Anyone else have a bad experience with the Nav and Bluetooth in your Lexus?
When my wife and I went to purchase a brand new 2007, fully loaded RX350, our expectations were high.
In addition to some luxury, she wanted reliability in both the vehicle and a Nav and Bluetooth system.
While we were taking delivery, the customer service rep (part of the sales team), began showing us the various details of the features. The Voice Recognition (VR) of the NAV system was not recognizing some simple commands. My wife became relly nervous and wanted to stop the deal. One of the sales manager calmed her down, indicating that they would work with her on the VR (it was late in the evening) and he also hand-wrote a note on a Due Bill, indicating they woud take back the vehicle if the VR did not work to our satifaction. The next day, they sent a sales rep out to our house to assist with the VR. None of the adjustments he attempted worked. We then brought the vehicle to a Lexus dealership closer to our home. The tehcnicians that worked with my wife indicated that there is a known problem with the VR and the NAV system in general and there was nothing that could be done. The problem was, and is, that my wife really likes the car! So we followed up with Lexus corporate. The customer "satisfaction" rep informed my wife that they would provide an updated DVD at the time of our choosing.
To make a long story short, we didn't return the vehicle, but gave Lexus additional opportunities to fix the problem.
BTW.. I work with VR systems and whomever programmed the Lexus (Toyota) system should be fired... it is very poor at voice recognition ( you can say "Upland" and it will keep saying back "Hopland"). Also, the inability to use the touch screen to enter an address or number while driving, is BS; you can do that in a Hond (or Acura) as well as many other cars. Yes, I know there is an override out there.
It is bad enough that the Voice is a "chatty Cathy"; the route and directions sometimes take you out of the way. Example, the route to Las Vegas is very easy in Southern California. Basically, just take the I-15 North until you get to Vegas. Our route preferences indicated to allow highways, yet the NAV system kept telling us to exit the freeway and take side and/or frontage roads!
Come July, we had had enough, since the VR for the Bluetooth is the same as for the NAV. Not recognizing names, etc.; this is especially important given that in July 2008, hands-free use of cell phones in vehicles is mandatory. It then becomes a safety issue, if the vehicle can't connect you while driving. The system has difficulty recognizing both names and numbers; and yes, both my wife and I tried it, we do not have accents, I enunciate clearly, and we've had other friends and family try it.
We contacted (via mail) the West Cost Lexus Corporate division with our complaints and concerns. They offered us the 10k and 15k service at no charge, plus the new DVD. We wrote back that was unacceptable (and insulting) and requested they repurchase the vehicle. After a couple of weeks, I received the paperwork to complete (asking me for copies of documents they and the dealership should already have); they also indicated it would be a 4 - 6 week process. Over the next three months, we had to contact them, they never contacted us.
To make a long story short, we are now scheduled for an arbitration hearing; we want them to either repurchase the vehicle, or reimburse us for the NAV package.
The moral? If NAV and Bluetooth are important to you and you must have a Lexus (or Toyota for that matter) DO NOT purchase the NAV system as an option. An aftermarket system (such as the Garmin NUVI) works a great deal better.
If you're not in love with the Lexus, then look at the Acura; it's a bit more money, however, the NAV system works great.
BTW... the VR systems in the Mazda and the Infiniti (Nissan) are just as bad.
My biggest beef with Lexus is their attitude towards customers who have legitimate complaints. If I do not receive a satisfactory outcome from the arbitration hearing, I may considering filing a class action suit.
