I've been browsing other model lines and came across posts regarding something called Carista, which is an OBD module with a phone app.

http://www.caristaapp.com/

Anyone have any experience with this?

The delivery/tech person at the dealership indicated that some personalized settings can only be done at the dealership and he gave me a cheat sheet that showed which ones I can change and which ones I need to go the dealer to change.

I assume this app will allow me to change the dealer-only ones myself?

Are there any dangers associated with this? Will it void my warranty, etc.?

Any other other comments would be appreciated.

 

Tons of people use it.

There are a bunch of threads already about it. Right Here

 

I have a carista module on mine. shouldn't be any dangers associated with it. I basically got it for the tpms function but it does have a lot of interesting other features to it. I do like the fact I can turn off the drl.

 

I was one of the first (perhaps THE first) to use Carista here at CL, and I was one of the Beta testers of the system. It does everything it advertises. Yes....anything that can be changed by Lexus (Techstream) can be done by Carista. You state your location as "Ca". I'm assuming that means California, but if it means Canada, keep in mind that the Carista app will NOT disable DRL's in this case. Because DRL's are mandatory in Canada and many other countries, the app cannot change it as it is "hardwired" into the car.

 

The Carista hardware (plug-in bluetooth module) will cost you $40. The basic app is free but if you want to change any settings, an additional app plug-in is needed costing another $20. The system works very well but there are less expensive alternatives.

 

Thanks for the info.

Yeah, after researching this a bit more, there definitely are a lot of alternatives.

Anyone care to share their experiences with different brands versus Carista?

 

I have both the Carista module (bought it for like 25 bucks I think, on sale from Amazon) and a $12 bluetooth dongle from Amazon. They both work great and haven't had any issues with any of them. If you do plan to go with another brand, make sure you get the right one for your phone since they sometimes have different version for iOS and Android.

 

Any recommendations for the alternatives that can change personalized settings and work with TPMS?

 

There's plenty of them on Ebay for 6 bucks or so, which I purchased. Ordered it from China and works as it should. Shipped for free and I got it in a week or so.