isn't measurable WORSE than an aftermarket unit.

In short-

Lexus unit (in the IS):

No realtime traffic

Expensive map updates

Cripples itself while in motion

Costs 2000-2500 extra

Significantly higher depreciation than non-nav car according to all factual research

Aftermarket unit:

Realtime traffic (and weather and nearby fuel prices in some cases)

Inexpensive map updates

Can be moved to rental vehicles or other cars you own, or keep it if you sell your IS

costs 300-500 bucks for more features than 2000=2500 unit

Can even be loaded with european maps if traveling overseas with it

Can upgrade to unit with even more new features for again fraction of cost of lexus unit

Can be used as media station (to hold pictures, audiobooks, mp3s, etc)

Can be used fully while car is in motion (hopefully by passenger for safety)

Both choices can have dead reckoning, bluetooth, work through the factory stereo, etc....

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Yeah, to be honest, I'm gonna stick with the mountain of research by people who track used car prices for a living over "what you see in used car prices"

How you "don't see the value" in realtime traffic, especially living near some of the worst traffic on earth, I guess we will indeed have to agree to disagree there.... it certain has a lot more value than the backup camera, which is the only thing on the Lexus nav that isn't measurable WORSE than an aftermarket unit.

In short-

Lexus unit (in the IS):

No realtime traffic

Expensive map updates

Cripples itself while in motion

Costs 2000-2500 extra

Significantly higher depreciation than non-nav car according to all factual research

Aftermarket unit:

Realtime traffic (and weather and nearby fuel prices in some cases)

Inexpensive map updates

Can be moved to rental vehicles or other cars you own, or keep it if you sell your IS

costs 300-500 bucks for more features than 2000=2500 unit

Can even be loaded with european maps if traveling overseas with it

Can upgrade to unit with even more new features for again fraction of cost of lexus unit

Can be used as media station (to hold pictures, audiobooks, mp3s, etc)

Can be used fully while car is in motion (hopefully by passenger for safety)

Both choices can have dead reckoning, bluetooth, work through the factory stereo, etc....

Great deal.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11234538

$299.99 After $150 Off

Garmin Nüvi 650 GPS

4.3" Touch Screen Display

Turn-by-Turn Directions

Speaks Street Names

$299.99 $8 shipping

Item # 232311

Plus Shipping & Handling

: Includes:

Nüvi 650 comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded City Navigator® NT street maps, including a hefty points of interest (POIs) database with hotels, restaurants, fuel, ATMs and more. Simply touch the sunlight-readable color screen to enter a destination, and nüvi takes you there with 2D or 3D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions. It even announces the name of exits and streets so you never have to take your eyes off the road. In addition, nüvi 650 accepts custom points of interest, such as school zones and safety cameras and lets you set proximity alerts to warn you of upcoming POIs.

Display: 3.81"W x 2.25"H; 4.3" diag WQVGA color TFT with white backlight

Unit dimensions: 4.9"W x 2.9"H x .9"D

Weight: 6.2 oz

Preloaded maps: City Navigator® NT for North America

Lithium-ion Battery life: Up to 7 hours

Voice prompts: Turn right in 500ft.

Speaks street names: Turn right On Elm Street in 500ft.

2D & 3D Map Perspective

Auto re-route: Fast off-route & Detour Recalculation

Choice of route setup: Faster time, Shorter distance, Off road

Route Avoidance: Avoid highways, tolls etc

Custom POIs: Add additional points of interest

FM traffic Compatible

Accepts data cards: SD Card Not Included

MP3 player, Audio book player, Picture viewer

Configurable Vehicle Icons: Select car-shaped icons for map navigation

World travel clock, currency & measurement converter, calculator

Garmin Lock™ Anti-Theft feature

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To be honest with you, the NAV is probably one of my favorite features in the car. It is so convinient and you never know when your going to need it. It has saved us from getting lost multiple times. Now I understand that getting a third party NAV is considerably cheaper, but IMO, I really dislike the look of wires running around my cup holders and a suction cup on my windshield holding the NAV. Unless you can find a NAV that looks completely stock, I will stand behind the Lexus navigation system. That look for me, and for many others, is worth the premium price you pay, in addition to functionality with the car. It also shows maintenance reminders and as mentioned by others, works with the back up camera. By going third party, I feel you are losing the functionality of the car and the NAV as a whole as they no longer work together, but alone. We will continue to buy NAVs in our cars when its within our budget.

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I've read that article and disagree. I see a big difference in value on the used market in favor of the nav, .

Do a work up on KBB.com of your car with and without NAV.

