User 41924

I'm pretty sure Lexus needs a completely new application development team.

There is no usefulness for me in the Enform app, and it's not stable. I realize some may find it more useful than others, but I'm usually (90% of the time) in the general vicinity of my house, know most of the restaurants in my area, and try to make plans and reservations or buy movie tickets before I'm actually in the car on the way to wherever I'm going. I never use any of the standard apps because I simply don't need them. If I do need them some day, why would I choose to mess with another application layer that does nothing more than complicate the user interface developed by people that designed the app in the first place?

What is Apple CarPlay really for? It's WAY to clumsy to use, not to mention slow in the Lexus implementation. Is it the same for other manufacturers? I loaded up Waze on a trip a week ago. Found my destination and hit the road. When I decided to used ACP, I plugged the phone into the USB port, and everything reset. I had to pull over, search for the destination, and start again, all with the phone already plugged in to the USB port just to make it even less convenient. I tried using voice to find a destination. It would hear me, go do the search, and never come back. It did great as long as I wasn't using CarPlay. Playing music while using Waze normally (Bluetooth) works OK, but with CarPlay it randomly turns itself off. Or turns itself up and disables any attempt to turn it back down.

Here's the big one. After 3 days of trying to guess how to make Alexa work from my car (no instructions), it started working after removing and reinstalling the Lexus+Alexa app. I turned off my garage lights with it, so I knew it worked. The second thing I tried was to have Alexa start the car using the Remote app. Nope. Maybe just lock or unlock the car. Nope. get a status? Nope. I was getting errors saying I needed to log into the remote app even though I was already logged in, and remote would work fine by itself. So I tried logging out and back into the Remote app and got the "Successfully Logged in" message. I still got the same error from Alexa. I started over 3 times before giving up! and removing the Enform app, the Enform Remote app, and the Lexus+Alexa app from my phone in frustration. I can't figure out why I want it in the first

Technology is supposed to make things easier. I suspect that even if all of these apps worked as designed envisioned, they would still provide limited usefulness while being so complicated as to be simply not worth the extra effort. There are a million little application development companies that design better apps every day. The bar is low! All I want is for Lexus to make it so my wife doesn't laugh at me while I'm trying to figure out how to use the Lexus version of technology and show her how cool it should be.

Call me frustrated. I love the cars, but don't get why their technology has to be such a challenge. End of rant.

bc6152

I took my 2019 out today for a 200 mile trip, the farthest and longest I've driven it since I took delivery in December. During the trip I tried accessing Alexa, NG - not connected. What? wait a minute it's an app on my phone... NG... So further along I tried using my free Verizon WIFI that is good for a year. No WIFI. So when I got home I called the tech spec at Lexus for help. He stated that Lexus is having issues with the WIFI app and is working on it. Could not be turned on. However, it can be reset by resetting all personal settings in the car back to default status. Everything is reset including phone contacts and any paired phone is deleted. Nice huh?

And Alexa must be enabled on the phone app each time you slide into the driver's seat to work according the tech spec. The good news is that the car is a delight to travel in on an interstate at 85 mph (and higher) and is smooth as butter. The 303 horses don't hurt either. The navigation worked flawlessly after I called and had the agent put the address in for me. I set the A/C for 72 and it held the temp perfectly for 4 hours. It was 91 here today... I tried the radar cruise for the first time today and after I figured out how to turn it on it also worked perfectly. It scared me a little when it quickly slowed the speed due to traffic ahead but I guess that's what it's supposed to do... Sigh...

So Woody, I am frustrated too and hope that these issues get sorted out and maybe it just takes some time to get accustomed to the procedures. The technology, at this point, is truly a challenge.

JimInTN

I tried the adaptive CC in my mother's NX300 a week ago or so, didn't like how it slowed the car down when coming up on traffic even after I had started to change lanes in anticipation of passing them. Almost got run over because the adaptive CC was too slow to react to the "open road" after I had changed lanes. Won't be using it anymore either, luckily the wife's ES350 does not have it.

