lesz

I think that is an excellent point. If the driver's seat motor is worn out and dies in year 6 of vehicle ownership, it will likely be because of 6 years of usage and not just because of usage in the week before it failed. After thinking about what you have said, I'm going to disable mine. Up to now, I've left it enabled just because "it is an available feature", but I actually find it annoying to have to wait the few seconds for the seat to stop moving, and if leaving it enabled is potentially causing wear to the motor, there is little reason for me not to disable it.

Being able to do things like disabling auto seat movement and auto steering wheel tilt are good examples of why I hope that you are able to develop a version of your app that will work with older GX, LX and other older vehicles.

Newer vehicles, like the current generation ES, allow the user to change most customizable settings, and I find that there are very few, if any, settings that can only be changed by the dealer that are of any importance to me. On the other hand, with my older GX, even basic settings, such as turning off the sound made when the vehicle is locked or unlocked with the key fob, can only be done by dealer. Thus, I would find more value in your app for use with my Generation 1 GX than I would find for using it with the newer ES.

Further, I think that there would be a significantly expanded market for the app if it worked with the older generation Lexus vehicles. If you look on the model forums here, you will see that, with the older generation vehicles, the people who participate in threads are more likely to be people who are inclined to tinker, to do mods, to do do-it-yourself fixes, etc. On the other hand, those who participate in current generation forums are more likely to be inclined to enjoy their vehicles the way that they came from the factory and without do-it-yourself tinkering. Thus, I am hoping that we will see a version of the app that will be compatible with earlier generation vehicles. Until or unless that happens, I am happy to have the Techstream software, but it would be nice to be able to have the same utility without having to haul a laptop out to the vehicle and without having to use it with a wired connection.

mcomer

Remote window/sunroof open was defaulted on with "keyed fobs" and are now defaulted off with "Keyless fobs"
Also the roll up function by turning the key in the driver's door lock is now defaulted off. Both are a free configuration change if desired.

Max707

I had the dealer disable it on my LX. They did it for free even though mine was 7 years old. Only took them a couple of minutes in the drive up area. Like you it was based on the combination of fear of motor failing while out of warranty, since I bought mine used I hated having to move the seat every time I got in the LX.

lesz

Subsequent to my previous post, I did go into the ES settings, and I disabled the seat movement that otherwise would occur when starting and shutting down the vehicle. After doing so, I was disappointed to see that, while the seat movement is disabled, the steering wheel travel accompanying shut down does not get disabled.

I'll also be hooking up my GX to the Techstream. I hope that I'll find a setting that will disable the steering wheel movement on the GX, too.

Max707

Will that be the same with the 2014 ES 350?

lesz

I certainly don't know for sure, but my guess would be that it will be the same for both the 2013 and 2014 models.

When I get time, I think I'll take the laptop outside and connect it to the ES to see if Techstream gives access to any settings for steering wheel telescoping that are not normally available to the end user. I know that, with my GX, there are quite a few "secret" settings available via Techstream that are not listed in the GX manual as being able to be changed even by the dealer. Perhaps, the same is true with our ES vehicles. Checking that out, however, will have to wait for another day. Right now, it is 30 degrees outside. We've just gone through, perhaps, the most brutal winter in memory, and, now, on April 14, I have little interest in spending "bonus" winter time outside if I don't have to do so.

Arty101

Lesz- I thought I disabled both the seat and steering wheel adjustment early on. Their adjustments didn't do anything for me so I found the correct setting which I believe that was in the Settings/Custom menu. I'll have to go out and check the steering wheel if that is also disabled.

Art

Carista

The "easy exit" seat movement is programmable via the nav, but the steering column movement is a dealer-only setting. See http://www.lexus.com/pdf/service/ES_LPS.pdf

As I said, we already have the seat movement setting in Carista (beta) and we're working on adding the steering column one as well.

Btw, Carista offers other settings as well, not just the ones that are in the LPS PDF. If one of you guys is willing to try the beta, I'd appreciate it if you could use the "Collect debug data" function and send me a report from a 2013+ ES. The new beta also allows you to email yourself the list of all available settings, along with their current values... such that you can then copy them and paste them onto, say, a forum (or keep in your email for future reference).

Arty101

You are correct. Only the seat is disabled, not the steering wheel via "easy exit" custom setting.

lesz

In my previous post, I said that I wasn't inclined to hook up the ES with the laptop and Techstream software until we got some warmer weather, but my curiosity got the better of me. I did hook it up to the ES, and via the Techstream software, I was easily able to disable the steering column movement that otherwise would have taken place upon start up and shutdown. I was also able to use the Techstream software to disable the start up/shutdown steering column movement on the GX.

Once I had the laptop connected to each vehicle, I spent a little more time exploring, and, for both vehicles, there are a good number of settings changes available beyond those listed in the manuals for the two vehicles, including some that are not even listed in the manuals as "dealer only" settings.

Carista

Yup, the PDFs list only some of the dealer-programmable settings. There are many more that you can change with Techstream or with Carista. With the latest beta, Carista now covers about 90% of the settings that Techstream can change... and about 200-400% more than what's in those PDFs, depending on the exact model. (with some individual omissions, such as the steering wheel auto-movement).

lesz, since your curiosity got the best of you, would you mind trying the beta version of Carista and sending me a report? There's a "collect debug data" function in the slide-out menu from the left that... well, collects debug data from the car and lets you send a report at the end. This data doesn't contain any personal information, just technical data from your car related to what ECUs it has and what settings it supports. Your help would be much appreciated.

Plus, you can try the newly-added "Slide driver's seat back for easy exit" function in the beta version

Here's the link to the beta: http://www.caristaapp.com/beta/

Max707

So can the dealer program the steering wheel not to automatically move up and away. Got the seat not to move but as others have stated you can't personally program the steering wheel not to move.

Carista

Correct, the dealer can set that. And if you wait another week or so, Carista should be able to do it as well. Btw, do you have an ELM327 bluetooth device? When we implement that feature, we'll be looking for people to test it.

lesz

I would otherwise be happy to try the beta of your app; however, since I already have Techstream and since I can use it with both my ES and my older GX, my thinking was that I would wait to buy the OBDI Bluetooth device until or unless you finished developing a version of the app that would be compatible with the older GX. At this point, I can change any settings that I would want to change or pull any codes, if necessary, with the Techstream. While your app certainly seems like a more convenient way to do these things, until/unless I can use it with both vehicles, I'm not inclined to buy another piece of hardware, even if it is quite inexpensive.

lesz

Not only can the dealer make that change, but I was able to do it, as I explained in a previous post, with the Techstream software.