nuraman00

It appears that the options for alerts are either voice, or vibration of the steering wheel.

From what I understand, both cannot be enabled.

What do you think would be more effective?

I think I would be quicker to respond to the steering wheel vibration than voice, but I'm not sure.

If both can be enabled, I'd do that.

This isn't really something that can be tested out safely, so I can't try it out and see which one is better.

I'm just thinking that if I were in a situation where this was happening and I needed to react quickly, then a vibration of the steering wheel would get my attention faster?

But I'm interested in what others may think, especially if anyone got into a situation where this was activated.

Sulu

Sorry to answer your question with a question... Can the alerts be disabled or just enabled as a warning light?

My thought is that if someone cannot keep in the lane, that person should not be driving. There are also times (especially in heavy, commuter traffic on the highway) when I purposely steer out of my lane a bit to avoid or prevent the idiot in the adjoining lane from hitting me. In such circumstances, a spoken voice or shaking steering wheel alert would get very tiring, very quickly.

nuraman00

Yes, it can be disabled.

From what I understand, I think it can sense the difference between someone purposely swerving (like to avoid an object, or in your case to avoid another car), and drifting. I asked questions about when it activates, when at the dealership (both in 2013, and this year). None of those people had really seen it in use, though. I asked if it would activate if I had to swerve to avoid something. They said it wouldn't.

Having this safety feature standard is one of the reasons I went with a Lexus again (vs. in 2013, when it required additional packages). I liked how this, along with other things (10 years of Enform now, etc.) were now standard.

The way I think about it, is that I'm not looking at it to enable bad drivers to have a greater safety net. I'm thinking about it from the view, where what if visibility was suddenly poor during a stretch (either due to fog/weather, or perhaps poor lane markers, or poor illumination, etc.).

What if there was a short stretch with less than ideal conditions, like I listed above. What would be the best way to indicate drifting?

I am not talking about situations where someone is tired, or has poor vision. I'm talking about more unintended situations. Those would be the conditions you listed, for someone that shouldn't be driving.

lesz

The 10 years of free Enform only applies to 4 or 5 2018 Lexus models, and the ES is not one of them. Also, even for the models that it does apply, what is free does not include the Enform Remote subscription.

nuraman00

After reading your post, I checked my car sticker.

Here's what it says:

* Enform Safety Connect: 10 years
* Enform Destination Assist: 1 years
* Enform Remote: 1 year

When I check this site, it says GX is the model that is not included for Safety Connect:

http://www.lexus.com/enform/availability-pricing

When I check this site, under Emergency Roadside Assistance:

http://www.lexus.com/enform

It says it's standard for all vehicles for 48 months. And then for all vehicles except for GX, it's an additional 72 months after that (totaling 10 years).

Personally, I think the Safety Connect is the best thing. Especially the Stolen Vehicle Locator (although I've never had to use it yet). After that, having the Destination Assist is the next best thing.

Hmm, I see that eDestination has been discontinued. I last had it in late 2014, before my trial expired. Darn, I had liked that feature.

jamestpc

Its not terrible. The lane departure just vibrates quickly and pulls you back into the lane slightly. If you try to make a lane change without indication, you have to push through it.abruptly or muscle though (not very difficult).

Unfortunately it's for those that text/are distracted. Ive tested this a few times...it will drive and keep you in the lane as long as you are not in a turn - if in a pretty large turn, you will eventually go out of lane i think (I should try this out just to see). There's a button to turn off the system completely. But its also useless in heavy rain and snow.

I didn't even know it had a voice option. But i think that'd get kind of annoying after awhile. May as well be permanently driving with your sig other.

But honestly i think you're over thinking. You'll be always paying attention to the road, so 'reacting' to the warning won't even really be on the top of your list to be honest. (or shouldn't be).
Its just a complimentary thing to keep you aware. You use it in tandem with your resting meter (how many times you drift out of lane - it will advise you to pull over and take a break). - this i've used on even long distance run i've done. THIS is a neat feature when your machismo outruns your actual endurance.

lesz

When I checked those links and other places on the Lexus site, I didn't find information about what is included with what models, but, if it says 10 years for the safety connect on your window sticker, it must be true for the 2018 ES. If that is the case, that is a change from what Lexus announced several months ago. At that time, the 10 years of free safety connect only applied to several models. I think that those models were the RC, LC, RX, and NX. Thanks for the update.

