No Postcode Search On Satnav / Se-l Without A Wood Trim?

[japthree]

In this week's Auto Express page 17 there's an article on how factory fitted sat-navs don't have (full UK 7-digit) postcode entry and it states Lexus don't have any postcode recognition facility on their IS250/220d.

Does anyone explain the logic of not having this functionality -- is there any advantage? After having a go on a friend's new 3-series I phoned BMW about their Navigation system having no postcode entry either and BMW replied that actually postcodes change and gave an example that his address had changed its postcode in the last month -- so what's the point of postcode input!? Is this true? The postcode is the most important bit of the address for the Royal Mail and I doubt it changes unless in some extreme circumstance? (similar to phone numbers).

Why does a £120 TomTom or Navman have postcode input but a £2710 Lexus sat-nav doesn't?

On a different note I detest the wood trim on the SE-L; does Lexus have plans to do the SE-L without it?

Edited April 20, 2008 by japthree

[chandru]

that information is actually wrong. I have emailed autoexpress on thursday and await their reply! the satnav systems in the IS (2nd gen) do have a postcode search facility..4 digit search. then you choose the street name that comes under that postacode, if you wish to use it that way.

i cant imagine post-codes changing much if at all, but then again i dont work at royal mail :)

[Geoffers]

Without paying for it, you can't see the latest postcode changes but there are quite a few surprisingly. (Outside of new build areas)

HERE'S the latest free one.

It wasn't so long ago that the whole of the Wirral changed to CH postcodes.

I don't think its a very good reason though. Maybe there are more than we think and because its not as easy to update as the portable ones, they don't do it.

I've also don't like the wood trim in the SEL. I thought it would grow on me but I still don't like it.

[Mincey]

that information is actually wrong. I have emailed autoexpress on thursday and await their reply!

I did too. Let's hope they print a grovelling apology!

[saracen]

My better halfs Discovery 3 has full UK postcode entry so it is possible.

[Sagitar]

that information is actually wrong.

If they are claiming that the Lexus satnav does not have full seven digit postcode entry, they are not wrong - it doesn't.

A full postcode entry system is far more useful in my experience than the four digit "district" approach used by Lexus. Many of the remote addresses that I visit (farms etc) are on un-named roads and do not have a number. The Lexus system is pretty useless at finding them whereas my Tomtom 910, with full postcode entry, finds them in a blink. The Tomtom is actually better in a number of other ways too, but that's another story.

My understanding is that the full postcode information is significantly more expensive to buy into than the truncated version.

It seems to me to be a very fair question to ask why an aftermarket device costing a few hundred quid is better equipped than the much more expensive Lexus device?

[chandru]

thats not what they are claiming. They are sayin the lexus is satnav hasn't got any post-code search facility.

[BosniaLexus]

The IS250 satnav does have postcode search, but it is a pain in the neck as it does not allow the full postcode. It is XXX_X and if you do not know the area (which is the whole point of postcodes) then the facility is useless. Also the POI facility does not contain the UK lexus dealership network.

[SiWhite]

... BMW replied that actually postcodes change and gave an example that his address had changed its postcode in the last month -- so what's the point of postcode input!? Is this true? The postcode is the most important bit of the address for the Royal Mail and I doubt it changes unless in some extreme circumstance? (similar to phone numbers).

As others have said, post codes do change (I used to live in GU13 and it became GU52) but that doesn't mean the old post code location won't work. Just as I remember the old and new post codes for an address I lived at 8 years ago I'm sure others do too. So for post code navigation give out the old and new codes.

I suppose the most accurate way is to navigate to Latitude and Longitude co-ordinates (which the Lexus system can do) but how many of us know our location in that context?

[Mincey]

Also the POI facility does not contain the UK lexus dealership network.

Mine does....

[Sagitar]

thats not what they are claiming. They are sayin the lexus is satnav hasn't got any post-code search facility.

