corradoMR2

Starting to consider the RC in exchange for the IS. One concern I have is the automatic drop of the window by a half inch when you open the door.

Any issues or concerns with ice or hard snow interfering with the operation?

jowsleyyy

iTrader: (1)

Wish I could help, but I live in Houston.

But IMO it should not be a problem

tfischer

It's no problem. In fact, it's there to prevent problems when closing the door. I don't know what kind of problem you are imagining, but you are catastrophising. In fact, the only time I have noticed this feature is the slight noise of the window going up after closing the door. If this half inch of window movement were the biggest problem a car had, that would be the best car ever made.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

certain cars have this feature since there is no framing when the door is open to reinforce the window. If the window didnt roll down half an inch the door is being slammed against the seal and could break the window. Could just watch the window when you get out to see if it moves or not, and close the door gently.

corradoMR2

How about this?









Freezing rain happens often enough here and despite being able to park the car indoors overnight, I'm stuck parking the car outdoors at work. And the catch 22 is to get the ice scraper, I'd have to open the frozen shut door or trunk. Of course, I may need to carry an ice scraper with me in the office on those rare days as the solution...

tfischer

Wow! That's a lot of ice.
When parking, turn on the defrosters and the wiper heaters just before stopping the engine, then use the App to start your car from the office 15 minutes before you leave. (Also, I'm pretty sure that the mirror heaters/defrosters do not work when the mirror is folded in like that.)
OR: get a battery powered hair dryer.

corradoMR2

Yeah, we get some thick ice forming and this is my concern if accidentally the door handle is pulled by someone while the remote fob is in proximity and the window attempts to roll down the half inch... can the glass shatter....?

No Enform or Lexus Remote App available in Canada so that's out. I'd need one heck of a high-powered battery-operated hair dryer to melt a quarter inch of ice!

sajonf

hundreds of cars have had this feature in recent years and I have never heard of an issue.

jowsleyyy

iTrader: (1)

Could you install a remote start? Like a Viper or something of the sort?

tfischer

Someone slept through physics class. Moving the window up or down is not going to cause it to shatter. The problem would be that the ice would prevent the motion and put strain on the motor. Surely this has been factored into the design. My guess is that there is a clutch in there.

corradoMR2

Several years back, I experienced this first hand in my dad's Mustang when trying to roll down the passenger stuck window. Granted, we're talking about a completely different quality of vehicle and circumstances. It was a summer day, manual window, and the window jammed for no apparent reason and while torque was still applied to the stuck window lever in an attempt to free the motion, BANG, window was in hundreds of pieces. Thankfully no one got a piece anywhere near their face and was mostly on my mom's legs. The lesson here is that the motor "my mom" (I was in the back seat) exerted a force greater than the strength of the stuck glass resulting in the shatter.




I agree on your logical assumption of the existence of a clutch or some other fail safe to avoid the above, therefore how confident are you to test it out, if you had the opportunity?

@jowsleyyy. Might be a viable option to get a 3rd party remote start. Thanks for the suggestion.

tfischer

The next time my RC freezes inside an ice cocoon, I'll open the door and let you know what happens.
Watch this space for annual updates.
PS: It's been a long time since I (or any of us, I bet) cranked open a car window. Do you remember when those things fell off their tracks and you had to open up the door to move everything back into place? That seldom happens on these swell Lexus cars.

Kelmin

I'm quite familiar with this issue.

Having owned a few 3 series BMW, Mercedes E-Class coupe, and Cabriolets.
I've had this issue more than a few times during winter months throughout my travels in Canada & Europe.

Obviously it would be better if we could all park in underground heated parking, but not everyone has this luxury.

I decided my best solution was to get extra ice scrapers to keep handy.
One for the office, one for home... Just in case.

Just make sure to clear the ice off around the window frame edges, and you'll do just fine.

IF you run into the problem where your windows are smashing into the door frame, stop what you're doing and jiggle the window a little to see if it will go down a bit.

Sometimes, the windows have frozen and gotten stuck open, and sometimes they've frozen and gotten stuck in the closed position, causing the window to smack into the outer door frame upon closing.
This is how I discovered the issue, as I didn't notice the window not going down upon opening of the door. (my fault)
I then had to start the car and crank the heat inside, as the ice melted the window would work properly again.

I had been laughed out of the office when I first raised the issue.
(I used to work at one of said luxury car maker's head office)
Needless to say, once my other colleagues started receiving their vehicles, they weren't laughing at me any longer once they had the same issue.

corradoMR2

@Kelmin, thanks for your real-world experience and writeup. Having extra ice scrapers handy at the office is the best thing to do.