beefchopper

The base prices of both the LS460 and LS460L will go up $500 in 2008. The LS460 is unchanged except for the addition of one color, opaline pearl. The 46oL offers a new air suspension package.

I'm with you on this. We have a 2004 LS 430, a vehicle I consider as closer to my idea of perfection than any car I've ever owned, as well as a 2004 RX 330 - both with navigation systems. If I were to list my single aggravating item about the car after three years of ownership, it would definitely be the lockout of navigation and telephone features, even if the car is barely rolling forward. There is the obvious distraction factor, but it's certainly no worse than any other of the many distractions a driver faces. So it takes responsibility on the part of the driver to know when to not be distracted, even for a very brief time. Your experience near Orlando has been repeated by me on more occasions than I care to recall. Include me as one of the 50, or however many this turns into. I have a 2004 LS and use the following fix to get around the lockout. I understand this exact routine won't work with the 2007's but guess there is a similar way to access a secret service menu that will disable the lockout. Eventually someone will discover it and post it on the web. This definitely works for the 2004 LS: Here are the steps: 1. push the menu button 2. press volume 3. touch the screen in this sequence: top left, bottom left, top left, bottom left 4. this will take you to the override screen 5. press and HOLD override until you hear a beep, and the icon is outlined 6. press back 7. press the map button You'll now be able to operate the navigation/phone features while the car is in motion. The only drawback is that you'll have to repeat this sequence every time you restart the car...

As I understand it, the Lexus dealers all across the country are divided into zones and each zone jointly decides which combinations of options they want to offer for the inventory cars for every dealer within the zone. If you plug in zip codes from different areas of the country on the "build it" page of the Lexus website you'll see that different packages are offered in different states. I guess the theory behind that is, for example, heated seats might be an important option in Maine but not at all important in Arizona. I think that the options you see listed on Edmunds, etc. are all the choices available at the factory. You can ask a dealer to order a car from the factory to your specifications if you are willing to wait for it to be built and shipped from Japan. Don't be surprised if the dealer strongly attempts to steer you into buying something out of his inventory instead. I ordered my last Lexus exactly as I wanted it and actually got it somewhat faster than they told me it would take. I will buy my next one the same way as I was very happy with the result.

I purchased a used Siemens S56 phone eBay just to upload numbers into the Lexus phonebook and it does actually work. I was able to upload the entire Siemens phonebook at one time and after it was loaded I am able to use that phonebook to dial through to my v710. That's the good news - actually great news. The bad news is I couldn't get the phonebook in my v710 to upload my current phonebook directly into the Siemens phone using Bluetooth (no surprise) so I had to manually re-enter everything into the Siemens before uploading it into my car. A pain in the !Removed! but a relatively small price to pay to finally get rid of this inexcusable shortcoming onf the v710 and Lexus.

That is not completely true. The updated Verizon fimware has apparently allowed phonebooks to be transferred from the v710 for Verizon customers to some other cars including the BMW's. The particular implimentation of Bluetooth by Lexus (and Toyota) will still not allow a phonebook transfer. Clearly, Lexus has to share some of the blame for this unacceptible fiasco. What really annoys me about this whole situation is that the lawyers at Lexus insisted that there be a warning on the navigation screen about the dangers of looking at the screen while driving, a warning that they consider so important that you have to manually clear it off the screen every time you start the car. They are so concerned about our safety that they put that extremely annoying warning there, but engineered in a terribly deficient telephone system which forces me to dial my own handheld phone while driving if I want to make an outgoing call, something that is MUCH, MUCH more dangerous than glancing at the navigation screen. Lexus dropped the ball here big time.

I had verizon's "fix" installed by them today on my v710 and unless I just can't see the correct way to do it, I do not believe the new firmware will allow you to upload your phonebook into a Lexus. This is a gigantic disappointment and inexcusable on the part of verizon.

I have a 2004 LS and today went to verizon and had them install the brand new firmware (8700_01.40.OR) on my v710. I am terribly annoyed to report that I am still unable to upload my phonebook into the car. After waiting so long for this "fix" I am furious to see the result.