A few months ago, I noticed that the functionality in the hands-free text feature in my 2020 Lexus RX350 had changed. From the time I purchased the vehicle, I’ve been able to press the voice commands button on the steering wheel and send a text to someone. I could then proceed to record a customized text message and then verbally confirm that I wanted the message sent. Additionally, upon receiving a text message, I could have it played verbally and then reply with a customized message. The feature worked well and seemed to be a good way to “safely” send a text message.

Suddenly, I can no longer verbally text custom messages, i.e. the feature now asks me to select a “canned” message to send to someone. And after receiving and listening to a text message, I can no longer reply with a custom message. The system only offers me the option of replying with a “quick reply” message.

After noticing this change, I wondered if it was a system setting that had somehow been changed. I took the vehicle to my local Lexus dealer to ask about the issue. I met with the “Tech Advisor” who informed me that this was a change Lexus had made with a recent update and I no longer had the ability to use hands-free texting to send or reply with a custom text message. He suggested that I use the Android Play option. This doesn’t work for me as I don’t want to have to plug my Android phone in to a cable every time I drive in order to use the Android Play option to send and reply with a custom text message.

And I don’t feel that the functionality works as easily in the Android Play application. I liked the ease with which I could safely send and receive custom text messages. I know that I probably shouldn’t be worrying about texting while driving, but I don’t feel that it’s reasonable in this day and age to not occasionally need to use the hands-free texting feature with a custom message. Replying with a “quick reply” is much more distracting as you have to scroll through all of the quick reply options.

Has anyone else experienced this issue with their Lexus in recent months? I’d truly appreciate any feedback or input you may have. I will also be contacting Lexus directly regarding this issue. Thanks!

 

My opinion is that nobody should be texting while driving. JMHO

 

He was listening and talking how is that dangerous?

 

Are the subscription services up to date? Maybe spoken text capability is gone because subscription lapsed?
I believe, Lexus included 3 years of those services with the new Rx350 purchase in 2020. After that, it's $8/mo or $80/yr for each service. I don't recall which one you'd need for texting -sorry.

 

I like to pay attention to my driving, while I'm driving. Just my opinion.

 

Me too but if my wife asks me a question I don't ignore her or if my daughter calls from the hospital I will take that call and still pay attention to my driving, I like to listen to the news or music while I"m driving too. Are you saying that we need to be in a some sort of a cone of silence while driving to be paying attention? That's not reasonable.

 

I know there are exceptions to every rule, but the OP sounded to me like texting while he was driving was a normal, everyday thing. Sorry.

 

This did happen around the same time my Lexus Enform subscription expired. But I asked the Lexus Tech Advisor if it was related and he said it wasn't. I may need to look into this again with Lexus as it does seem coincidental. Thanks for your input.

 

Just to clarify, as I stated in my original post, it is not reasonable for me personally to never send or receive a text while driving which is why I ALWAYS use the hands-free feature. The hands-free feature allows me to safely send or receive texts in much the same way as I can have a "conversation" with a passenger in my car while still focusing on my driving. But thanks for your opinion.

 

I use an iPhone and if I don't use carplay, I can send and recieve messages fine on my head unit. I'll get a pop up notification and I can choose to read it or ignore it. If I'm using carplay, siri will read my messages to me as I recieve them. I don't know android auto, but on my iPhone I had to go under the bluetooth settings for my car and enable "allow notifications" for the texts to appear on the display. You could try completely removing your phone and repairing it to see if the issue resolves. I have a 2021 RX for reference but they added the new carplay/android auto in 2020 thru 2022 model years (V6 RX) so you should have the same system as I do.

 

I can't answer the disappearing native functionality question, as I don't use the native texting. I do, however, use the Android Auto custom texting feature frequently. (I assume you are using an Android phone. The functionality is delivered by Android Auto. The Apple walled-garden equivalent is CarPlay).

I suggest you get a wireless AA dongle and plug it in to a data port in the console. That will give you wireless Android Auto functionality. It was a game-changer for me. (I use the Motorola MA-1 dongle. Lots of people like the AAwireless dongle, too.) All you have to do to send a text is do a long press of the steering wheel phone icon (not a short press - that accesses the native Lexus functionality) and use voice commands to create and send the text. Inbound texts pop up on the display and you can have them read to you. Making calls, asking to navigate using your favorite nav app, etc are all accessed by long-pressing the phone icon.

 

This sounds like it would be a good option to try. I will look into it. Thanks so much for the suggestion.

 

You may want to try pressing and holding the voice command button until you hear an audible prompt. This has been my go-to for accessing Siri or your phone's equivalent assistant.

 

Worked great on my 2015 ES and 2016 NX. Doesn’t seem to be available on newer models but I haven’t really researched why it was dropped. I just use Siri through my Apple Watch and eliminate the car from the equation. Conveniently, my watch hand is nearby, conveniently found gripping the steering wheel. Unfortunately, that only helps if OP is an Apple (Watch) user and I don’t know if there is an Android equivalent, short of using the phone handset.

 

for Siri it’s a long press but the OP is talking about the OEM voice command which is a short press.