Lexus RX 400h Audio & Entertainment Questions

higgins · May 2006

I was told by my dealer that a new Sirius was available to replace my standard radio. But found out from the parts department that a new radio is available but not for 440h because they are not wired for it.
I am a Sirius subscriber would like to know what others have done to add it to their system. I know I can have it installed with a "hanging" changer but I do not like to 'mess up" my dash.

HELP!!

maxamigo · September 2005

I have tremendous difficulty with Nextel-605 and the Rx400h, operation wise. The car just would not let me answer calls unless I am at a red light. And when the phone rings, I just can't stop quickly enough to answer it before it goes to voice mail.

Does anyone know of a way to override this restriction????

Oddly enough, it lets me make calls while the vehicle is rolling, provided that I store the number in 1-touch mode.

katzjamr · September 2005

All 17 one touch numbers can be dialed at any time after they are stored in the system. The only other way to dial out while driving is through your cell phone touchpad.

kaperino · October 2005

Do you otherwise enjoy the Nextel bluetooth technology? I am considering upgrading my Nextel phone and would like the input.

nigh · October 2005

I have tried to upload the contacts on my cell phone to the Lexus 400h telephone directory with no results... I contacted Motorola and they told me it could be done...Hummmm. Any comments?

hendjaz · October 2005

Its a VZW issue with the v710, not Motorola. VZW does not allow data transfer via bluetooth as it monetizes this through some of the features it offers for $$.

maxamigo · October 2005

I think BlueTooth is a great technology in vehicles. It's just that the Nextel ring is not long enough to stop the car and answer the call. By the time I stop, it'd stop ringing. RX400h software prevents me to answer (even one touch answer) while driving.

Downloading your phone book is great.

You may want to thorough check out the phone's functionality with bluetooth BEFORE you commit to it. Is there a way to do that??

maxamigo · October 2005

I don't have the V710, rather the Nextel i605 but I would guess the method is the same: You don't send the whole phone book. You send one entry at a time.

Also, most phones allow several numbers per person name (cell, home, work, etc.) However, the 400h only take ONE number per name. Bummer!

eabu · October 2005

What is the current navigation DVD version? I have version 4.2 and we bought our car in August 2005. We live in an area with new developments and the dvd info is almost useless here.

tsmith167 · November 2005

Your kidding right. What good is a hands free bluetooth telephone, if you can't use it while driving. If i have to pull over to use it, it would be easier to just put the phone up to my ear. Seems like Lexus is creating more danger instead of less.

gagrice · November 2005

If i have to pull over to use it, it would be easier to just put the phone up to my ear.

Hopefully all the states will make it illegal to use your cell phone while driving, period. Where I work if British Petroleum security catch you driving and talking on your cell phone you lose your right to drive on oil field roads. If you have a phone call you pull to the side of the road and talk. Cell phone caused accidents have surpassed driving while intoxicated accidents.

wantsrx400h · November 2005

You can use the phone while you are driving you just can't dial numbers unless you are going under about 2 MPH or stopped. You can, however, enter up to 17 numbers as 1-touch numbers and dial those while driving. One of these numbers is always the last number you dialed. You can certainly answer calls while driving and since all you have to do is push a button on the steering wheel to do this, it is quite easy. I love the blue tooth feature of this car. I find the sound quite good and no one has complained about it on the other end.

It would be even better if you could voice dial through the car, but if you can, I haven't figured out how.

I do think driving while holding the phone up to your ear is quite dangerous, but I can't see how using the speaker is anymore dangerous than talking to a passenger, especially if you are the kind of driver who looks at the passenger when you talk.

sdk43 · November 2005

Does anyone have an update on whether Verizon Blue Tooth phones work with the 400h and, if so, any tips on particular Verizon phones, techniques, etc.?