Actually, the lane departure alert has an audio option, not a voice option. It is somewhat like a chime.

For the first several months after I bought my 2017 ES, I frequently switched back and forth between the steering wheel vibration option and the audio warning. Ultimately, I settled on using the steering wheel vibration alert.

nuraman00

Thanks for the feedback. I don't think a chime sounds very effective.

As for what Enform features are included on what models, here's what I did:

On this first link that I posted:

http://www.lexus.com/enform/availability-pricing

If you put your mouse over the asterisk, it tells you it's included on all models complimentary for 10 years, except for the GX.


Similarly, if you use this second link I posted:

http://www.lexus.com/enform

And put your mouse over the asterisk next to "Emergency Roadside Assistance" halfway down the page, or "Emergency Assistance" near the top of the page, it will say something similar, about Safety Connect being complimentary for all vehicles for 48 months. And then for all vehicles except for GX, it's an additional 72 months after that (totaling 10 years).

So that's what I read to determine for which vehicles Safety Connect applies to and for how long the complimentary period is.

nuraman00

Yeah, I'm not the texting person. The phone stays in my pocket the entire time, even during long drives. With the blue tooth feature of being able to make/receive calls, as well as new text prompts, there's no need to take the phone out.

I'm looking at the Lane Departure With Keep Assist the same way as blind spot monitoring, pre-collision detect, or park assist. Where 99.99% of the time, I know what's happening, and this just confirms what I know.

But if something suddenly happened with the visibility, or the road markers became less visible, then it could tell me something I didn't know. Or, as you said, it's good to use in tandem with the coffee cup resting meter).

Thanks for also describing how the vibration alerts feel when it's used. None of the dealers I asked, both in 2013 when it was only available in conjunction with the ultra luxury package, and this time in 2018, had ever had it activated.

It sounds like a better warning indicator than the chime, so I'll leave it at that.

JDR76

I would not use the chime. I have the chime in my Highlander and it dings all of the time because of the false readings. Too many reflections on the road (sun after rain, for example, or tar strips) and it beeps like crazy, even though I'm in the lane. Vibrating steering wheel is far less intrusive (and scary to the passengers! ).

nuraman00

Thanks for describing your experience with it in use.

mcomer

Enform Safety Connect/Service Connect is now standard for all 2018 Lexus models except GX.
The LS, LC, NX and RC models for 2018 are the ones that utilize the new Lexus Enform App Suite 2.0

nuraman00

Last Sunday, I was driving on a road in the right-most lane. 2 lanes was about to become 3, as a new lane was about to be formed on the right hand side.

As the new lane was being formed, I merged into the new lane on the right hand side.

The Lane Departure alert went off, with 4 steering wheel vibrations.

So I inadvertently got to see how this feature works, and in a safe situation (I wasn't close to hitting anyone, and I was in control of the vehicle, and there wasn't anyone around me).

Ok, so this would probably be useful in a low-traffic area, if there weren't many other obstacles around. But not in a situation where there was more car density, and a quicker response might be needed.

At least I got a sense of how this works.

2 days later, I tried to re-create the situation, on a different road, when a new lane would be opened up on the right. It didn't go off. I was going above 32mph both times.

Then 2 days ago, I was going on yet another road, where a new lane would be opened on the right to allow for turning. The Lane Departure Alert went off. It was similar to the experience on Sunday, with 4 vibrations of the steering wheel.

I wonder if not signalling had anything to do with it? Since then, I've tried to signal (even if there weren't other cars around) to see whether the Lane Departure Alert would or would not still go off.

I might need a few more tries, since during my intentional attempt on Tuesday, it didn't go off.

I've been wondering about this feature since 2013, when I bought my previous car. I tried to get the feature then, but since it wasn't a standard option, nor available on anything less than a luxury package, I couldn't get it. And none of the dealers could really describe it, since they've never seen it in use either. They could only just say what it did.

Now I know.

lesz

If your turn signal is on, the lane departure alert will not be active.

nuraman00

Thanks. Makes sense.

I'm now happy to understand how this works.