Sport with navigation?

[chadg803]

Has anyone seen any Sport models with navigation available yet? The dealers here can't tell me when or if they can get them, and no one seems to have any kind of timeframe. If anyone has any info on this it would be appreciated!

[summerwind]

Dealers agree on a build ahead configuration by model for each area.
I would guess that they feel that Nav is best suited for a Limited buyer in your area. Most dealers will share with you what your district's configurations are. For instance it would be hard to find a front wheel drive HL in my area.

You probably will have to order one and not be able to take advantage of the inventory in the pipeline.

[akira751]

Originally Posted by chadg803

Has anyone seen any Sport models with navigation available yet? The dealers here can't tell me when or if they can get them, and no one seems to have any kind of timeframe. If anyone has any info on this it would be appreciated!

That was the first 08 Highlander i sold a 2wd with nav. It really depends on your region.

[chadg803]

Originally Posted by summerwind

Dealers agree on a build ahead configuration by You probably will have to order one and not be able to take advantage of the inventory in the pipeline.

I did ask the dealer about ordering one with the options we wanted but they said that wasn't a possibility and that we would just have to wait until one showed up in the area.

I'm glad we're not in any hurry to buy or this would be kind of frustrating!

[summerwind]

Originally Posted by chadg803

I did ask the dealer about ordering one with the options we wanted but they said that wasn't a possibility and that we would just have to wait until one showed up in the area.

I'm glad we're not in any hurry to buy or this would be kind of frustrating!

Sounds like you need to find a new dealer.
It is always possible to order what you want.

akira751, what is your experience regarding time if a customer wants a special order??

[Fishballs15]

I agree with others here - it depends on the area. I've seen them here before.

[summerwind]

Off topic but.....

We had a friend up from San Jose this week.
She was visiting her mom in another part of town.
She rented a Monte Carlo with navigation.

Just to see what it would do she put in our address and pressed the go button.

As expected the Nav-Nanny told her directions that would put her on I5 in gridlock traffic.

As she is familiar with the alternate routes to avoid the mess, she took the alternate path.

The Nav-Nanny would say "RECALCULATING ROUTE" as she proceeded along.

She must have got the Nav-Nanny mad as it finally went into a "TURN LEFT, TURN LEFT" panic mode before she finally just turned the Nav-Nanny off.

Too funny.

I quess that is way nav is not a big option in my area. All the nav programs route via main highways that are plagued with gridlock and the locals take non-published routes around the mess on the freeways to go from point A to point B

[akira751]

Originally Posted by summerwind

Sounds like you need to find a new dealer.
It is always possible to order what you want.

akira751, what is your experience regarding time if a customer wants a special order??

It depends on the car, Highlanders are made in Japan so special orders are very hard. But most of the time 4 to 6 weeks.

[becks]

Chad,

In NY I could have ordered what I wanted from my dealer but, I would have waited about 6-8 weeks....So I took one from stock and just plan on buying a Nuvii 750 this month or next when they hit the internet sellers. I wanted a Limited and those that were coming in with Nav also had the DVD...which added $2k+

[PaulW]

Originally Posted by akira751

It depends on the car, Highlanders are made in Japan so special orders are very hard. But most of the time 4 to 6 weeks.

Highlanders are made in Japan but a custom order shouldn't that hard. It really depends on the dealer's willingness to do it.

A couple of weeks ago, I custom ordered a Sport 4WD with Nav, leather and 3rd row delete. The dealer took a deposit and said the vehicle should take 100 to 120 days to arrive. There is also the concept of a preference which allows certain changes to a vehicle already in or slated for production. This takes 6 to 8 weeks if doable.

Finally, Sports with NAV are an existing option combination in the Ohio region. I have no idea what's so special about Ohio that they get these. I guess it's just another example of the idiocy that is Toyota's region system.

[skeezen1]

Does anyone have a link to any specs or brochures on the NAV unit on the 08 Highlander? The Toyota site does a terrible job representing their features (as far as I can find.)

Thanks!

[MNOutdoorsman]

I know when I was researching the Highlander, I found the iGuide to be very useful. Not only does it show video tutorials, but you can load the manuals, as well. It answered all my Nav questions...
http://www.toyotaiguide.com/

[travheat]

We also wanted a sport with Nav and the digital rear air option since there is always someone in the back seat.We found that getting the NAV in Tennessee was no problem, but paired with the rear air was a nighmare. So we put our money doen and ordered one, we waited 3 months and there was still no answer on when it would be in. If you have extreme patience then order, if not or if it is for your wife just find a dark cave and hybernate or atleast look at the other trim options. I found myself ony paying about $1,800 more for a limited.

[DenverBrian]

Originally Posted by skeezen1

Does anyone have a link to any specs or brochures on the NAV unit on the 08 Highlander? The Toyota site does a terrible job representing their features (as far as I can find.)

Thanks!

I can give you at least a few facts on the NAV, as I have one in my '08 HL Sport.

It's an 8" screen - biggest Toyota's ever had. Otherwise, it functions essentially the same as previous Toyota NAVs. This year there's an additional language - you can now choose English, French or Spanish.

There is a voice activation feature that is acceptable for basics like "nearest gas station" or "nearest restaurant," and doesn't require any training, but otherwise it's a bit complicated to use. Most of the time I enter a POI (point of interest) or address and then follow the voice's instructions.

You can enter 100 of your own specific map points if you wish. It also has a calendar feature that seems particularly useless to me, but YMMV.

The '08 screen is at a higher resolution than previous versions and looks very good, but for this year they've reduced the amount of color options. In previous versions, you could choose one of four different color schemes to display the maps. This year that feature is gone.

Also gone is any way to disable the ridiculous Toyota feature that prevents input above 5 mph. (Although you can still fiddle with the touch screen radio controls to your heart's content at 90 mph. I never understood this Big Brotherism from Toyota.)

Ask if you have other questions and I'll try to answer.

Another poster was complaining about the NAV routing someone onto a (horror) interstate! Puh-leeze. First of all, the NAV always gives you a choice of routes - fastest, shortest time, most use of freeways. Sometimes these are all the same, but usually they're not. You touch a button called "3 routes" and select the one you want. You can also route "via" as many points as you wish by zooming in/out on the map and touching a via point. That way you can avoid the awful congestion that somehow the NAV is supposed to know about in real time.

My Highlander came with the version 06 nav DVD loaded. The new version 07 should be available imminently, though probably for $250 or so. I've heard that in the new DVD version, you no longer are forced to touch "accept" at startup every time. In the new version, the disclaimer screen appears and then the map comes up automatically afer a few seconds. Thank God - it only took Toyota 6 years to figure that one out. Now if they would just treat us all as adults and allow us to input destinations while moving.

[travheat]

Mine has the 07 version and you are correct about the accept feature, but you still have to look at the disclaimer for 30 seconds.