Also, FYI, our 400h is now at about 5000 miles and recent mileage, as indicated by the dashboard, is around 27.2 at 65 mph, on regular gas.

dadcat · November 2005

Regarding the NAV/Phone, I read that a Bluetooth phone can be dialed while moving via the NAV screen by cutting a wire behind the NAV screen. Warning: It may void your warranty. I have not tried this yet, but others have done this 20 minute procedure successfully.
If you do a Google search for "zube dial phone nav screen" you should find a reference to a poster named zube. He has done this mod to several different Lexus vehicles.

navguy1 · November 2005

The new areas take up to a year to get added to the map database. Once the area has been added they usually test drive the roads to verify the geometry, turn restrictions, etc. Getting turn-by-turn and voice directions is no easy task, and requires lots of resources to create a system that is safe to use.

hybrid3 · November 2005

I set up my bosses bluetooth phone(motorola model V600 from cingular)to his Rx400h. He's a physician and has a huge phone book, so transfering one number one at a time isn't an option, plus you can't dial it while driving. I told him to just place the call from his phone. He has no problems receiving calls, but when he makes them from his phone there's a delay in the transfer and people are hanging up during this delay of a couple of seconds. Anyone have any solutions for this? Anyone not having that problem? Could it be the V600, I just don't want to tell him to buy a different phone and it doesn't solve the problem.

I have an Acura RL and the bluetooth setup and phone seem better thought out. Plus the voice dialing is great. However I have a Treo 650, and haven't been able to transfer the phone book either.

hybrid3 · November 2005

I forgot to mention I talked him into this truck! He actually loves it, except for this problem

katzjamr · November 2005

I also have a treo 650 with my 400h, i tried to beam my phone book into it and noticed that there is a lock on that info in my phone. The customer service at Palm for the treo said it cannot be unlocked to beam the information. There could be a way to unlock this info in the phone by transfering the format it is in. Im working on it.

cessna2 · December 2005

: Re Bluetooth...I just purchased the 400h and already had the Motorola razor phone from Cingular in preparation for Bluetooth . When the Lexus salesman tried inputing my address book the first 2numbers worked then an entry kept coming in wrong time after time. It was a name entry with the number entry from another name entry. After deleting THAT number from the phonebook it just entered the number from another name again. The salesman said he would check with others to find out if it was the car or my phone. He called me and of course blamed my phone and said to go to Cingular and ask for a replacement. I will find out this week what Cingular says. If you know anything about Bluetooth and can help me please do. Thanks

lexrexblue · December 2005

I have a RAZr from Cingular, too and it works fine. However, the numbers must be stored on the phone (not card) and for whatever reason when you put transfer the number into the car, it duplicates in the phone's phonebook. Otherwise, the phone works great with the Nav. system.

cessna2 · December 2005

Thank you. I will go to Cingular this week and have them exchange my phone for a new one, it's obviously defective Bluetooth wise.

lxpatel · December 2005

I wanted to know if the Mark Levinson System will play MP3 cds on RX400h, i tried playing it but it shows the cd counter counting but no sound, is there something wrong, i did get the Mark Levinson Premium sound.

One other thing, how do you program memory seats?

katzjamr · December 2005

For the seats, turn the ignition key to the on position, put the shift selector in park, push the SET button on the door, hold it down and push button 1 or 2 and hold it until you hear the signal beep. it should now remember your seat position. this is from pages 247 and 248 of the 400h manual. my dealer did it with me as i was taking delivery of the car. as far as i know the Mark Levinson does not play mp3's, this and satellite radio were two larger exclusions to the 400h features.

i am also hearing do not put anything but a commerically made cd in the in dash changer, a home burned cd may not come out.

hibred · December 2005

Re useing a home built CD in the player.. I have 4 of the 6 that are copies and never had a problem.. I wouldn't be concerned.
PS Looove the car! mileage winter Western NY ~ 25-26 mpg less than summer.

bobgail1 · December 2005

When I give it a vocal command, "home", the navigation responds that it cannot do it and I should delete the "poi's"
I never entered any poi. What am I supposed to do to get it to navigate to my home? (Home is programmed)

katzjamr · December 2005

if your home is programmed then in the lower left hand corner of the screen will be a small icon like a flag symbol, if you push that it will program a way to home.

