Remote Start
 

I have a 2017 NX and I would like it to run longer than 10 minutes? Do you have an option to have it run different amount of time? Also why don't the lights turn on so you know its running?

I’m afraid ten minutes is all you get. You would have to get an aftermarket product if you want more than ten minutes, or wish to avoid the annual fee, or the shutoff when you open the car door. As for the lights, they only flash when the car actually starts. I have not seen any settings to alter that particular behavior.

If you search the forum you will see many people are dissatisfied with the Lexus implementation of remote start. I’m mostly frustrated by the temperamental nature of it. Sometimes it doesn’t work and a second attempt doesn’t get any better. Other times it is so slow that it is only just starting the car when I finally get out to the car (hence I see the lights flash right before I reach it). It’s also frustrating that they keep dropping my cars from the system and I have to call back to have them reactivate my cars. I just keep hoping this is a work in progress and it will get better but so far the Lexus information systems appear to be quite inept. Perhaps I wouldn’t be as disappointed if it was free but that is not the case.

Great... My wife's gonna LOVE that info... lol

I'd never had a reason to use the remote start or the unlock/lock features before, but as it's being talked about here, I thought I'd try it.

Forget about it!! After lots of nice words like "connecting" and "sending request" my phone app ended with "unable to process."

After a few more attempts I went out to the garage where the NX is parked, and as soon as I opened the garage door the car started. Hmm, I thought, maybe it's a line-of-sight thing, so I parked the car in the drive, went back in the house and, while looking at my NX through a house window, started the process all over again. Except for all the same words on my phone app, nothing!

Then, about 5 minutes later, having dismissed and forgotten my multiple failed attempts and while walking past the car on my way to the mailbox, the car started. :egads:

I didn't call Lexus as my app suggested, but I suspect it has something to do with strength of cellular tower signal, because on subsequent attempts to remotely start the car and lock and unlock it, nothing worked until I was close enough to the car that I would have been better off just jumping in and cranking it up.

I have used the app for locating my vehicle (hey, it had been at the airport parking garage for a few days) and checking it's status (it is starting rain, is the sunroof open?), and those options work fine....hope I don't one day have to lock or start it remotely!

As I said, very temperamental. I don’t think it is a function of proximity of your phone to the car though. Both devices are communicating to the nearest cell tower, not to each other. I think it is just coincidence that you were near the vehicle when it finally received the start signal. Not unlike my experience where it is just slow, but I did ultimately get the “successful” message on those times where it was slow. I don’t get the successful message nearly as often as I get the “failed” message though. I want to hope Lexus is still trying to fix this but they aren’t there yet and we are funding this dissapointing solution. Again, it wouldn’t be as upsetting if this was a freebie, but why are we paying for this “hit or miss” solution. For the record, this is the same behavior on the ES sedan.

If it's in your garage or driveway, why not use the key fob to start it? That way it takes about 10 seconds. And the 10 minute rule is if it's parked in your garage, it doesn't continue to build up exhaust fumes. You can restart it for 10 minutes a second time. After that, you have to go to the car.

I use mine at my office building and only when it is very cold or very hot (kind of defeats a major benefit of the hybrid to let it sit and run). The parking structure is nearly 1/4 mile away as my office is also located at the opposite end of the building so the keyfob doesn’t have the range. But I do agree, if it’s as near as a garage or driveway the keyfob is faster.

Yep, nothing but problems with this thing now... :(

You can also remote start with the fob. I think you press the lock button 4 times, holding on the 4th, and then the car starts. I tried it once back when I had my subscription service. Not much need for it hear in San Diego.

Just tried this with my wife's 300t and it didn't remote start the car. Tried the unlock as well and nothing happened. Went to the dealer and they said only the remote app will remote start the car. Seems so silly to me that one has to pay a subscription in order to have this feature but my sister's 18k honda fit has remote start...arg.

-Nigel

Tried it on mine and it started via the fob just fine. One thing, I think the third click you hold the button, rather than the fourth.

Additionally, the only time I have every had a problem with the remote app is when my phone was in a low connectivity area. Not sure if this would be the same for the car, though it does make sense.

This works for my wife's NX! Sweet! Thanks.

My wife just activated her app/vin with lexus so that the remote start and other features are now active. I did test the fob again via the three button click. Lock, lock, hold lock and it started up. Not sure if this is because she activated it or if this should always work. I hope it always works honestly..

One thing I am curious about. When you start the car remotely when I click unlock on the fob to get in, it shuts the car off. Is there a way for the car not to shut off before entering? Seems very wasteful in terms of just shutting down to get in, only to start it right back up and drive away.

-Nigel