I haven't read the article and presumably you have?

This is what the original poster said:

"In this week's Auto Express page 17 there's an article on how factory fitted sat-navs don't have (full UK 7-digit) postcode entry and it states Lexus don't have the facility on their IS250/220d".

It is this statement to which I was responding.

Whatever Auto Express said, it is still my opinion that the Lexus satnav postcode facility is disappointing for a top-of-the-range marque.

[japthree]

I've edited my message above as it was misleading. Page 17 actually states in the article's table that Lexus has NO postcode recognition for its IS (which is clearly wrong!) and that BMW has 5-digit postcode entry for its 3-series. Now my friend who has a 2005 3-Series (E90) with Professional Navigation his sat-nav doesn't have any postcode entry (it's greyed out on the screen) so unless the current 2008 versions have newer software/etc this is in error too!

Auto Express' journalist needs to do his homework before printing such stuff!

[chandru]

thats not what they are claiming. They are sayin the lexus is satnav hasn't got any post-code search facility.

I haven't read the article and presumably you have?

This is what the original poster said:

"In this week's Auto Express page 17 there's an article on how factory fitted sat-navs don't have (full UK 7-digit) postcode entry and it states Lexus don't have the facility on their IS250/220d".

It is this statement to which I was responding.

Whatever Auto Express said, it is still my opinion that the Lexus satnav postcode facility is disappointing for a top-of-the-range marque.

think u took it the wrong way m8y. was just commenting :)

as far as it being dissappointing..cant comment as havent used anyother marques' systems. only had a tomtom one..and think the lexus one is better in some ways...like the way it highlights your exit routes on motorways etc and also the position on the motorway till your next service stn etc etc and also TMC is useful :)

[Parthiban]

I've used quite a few different satnav systems now, and imho the Lexus/Toyota one is by far the best. Yes Tomtoms have loads of different features and functions, but when it comes to simply doing the job they were designed to do (navigate!) they aren't the best.

I don't really know why they don't have full postcode search, our Merc doesn't have it either, and the argument about postcodes changing doesn't really work either as what happens if the first part of the postcode changes?

I read somewhere about the extra cost of getting a license for full postcode search but I can't see how that would put these huge manufacturers off........

In many ways I find the non-postcode entry in my 2002 IS more straightforward than the postcode entry in our 2007 Prius as in both you have to end up typing the street name, but in the prius you also type in the postcode so overall it takes longer to program.......

[japthree]

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpr...de_lottery.html

Here's the article (without the table of manufacturers) which appeared on the website yesterday.

[Sagitar]

I've used quite a few different satnav systems now, and imho the Lexus/Toyota one is by far the best. Yes Tomtoms have loads of different features and functions, but when it comes to simply doing the job they were designed to do (navigate!) they aren't the best.

I don't really know why they don't have full postcode search, our Merc doesn't have it either, and the argument about postcodes changing doesn't really work either as what happens if the first part of the postcode changes?

I read somewhere about the extra cost of getting a license for full postcode search but I can't see how that would put these huge manufacturers off........

In many ways I find the non-postcode entry in my 2002 IS more straightforward than the postcode entry in our 2007 Prius as in both you have to end up typing the street name, but in the prius you also type in the postcode so overall it takes longer to program.......

I am on record as saying that the Lexus IS250 satnav is good on motorways - but then I don't normally have much trouble navigating on motorways.

However, here is a real address that I visited for the first time recently:

Lodge Farm, Tetbury, Gloucestershire GL8 8XW - it is an excellent B&B if anyone is interested.

It is the complete address. There is no road name, because the farm is on an un-named and un-numbered minor country road as you will see if you enter the postcode into Google Maps.

I cannot find any way of entering this address into my Lexus satnav, so I cannot even start to find it.

The Tomtom 910 with full postcode entry (it doesn't need anything else) identifies it with ease and and gets me to within a few yards of the entrance gate.