dadcat · December 2005

Of the many times I have tried to say "Home" to the RX400h Nav, it has only worked perhaps 1 out of 10 times. I have also tried varying the pronuciation of home to Homeee and Homma with some limited success. What has worked is to program in a Quick Access point for the home address and say to the Nav "Quick Access 1" instead of "Home" The quick access points seem to be understood by the Nav in better than 9 out of 10 tries.

mirex · December 2005

After several attempts at saying "Home" my nav system finally gave me a list of chinese resteraunts. I picked one and had a great meal. Had to find my own way home.

ghwin · December 2005

Instead of using "Quick Access 1", can you have something like "My Home" or "Home Sweet Home". If this is possible, it might work better when there are more syllables in the voice-print to distinguish from other entries in the database.

Just a thought-- since I'm very familiar w/ Voice Recognition technology but not yet an owner.

- Greg

ghwin · December 2005

Can the bluetooth be used to voice-dial by numbers? IOW, can you say, "Dial 555-1212"?

Or does it only dial from phonebook, like "Dial Wife's Mobile"?

Thanks,

- Greg
----------------------------------------------------
Am still evaluating the tech features of RX and also considering the Acura RL.

dadcat · December 2005

I tried your other phrases for Home, but it only recognizes "Home" or "Go Home". It reliably recognizes these two phrases if the climate control system is turned off and there is no other interfering noise. Under noisy conditions it just does not work reliably.

dadcat · December 2005

You cannot voice dial with the RX Bluetooth phone as you can with the Acura RL. Voice recognition on the RX is only for the NAV and climate control. Another RX annoyance is the phone dial keypad and the NAV destinations are both disabled while the car is in motion, except for the one-touch pre-programmed phone numbers. In addition, the programmed phone numbers are grayed out on the one-touch keypad while in motion, so you have to remember which of the up to 17 one-touch numbers is the correct one to dial.

BOttom line: The RX tech features are a generation behind the Acura RL's.

kap2 · January 2006

The touch screen on my navigation system is not responding to touch. Other functions in the system continue to work, including through voice, but no functions on the screen respond to touch commands.

Any thoughts or will this require a service call.

katzjamr · January 2006

what is the screen displaying when it has stopped responding. if the screen is totally blank its possible it was turned off. are you saying its frozen one one view?

kap2 · January 2006

The screen is not blank, although I can turn it off with the voice command. It will show any of the screens that correspond to the buttons below, but will not respond to touch. I brought it to the dealer and they are trying to figure out what to do. Sounds like a major fix is required.

Very disappointing for a vehicle with just 3,500 miles.

navguy · March 2006

If you look into the Navigation Quick Guide you will find some of the Voice Commands that the system will recognize. In regards to HOME try using "GO HOME" for a higher success rate. Lastly, I always recommend rolling up the windows and quieting the interior before making a command.

dadcat · March 2006

Saying "Go Home" works poorly too. It often puts up the icons for Golf Courses when I say that, except under perfectly quiet conditions (car stopped, engine and climate control off). The voice recognition system is just not reliable under any other conditions.

dsilver2 · May 2006

Has anyone been successful in trasfering the phone directory from a Motorola bluetooth phone to the car?

Thank you,

ke2fe · May 2006

I see icons on my gps screen. I have tried to delete them, but I can't seem to get them off. Do you have any suggestions?

dadcat · May 2006

Try activating the voice recognition button and saying "POI off" to deactivate the POI icons on the screen.

nigh · May 2006

I cannot put the entire phone number into the space for directions using the phone number..Any comments...

stevelx400h · May 2006

I heard that I can modify the software in my RX400h so that I can dial out on the phone and enter an address in the Nav system while the car is moving. How do I do this?

stevelx400h · May 2006

Page 123 of the 2006 Lexus Nav system manual explains how to do this. The problem is that it says you can transfer the address BOOK, but with my Moto RAZR I can only transfer one phone number at a time.

