Looking At Is250

[rishithen7]

Would i get an is without nav?

2 words dude

no way

[tex2670]

Just for kicks, I stopped at the BMW dealer today after driving an IS AWD, with no NAV. When I told the BMW dealer I was considering a Lexus, he told me I might as well save money and buy an Toyota. He was serious.

He may have been serious but he didn't know much about cars.

...or being a salesman.

[bartkat]

True.

[PA350]

Just for kicks, I stopped at the BMW dealer today after driving an IS AWD, with no NAV. When I told the BMW dealer I was considering a Lexus, he told me I might as well save money and buy an Toyota. He was serious.

He may have been serious but he didn't know much about cars.

...or being a salesman.

I would think this guy is just doing his job as a sales person...that line probably works w/lots of uneducated buyers. Let's face it the Lexus is a great car, but is usually a few % points below the BMW in car rags. If you read all the rags of the new M vs the F, the F comes in 2nd because of very minor points...points that the majority of drivers would never be able to notice.

We also all know that a Lexus is not a Toyota. Ignorance is a common sales tool!

[smooth1]

Yeah, next time you go there just ask which one is the Cooper platform? The 1 series or the 3 series. :P

[CrunchySkippy]

Yeah, next time you go there just ask which one is the Cooper platform? The 1 series or the 3 series. :P

I wish I had thought of that line!!!

[tex2670]

Just for kicks, I stopped at the BMW dealer today after driving an IS AWD, with no NAV. When I told the BMW dealer I was considering a Lexus, he told me I might as well save money and buy an Toyota. He was serious.

He may have been serious but he didn't know much about cars.

...or being a salesman.

I would think this guy is just doing his job as a sales person...that line probably works w/lots of uneducated buyers. Let's face it the Lexus is a great car, but is usually a few % points below the BMW in car rags. If you read all the rags of the new M vs the F, the F comes in 2nd because of very minor points...points that the majority of drivers would never be able to notice.

We also all know that a Lexus is not a Toyota. Ignorance is a common sales tool!

That's exactly my point--if he's trying to sell BMW's with a sales technique geard toward "uneducated buyers", he's not a good sales man.

[gocardinals]

Well guys ... made a verbal commitment tonight on a Starfire Pearl, gray interior AWD with NO NAV. I pretty much convinced myself $475 a month looked a lot better than $545. By the time I made the hours drive home, I'm already second-guessing myself for not getting NAV.

I'm a newspaper editor and have to make quick decisions everyday, but for the life of me, I am struggling with this NAV thing. Guess it's also the Bluetooth, too.

I'm not committed, so I still have time to change my mind. One positive for me about the no NAV, no luxury is you get the silver accents instead of the wood grain, which I like much better.

[smooth1]

Oooh, the torcher! LOL! To nav?...... or not to nav........ that....... is the question! It's like chewing on tin foil!

[Knightshade]

Well guys ... made a verbal commitment tonight on a Starfire Pearl, gray interior AWD with NO NAV. I pretty much convinced myself $475 a month looked a lot better than $545. By the time I made the hours drive home, I'm already second-guessing myself for not getting NAV.

I'm a newspaper editor and have to make quick decisions everyday, but for the life of me, I am struggling with this NAV thing. Guess it's also the Bluetooth, too.

I'm not committed, so I still have time to change my mind. One positive for me about the no NAV, no luxury is you get the silver accents instead of the wood grain, which I like much better.

That's the no luxury. Nav has nothing to do with dash trim. I agree no wood looks better in the IS though :)

And like I said, just get a nice Garmin for $300. That'll do nav, have bluetooth, and a slew of features the OEM nav does NOT have. And it'll be 100% paid for by what you would've spent in just over 4 months on the OEM system.

[mr_raider]

No sense in punishing yourself for not getting nav. It will detract from your enjoyment of the car. Get a Garmin and be done with it. Move on. Life's to short to get an ulcer over this. Enjoy the car, and laugh in everyones face when you get hit with 30cm of snow.

[PA350]

No sense in punishing yourself for not getting nav. It will detract from your enjoyment of the car. Get a Garmin and be done with it. Move on. Life's to short to get an ulcer over this. Enjoy the car, and laugh in everyones face when you get hit with 30cm of snow.

Yeah, couldn't agree more. Six pages of the mertis, demerits, issues, problems and concerns of OEM Nav is about 5 1/2 pages too much...

Good luck w/your car. Let yourself enjoy...it's a great car.

[gocardinals]

OK guys! That's what I needed. Don't even have it yet, and you feel like family. I REALLY appreciate everybody's patience, and advice. Sorry for the 6 pages, too.

