Infotainment licence expiry

[Chammers]

May I politely ask other LC500 owners what they do/did when the infotainment licence expires (in my case it was after 3 years & 4 months)? Do you simply cough up for a new licence?

And if you do, how long does that last? 

[Herbie]

1 hour ago, Chammers said:

when the infotainment licence expires

Never heard of that - what is it?

[RiverFred]

Ditto, never heard of it.

[Brian R]

Hello Colin

Not heard of that before and I'm not aware that any "licence" on mine has expired. Could you be thinking of the Lexus Link app and the "connected services"?

[Chammers]

For clarification - I believe the satnav licence expires after 3 years and you have to pay £200+ for renewal + a fee for the latest database update.

[NemesisUK]

I believe new cars come with free sat nav updates for 3yrs there after one, as yous say, can purchase database (map) updates as and when they become available, usually twice a year(?)

The infotainment system will function perfectly even if one should choose not to update the sat nav database. The only 'downside' being new roads/roundabouts/junctions etc, etc won't be shown. Not usually a massive negative tbh.

Personally I would update but maybe only every two years. 

 

[DavidCM]

I had my finger poised to reply,but Peter beat me to it, probably word for word.

The only thing I could add is that Google or Waze maps from your phone are much more up to date and free(if you have a reasonable data allowance).At least that's my plan for about a month's time when my 3 years are up.

As an aside,if your 3 years are up soon,you will also lose AA cover.I've just noticed that Lexus badged cover with AA has gone up to £150 pa. I must check if there's any difference between the levels of cover between AA/Lexus.

[MNMJ]

On 1/25/2023 at 9:17 PM, DavidCM said:

As an aside,if your 3 years are up soon,you will also lose AA cover.I've just noticed that Lexus badged cover with AA has gone up to £150 pa. I must check if there's any difference between the levels of cover between AA/Lexus.

Lexus roadside assistance used to come with the extended warranty. Now they are doing the Relax system where the warranty comes with Servicing, you need to buy breakdown cover separately. The Lexus one includes a partner and gives me cover when I am a passenger, or driver, in any car. I think it is good value

[Chammers]

For clarity here is the information I have received from Lexus re satnav update:

• all Lexus models come with a 3 year licence (used to be 1 year)
• when expired you buy a new licence and are then able to download updates (usually twice yearly)
• a new 1 year licence costs £175.40 - includes updates
• a new 3 year licence costs £280 - includes updates
• the questions were answered in relation to an LC500, but may apply to all models

 

[Malc1]

Methinks this is a bloody cheek for Lexus to charge for this essential facility in any car let alone a super dooper Lexus

...........and for ordinary mortals driving ordinary Lexii ........... I use Google maps for free on my Iphone ...........  and as above it's 24/7 updated 

AND  ............. I have RAC cover that includes wife/mistress/partner and me and her driving ANY car ( well either of our 2 anyway ) and I believe even covers if one of us is a passenger in any car that breaks down .........  that car is RAC covered at that time

Oh, and my Full Breakdown etc and Overseas cover is FREE  ...  coz I've been a Member for ever now, well, in excess of 50 years  

 ............not a bad loyalty bonus eh !   BUT you have to be quite ancient to get that bonus 

Malc

[Herbie]

2 hours ago, Malc1 said:

Methinks this is a bloody cheek for Lexus to charge for this essential facility in any car let alone a super dooper Lexus

It's especially cheeky knowing that the Lexus navigation is horrible, clunky, outdated and outmoded.

To the OP - either use Google Maps, Waze, Sygic or something else on your phone, or if the infotainment system will take Android Auto or apple Carplay, install that and use Google/Waze/Sygic through that.

I'm not sure about Sygic but certainly Google Maps and Waze are freely and frequently updated at no cost. Waze is my personal favourite and not only are the maps updated very frequently, other 'Wazers' can, and do, upload live updates about roadworks, traffic jams, and other problems or hazards. For example, if someone sees a roadworks site just being set up, they can have that information uploaded and live on the map within a couple of minutes.

[BrettMRC]

I think this will become more and more normalised as people use Android Auto or apple Car Play.

[JeffL]

2 hours ago, Malc1 said:

Methinks this is a bloody cheek for Lexus to charge for this essential facility in any car let alone a super dooper Lexus

...........and for ordinary mortals driving ordinary Lexii ........... I use Google maps for free on my IPhone ...........  and as above it's 24/7 updated 

AND  ............. I have RAC cover that includes wife/mistress/partner and me and her driving ANY car ( well either of our 2 anyway ) and I believe even covers if one of us is a passenger in any car that breaks down .........  that car is RAC covered at that time

Oh, and my Full Breakdown etc and Overseas cover is FREE  ...  coz I've been a Member for ever now, well, in excess of 50 years  

 ............not a bad loyalty bonus eh !   BUT you have to be quite ancient to get that bonus 

Malc

Agree. Ridiculous charge for updates. I use Waze on my Iphone, no problems and cost nothing. I too use RAC for breakdown cover and as you say it covers me, my wife and as passengers in any other car. Haven't got a mistress though 🙂

[Herbie]

2 hours ago, Chammers said:

For clarity here is the information I have received from Lexus re satnav update [...] all Lexus models come with a 3 year licence (used to be 1 year) [...] when expired you buy a new licence and are then able to download updates (usually twice yearly)

Now it all becomes clear   You originally wrote:

On 1/24/2023 at 6:29 PM, Chammers said:

May I politely ask other LC500 owners what they do/did when the infotainment licence expires

It's not an infotainment licence (which would imply that the whole infotainment system would stop working if you didn't renew the licence) but merely a licence for the map updates. As mentioned earlier, my advice would be to ditch the Lexus maps anyway.