Are the rain sensing wipers an option or standard on the 2010 - 13 RX350?

 

It's part of the optional comfort package which also includes the heated/ventilated seats and HIDs.

 

Welcomew to CL. I have a 2012 RX with the comfort package, the rain sensing wipers work well. It's a worthwhile option. The comfort package with the HID's also made it a must have for me.

 

The rain sensing wiper does not sense fog or misty condition even though your windshield is completely covered with water drops and zero visibility..Lexus corporate said it was designed that way and will not address the problem...as for the ventilated seat, the warming side works fine but i can't feel the cooling part at all...to me, not a package worth getting when things just don't work as advertised..

 

The rain sensing wipers on my 2011 RX work fine. Except that for some reason they will wipe once or twice even when there is no rain. As for not sensing droplets of condensation I have no problem wiping them away manually. All this excessive automation is threatening to make us all lazy and helpless. But they sell cars.

 

As already stated, it's an option, but as other options on a conservative Toyota, it has a hint of an afterthought design.
The old intermittent position on the stalk is now Auto. That means no manual control. So, when it comes to intermittent wipers, they have a mind of their own. Mind you, they do a great job 80% of the time. However, there are times when you have to play with the sensitivity setting to get it to the right point.
Now, leave it constantly in Auto and there's no way to do a single swipe. You have to either push the stalk down for constant ON or up 2 positions, first to OFF and then to the single swipe. Why can't you just pull on the stalk for a single swipe is beyond me. All they had to do was look into their parts bin and pull out an old stalk, like the one on my IS 300. That gets very frustrating when you have to spray the windshield and all you get is a windshield full of water.

 

100%

 

It is not about being lazy of pulling the stalk down or up but rather the fact that if there is a sensor there to detect water, it is suppose to wipe on its own...I have also played around with the sensitivity adjustment many times and no luck on getting that to work appropriately...i have a Mercedes eclass and I leave it at auto at ALL times and it works flawlessly, whether it is heavy rain or droplets of water from the fog..I guess it sucks that I have something to compare to that actually works as intended but if the RX was my only car with the auto wiper, then I would probably have the same thought as you...lexus may as well bring back the old school intermittent mode since that actually works as intended..

 

Rain sensing wipers are a convenience. If you desire more swipes than what the rain sensor is detecting then move the stalk over the lo, it's that simple. I never have a problem with rain sensor. Then again I'm not one of those people that need to have a perfectly clear windshield at all time. I typically keep the sensitivity low and often I feel it still swipes too often.

 

Only when they work 100% properly, but when they don't, they actually pose an inconvenience even if you don't use them because they replace the standard intermittent function. So when they don't recognize mist properly, the only practical choice is to continue to manually activate the wipers, because switching to continuous slow speed is not a desired setting for light mist. How 70s...

 

I had a 2010 without it and my index finger automatically flipped the lever when I saw rain. I now have a 2012 with the rain sensing feature. I see no difference in performance between the two.

 

I had the feature on my Mazdaspeed 3. I find that my 2010 Lexus RX 450h automatic wipers don't work as well as the Mazda did. For instance, most mornings in San Francisco there is mist on the windshield due to the night fog. My Mazda would sense it and clear the windshield as soon as I started it. The Lexus never does, which I find most annoying. (Thou it's not like a huge task to hit the wipers once manually.) On thing that can impact the rain sensor's functionality is RainX. For some reason the barrier it forms will effect the sensor. (As a note: A lot of car washes use it during the rinse stage.)

 

Perhaps what we think is the acceptable amount of mist on the windshield is subjective. Just like the dusk sensing headlamps might come on too early for some and just right for others.

 

Last weekend we had a misty day, and while driving about 40mph during mid-day I held off as long as I could to see if the wipers would spring to action. The misting gradually turned to quite sizable uniform drops covering the entire window and past the point of annoyance into literally if I let it continue the only thing that would be visible would be my airbag deploying, almost no visibility. Natch, I had to manually trigger the wipers. I waited again and almost to the point where I lost visibility they made an automatic wipe. At that point, the rain picked up a bit and they worked perfectly from that point on. In plain old rain they do work well. I still think its a great feature, it's awesome when you get an unexpected puddle splash the covers the windshield unexpectedly, they respond before I could. It's just this misting thing that bugs me*, because I have no intermittent functions to fall back on. It's kind of like having a little scratch on a new car, doesn't stop you from driving, doesn't affect performance, it's just a little poke in the ribs when you see it.

I wish I understood how the technology works for this. I can tolerate imperfection if I understand the limitations. The sales dude showed me that if you touched the back of the sensor, that will cause the wipers to activate. Not sure why that is. It's usually far better at coming to a stop or slowing when the rain subsides, then starting up unless the rain is significant. Although one time in the winter the window went dry but still a bit dirty from road spray and the wipers refused to stop and started smearing badly, not sure if the smears prevented the system from recognizing that there was no moisture left. I think that's the only time I had to manually stop them.

*PS this wiper thing is just a very tiny annoyance for me, but I've got very little else to complain about with the RX, so this is it. If anything, I'm just more curious why it works the way it does.

 

I am glad you understand my point as I am also in San Francisco and this feature would be quite helpful if it works properly. I guess I've been spoiled by the past Lexuses I've owned since everything worked flawlessly with perfect fitment and free from rattling noise but the new RX really disappointed me on a number of quality and fitment issues and Lexus is not willing to do anything about it...