rhythm

Well, here I am replying to my own post about this, 'cause although it got 112 views, absolutely no one replied. At first I was amazed, like "Is this forum useless, or is it true that 112 people have nothing to say on this subject of speech commands." Then as I dug deeper, talking to a tech at the dealership, calling Lexus directly, I began to realize that detailed information about Navi and Voice command systems is hard to come by, 'cause Lexus is really cagey about this info. Even the service rep at Lexus said my '05 RX330 had the latest version of Navi/Voice on it...it doesn't, it has verison 4, later models definitely have v.5. So I'm posting this more as info for anyone else who's Voice Commands didn't work right or couldn't get the right list and wondered about this stuff. According to my dealer, version 4 is woefully inadequate compared to 5. The available commands list is less than half the size of v.5, and the damn thing screws up at least 50% of the time. No matter how clearly I speak "destination" (which is indeed one of the available commands on v.4) the thing replies, "Gas Station icons now showing"; this is one of scores of examples of it misreading my very clear diction. In essence, it's all but useless. Upgrading to v.5, which is much more intuitive and does a much better job of translating your requests, is a nightmare. It requires a complete removal of your whole Navi system, with tons of rewiring and computer reprogramming to put the new one in, very expensive, most dealers simply won't do it. So if you've got a v.4 like me and it sucks, fuggedaboutit, you're stuck with a primitive kluge. Of course, not having good voice commands is no reason to return the whole caar, it's still a Lexus! But since voice commands are part of what they promise, and were added at a hefty price that you had to pay for, it would be nice if they actually worked. Glad they seem to have finally gotten it right on 07's, for all of us who own the eariler versions, we were essentially just Beta testers for Lexus.

It's FWD, (bought in So.Cal., not too many AWDs here, it's all highway driving, no off-road). I guess I don't understand what AWD has to do with having heated seats, why they would leave it off just 'cause you've got FWD. I can see that with the car height thing, since you can only raise to high height when driving under 30 on very bumpy roads, but seat heating should be universal. By the way, since you're a Guru, perhaps you know about problems with Voice Commands. I posted about this over a week ago, had 85 views, not one single reply, starting to wonder if anyone here knows about Voice Commands. If you do, or know of someone who does, I'd love a reply to that post. Thanks

My RX330 ('05 w/navigation) doesn'e have any buttons for the car height adjustment or the seat heaters. There's nothing on the wood panel behind the shift knob except the AC outlet. My owners manual sez it there should be. Perhaps only on the super-ultra-limited package, but I do have Navi so I thought mine had all the bells & whistles except DVD screen and Mark what's-his-name speakers. Anybody know?

Anyone here know about the availability of the gold lettering package. Is it available aftermarket; can you remove/replace the lettering and Lexus emblem yourself?

Fuel Economy... Seems like a wanky decision. Other brands I've owned - Chevys, Volvos, etc. - held their AC just fine and didn't reduce FE that much when AC was running. Some people (like me) don't want to run AC all the time, don't love the feeling of refrigerated air, like natural air better, so it's an intersting trade-off they chose. Just curious, do you (or anyone) know how much MPG the RX decreases when running AC?

Thanks for that info, wwest, I'll try adjusting temperature setpoint to maximum cooling (I'm assuming you mean to just choose the lowest possible temperature on the climate screen) "Toyota and Lexus exhauster ports are designed to severely LIMIT cabin air outflow. That was the only way they could get decent FE and still run the A/C full time, don't allow the conditioned air to leave the cabin" What's FE???