dsilver2 · May 2006

Thanks for the reply. That is exactly what I found, I had no problem bonding my Moto RAZR with the car but I had to transfer one phone number at a time which is a tedious process. I also have a BMW 530xi, which automatically bonded and transfered the whole phone directory which took less than 2 minutes.

nigh · June 2006

When I enter the phone number of my destination on the GPS, it will only allow me to enter 9 of the 10 numbers. Anyone have comments or suggestions?

fbrown · June 2006

I have a problem getting to the correct address. When the information is entered the system will take me near the address but never completely there. I am always about 1 block away but the system says you have arrived long before I get there. When I press MAP the address given never matches the address I am in front of. The dealer repair service claims this is OK. I never had this problem with my Mercedes SUV. Anyone else with this problem?

gagrice · June 2006

I think that is for a nine digit zip code. 92032-1001

PF_Flyer · July 2006

Another discussion you might want to check for help and advice on this is our general XM & Sirius Satellite Radio discussion over on the Automotive News & Views board.

vdoc · July 2006

I didn't use my navigation system much during the first 6 months I had the car except maybe for looking up restaurants. After I started using it more regularly I had several instances when I entered the exact address and either the system guided me entirely in the wrong direction or could not locate the address at all. These addresses were not in newly developed areas. They were in well established neighborhoods (30-40 years.) Some addresses it couldn't find were actually stores in strip shopping centers.
Last week I needed to pick up someone at National Car Rental at Miami International Airport, about 10 miles from my home. I entered National Car Rental and it gave me locations in Miami Beach (15 miles) and Ft. Lauderdale (35 miles.) I then tried entering it as National Rentacar. Again it gave me the same two plus Melbourne, Orlando, etc. (100's of miles away. No MIA listed. I went over to the dealer and showed them the problem I was having as well as some of the other locations it couldn't find. They said that the system was really sensitive and if you don't enter the name or address exactly right, it will not find it. WE finally did find the National Rental Car in Miami. Here's how we did it: Category - Travel-Rental Cars - National. National Rental Car was listed in the system as National-Miami International (nothing about cars, rental, etc.) We also looked for a chain grocery across the street from the dealer. It couldn't find it but it found a dozen other of the company's stores within 25 miles. We then went back and put a hyphen in the name and it found it. Point is, if I am spelling the name wrong why did it find the other stores? It's all really absurd. All of these instances were in and around my home town. If I ever got into an area where I was really unfamiliar (that's when you need the system) I might really be in trouble. Has anyone else experienced this kind of behavior? :confuse:

dadcat · July 2006

That is what I observe too, but it is normal for the Nav system to give you advance warning that you have arrived, so you don't go past. If you glance at the map when it says you have arrived, you should see that the target address has not been reached yet.

umytbnext · August 2006

I bought an RX 400h three weeks ago. Mine has every option BUT Sirius. I too wanted the in-dash look, but my dealer said the same thing - no Sirius for the hybrids. They also cautioned me about having anything installed aftermarket. With nearly 200kw of electricity under the hood, it's extremely dangerous to mess with any of the wiring.

I wound up going to Radio Shack and buying a Sirius S50. It is amazing. The FM modulator is extremely clear - I would say it is definately CD quality sound. I have it plugged into the 12v outlet on the floor between the front seats, and I keep the unit in the center console. I can't find a very good place to mount it, I like the "factory" look.

I have an XM Roady in my Nissan Armada. The FM modulator on the Roady is HORRIBLE - the sound quality is like AM radio (in MONO!). Thankfully the Armada has an auxillary audio jack, so you can run a 1/8" cord into it. I was somewhat puzzled that the RX 400h didn't include an AUX jack or an iPod port.

Maybe someday Lexus will release a satellite upgrade for us. Until then, I'd say go with the Sirius S50. You will NOT be sorry!!

Drew

Lexus RX 400h Audio & Entertainment Questions

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