Sat Nav updates

[tim_2111]

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, but I can't see if it has. 

Does anyone know what the current sat nav update is? I have 2018 and don't want to contact Lexus just yet is I am liable to be drawn into updating it and don't want to if not necessary. If anyone does have a 2022 version, can I ask how much it cost?

[DBIZO]

Hi Tim - sucker for Lexus satnav here too. Try and check on your Lexus portal if you've got one, but also make sure you know which multimedia device your car's got. 

For my 2015 IS 300h, the latest map data available is 2020 Q4, so at best 13 months out of date, more likely 15-18 months out of date - the update was released only last fall. Your car, I think, has no more recent map data than 2019 I should think, but I'm unsure, I couldn't find a good resource to verify it - it should be really simple, and it isn't. 

The update costs something like £169 I think, which is steep. Not sure it's worth it in your case unless there is a more recent update available. Last time I managed to negotiate into a service out of a complaint I had for free. That was just a few months ahead of the latest release, so my map is probably 2.5 years out of date by now. Driving across Europe, where they're still building new motorways apace, it might be a problem, you're flying above the meadows according the satnav, or worse, you're not taking the fastest route available. Happened to me around Strasbourg this winter.

There are also third-party websites where you can download maps for much less (say 60 quid), but then you need to know which version you've got, how to install it, etc. There are manuals. This is not a recommendation, only FYI!

Good luck!

 

[Texas]

Tim, your profile states your 250c is 2009, so is that a disc (DVD media update) based system or a HD (SD card media) one as this is about the time when it changed, bearing in mind your car was built in Japan way before it was registered in the UK.

[true blue]

Hi Tim ,I'm pretty certain your car will have the disc ,mine is the later model and has HDD system which can only be done by the main dealer ,Lexus informed me this is no longer available .     Go onto http://www.lexus-mapupdates.eu/home/index put in your disc number and they will tell you the price if it is available .

Dave

Edited January 28, 2022 by true blue
2 nd link removed no longer live

[Beamish]

Mine is a very early build 250C ( May 2009 ) and has the HDD system so I imagine Tim's will be the same.

Disappointing to hear that this particular system can no longer be updated.

Dec.

[ahmedali44]

Mine 2009 is250 saloon got cd .did update few years ago from a company online not from lexus.off top of my head was company in Germany posted discs .still working had no issues yet .think paid 65 delivered .found posting from 2016 .. If u go into your sat nav need to check if it's gen 3 or 5 sat nav .mine is gen 5 .good luck let us know probably need to update mine too as got  it's 2016-2017 atm .

[Texas]

Think you’ll find that the last disc (DVD) produced was the 2017-18 version.

[LenT]

On 1/28/2022 at 10:02 AM, tim_2111 said:

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, but I can't see if it has. 

Does anyone know what the current sat nav update is? I have 2018 and don't want to contact Lexus just yet is I am liable to be drawn into updating it and don't want to if not necessary. If anyone does have a 2022 version, can I ask how much it cost?

This is a very recent discussion on map updates.  In my case, as you may see, I didn’t think the cost was worth it as I have an excellent Garmin system with free quarterly upgrades.   Neither was I attracted to an alternative option - replacing the entire system.

Basically the Lexus offering is clunky and tedious to use, and pretty much out of date when you install it.  Why a Company that can source its in-car entertainment system from the likes of  Mark Levinson but can’t find a respectable sat/nav is an automotive mystery.

[Mincey]

1 hour ago, LenT said:

Basically the Lexus offering is clunky and tedious to use, and pretty much out of date when you install it.  Why a Company that can source its in-car entertainment system from the likes of  Mark Levinson but can’t find a respectable sat/nav is an automotive mystery.

I feel a Mincey Anecdote coming on...

Many years ago I was involved in a business sense with a chap who thought he was right about everything. He had a Tom Tom sat nav which was, apparently, the best thing in the world, and the only sat nav which could be relied upon. I remember him sticking it onto the windscreen of my second IS200 before we went on a business trip somewhere and it hitting my sat nav lid as it opened, resulting in a deep scratch. I took even more of a dislike to him after that. Anyway, the Lexus sat nav managed to keep pace with the wonderful Tom Tom unit. Both decided to take the same route, and the timing estimates were comparable.

Fast forward a few months, and he decided that he had to have a Lexus. This was to replace a grotty MG ZS (?) estate which leaked like a sieve. He had to have an RX as it was the only thing Lexus offered apparently, which would take a bag full of golf bats. Had I known he was into golf, I probably would not have gone into business with him. 

I recall the first trip we made in the RX. All he did was moan and moan and complain and whinge about the sat nav and how inferior it was to the sainted Tom Tom unit. It was not long before I'd had enough. Had he set it up I asked? "Set it up?" he replied? He hadn't of course. All the speeds for the various roads were way below what they should have been. I changed them for him and guess what? All the estimated times suddenly became much closer to the mark. Golfers. They're almost as bad as cyclists....

Anyway, that's all by the by. I would just like to go on record to say that I would not spec a car with Sat Nav again unless it came as part of say, a high end entertainment package or there was no choice. I'd stick with Google maps. It's easier to enter addresses, it's quicker and updates are free and frequent. Plus there's all the traffic flow info too.

[ahmedali44]

In my personal opinion don't even need sat nav in cars as Google maps are really good also get updated regularly. Needed  25-40 yrs ago as no 1 had phones. I needed it back in days but was very expensive to have it installed so learnt good old way A to z