LexNYC

Cool! Thanks so much for the info! I'll give that a try.

By the way, does anyone know what this fix would be (if there is one) on the 2004 RX 330? I tried it on mine and nothing happened. Thanks!

First, I have to say that it's surprising that no one else seems to have mentioned this. It's equally as frustrating that when I bring it up to my dealership that they act like they've never heard or it - or noticed it themselves. I don't know if it's just because people don't have enough experience with navigation systems to know when it's not good or not... but I'm assuming that's what it is. Anyway... the RX330 2004 navigation system really sucks. Besides giving me some really bizarre routings in areas I'm familiar with it has even more tangible glitches. I'll mention the tangible ones as stand-ins for the intangible (i.e. bad routings... matter of opinion). First, in New York City, if you go to POI (points of interest), go to the area that has Airports as a category and click on Airports, it does not show New York's LaGuardia airport. If you type in the airport name itself, it thinks you're talking about LaGuardia Place in downtown Manhattan! LaGuardia Place is a street name, not an airport! Furthermore, when you tell it to display airports on the map - it displays THREE AIRPORTS IN MANHATTAN!!! THERE ARE NO AIRPORTS IN MANHATTAN! Second, if you go out to Long Island and want to find a commuter train station - you can't. The Lexus RX 330 2004 navigation system that I paid several thousand dollars extra for - thinks there are NO TRAIN STATIONS ON LONG ISLAND! I'm sorry, but Long Island has one of the most used train systems in America. It's called the Long Island Rail Road. Even people who don't live in New York have heard of it! It's VERY well known. But Lexus GPS has never heard of it! I was out there last summer and I wanted to find the closest LIRR station to South Hampton. I go into POI, I click into the area that lists train stations. They have several different types, like commuter rail, and some other choices I forget offhand. But I selected ALL choices having to do with trains. It was then supposed to display train stations on the map - but guess what? It did not display ANY train stations anywhere on Long Island!!! It's truly unbelievable! And yes, I did have it zoomed in enough so it would display POI. I'm really surprised that you Long Islanders haven't noticed this and complained about it. Or, am I the only one who ended up with this particular problem? When I bring it up to the dealership, Lexus of Manhattan, they just look at me like I flew in from Mars. Like the GPS is not something they know anything about - because it's a computer... it's not a regular mechanical part of the car! They seriously just shrug their shoulders. Richie the service manager asked me to bring it in so he could "teach" me how to use it. Instead, I ended up giving him a lesson in how "Points of Interest" works! Anyway, I'm seriously upset about this. This GPS system cost more than a very high-end PC and it does far less... so it was outrageously overpriced in the first place! I really feel I should get something that works half way competently for the price I paid. Oh, and let me mention a few other problems: 1. This problem annoys the h**** out of me. When I'm in Manhattan, a borough famous for its grid street system, I'll be going on a cross street, like say 34th Street. I'll be going across town and an avenue will be coming up ahead. The Avenue will show on the Lexus map, but the name of it won't. And this happens when there's more than plenty room on the map to show all the street names. If I touch the map with my finger and scroll maybe half a mile north, then eventually the name will show up. But it should show up whenever the street is in view and it's zoomed to a level that gives it enough room to show up. This is really a cockamamie way for a "moving map" to work. All other moving map systems that I've seen show the street names in the visible frame. They don't make you scroll around searching for the street name. Geesh, talk about a lawsuit waiting to happen! Wait till somebody sues because they had a wreck because this particular flaw forced them to pay more attention to the GPS than the road. 2. Crazy routing instructions. For those of you who know Manhattan, I sometimes leave town on the west side. I'm supposed to go all the way up, from W 30th St, the West Side Highway until I'm out of Manhattan. So I'll get up to about 40th St on the West Side Hwy, and it will tell me to get off and go over to 10th Ave. Then it will tell me to stay on 10th Ave until 57th St, where it then tells me to get back on the West Side Hwy! This is RIDICULOUS! (For those of you who don't know, 10th Ave runs perfectly parallel to the West Side Hwy, so it's like saying get off the road you're supposed to be on, go a few blocks east and get on another road -one with more stoplights- and go a few blocks, then turn west and get back on the road you were originally on! 3. I understand that under POI - parking garages for instance - it can't be completely accurate. Parking garages, and other businesses come and go. But I'm in Manhattan, I'm sitting right next to a parking garage that has been there for 40 years - and guess what - Lexus GPS never heard of it! It's been there 40 years! 4. I was in Philadelphia. I was parked on the street (waiting for someone), directly outside of Independence Hall. I clicked into POI just out of curiosity and clicked on Tourist Attractions... guess what... Independence Hall didn't even show up on the map and I was right next to it! And it's not like Independence Hall is some obscure tourist site that most people never heard of, it's even part of the National Park Service!! Geesh! And Lexus never heard of it! 5. 6 years ago I owned a Mercury Mountaineer. It didn't come with a navigation system, but at my insistence the Ford dealership installed a little dinky one on the side of the dashboard. It operated off a CD (which I could change by hand if necessary), and it cost about $500. With the exception of a smaller screen, that system, from 1999 was far superior to the 2004 Lexus version. It gave me better routing instructions, the map was much better when it came to showing all street names. It had voice directions and all in all even though it looked dinky, it was actually quite superior to the 2004 Lexus version. I really wish Lexus customers had more experience with different navigation systems so they could join me in complaining. I really feel like I'm the only one in the country who ever brings this up to Lexus!

