tonyguy200

I was driving my new ES350 home from Los Angeles and stopped to get a bite to eat. I was in a rush when I got to the restaurant and turned off my engine while the shifter was in drive (I never owned a car that could do this, it always needed to be in park in my other cars).

When I opened the door and got out, since my car was on a small incline, the car preceded to roll backwards. Thankfully I was able to jump in and apply the brakes. Boy, did that frightened me. Has this happened to anyone else? How can an engine be turned off in any gear and just park? Is my car normal or is something wrong?

I WILL remember to shift into park for now on.

Thanks. Tony

Carbsumer

That's awful news, because I have the uncontrollable urge to press that Start/Stop button while driving. It just stares at me, whispering, "Press me. Press me."

I assumed that nothing would happen if you had it in gear.

sarge43

Could there be a speed sensor issue here where you cannot shut the car off while in gear AND in motion vs. being parked/stopped?

Either way, I agree this is not very safe functionality.

I've shut the car off while in neutral (in the garage) without issue.

tonyguy200

What bothered me weas that my car was on an incline and it rolled. Your car was able to be turned off in neutral aslo? If you were on a hill it would roll also.
I need to call lexus and see if this is normal. Do you know if it is?

ckon

Yes, it's normal. All cars can be turned off while in gear - at least I've never seen one that couldn't.

Nextourer

Yeah you can turn off the engine while in gear. My dad did that when US border told him to shut it off. He couldn't start the car because he left it in gear lol.

At least on the Prius, pressing the button automatically sets it to Park. I guess that's one advantange of the shift-by-wire.

On the Prius, if you press the POWER button while the vehicle is in motion, it'll beep twice and go to neutral. The same happens if you shift into reverse or press Park, it'll beep and go into neutral. Pretty fool proof.

theredkid

This is normal. I did that quite a few times too when my car is still in gear D after fully stopped.

Cali_Girl

This topic was discussed in the IS forum. As I recalled from that discussion, even if you press the start/stop button while the car is in motion, the engine will not turn off if driving more than 7 miles or something.

Ingram4868

and if you accidentally turn it off while still rolling, will the steering wheel lock?

Carbsumer

OK, who's going to try it?

AlexusAnja

What cars have you owned that you could not turn the engine off while in gear? I don't have a post '99 vehicle, but everything I've ever owned I've been able to switch the engine off while in gear. It's not a safety defect persay, the safety is to not be able to start your car unless in "N" or "P"

MD350

Being able to turn a car off while in drive or while driving is a safety feature. I am glad that you ARE able to do so. As I mentioned in another thread, I was driving a 1984 Pontiac 6000 many years ago and the gas pedal got stuck. I tried to push the brake, but that did not work well. So, I cut the engine off and rolled to a stop on the shoulder.

As to the ES, I thought that I read that you can hold the button down for 3 seconds while driving and the engine would cut off.

Ingram4868

Page 95 of the owners manual in the caution box says pressing and holding the button will stop the engine. There might be another reference to how long you need to hold the button in one of the other manuals.

toneman

Agreed; after all, why do many motorcycles and personal watercraft have kill switches as part of OEM equipment? Even although the method of doing so isn't exactly the same as that w/ automobiles (i.e., passenger automobiles don't typically have kill switches), the end result is the same--being able to kill the engine while vehicle is in gear/motion.

tonyguy200

My original issue with this is that when I stopped at the restaurant to eat, I pushed the start/stop button without shifting it into park ( I accidently left it in drive), so when I got out of the car it started rolling backwards. I was driving a 94 Camry before and it wouldn't let me take my keys out unless it was in park. I will now remember hopefully to always put it in park and use the emergency brake before exiting the car. My camry never rolled backwards after exiting.

Thanks for all the replys.