Voice commands

[Mark Woodward]

We have a new (Dec 2016) GS450H - very pleased with it but some of the plentiful features seem a bit 'half-baked'. We had a top spec 2012 Volvo S80 before, this had most (but not all) the GS450 features and they all worked well e.g. the road sign recognition system worked 100% whereas the Lexus equivalent misreads abut 40% of speed signs (Lexus admit that here may be n issue with this). The radar/detection system for the adaptive cruise control doesn't seem to 'scan' as well as  the Volvo system and misreads traffic a little resulting in occasional un-needed heavy braking etc. As I was driving last week, I thought I'd try the voice command system by saying 'Go Home' - I was quite impressed when the satnav seemed to respond correctly but I couldn't understand why guidance hadn't started - a brief glance at the screen showed that I needed to select which route to take (avoid motorways, tolls etc.) - I wasn't in  position to start messing around with the 'mouse' device to select the on-screen options thus the whole exercise was a waste of time - is there a 'work-around' for this?

[AmbroseJohn]

I have a 2008, so not as modern as yours. I can turn the heater up and down and turn audio on or off but I've pretty much given up on the rest. :)

That nice lady doesn't understand me and when she does, she say the command is not available in this screen. 

[NemesisUK]

In the setup menu for the Nav system one can turn off route selection, or set a default.

If you don't have a manual for the Nav system you can download a PDF version from the Lexus customer portal

[Britprius]

Coming from a Prius Tspirit to the Lexus GS I found the voice control system to be identical so I was ready for it's foibles.

The system is not as intuitive as it should be, but once you have all the settings to your requirements it does work well. I agree sometimes the message "this command is not available in this screen to be a useless piece of information. Why could the voice not say change to the required screen "naming the screen" or even better change to the correct screen.

I regularly use the command "home", and the navigation has never failed to respond correctly. 

John