DunWkg

KBotwinick,

Let's start with your three questions:
1) Third party has indoor air temp sensor. No push notifications that I'm aware.
2) Third party has a couple of installer set settings, one is 25 minutes.
3) Yep, hybrids need ICE (internal combustion engine) for heat. Does use battery for fan. Sorry your mornings will consume gasoline.

DunWkg

KBotwinick,

Typical third party features:
You can set up a Geo Fence of a size you determine. If car leaves area or enters area, text is sent.
You can set a speed limit. If the car exceeds the speed limit, text is sent.
You can set a maintenance reminder based on GPS calculated miles. Text is send when mileage reached.
You can get status - Alarm set/not set, Doors open/closed, Trunk open/closed, Hood open/closed, Engine running/not running, 12 volt battery voltage.
You can set a curfew. Text sent if car moving after curfew.

Third Party and OEM Features:
On-Star https://www.onstar.com/web/portal/ovdexplore
Viper SmartStart http://viper.com/SmartStart/
Drone Mobile http://www.***********.com/features/


Please keep in mind some features are slightly different for a hybrid.

RogersDA

Car is outside on our driveway. With the multiple GPS satellites there is plenty of them up there to triangulate. I have a Garmin device for another vehicle that picks up the GPS just fine from the same location. I also have a hand-held GPS (for hiking) that gets the GPS signal from the same spot.

I could understand if the GPS was not working in the car, but that would not explain the third image where the screen was black. It is supposed to show a live image from the camera's phone as well as the directional arrow to the car.

RogersDA

I have not yet looked into any other third party app.

The thing is that logging-in to the server should be fast. This is not done on cell signals if I am at home or on some other WiFi. And it's not like we are sending enormous amounts of data to/from the car. You are sending a start command - basically a text message to the car. That should be fast. The return signal to the phone should also be fast. So I am thinking that the Lexus servers are not handling the data too well.

KBotwinick

David, Thanks for the reply.

My thoughts...

1) Third party has indoor air temp sensor.

Hmmm... Is that sensor part of the hardware installed? It seems that would be nice if the car didn't have it's own built in already. Hopefully the RES+ can access the RX 450H's built in one. But I guess it's not the end of the world if it doesn't. Once I get a feel for how long it takes to warm up, it should stay fairly consistent.

And the heated seats really do help make up for it if the air in the car isn't fully warmed up.

2) Third party has a couple of installer set settings, one is 25 minutes.

At first glance, that seems nice (like I mentioned yesterday). But when thinking about it, it seems wasteful to let the car run for 25 minutes, which I probably wouldn't want to do most of the time. I'm just outside of Boston, not the North Pole... :-P

The main reason I'd want to let the car run that long would be some serious de-icing. But if I'm doing that, I'm more than likely standing right outside the car clearing snow off of it, or otherwise paying close attention to it.

3) Yep, hybrids need ICE (internal combustion engine) for heat. Does use battery for fan. Sorry your mornings will consume gasoline.

Oh well.

The "typical third party features" you mentioned seem to be mostly security related as opposed to remote starter related, which I don't really need. I don't have a teenager who borrows the car where I need to double check where they went or how fast they're driving or if they exceed curfew. If I needed stuff like that, I guess I would have gotten Lo/Jack or some other security system...

As for the maintenance reminder based on miles, I'm pretty sure that's built into the RX 450h (although I still have some serious reading to do do regarding functionality).

RogersDA, thanks for the response. I get mine installed today. Hopefully I won't have the same problems. And if I do, hopefully they are just indicative of a 1.01 iOS app version and Lexus can easily fix them with updates...

I got the RES+ thrown in for free, so hopefully it will do most of what I want and I'll be happy with it. I'll let everyone know...

DunWkg

KBotwinick,

1) "Their" sensor is on their module. Yes, I would think RES+ could read all sensors on the car's internal network.
2) Agreed 25 minutes a long time. Once up to temp hybrid stops running.
3) yep, oh well

Look forward to your experiences with RES+

RogersDA

The remote starter can be configured to run for 10 minutes (default) or 20 minutes - which can be set by you dealer. On the app I ran the remote engine start two times (I have the 10 minute setting). In testing it would not allow me to run it a third time. Was the car at-temperature and therefore the remote start would not activate as it knew it was not needed? Not sure...I would like to think that you could start the car remotely at any time/temperature.

Also, for safety reasons, the car shuts off if you open the door after the remote start was initiated.

The RES+ app does give you a temperature at the vehicle - I believe it is an internal temperature.


I would be interested in any issues you see/experience as well.

DunWkg

RogersDA,

You can only remote start twice, then you must do something (not sure what exactly) like drive the car and shut off normally to reset the remote start system.

Yep, it's the Lexus way to shut down car when you open the doors. If you check, it may keep running if you open the liftgate.

dv8nyc

Wanted to share my observations after couple of weeks of using RES+.

- Information exchange between the car and the phone is really slow, it needs 20-30 seconds to execute a command.
- Application sometimes stops working and needs to be restarted manually (Android) . This can be fixed with an update.
- GPS antenna seems to be very picky, doesn't work in slightly unfavorable conditions (while car NAV and phone GPS have good GPS reception)
- I have a suspicion that reported "At Vehicle" temperature is actually taken from the internet using GPS coordinates of the car. If it's true, this is laughable. They could have added internal and external temp sensors...
- RES+ app requires mixed-case eight character alphanumeric password which has to be entered every time the app is started (there's no option to remember it). This is in addition to the PIN that has to be entered for engine start and door unlock. This is extremely inconvenient, PIN would suffice. For added security they could add online login deactivation. Could be corrected with an updated but probably won't, Lexus seems to be overly cautious.
- To describe RES+ with one word: SLOOOOW.
- Regular keyfob remote start is part of the system, so having RES+ is not as frustrating. It would really suck if the car could only be remote-started with that ridiculously slow and paranoid app. Why does it have to take 30 seconds to send a command over GSM??

Considering all disadvantages I still think the system is worth the money, especially now with its price getting close to keyfob-only RES.

FamilyRX

How good is your range when using the key fob for remote start?

DunWkg

For me, the 2010-2012 generation of factory remote start and OEM fob, the typical distance is 80 feet, plus or minus.


dv8nyc,

Seems odd to use internet information, when the car already has interior and exterior sensors. However, somethings Lexus does seems odd to me.