[smooth1]

No need for the apology. They have been beating the oil drum for like thousands of pages. Just over what motor oil to use. I'm just glad you joined the LOC forum. This thread is still much better than the " What color air freshener do you guys think works best for my new car?" or the "Yo dog, those rims are mad sick bro!" It's all good.

And actually I think alot of people can identify with your issue. Maybe not the nav persay, but there are alot of choices to make when getting a new car, and you just want to make sure your getting what is best for you and not make some mistakes. Smart people generally ask questions, gather information, and then make the best decision for them based on that. We have literally hundreds of years of combined car buying/selling, and mechanical experience here. That's why this forum is such a great tool. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if somewhere down the road a year or so, you get a pm or a post asking if you were happy with your decision as they are faced with the same issue and just wanted to know if you would have done it differently.

[Dallas250]

I drove a loaner yesterday without the NAv option and felt like it just wasn't as elegant. I also noticed it was hard to see the radio and A/C display with the sun shining in a certain way. I went into the local dealer when I leased mine and told him I would give him $600 over invoice for the 250 and they agreed. I put $680 down on the lease and my payment is $522. This is a 08 IS 250 with NAV, Summer Wheel option, Premium option, and rear spoiler.

[JEFFREY ETPPER]

Nav is actually -bad- for resale value.

Take 2 months of the extra nav payment and buy a Garmin.

Or take 4 months of the Nav payment and buy a Garmin that does -more- than the 90s-era Lexus factory system does.

A nuvi will easily fit in the center console, so it's always "with" you when you need it... and you can use it in a rental car if you travel too.

For $300ish you can get one that also does bluetooth so you can call the restaurant you're going to, and it'll ALSO be able to do realtime traffic, which the Lexus unit can't. And it won't cripple itself when you put the car in drive like the Lexus unit will.

Nuvi'll run for hours off the battery too so you don't need to use the cord much if you don't want to.

I specifically ordered my IS -without- nav because I couldn't see dropping a few thousand on a unit that did less than one costing a few hundred.

You DO lose the backup camera, but the IS is a small car, so it's not much loss... On a suburban I could see it being really usefull... and you could add an aftermarket one of those for a couple hundred if you HAD to have it.

I own a 2008 IS250AWD with the NAV. I also have a 2004 RX330 W/O the NAV. In the RX I use a Garmin Nuvi 660. It is far superior to the 2008 built in unit. It is much easier to use, announces street names and has bluetooth. I think that the Lexus system would be more advanced than it is. Buy the Garmin unit and forget about the Lexus unit.

[ajis250]

How about this, the NAV would be great for pizza delivery, and would practically pay for itself.

Now seriouslly, I am all for electronics and gadgets but still can see when I will be needing one of those. Lat time I went to a place I had not been before was about three months ago and just in case, looked up the map online and done. Het it's a matter of taste entirely. I thought ht screen on a test drive I did looked kinda fuzzy? Also the case for A/C and radio screens on mine, one day Ill rub it with some fine plexiglass polish and let you all know.

[smooth1]

How about this, the NAV would be great for pizza delivery, and would practically pay for itself.

Now seriouslly, I am all for electronics and gadgets but still can see when I will be needing one of those. Lat time I went to a place I had not been before was about three months ago and just in case, looked up the map online and done. Het it's a matter of taste entirely. I thought ht screen on a test drive I did looked kinda fuzzy? Also the case for A/C and radio screens on mine, one day Ill rub it with some fine plexiglass polish and let you all know.

I have to say that I have really come to like having the nav system. Not just for plotting the course, but some nav units also show every exit, and rest area as a list along the side of the nav screen, with how far it is to that exit and what resturaunts, gas stations and hotels are at the exit, long before the signs along the highway do. I have also used it to scout the area for a nice resturaunt. It shows you a list you can select what kind of food you want, and it shows the distance to each selection. So when you think you have found one you might like, you just hit "call" and it dials the number for you so you can find out if they are open, attire, and price range, and so on. When the call ends, and you and the wife say ok, let's go there, you hit select and it plots the course to take you there.

[Randy&Bonnie]

..

[clay1]

I love the NAV in the car...but quite frankly my wife's garmin is more accurate and better. That said I would buy the NAV again because I love the blue tooth and I like the controls thru the NAV screen. The nav on the LEXUS has actually misdirected me several times and many roads are missing (mine is an 07). I actually sometimes mapquest directions before I leave for an important meeting so I don't get screwed if the NAV mis-directs me....

I really believe that LEXUS should team up with GARMIN and integrate their system into the car. Heck they do that with Bose on the sound system. Just makes sense to integrate the best systems in your car.

[mr_raider]

What I'd really like to see is carmakers go to a standard interface in the dash for nav units. Then you could purchase the nav unit of your choice and plug it in the space provided. But that will never happen of course. Too much money to be made by charging people 2K for 300$ worth of electronics.