Lexus is the third car brand we have owned that comes with a mobile app (Ford and Subaru were the others). How does the Lexus app compare?

Plusses:

I like having he service history and service alert on the app;

I like the owner's manual and warranty info available via the web; however, those things are already in my glovebox and I don't have to wait for them to load (the owner's manual can sometimes take forever to load);

Minusses:

I think the current tire pressures should be accessed via the Vehicle Health Report where such things as the oil level and smart key battery status reside;

Recent trips usually don't show up until 24 hours after the trip is completed. The myFordMobile app displays trips in real time as soon as the ignition is switched off. And, it shows the MPG for the trip, and the number of miles driven on the hybrid battery;

A biggie. The Lexus app shows the "Last Parked Location," but does not show where the car is while the engine is on. So, if by chance, my RX 450h were to be stolen, I wouldn't know where it was until the engine was shut off - which could be hundreds of miles away. If the app reports the "Last Parked Location" immediately after the engine is shut off, why can't it show the current location when the car is moving? The Ford and Subaru apps both have this feature.

A Final Aside:

When a trip is posted, Lexus gives you an overall Driver Score on a 100-point scale. You are penalized for "fast acceleration," harsh cornering," and "harsh braking." Those terms are not defined. The "harsh cornering" algorithm seems to be a little off. Several times, it has dinged me when I made a left turn after a stopping for a red light! But, most often, it dings me for "harsh cornering" when I make a turn only lightly hitting the brakes - even when I take a corner at 5-10 mph. Fortunately, it does not ding me for coasting downhill. The Ford app (for my 2017 Fusion PHEV) would do that, and, if I coasted more than once during a trip, a warning message would come up on my dash saying I needed to rest before proceeding.

 

I rarely use the hard copy manuals. I have the manuals in PDF and stored on my iPad or cloud for easy access. Plus I can use word search to find all references of the word or topic. What I don’t like, is in the old days, you could search other models and years of Lexus. Now you’re limited to your model and your year.

In the app, buried in there is descriptions of events. Not sure if this what you mean, but here is an example:

“What is a harsh cornering event?

A harsh right/left turn event with a lateral acceleration of 8.5 miles per hour per second is considered a harsh cornering event. The Driver Score card will show the total number of harsh cornering events over the past 30 days.”

I agree the information is very limited in the health report compared to Lexus competitors and tire pressure would be nice.

 

Oh, a bit of a complaint. Lexus has had so many apps and none really to brag about, but is landscape mode so difficult? Some only in portrait mode.

 

The remote start function has been very wonky for quite some time now. Every morning when I go to use it I have to log back in with username and password even though I have checked the "keep me signed in" box previously.

 

I had single digit success rates for the app remote start in my '15 GS. Not ideal in the winter.