Why does my Elgrand talk to me?

[simonhmorgan]

I drove a Toyota Noah recently, and loved the friendly Japanese lady that welcomed me everytime i started it up!

 

[Magical Merlin]

You will probably find that it is saying "insert card please". Kādo o sōnyū shite kudasai. カードを挿入してください

 

[bboy_h]

I wondered what that was! Thanks for the clarification! Can't imagine I'll pull mine out - took much work!

 

[Lezboss]

Gotta love Japanese roll roads

 

[Hunty]

Knight rider jdm style?

 

[JHP43]

This is what she advised me when I left work the other night.
She normally greats you when you first start with a polite hello, tells you the date and then asks you to drive carefully today.

I've not had any toll reader tellings off from her at all (yet)

 

[AzAel76]

This is what she advised me when I left work the other night.
She normally greats you when you first start with a polite hello, tells you the date and then asks you to drive carefully today.

I've not had any toll reader tellings off from her at all (yet)

Oh that's fantastic. How did you manage to catch it in translate? Was is said multiple time that day?

 

[JHP43]

Oh that's fantastic. How did you manage to catch it in translate? Was is said multiple time that day?

Google Translate - make sure that its set Japanese to English then hit the little microphone icon about a second after the audio system 'pings' on and you should be able to capture her dulcet tones. She generally speaks to you the first time you start her up in the day and after about 02:00 Tokyo time she asks you to stop driving after drinking haha....
If your phone bluetooth is on as soon as you start up then you don't always get to hear her

 

[SmithySmith]

It's not always about tolls: Do over two and a half hours driving in an E50 and she'll say very politely "Mouhachijikan untenshimashita, go-kyukeishimasenka?" Which translates to: "You have been driving for more than x hours. Would you like to take a rest?" My partner speaks Japanese and this would always make her chuckle. Sadly since rewiring a new head unit in she seems to have lost her voice.

 

[Billboyo]

I have tried using Google translate as she's talking but so far have just managed to catch the date at the end need to work on my timing

 

[johnnywong]

The sat nav talks also

Yes, it sure does!!!. For a couple of weeks my Elgrand talked to me constantly in Japanese. It was driving me crazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzy . I eventually discovered that an address in Japan had been selected on the SATNAV. It must have been me when I was mucking around. What a MUPPET

 

[cjholding]

It's not always about tolls: Do over two and a half hours driving in an E50 and she'll say very politely "Mouhachijikan untenshimashita, go-kyukeishimasenka?" Which translates to: "You have been driving for more than x hours. Would you like to take a rest?" My partner speaks Japanese and this would always make her chuckle. Sadly since rewiring a new head unit in she seems to have lost her voice.

On the E51 the guide voice is generated by the Nav unit and wired to dedicated pins on the back of the headunit. It's probably the same on the E50, and although not impossible would be fairly challenging to reinstate.

 

[ExpatAndy]

In some Elgrand's, especially when they are freshly imported, you may find that when you start the ignition you have a Japanese woman talking to you.

In this case, no she is not telling you how great you look today, or that you should not operate heavy machinery whilst tired... what you are actually hearing is the Japanese Electronic Toll Card Reader (commonly referred to as the ETC Reader).

This device, in Japan, allows people to put in their bank card, and then when they use toll roads, they are automatically charged. Saves scrambling for loose change, dropping it down the side of your seats etc. It's a very good and efficient system, but completely redundant in any other part of the world.

So you have 2 choices.

1/ Remove all the wiring to the device and either sell the unit on/give it away* or throw it away.

2/ Keep it in for the novelty and/or JDM points

*the reason you may want to consider selling/giving it to someone else is that there are a lot of people that like them for the JDM factor. These are electronics that are used over there and they can be somewhat of a collectors item to some people.

I’m a bit disappointed that she’s not telling me how good I look.
We make up phrases each day to guess what she’s saying. My favourite is “Stop listening to the woman next to you. She’s lost. “.
not sure my missus liked it as much.

 

[Parky1987]

Kept mine for JDM points!!

I didn't know what it was or what it was saying, trying to time switching on the ignition and syncing Google translate was fun! Got it eventually and it was a friendly "no card inserted"

Every time I start the engine, my kids do a fed up "yes we know there's no card inserted!", makes me smile! My step daughter is about the teenage stage of getting into quirky Japanese stuff, so I get JDM dad points too!

 

[Morysh]

Is there an easier way to than removing the whole unit to stop the voice ? Like remove a fuse or unplug a cable ?
All the tools I have are a flathead screwdriver and a pocket knife, so the easier the better

 

[Klager23]

I actually dig it! Definitely a conversation starter with guests

 

[Clint05X]

So does anyone know what she is actually saying?

 

[Toronado]

Will confess I was a little disappointed when this didn't happen in ours!

 

[ollydj]

YEP, MINE TALKS TOO, BUT NOW IN ENGLISH AS I HAVE FITTED THE XANAVI CONVERSION.
THE VOICE RECOGNITION ASKS IF YOU WANT NAVIGATON, RADIO E.C.T. & HELPS TO INPUT INFORMATION FOR ROUTES OR MUSIC.
THE ONLY DOWNSIDE IS, AS WITH ANY VOICE RECOGNITION LOCAL VARIATIONS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARE NOT ALWAYS UNDERSTOOD SO AS WITH GOOGLE OR ALEXA, HEARS SOMETHING AND THINKS SOMETHING ELSE.

 

[Foresty100]

googles JDm... comes back to forum to say ahhhhhhhhhhh thanks
I definitely like hearing hear - I have convinced shes saying hi and drive safe..