Cool, thanks for the tip. I might actually give that a try. Because they are truly incompetent when it comes to this. They're like, "okay customer, that wasn't high enough last time - then try this!" I guess they figure you'll never bother them again if they point them way TOO high.

I just use really soft paper towels (Viva) and Windex. Seems to work fine and hasn't added any scratches. I spray the paper towels with the Windex though, I don't spray the Windex directly onto the sreen.

I would be almost certain it's not a racial issue! I'm as white-male-majority as you can get and I get the same treatment from Lexus of Manhattan. Well, I won't say they're rude... but they lie! They lie with a smile. I'm not sure which is worse!

Oh man... Lexus of Manhattan! I can tell you about them and headlights! First, I'm SO glad someone else is complaining about this! It drove me crazy. I go up to Vermont all the time to ski and it's impossible to drive over 20 mph on some of the curvy, hilly, dark roads there. You really can't see more than about 20' at some points. So I complained to LoM about it everytime I took the car in. At one point they said they could adjust them upward "a little". And they did. And as promised, it was only "a little". I could see they did make an adjustment but it didn't help. Instead of seeing 20' ahead in some places I was then able to see maybe 25'! Finally, just in the last month in fact, I called my salesman and told him I was very unhappy with the headlights and the navigation system. (You ever notice there are 3 airpots IN Manhattan)!? He talked to the service manager Richie... who did get the headlights adjusted upward even more. But now it's way too much! It's like I have the brights on all the time! In fact, when I turn on the brights they now do nothing to illuminate the road - they now illuminate the tops of the trees! And in fact, the lights now blind ME! When I'm going down a dark highway and one of those green highway signs comes up - the reflection of these lights off the sign back into my eyes is SO bright it's annoying. I was going to complain, but then I realized oncoming drivers were never flashing me. (They do flash me if I turn on the brights). So, for some reason it doesn't seem to bother them. Although when I stand in front of the car and look at them - they're blinding. But if the oncoming drivers aren't bothered enough by it to flash me, then maybe it's not as bad as it seems. I can see hundreds of yards down the road now! It's pretty awesome... and as long as no one's complaining (i.e. oncoming drivers), I'll take it. LoM by the way, says it's illegal to adjust them upward anymore than they come standard. That was their excuse for not doing it. But mechanically it is entirely possible. Although they did tell me many times it wasn't possible at all!~ I told them how dangerous it was to only be able to see 20' ahead at times. I emphasized that I drove out into the country A LOT and I couldn't imagine not getting into an accident at some point. They really should have a system where a less bright light illuminates farther ahead. It's really ridiculous how they made these headlights. And, it is seriously dangerous.

I haven't been interested in satellite radio because I can't seem to get one question answered! What happens when you go in a long tunnel? Sometimes we can get stuck in tunnels around NYC for a half hour or more. Does it cache like a few minutes of time so it'll play for awhile or does it just immediately go out?

Yeah sounds like maybe they didn't do such a good job. My brake pedal doesn't wobble and tremble when I put on the brakes. That doesn't sound good. I'd get it checked & fixed.

Actually, I had a problem where the steering wheel vibrating really badly when I put on the brakes at highway speeds. Actually, it was more like the front wheels were vibrating, but I could feel it through the steering wheel. I took it to the dealership and they fixed it completely. I found out later through my insurance company's web site that it was a known problem. So yours might have something to do with that possibly. I'd get the dealership to check it.

So, are you guys saying the only update to the 2004 RX330 DVDs is coming out now - this January? I think my dealer is playing games with me. Mine has serious problems, like it thinks there are 3 airports in Manhattan! I want a complete upgrade to the newest system. The dealer told me they upgraded it but I didn't see a single change. Even all my old addresses were in there. Then they said they upgraded the "address database". Whatever that means. But it still thinks there are 3 airports in Manhattan. (And that's just one of many serious problems I have with it). So, does anyone know if it's even possible to get a full upgrade where the system is completely like the newest systems?

Since we're talking New York, anybody know of any good aftermarket people who can do things like add power folding side mirrors? I'd really love to have that. It so annoys me that this car doesn't have it.

I have had to pull off the road several times in semi-emergency situations to re-program the GPS. You can't tell me that's not as dangerous as hell too... with traffic whizzing by you at 70mph +! You know there's going to come a day when someone sues them for forcing them to pull off the road where they then got slammed by a truck! Although I have to say it is extremely dangerous to play around with it too much while you're driving. Every second you take your eyes off - or even somewhat off the road - the road things can happen. I think if you're conscious of that and really try to use it only when you really, really have to you should be fine. But I'm sure some people get totally caught up in it and really lose consciousness of what's going on on the road around them. Oh, and by the way - thanks so much for the info on this hack! It will definitely come in handy. Just curious - is it something you can do while driving, or do you have to do it before you start your trip. I'm guessing you can do it while driving, since getting to the volume button is possible while driving.