I just bought a pre-owned 2015 RX 350 that has the emergency or SOS button in the overhead console. Since I don't plan on subscribing to the Ensure service can that button area easily be converted to the sunglass holder?

Thanks,

Randy

 

Ensure? Isn't that the nutritional supplement that old people drink?

Do you have a center console or glove compartment? That's where we store our sunglasses - in their cases. We gave up storing sunglasses in overhead holders supposedly meant for them - they kept getting jammed and I often smudged the lenses getting them out.

I assume you are talking about Safety Connect. There is far more involved with Safety Connect than the SOS button you see. There is a digital telephone transceiver hidden behind a trim panel and the system is connected to the navigation system, the audio system, the air bag system and sensors that sense if your vehicle has been hit from the rear or rolled over. If Safety Connect is active, it automatically notifies an on-call operator and sends your GPS coordinates when there is a crash or other emergency. If you don't value Safety Connect, maybe the next owner of your RX will.

You don't have to subscribe to the entire Lexus Enform product to get Safety Connect. Safety Connect is available separately at what I consider to be very reasonable prices with discounts for multiple year subscriptions. We have Safety Connect in all our vehicles, keep the subscriptions active and will never buy another vehicle without it or a similar system.

I might not be on a soapbox about this if I hadn't again read in this morning's newspaper about a local young woman who has been missing for several weeks. She had left work at 4 AM when it was still dark and was thought to have been driving on a rural road north of Kansas City. The assumption is that she crashed and that she and her vehicle ended up in an area that cannot be seen from the road. It is assumed that she was killed or is dead by now but she might have been found quickly if she had been driving a vehicle with Safety Connect or a similar system.

 

So true.

Don't mess with all that interconnected safety electronics in the overhead console. Just not worth it.

 

I wanted to remove it myself. I don't think it's crazy hard to remove but too Much pain in the neck. So I left it alone.

By the way, Does it work when your car dies entirely? I mean blown up to pieces after a high speed crash or all your power sources are dead?

 

Seems like a lot of trouble for not much gain. Also, and more importantly, it's a safety feature which the next person who buys your vehicle may want so THEY can use the Lexus system.

I just use these clips in all my vehicles for my reading glasses .. They can certainly be used for sunglasses as well. OR... you might be able to do what I do with my own sunglasses... My sunglasses stay either on my face, around my next, or held in place above the DS visor by the visor's spring tension (arms being "clamped" by the visor with the lenses facing me).

 

The Safety Connect system has a backup battery which is shown in the parts diagram IIRC. Good question! I've assumed that the backup battery is similar to rechargeable batteries in cell phones but I wonder if it ever has to be replaced.

I doubt it will work if you are "blown up to pieces" but most crashes aren't like that.

I've read a few accounts of incidents in which drivers had medical emergencies and were unable to use their cell phones but were able to press the SOS button.

 

FYI, SOS uses cell service with an operator that has a contract with the car manufacturer.

OP, I would start your search with identifying the part for the sunglasses holder. Last we checked it was in the $700 range. I'd pull that sucker out too, if the replacement wasn't price-prohibitive.

 

Sounds like way too much trouble.

Kansas - Ensure, Enform, Envogue, whatever. To put it like my wife says when I correct her, "Did you know what I meant?"

 

so I guess it would be handy if I'm in a crash and I become unconscious in an area where there is cell signal.....this unlikely but I'll still leave it in there....

 

I think Safety Connect is particularly valuable when driving in rural areas and for people who are physically challenged. There is no way that my handicapped wife, "Queen of Flat Tires", could change a tire. There are no Lexus or Toyota dealers between the Kansas City metro area where we live and Des Moines, Iowa where many of her relatives live. It is comforting to know that all she has to do is press the SOS button to get help.

Speaking of cell signals ... regardless of optimistic cell phone company coverage maps, there are still large areas with little or no cell phone service in "flyover country" and the mountains. Safety Connect with its external, usually roof-top, antenna is far more likely to get a signal in poor coverage areas than a hand held cell phone.

 

It seems many of the responses to the original question are about the merits of the system instead of answering the question posed. I am also looking to rip out this SOS system to install the eye glass case. Has anyone attempted this modification? If so, please advise.

 

Wow I have no words for the responses on here. The person asked a question and got a safety lecture. What's the point of a forum if every other response is, "keep it stock," "bring it to the dealer," and "buy an extended warranty."??? And why should I preserve my car for the next owner?

Yes it can be done. From what I gather, the first few months the RX was in production, there was no expensive fancy cell phone safety connect garbage. Those overhead consoles have a cell phone holder. If you buy it new, it is quite expensive. However, if you can find one on eBay from a totalled vehicles, it might be under a couple hundred bucks. Good luck.

 

Yes, I was quite disappointed by the responses I got from what I think was my first question here. But that seems to be the way it goes on message boards these days.

 

Hopefully someone posts a relevant response so I can figure out whether it's feasible to rip out this gimmick and replace it with the eyeglass case.

 

EdCarr, try a search. The missing sunglass holder was a big deal early on. Same with lack of overhead lights. IIRC someone took pictures of the overhead console removed to install lights through the buttons. Chances are the whole console would have to be replaced. And since the sunglass holder was available on 3RXs built through July 2009, I doubt there will be many used ones out there. The expense might be prohibitive too. There is a thread here about alternative places to put your sunglasses.