lx470 nightview night vision experiences

[gregc]

My wife had eye surgery a few years ago, and she's been more and more bothered by oncoming headlight glare...especially with those hid headlights, on dark rainy nights, etc. * She's been driving an '03 Sequoia that's served us well, I had an 80 a couple years ago. The lease on my truck (a crappy Dodge) is going to be coming up in about a year, so I'm trying to get some ideas about replacing her rig.

I've been looking at the Lexus Nightview system, and wondering if anybody had experience with it on-road in "real world" conditions.

TIA,

G

* OBVIOUSLY if my wife & I thought that she couldn't see well enough to drive safely she wouldn't be driving after dark (or at all). I saw this technology and want to hear from owners about how well it works (or not).

 

[Jim_Chow]

Although I haven't driven w/ the LX night vision, infra-red night vision (which the LX one is) has amazing capability. You don't even need headlights to see!

 

[jditom]

My friends LX has it and he loves it.

But it won't help with oncoming HID's.

 

[gregc]

There are really two situations I'd think this would help:

1) animals near or in the road, like moose or deer. This is the example the manufacturers always use, and we've got deer overcrowding in New England lately.

2) oncoming traffic causes glare so you don't see a pedestrian, cyclist, etc in the road (they always seem to wear dark clothing, too). I'd expect the IR system to "highlight" the person, making you look twice.

A forward-looking IR system like this sounds like a good answer.

I know most of the folks on the list tend to be more off-road purist types, I appreciate the opinion that it helps some people.

I'll have to visit a Lexus dealer to try it out one of these days; We're probably doing to be looking at a 2003-2004 truck.

-G

 

[Jim_Chow]

Be aware that a replacement windshield for the nightvision is likely to be $$$ (can check w/ the dealer parts guy), so make sure you have full OEM glass coverage.

 

[tech_dog]

I have the nightvision, and it's somewhat useful. I wouldn't call it a huge advantage.

On long remote drives, I've found that it's slightly better than flashing the brights, and you don't have to flick it off for oncoming traffic.

I also found that it does a decent job in fog.

I just got a small chip that I'll probably live with, but will soon have a quote on a new windshield. My appointment is on Monday next week.

The only reason I got the nightvision was that I'd waited two months for my vehicle to come in, and when it arrived the dealer was surprised that it had nightvision. I essentially got it for almost nothing by complaining. I didn't like the looks of it, since it looks so "aftermarket" and messes up the lines of the dash.

Now I'm glad I have it, but it's still only mildly useful.

 

[jwestpro]

Did any of you ever move to the newer 570 model (2008+) which appears to have dropped that option?

 

[PADDO]

Did any of you ever move to the newer 570 model (2008+) which appears to have dropped that option?

It was dropped much earlier than the 570s. I've got it in an 03, pretty sure it was dropped in 2004. Definitely didn't make it to 2005.
Edit. Seems it may have been an option in 05s, thought it was only around for a year or so.

 

[ChuckB]

Interested to know the replacement cost. I have it on my LX but don't have a lot of real world experience using it.