I read that, as cool and convenient it is, it's also pretty dangerous because people have found a way to enhance the signal. Any truth to that? Also are you able to disable it? I can seem to figure it out from the manual.

 

What's dangerous about enhancing the signal? need more info.

 

Yeah...I'm confused about "enhancing". What, making it a larger working area around the vehicle??

MANY vehicles in the N.A market have a similar feature, so its not a Lexus exclusive.

 

Not entirely sure what you mean either. You can disable the smart access system and you would use the remote to lock and unlock. If you mean people being able to "grab" the signal, then I would say you're being paranoid. Toyota's smart access system is very robust. I know it's been shown on tv that thieves can do that but I've only seen it happen to GM vehicles. But yes it is possible by dealer programming if you want it done. It should show customizable settings somewhere in your owners manual.

From the NX personalized settings:

 

I am not sure exactly what you mean either, but I did read this article in nyt regarding thieves and signal amplification
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/st...c-thieves.html

 

interesting article. I can see this becoming an issue in city environments where owners don't have individual garages. It can also be an issue in work environments and shopping plazas depending on how far the owner is from the vehicle.

 

Definitely interesting. I would like to see an article that actually tests this and not just a "well it might be" scenario. So no matter what manufacturers come up with, someone else will always find ways around it. It's a never ending cycle. Make sure your insurance is paid up and don't worry I guess.

 

Sorry guys, I did a really poor job explaining what I mean but this article summed it up. So that's why I thought about turning it off. I was told, if I wanted to deactivate it, I have to go to the dealership to turn the system off. Deactivating the key fob will only turn off the key fob but the system in the car will still search for a signal.

 

Disabling smart access won't help with this, as smart access refers to the touch sensors on the door handles.

WRT to key signal amplification, in Infosec terms, this is called a "man in the middle" attack. For this to work, both the vehicle and the key have to be in range of what they refer to as "amplifier". The easy way to defeat this is to turn off the transmitter in the key fob. There are instructions in the manual about doing this to help with the battery life in the key fob. It turns on automatically when you press a button, but you need to actively turn it off every time.

For what it's worth, i think this whole thing is a lot of noise. Even looking at the article, the author ends up getting more information from someone who happens to have a device to counter act this in the works? Come on, how obvious of an infomercial does that article become?