Hi all. Hopping over from my usual LS430 forum because I have a loaner RX from a dealer. Nice vehicle, and much newer than mine, of course but the tech (finding and favoriting my XM station, etc.) took some getting used to. I also see wear on the (beautiful, white leather-ish) door handle after 8k miles, so I hope that holds up for owners...

Anyway, I am writing about the door release. The dealer never tells you how to drive a loaner, so I familiarize with mirrors, headlights, Nav. This time, I could not get the driver's door open reliably! I press it and it pops open a bit, but about 40% of the time i cannot fully push the door open. I am stuck inside, It remains latched or something I have to somehow yank it closed and try again ,or pull the handle, which seems to engage a manual override after a couple of times. Even with that I felt I had to fiddle with it. Am I missing something here? It sees overengineered and doesn't seem to work! Seem dangerous in an emergency. I just want to get out of the car without thinking!

Second quibble is that I locked door from outside and went to reopen, and it did not. There seems to be a slight time delay/debounce kind of thing there. But the door not opening reliably after popping open really got me. (At least the joystick/touchpad nav is gone!)

 

You have to push the door while pushing the button. Just pushing the button will result in the behavior you have experienced.

 

Thanks, will try that!

 

So you're expecting the button to fully open the door like the rear hatch?

 

No, not at all.... just that if it pops open a tiny bit, but I can't then push the door the rest of the way open with my arm/hand. It clearly unlatches with some play, but is not free to be pushed open. Sequence: press door button-door pops a bit -I push door and it is "loose" (and open door light lights up in dash confirming door is tot closed)bnut I cannot open it to exit the vehicle! Have to go through hoops. As I said above, I will try making it press-and-push at once (one motion) as per earlier suggestion. But I can't believe I am really writing about how to open a door to get out of a car, short of its having a broken mechanism... I'm not that young nor that old! Ironically, my LS430 has "soft close doors". But opening them is just normal: pull the handle, perhaps twice if door was locked. Push-to-open/unlatch seems good.

By the way, the Nav screen is beautiful, radio sounds great... I have been lent an es350 several years ago, an NX, etc.. This is the nicest new Lexus I've been in in years, smooth even with the 4 cylinder engine. Great mirrors to see (big deal for me), etc. This is first Lexus in recent years that were I looking I would consider, even with a personal bias toward sedans. This SUV might just change my mind on that. Never loved the es350 (last gen at least) nor the LS500... The RX is really nice inside, as you know. So not ragging on the car. Just a bit befuddled by this.
"

 

After spending a few days with ours it’s hard to go back to the normal handle in our other cars. The buttons work very well and are extremely intuitive. At first it was very odd.

 

Whenever I've had the door partially open and relatch, I wait a moment and push the button again while pushing the door open. I've never had it fail to open at that point. I do wish the latch would stay open longer before relatching.

 

I agree. It should stay unlatched a bit longer. I wish it was customizable. With a vehicle this advanced they give the owners more customization options. Should be easy.

 

@demark1, it's possible your door is getting caught by the Safe Exit Assist. I'm thinking that since you say it's a loaner. Every loaner we've gotten from Lexus had every safety feature available active. The SEA will stop your door from opening if it senses (of it's own volition) that something is coming from your blindside. It also seems to activate when you don't fully open the door the first time. I'm thinking it thinks you saw something and stopped. Yeah, a bit annoying. But once you get used to the door latch it becomes quite intuitive, much like you've mentioned.

 

Safe Exit Assist won't let the door open at all.

 

I know that is how it's supposed to be. But I'm not entirely convinced it always works 100%. Much like the auto seats - they work, eventually. I've had a couple of instances where my door was stopped mid-way of opening, then after a bit I get a message "Safe Exit Assist deactivated". Maybe it's a coincidence, maybe not.

 

I get the "Safe Exit Assist Deactivated " message any time I sit in the car long enough after shutting it down. I believe it's the vehicle letting you know that you are no longer protected.