halwid

After reading some of the posts on this board, I'm beginning to wonder if our Voice Recognition is working properly. Even using the book and saying exact phrases very carefully we're not getting proper responses. We don't think it is our speech patterns, as I have been in the radio business for many years and my wife was a teacher before getting into Real Estate. Being originally from the Midwest we think our "accent," if any shouldn't be a problem. Is there any way to test the Voice Recognition?

We passed on the XM install due to the price. $ 650 is highway robbery for an XM receiver, or any in-car receiver. If you want XM or Sirius in your Lexus that will operate just like the dealer-installed unit, check out Ebay. $ 279 for the unit and you can take it to almost any aftermarket installer.

Perhaps I should revise the statement so you can understand it. As a person spending money on a product, we should have the right to enjoy ALL the features of the product without limits created by others under the guise of protecting us from ourselves. How we decide to use the product and avoid causing problems for others by it's use is a matter of personal responsibility.

After reading a number of posts I think we have the only 2007 ES 350 that isn't having some sort of transmission problem. Our car is less than a year old with just over 17,000 miles and has served my wife well as her Real Estate car. No surging, just smooth shifts. Our only problem so far is that the seat will not adjust to individual drivers automatically. Mirrors work fine, but the seat has quit. I'm sure this is an easy fix for the dealer under the warranty. I agree with those who say there isn't enough light in the car at night unless you position whatever it is you want to read directly under the beam of the overhead lights. Lexus should have put an overhead light somewhere in the rear seat area that would have created more ambient light in the cabin. I won't continue the Navigation system lock-out discussion except to say that we're all big boys and girls, and if we choose to have our Nav system operate to accept input from the touch screen while we're moving, then give us the choice at purchase time and require our signature on a hold-harmless clause. My Acura TL allows this input and I don't believe the Honda legal staff is any smarter than those attorneys at Toyota.....or maybe they are. When you're out with clients showing 10 or more houses in a day, it sure is easier to put in new addresses on the run. We have found that the voice activation isn't as good on our Lexus as it was on my wife's 2002 Acura or on my 2007 TL. As far as the Bluetooth stuff, I can't comment as we haven't used that yet, but will now that my wife has a cell phone with that feature. The things we like best about this car include a roomy cabin that seats 4 adults with space to move around, terrific in-town mileage (we're getting 24-25 around town), adequate power whether you're in town or on the Interstate, and an overall feel of comfort. This isn't a sports sedan, but I don't think that's where Lexus was going with this model. If you want to rock and roll get an IS....an Acura TL or something more exotic.