TechNut

Sorry to hear of your frustrations. I too have some issues, like removal of the apps that I actually liked and used (Pandora).

Anyway, with a little perseverance, all of my apps seem to work as designed, although admittedly I have only briefly tested the CarPlay and Alexa apps. The remote app is working fine but it required multiple calls to get it working with our last new Lexus.

I won’t attempt to minimize your frustrations, nor would I make excuses for Lexus, but perhaps I can offer a few tips from my experience.

As for the Alexa integration, you need to be sure to download both available updates as per this thread (https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...-vehicles.html). Then make sure you have the Lexus+Alexa app installed and linked to your Amazon account.

In my case, I started the Enform 2.0 (make sure it isn’t the standard/original Enform like our previous vehicles required), and then I started the Lexus+Alexa app. Finally I started the Lexus+Alexa app in the car using the menu or voice command. At this point, it connects right up (at least the few times I tried it). The main observations here are to ensure you are using the Enform 2.0 app, and have applied both firmware updates. I don’t know if the Enform 2.0 app is backwards compatible with the 2018 vehicles that use the original Enform app, but I do know the original Enform app is not fully compatible with our 2019 model year ES.

The bottom line is that your observations are fair in my opinion. I just haven’t experienced some of them (at least not yet - with just over two weeks of ownership). I cannot argue your points on the design failure though as the value does seem to be very limited - even if everything was working correctly. I have had pretty good luck with the remote app though once I got the details worked out on the last car. I wonder what carrier Lexus uses - perhaps poor reception in your region?

bc6152

Doug do these updates also apply to Android phones? And can the updates be downloaded to a flash drive with other files on it?

mikemu30

Radar cruise works flawlessly in both our RX and ES. Surprised yoiu had issues with it reacting promptly.

TechNut

Actually, that’s a good question and I don’t know the answer. The updates are for all ES models so it cannot hurt, I just don’t know what benefit android users will see. As to loading the updates to a flash drive with other files - I don’t think it would be a problem. The car is only going to look for files with a .kwi extension in the file name. Someone in the other thread said they put both updates on one drive so I know it candle more than 1 file, I just don’t know if it can handle mixed file types. I imagine the main concern would be making sure your drive has enough space for these two big files - which may be why the instructions state “start with a blank USB flash drive”.

User 41924

Thank you for your help! I really do appreciate it your time and effort, but this is exactly the point I'm trying to make. It simply shouldn't be this hard/involved to set up or use. I'm a pseudo geek, and I get frustrated. I can just see my dad trying to do this. Lexus would be pulling the car out of places no car should ever go! What's worse is that once you get all of this done, it STILL isn't stable. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it starts working, THEN stops. I don't get it! It's simple programming! It's not like this has never been done before!

I had the car in for the 5K mile "service" a couple of weeks ago. Why wouldn't they do ALL applicable software updates while they had the car? It's because you have to know the updates are available, and ask them specifically to do it. But they'll likely deny there are updates at least once before they'll do it. I can't wait for them to tell me about an update to the ML system. I'm not holding my breath. My point was ..... Why can't the largestautomobile manufacturer in the world (OK, maybe the second largest, depending on the season) get this right?

bc6152

You make a very good point Woodrow. Not everyone is tech savvy and, at the risk of being called sexist, imagine an older woman trying to figure out this stuff. Shoot, my wife is still trying to figure out how to fix the flashing "12" on a VCR... And I too just had my car in for the 6 month checkup. No mention of software updates. Look at the fellow member who had the door molding fixed in his 2019 ES for wind noise. Supposedly a TSB regarding it but when others asked their service about it no one knows anything... He even posted his service ticket on here... And now I'm being informed on Lexus Enform web site that any downloads must be into an EMPTY FLASH DRIVE. So now I'm on my way to Best Buy to buy a new flash drive for this crap... You would think, seriously, that a corporation as large as Toyota could do much better. I wonder if the other vehicle manufacturers have these issues...