For my purposes this is an acid test. I want full postcode entry - you may not.

[chandru]

guess not every system is perfect. Know a few tomtoms and other makes that when inputting my works postcode in take it a few miles down the road. But the lex one takes it exactly where it should. Strange.

[Sagitar]

guess not every system is perfect. Know a few tomtoms and other makes that when inputting my works postcode in take it a few miles down the road. But the lex one takes it exactly where it should. Strange.

If you are using the Lex system, you must be putting in more than just postcode information, because it will not find an address from the postcode only.

Try putting the full postcode into Google maps and see what position it identifies. Sometimes the postcode system has errors that give a discrepancy between the postcode and the indicated position on the ground. No satnav will find the right position from the postcode alone if there is such an error. I have never found the errors to be very large, but it sounds as though you might have one?

Would you mind sending me a pm with the full postcode so that I can try it?

[Geoffers]

Slightly off topic and I wish it took complete postcodes but what I do now is have a look on Google maps, get the GPS co-ords and put them in.

Takes me exactly. Even to a point in the car park I click on! (Unless you type them in wrong like I did yesterday and it wanted to take me to Berlin.....)

Tetbury is lovely - I stay in the Hare and Hounds quite a bit.

[MeOfLeeds]

Like Sagitar I too have had to go down the Google route (actually it was Multimap but let's not split hairs) to get somewhere off the beaten track. At new year we rented a cottage in Northumberland which was literally in the middle of nowhere. The only way I could enter it into the Lexus satnav was to enter the Latitude & Longitude. I double checked with my old TomTom and it went straight to it from the postcode.

I have to admit that for pinpoint accuracy, the full post code method is far superior, especially if you're in a large industrial estate and there are no numbers to the companies address - especially one in Wimborne I visited recently

Personally, I'm not overly impressed with the satnav, especially considering its price (yes, I know you get Bluetooth and ML etc) though I do find the Petrol Station POI function handy as I always try to fill up at a BP garage to get my Nectar points!!

[chandru]

guess not every system is perfect. Know a few tomtoms and other makes that when inputting my works postcode in take it a few miles down the road. But the lex one takes it exactly where it should. Strange.

If you are using the Lex system, you must be putting in more than just postcode information, because it will not find an address from the postcode only.

Try putting the full postcode into Google maps and see what position it identifies. Sometimes the postcode system has errors that give a discrepancy between the postcode and the indicated position on the ground. No satnav will find the right position from the postcode alone if there is such an error. I have never found the errors to be very large, but it sounds as though you might have one?

Would you mind sending me a pm with the full postcode so that I can try it?

the postcode is cv7 8jg. looked at google maps and looks like it has the wrong position relative to that postcode. ive had numerous people that turn up to my work place say i put that post-code in my tomtom and it takes me a few miles down the road to some care home. lol

[Sagitar]

the postcode is cv7 8jg. looked at google maps and looks like it has the wrong position relative to that postcode. ive had numerous people that turn up to my work place say i put that post-code in my tomtom and it takes me a few miles down the road to some care home. lol

My Google search comes up with the Royal Court Hotel - is the map showing it in the wrong place? The 910 indicates exactly the same coordinates so it seems clear that they are using the same mapping data.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=l&hl=e...=15&iwloc=A

If it is shown in the wrong place, then the hotel should make a fuss because it is the mapping data that is in error not the GPS.

Incidentally, I checked Multi Map also and it shows exactly the same data.

[chandru]

ya map is showing it in wrong place. how do u get the co-ordinates from that link? and who would u make a fuss to? and lastly by inputting that post-code in google maps i just get on the results page "cv7 8jg" how did u get royal court hotel?

[chandru]

correction published in this weeks autoexpress on page 45! :)

[Dreaded]

what I do now is have a look on Google maps, get the GPS co-ords and put them in

Can anyone tell me where I can find the GPS co-ords on google maps? Have they changed it as I cant seem to find them!