That $2550+tax and interest if financed option becomes a paulty $500 on a trade in and if you think you'll get anything close to that $2550+ extra selling it yourself,I think you'll be in for a big surprise.

I will say it's a plus to a potential buyer,though.

I don't have to do a workup on KBB because I'm looking around for a nice 06 LS430 myself. At this point I can look at a price and tell you whether the car has nav or not because the difference is that significant.

How you "don't see the value" in realtime traffic, especially living near some of the worst traffic on earth, I guess we will indeed have to agree to disagree there.... it certain has a lot more value than the backup camera, which is the only thing on the Lexus nav that isn't measurable WORSE than an aftermarket unit.

I said I SAW the value in the real time traffic, I just somehow have been able to survive the last 5 years having nav without it. Traffic is bad in DC, but its always bad in the same places at the same times so I know where they are. If I get caught in a backup I simply hit "detour" and it gets me around it. No big deal.

Yeah, to be honest, I'm gonna stick with the mountain of research by people who track used car prices for a living over "what you see in used car prices"

Thats fine, but that data is compiled over a nationwide data set which is not applicable to your specific location. Among used Lexus vehicles in metro DC, cars with navigation sell for several thousand dollars more than cars without. Thats a fact. Whether thats the case in Kansas or not I don't care.

Why are you so obsessed with proving me wrong? I disagree with you and you're not going to be able to change my mind. I have no interest in portable GPS units whatsoever, I find them ugly and pointless, and I would never buy another vehicle without built in navigation. Thats just my viewpoint and I'm entitled to it, so leave me alone about it.

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Absolutely you're entitled to it... just as my opinion is that spending 10 times more money for something that does a lot less and makes the car depreciate faster (as well as costing more to update) is a massive waste of funds. If you want to keep spending more to get less that's your business though.

For folks who find it's worth a couple thousand bucks to give up features but have a slightly more integrated look they're entitled to that opinion too, I just disagree with it. If you simply MUST have it inside the dash though you can still spend less and get an aftermarket head unit with a nav screen that does more than the factory unit and goes right into your dash.

I don't use suction cups BTW, the gravity mount works great on both our Lexus vehicles (my wife and mine) as well as her Supra, and doesn't take any mounting at all, which makes moving it from one car to another as simple as picking it up and putting it down (same with taking it off the dash and putting it in the console or putting it in a rental if we fly someplace). There's only one wire, and it goes straight down into the power outlet next to the ashtray, so it's not in the way of anything.

I absolutely agree with the folks who say Nav in general is an awesome feature, I just think the factory method of getting it is the worst possible way. If you read the USA article I posted even Lexus seems to acknowledge this and mentions Toyota is working on cheaper factory systems to try and make them more competitive with the aftermarket offerings.

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...my opinion is that spending 10 times more money for something that does a lot less and makes the car depreciate faster (as well as costing more to update) is a massive waste of funds. If you want to keep spending more to get less that's your business though.

Sell your Lexus and buy a used Toyota Corolla. It will be much cheaper, depreciate less dollar-wise, and get better gas mileage (and use cheaper gas). It will get you where you need to go just as well as the Lexus...and your portable NAV will be MUCH better. Now THAT is something worth bragging about.

With the first response to this thread, I stated that there were divided opinions on this topic. SW03ES even stated that he would agree to disagree with you. Get over it.

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Actually, it won't do many of those things. The IS depreciates slower, and gets me where I'm going considerably faster and with better handling, and a long list of functionality the corolla doesn't offer. One of the reasons I bought my 08 IS new is that used ones weren't significantly cheaper at all.

I agree about disagreeing, I just want some honesty in what is being disagreed about. The aftermarket system does a lot more for a lot less money. There are reasons to prefer the OEM system, but they're about being willing to give up features and pay a lot more for a physical look you prefer (and possibly the backup camera if that's somehow a huge deal for you).

Likewise the IS does a lot of things a corolla can't, so that's hardly a fair comparison despite a significant price difference. If the corolla had more performance and features for less money your analogy would make a lot more sense.

I understand cognative dissonance will make people who paid $2500 for an OEM unit want to find extra reasons it's "worth it"... and I agree there are a very few real reasons it might be, but "being a better system" sure isn't one of em in an objective or feature-for-feature sense.

Go back to how this thread began. The original poster wanted to know if the cost of the OEM system was "worth it" (ie do you get objective value for your money compared to other choices)

Even Lexus, according to the article I posted, says the answer is no.

One might still find a reason to buy it (looks, mainly) but the buyer didn't ask "does the OEM system look better in the dash"

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