User 41924

I took mine on a road trip last week, and I feel the same. It is a GREAT road car. It's no race car, but it's exceptionally comfortable to drive and has plenty of room for road trip supplies

I had the nice lady at destination assist route us from Royal Gorge Bridge and Park (southern Colorado) to the Great Sand Dunes State Park, along our route into New Mexico. We ended up wandering around on dirt roads for over an hour! All I can think of is that she routed us to the park, and we were sent to the closest edge of the park boundary where there was a trailhead (and several parked Jeeps), rather than the main entrance and visitor center. Once we finally gave up thinking this might be a back way in, we were hopelessly lost in what seemed like an eclectic neighborhood of 2 or 3 acre lots with "off the grid" one off homes and no paved roads. Neither the Lexus Nav system nor Waze could find a way out. At one point I was actually routed down the same dirt road with a PERMANENT sign that said "High Clearance Vehicles Only" 3 times!!! Had we been anywhere near civilization where there were actual people, they would have been selling tickets to watch the idiots in the Lexus drive around in circles. But there were no people! Just odd houses! Several times I would get to the next turn, and think there is no freakin' way I'm going down that road" and make it re route! Once we finally got out of the twilight zone and back on the highway , we gave up and headed for Taos, New Mexico. 10 or 12 miles down the same highway we were on in the first place, we spotted the left turn to Great Sand Dunes State Park that we should have been routed to in the beginning! If only we had just stayed on the same road ....

It turns out to have been kinda fun .... once I calmed down and got my car cleaned up. Plus, I found out where all those people that build dome shaped houses out of canvas and soft drink bottles live!

TechNut

Yup. I agree with your frustrations. In my case, they sent me home with the new car needing these updates. To be fair, they knew I could handle it but that should have been done as part of the new car prep.

Haddaway91

Couldn't agree more with all of this. My car play is garbage. We have a bmw with car play and it's wireless and is very easy.
Using waze or maps is okay. Half the time if you miss a turn it does not re route. Also volume is a problem whether you are playing Apple Music or Spotify radio or xm, the music does not lower itself so you can hear the turn by turn directions.

kalel2127

One of the major reasons why other car manufacturers don't offer wireless Carplay is because while it's active it will drain your phone battery. Also, I find that connecting the phone provides better sound quality compared to Bluetooth when using music apps.

I'm in the habit of connecting my phone to charge when I get in my vehicle, arrive at my office, and when I get home. Even before I had a vehicle with Carplay that's something I have also done and probably will continue doing until the wireless charging improves considerably.

I hardly ever use the navigation apps but why would you want to hear a prompt while rocking out to your music? Wouldn't that sound horrible and possibly damage the speakers? The turn by turn directions are on the screen are audible prompts really required, have we really reached that level of...? Of course, the answer is yes.

bc6152

I tried doing the above recommended updates but found I didn't have a flash drive with sufficient space available. I probably would've screwed it up anyway as there's more I DON'T know about computers than I DO know. So I took it to my dealer and the service writer said "what updates". Anticipating this question I had printed out the Lexus Driver's web page with the info on it. He then took the sheet into the SM office and they both talked for a couple of minutes. The SM then came out and asked me "Are you sure you want these updates".
Uhh, yeah, I guess so... So the updates were installed. On the way home I tried to use Alexa and received "cannot connect try again later"... I give up, not going back again for this dumb
crap...

TechNut

If you want to PM me after I return from my vacation (I currently only have access to our NX) any time in August, perhaps we can compare versions and I can at least walk you through how I got ours to work. It sounds like your dealer isn’t really prepared to support these new technology features. Honestly, I don’t think you are missing much though. I don’t plan to use it even though I am a big Amazon Echo user in our home. I am using Alexa with Phillips hue devices, Lutron, Honeywell, Logitech and even Ring. I thought it would be interesting to try the car integration, but it turns out that it isn’t worth the trouble in my humble opinion.