I know many Lexus owners are frustrated that Lexus dropped the ball on this 3G sunset debacle. After back and forth and no solution with Lexus I started looking for add/on aftermarket remote starter. I have since installed 3 for RX350 and will do one for a GX460 for my family. So far it has been great. Much better than Lexus OEM 3G remote starter. It's faster, more reliable, and the GPS is precise. It's also free for the 1st year and less than $40/yr after that.

This is NOT an advertise post so I will not name the company here. If you need help installation / configuration or with words of encouragement then ask. I can tell you that it is so easy to do.

 

I have an aftermarket starter on my Matrix. It works great

 

so please edumacate me...so this solution would use 3G to perform the remote start, hence the monthly subscription fee?

i would think there are companies out there are interface to the factory keyless entry to use that remote instead of data, but i don't know too much about this tech.

 

Don’t know about 3G. Mine is just key fob. Works from a few hundred feet away.

 

Aftermarket remote starter exists for years (that is likely what CTJill has). Most are 1-way with limited range since it makes NO SENSE to have a 1-way remote that works up to 2 miles because you can't really see the car. High-end systems have 2-way communication that can work up to 3 miles as well as cellphone capability with "unlimited" range.

@timmy0tool The system I installed above is "similar" to the OEM system. it does NOT have the 2-way remote communication. It uses the OEM key so its communication range is the same as your OEM keyfob. It also has the cellphone capability so its range can be "unlimited". It uses 4G LTE so it is faster / more reliable than Lexus' "Old 3G" system. It's also much cheaper than Lexus' "old 3G". The downside is it costs about $400 while the Lexus system is included with the vehicle.

 

The remote I have in my Matrix is one way. Yes old. And I don’t have to restart my car like I do my 4R. When I added a second alarm to my 4R, we did add the remote option but it is not activated, it would be two way and it would work on the Clifford app. This is just what OEMs are not offering

Only later did I find out that we have both a app based remote start in the 4R from Toyota and the vehicle also has a remote based starter that doesn’t need the subscription (and Toyota doesn’t say a thing about it). It was hidden