needone

I just lost the reply I was editing on you subject. I can't go through it again at this time, but I'll sum it up. DON'T DO IT!

We just returned from a 2000 mile loop vacation and learned not to trust our nav package! It lost us about an hour when we drove by a previously deleted interim destination for some reason. The only thing that saved us later was to only put a single destination in at any one time. Then the only problem is that it sometimes tells you to turn long after you have passed the intended exit or road. Our 430 never missed. This nav package is great if you already know where your're going, but for the added cost, it's not "Ther relentless pursuit of perfection" like a number of other stupid (i.e. cost cutting) design flaws in the LS460L. After less than 10,000 miles, We could write a booik.

I think I had the HID in my '02 and I loved them! That gap you are trying to fill by raising the lows and lowering the highs is exactly what is bothering me. Is Metro your dealer by chance?

Has anyone else noticced that 460 highbeams are yellower than the low beams and seem yellower than they were on a 430 and not as uniformly distributed as were the highbeams on the previous model. Car is not loaded, one passenger, no luggage and there is a noticeable unevenness (sp) in the lighting. I almost think there is a speed related intensity algorithm at work here because the symptoms seem worse on 30 to 50 MPH country roads, yet at road speed on divided highways the lighting seems better. I'll have the dealer check, but it seems that lighting should be good right out of the box.

Have you engaged the "HOLD" feature when this is happening? I notice that when using that feature, I must engage the throttle very smoothly or the car moves off a bit roughly. If I am not using the hold feature, everything is as smooth as was my 430. Notice that when you activate the "HOLD", a green indicator shows that you are in that mode, it stays active for some time so you don't have to keep engaging it if you're in traffic.

Back on June 5th tjfair posted the following suggestion: " With absolute faith in the ingenuity of the American entrepreneur, I expect a simple third party solution from http://www.coastaletech.com/ soon. For those of you who want a fix to this problem, send an email to support@coastaletech.com and tell Dave how much you are looking forward to a lockpick for the 2006 LS 460. This might just be enough incentive for him to focus his resources on our particular variety of DVD/nav..." Accordinglh, I sent the following e-mail to the suggested address. Their response is included at the end of my e-mail. Some of you may wish to add encouragement to Costaltech with a message of your own. (Scottielady, maybe your offer of a $1000 reward would peak their interest) To: <support@coastaletech.com> Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 8:17 AM Subject: Lockpicks for 2007 Lexus LS460 > There is a pretty heated thread on the Lexus owners club website > regarding unhappiness with new Lexus owners over the lockout of very > desireable functions on the Navigation system. The thread is not directly > addressing the Mark Levinson Audio system, but many of the most useful > screens are also blocked as soon as the car is in motion. > > One contributor to that forum suggested e-mailing you folks expressing our > sincere interest in a workaround that would restore the designed > funcionallity of systems we bought and paid for. It is my hope that you > will see enough market for such a solution especially when you consider > that the LS460 is just the first model that seems to have been heavily > locked in this manner. It may not be long before the entire Lexus and > perhaps Toyota lines will represent a lucrative market that your firm can > serve. Their response is below: Thank you so much for your email and I will certainly pass on your interest in the product. Please let me know if I may assist you further : ) Kelley http://www.coastaletech.com mailto: support@coastaletech.com

I have had mine for 2 months and 4K miles. I have noticed absolutely no diriveability problems. It feels just like the 430 did and drops speed as soon as I let up. The gearing is certainly different and reducea engine braking in the higher gears, but there is no throttle hang up or engine lag on deceleration. I'm certain they will find your problem. I find that I do tend to drop over to manual shift and drop a few gears on deceleration, but if the engine were not already in a deceration mode downshifting wouldn't really help.

Now you're talking SW03ES, it beats cutting a wire in that the map screen will always have the speed input. Do you suppose Bill Gates has a 460?

I want to be very clear on this; the Lexus that doesn't seem to really care about CS is the group that positions itself between the artistry of the engineering/manufacturing operation and the considerate and concerned Dealers. This is the group that buries options within options. restrists build options geographically, places arbitrary limitations on functionallity we have paid for, pushes every problem back on the dealer and probably badgers the dealers in ways we can't even imagine. This is the group that I think is only interested in talking to people who are already satisfied. Look what they did to Lexus Link! Like you, I have had many very favorable experiences with my dealer, I have complete confidence in and respect for my dealer. It may be irony that because the dealers are so good that the Lexus middle management is eager to hide behind them. If you haven't been exposed, in depth, to the Nav system in its' newest generation configuration you can't appreciate why the nav system is used consistently. My wife,dog and I do about 500 miles a week just poking around. The power of the POI portion of the package alone, makes the passenger want to use it frequently. The linkage with bluetooth only reinforces the potential advantages offered by the system, but denied by the lockout. Although not part of this thread, the lockout of the Mark Levinson functions is similarly arbitrary, disappointing and distracting. Spend some windshield time in a 460 and you'll probably have a deeper understanding of the problem.

