PaJaHa1

Out of curiousity yesterday I was in my loaner IS (still! ) and decided to see if I could turn the car off while in Drive while stopped at a light. I couldn't believe when it shut down... you should NOT be able to turn off the car while in Drive. I wonder if it will shut down while you are moving, now I'm worried that I will hit the buttton by accident. OK, who's brave enough to test to see if the car could be shut down while driving along? Back in the oldern days, where you had the key in the ignition, I don't recall being able to shut off the car unless you were in Neutral.

MD350

I am actually glad that you can shut it off in drive. Back in the 80's, the accelerator got stuck on the Pontiac I was driving. My first reaction was to turn the key off and the engine was cut off. So, for emergency situations, I am glad Lexus allows the engine to be cut off in drive via the push button start.

If you hit it in error, throw it in "N" and start 'er up again.

currie0522

My cars have always been able to shut down while driving. The key will rotate back to ACC, but you couldn't remove the key as it would lock the steering wheel.

psp

I also want to thank you for doing the research on your loaner car so I do not have to experiment on my $40,000+ expenditure. I am sure that your dealer will be pleased as punch to hear how your investigations are proceeding on his loaner fleet. I cannot wait for your foray into automotive science.

PaJaHa1

You should see the shape of the IS they gave me. It looks like it's been through a demolition derby.

Mr. M

I remember i read in the manual if you press the start button for 3 seconds, the car will shut down even it's moving.

LexBob2

Good point. The 3 second delay would prevent the car from shutting down if the button was accidently bumped. Just like the power button on a computer.

PaJaHa1

I'm going to try this on my beater tonight. I was in drive, but stopped, and pressed the button quickly and it shut down.