Cathy

When you turn off the engine the steering wheel and seats will retract to allow more space for you to exit the car. Side mirrors will fold up. Motion happens in reverse when you sit in the car and start the engine.

Is there a way for me to turn off these auto features to save their motor life?

sivikvtec

For the steering wheel, either the dealer needs to do it or you need an app like Carista if you trust it.

vinnier6

The mirrors only auto fold when you lock the doors...I have that turned off as well as the seat moving...the steering wheel is a dealer setting

praetor

Turn off easy exit in Settings. But I wouldn't worry about the motors wearing out. Motors have a shelf life measured in hundreds of thousands of hours.

sivikvtec

One of the steering wheel motors wore out on my old GS400, it definitely does happen.

vinnier6

That only disables the seat, not the steering wheel

semar

would this not work: Set the steering wheel configuration and then pull the fuse?

bclexus

Wow - I've never heard such a thing! If you kept your car for 25 years (when it becomes classified as an antique) the chances that your steering wheel motor will fail are nil.

Let me get this right - you bought a $50,000+ luxury automobile and you want to turn Off some of the motorized features to 'save their motor life'. Just who are you saving their motor life for?

You do realize that these motorized features are common to most medium priced and above vehicles nowadays, don't you?

sivikvtec

If you don't need the wheel to move out of the way, is there any reason to risk the failure when the car is around 12 years old? My old GS was 16.5 years old when I traded it in, it is conceivable that someone could save a considerable amount of money by doing this.

However, I have not decided whether to disable this feature on my new one. I agree that it does seem kind of silly to disable a luxury feature to save money, but then again the repair is very expensive if the motor stops working.

SW17LS

I personally agree, I think disabling neat features and touches like the auto retracting steering wheel and the power folding mirrors to save on the possibility that they may one day fail is silly. The point of buying a car like this is to enjoy all the little features, the power tilt away wheel is one of my favorites personally. Do you need it to do that? No...but luxury isn't about need...

FWIW, look around the old model forums. They do fail from time to time, but the repair on an old car isn't expensive. usually its something jammed in the gear mechanism, and if its a motor, buy a junkyard motor....or a new motor is $280 on parts.com. Or...just drive it with it not working at that point instead of repairing it.

ItzFilyO

All ur doing is saving all the good stuff for the next owner. Just use it and drive the hell out of it cause u only have one life to live.

Allen K

iTrader: (4)

That's the argument I used against my mom when she wanted to put seat covers on her ES

praetor

I'm sure it does happen. I know people that have had engines and transmissions go out in 20K miles also. But that's not going to stop me from using my car how it was meant to be used. Odds are on our side.

SW17LS

Things wear out over time when you use them, but if you're not going to use all the features and attributes of a vehicle like this I don't understand why you'd pay for one...

praetor

Badge and bragging rights. LOL