This is starting to get pretty interesting. Can anyone direct me to a tutorial or something on how to format a post on the forum. Some of you are very good at extracting phrases and making comments and I haven't a clue of how to make a post look like I want it to. Some have said that Lexus cares about Customer Satisfaction. I see a lot of change in the Lexus attitude and I do not believe that they care much. They are riding the crest of a well deserved wave and have a wonderful product (generally) in the LS460, but try reporting your concern about the lockout to 1-800-LEXUS as I did after my dealer encouraged me to and I think you change your opinion about "customer satisfaction". Lexus is begininning to sound like GM did 10 years ago. Arrogance is not the same as "Ther Relentless Pursuit of Excellence"

Since I'm the only manager that has chimed in about this issue I'll assume this is directed at me. I am first and foremost a MEMBER of this site. My opinions are offered as a member and Lexus owner. I do not own the site, I simply volunteer to help design and enfore the posting guidelines of the site and keep the forums neat and orderly. Thats all, I don't work for Lexus, don't get paid by Lexus (or anybody for this by the way), I don't even own a share of Toyota stock. As for the site, Lexus has no ownership interest in the site either and has no input on anything we do here, this site is owned by one private individual. Just because I don't see what the big deal is about the lockout doesn't mean I'm a product shill. SW03ES, The fact that I linked the Management responses to the Lexus talking points was based on the "need" issue. In my experience, when an individual or company becomes definsive on an issue they frequently bring up the "need" issue. Need has nothing to do with it, none of us "needs" a Lexus, we choose to have one. I had no intention to demean or minimize your contributions. I appreciate having this site and thank you for your efforts to keep it orderly. My concern for the changes in the functionallity of the various keys and buttons that occurs when you begin to move is the issue. I have spent a fair amount of driveway and owners manual time learining the various capabilities of the system and have learned the sometimes cryptic paths to the functions I want to use. To have these change when I am driving removes my my ability to quicklly and safely operate the system or tell someone else how to find what we want. This change in functionallity is, I believe, more unsafe than having one predictable and intuitive system that works under all conditions because my attention is diverted from driving more than it would be were I able to just glance at a user friendly set of controls.

Well, at least we can count you in the growing list of folks opposed to the lockouts (lucky for you, you still have a version of the Nav system on your car that has disclosed overrides)! Okay, Rx330driver's on-board. Who else? Well, LS460L, it would seem to me that there are a lot of current LS430 owners who have become accustomed to being able to take charge of their destiny. Perhaps a piosting on the LS430 forum would give prospective buyers of 460s reason to add their comments and objections. I seriouly doubt if I would have changed my mind on the car, but I sure would have made the dealer acutely aware of my displeasure with the arbitrary lockouts and deletions of things I had enjoyed on my 430.

Has anyone had a remote start system added to their '07 LS by a Lexus or Toyota dealer? If so, what was used and how is it working?

This is my first posting, so I hope it ends up in the thread regarding the lockocut of NAV and Audio functions in the LS460 series. First and foremost, I will happily endorse efforts to remove the lockouts that plague this car. I have follow the thread on this issue and am impressed with the rational and logical positions taken by those who want simple choice, and I notice a tendency of the Management responses to sound an awful lot like the Lexus talking points. If I follow the logic of those who are so concerned with my/our safety, how about removing the mirrors on the back of the sunvisor so we won't get run into by someone doing their mascara (sp?). We should also disable the bluetooth whenever the vehicle is in gear so the cell phone addicts don't kill someone. How about a governor? I think we're limited electronically to 130 MPH and certainly noone needs to drive over 70, do you think? Come to think of it, the Mark Levinson system is downright hypnotic in it's induced cerebral euphoria- lock that baby out too, before I end up hitting someone in my mesmerized state. The point is, my LS460L replaced my 2002 LS 430 that had 100K trouble free miles on it and was my wife's, or dog's and my delight. The 460 is going to be just as good, or better, but it won't be because some middle management do gooder had anything to do with it. The engineers and manufacturing people at Lexus must be a significant cut above the rest. My dealer is an absolute gem and I have to really feel sorry for him having to work with the Lexus middle. The marketing group, or whatever you wish to call them, know that this is the only car I'll drive and they must take great pleasure in irritating me with their arbitrary decisions on what I can and cannot do. How come I can open the trunk with the remote, but I can't close it with the remote? How come I can't lock the car with the remote if it is running? Why can't my wiife find a POI while we're driving? Why doesn't the remote we carry set the seat position? Why do the interior lights not shut off after x minutes when a door is left open? My 430 had a foolproof system, they went out when the battery was dead- maybe we have fixed this on the 460. The new car cost us $15K more than the 430, what happened to my radar cruise control? I got Chevrolet cruiise, must be safer. I think I want to stay allive more than Lexus does, so why don't they just build the cars and forget all of the social engineering? The chances of getting the Social Protectors at Lexus to change any of their ways are about the same as my chances of throwing a rod in the 460 at 50K miles. It ain't going to happen. I think the only thing we can do is tell our story to the Powers polsters when they call, maybe we'll help the next guy.