Recently bought an RX330, great car, love driving it overall. It is not complaint-free however, and some of Lexus' choices just don't make sense for such a refined aurtomobile: Road Noise - The inner cabin is whisper quiet, but on all but the silkiest of roads, you can hear a pretty consistant grind of the tires or wheels or axles, I'm not sure which...on some roads it's so grindy and tactile, it sounds like your rolling down the road on the rims sans tires. Feels cushy enough under there, just noisy, why couldn't they handle that? No Left Leg Room - As on most Toyota products, there is an angled, rubber-padded foot support for the driver's left foot. Toyota's had this forever, my wife's '93 Land Crusier has it. Resting your left foot here, which bends your knee up, is OK for a while, but on longer trips you want to fully stretch out your leg. Can't do it, there's no space to put your extended foot. If you try extending it to the inside of the foot suport, your leg gets cocked at a funny angle and your foot ends up underneath the brake pedal, not good. You can, of course, power the driver's seat back to the point where your leg is at full extension while resting your foot on the pad, but by then you're too far from the steering wheel, which they made extendable, but not extendable enough, unless you've got Mr. Fantastic's arms. Japanese folks are short, and they seem to have trouble designing non-claustrophobic seating for the American market. Audio/Voice Navi System Weirdness - The stock audio system that comes with the RX is mediocre at best. The EQ choices are minimal, the speaker choices are cryptic - POS FRONT, REAR, ALL, DRIVER doesn't tell you which speakers actually on or off, and even with speakers and EQ chosen for most power, it still sounds kinda canned and not like a fine audio system. My RX doesn't have the Mark Levinson, but threads here say it's still not nearly as good as a better aftermarket amp and a couple higher end speakers. I don't even know where the amp is located in this car, how much RMS power it's throwing, or where a sub-woofer is installed, if there even is one. And what's with a tape deck!!, This is 2007 for chrissake, who the heck listens to tapes anymore?! How come they made sure there was a tape deck, but neglected a simple front-mounted Aux In plug for your iPod?! The audio design dept. is obviously from another era (pre-Elvis!) The Voice Navigation on my RX is a total disaster. There are supposed to over 100 voice commands the system easily recognizes, but Lexus makes it arcanely difficult to get a complete list, or to even identify which version you're working with. Lexus Customer Service told me I had the "latest version 4". 4 is not the latest version, there is a version 5, but they didn't tell me that. In order to get a full version 4 list, I had to search it on this forum. The list Lexus directs you to, the Help screen on the Navi System itself, doesn't even list half the available commands. Worst of all, it consistently misreads my voice commands, offering me POI icons and other crap that's nowhere near the words I spoke. And no, I don't have an accent, and I speak very clearly. Virtually useless! This is a hot car...but this is a HOT car - In So. California and other hot climates, the ventilation system quickly shows its inadequacy. The inside of the car starts out hot on sunny days...not abnormal, but driving on a beach highway at 69 degrees outside, with windows up and AC/Recirculate off, I cannot cool down the cabin just with the regular vents open. For some reason, the air coming through the vents is decidedly warmer than the air outside, almost as if the engine is heating it up first. Opening the windows at 75mph would be too loud, and I can of course turn on the AC, but I shouldn't have to when it's only 69 outside. Toyota makes stuffy cars. Voice your own thoughts/responses if you have 'em

New owner of Certified RX330 here. Having mucho trouble with voice commands, as such: First, when speaking many commands, the system often gives something completely else, usually turning on POIs I didn't ask for and that don't sound ANYTHING like the words I spoke. So I printed out a "list of voice commands" posted on this forum. It seems some are just not available in my system. For example there is a whole section in the list for PHONE commands, but my Help Screens command list doesn't even have a PHONE Category, and the one for CLIMATE is greyed-out and unselectable, only NAVI, DEST, POI and the like are available. So my 330's navigation doesn't accept any voice command like "Dial Number" or "Phone". Bummer, I would have liked to have voice dialing. 1. Does this mean that PHONE category and other missing commands (like ICONS OFF, mine doesn't have that, either) are only available in later versions, like the nav system in RX350? 2. If so, is it possible to upgrade, easily, to a later version? Is it software upgradable or does the entire hardware have to be puled out and replaced? Wouldn't that be mucho expensive? 3. If not, can anybody post a list of voice commands the 330 SHOULD have, just so I can compare it to what's on my HELP screen and make sure there nothing missing or defective with my navi system. One dealer asked if I ever got the "quick voice command reference card" with my purchase, but I didn't and can't find such a thing. Just for the record, does anyone know what are all the different versions of the navigation/voice system since Lexus started offering, and what imporvements were added with each new version? Thanks for responding, whomever is clear about all this!

Just got an 05 RX330, was delivered without owner's manual. The dealer will send out a new one in several days, maybe a week...meantime, is there a place to download a .pdf version, or any other version I can view, from online?

Just got an '05 RX330. My previous vehicle had an after-market Pioneer, no aux plug in front, but an aux adapter in back, which you could run a cord from to input iPod. Does the RX stereo deck have any similar aux in jacks in back that would take an adapter cord? If so, is it easy enough to pull the radio out to get to the back and plug in the adapter? If not, what are best solutions (not counting using the tape cassette to transmit the iPod, which sounds crummy). Thanks