Purchased a '24 ES 350 Lux in February that included the 'factory' Dash Cam glued to the windshield. We have never been able to make it work (connect to my iPhone, that is.)
Took it back to the dealer today and sat with a Tech for 2 hours while he tried to make it work, but couldn't. He ended up calling Lexus but they told him they had no ideas and to call the Dash Cam third party vendor who Lexus subs for that option. He did that but was put on permanent hold.
In frustration he tried disconnecting the car's battery, but that had no effect either.

Finally he reached out to the shop manager, who told him that the Dash Cam didn't work with the version of our celphone (iPhone 15).
To test that theory he tried to connect with his iPhone 14 and it worked.
The Shop Manager said there was nothing that he could do, and to call Apple and complain (WHAT?????)

So we just bought a ~$50k car, that came equipped with an option that we didn't order, that now can't be made to work with the latest version of an iPhone.

What kind of customer service is that?
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Angle parked in a parallel universe

 

Probably be faster to just pull the SD card when needed, wifi over dashcam is PAINFULLY slow.

I have a Viofo connected via Dongar, sd to USB is what I do to pull files when needed.

 

I do understand the annoyance, but what do you expect them to actually do, hit it with a hammer until it works? Your gripe should be with the sales department, not the service department.

 

See the attached how-to. Maybe this will help? "Consult your smartphone’s instruction manual for the appropriate Wi-Fi/Wi-Fi DIRECT connection proceed."

Also, wow, its a $700 option... .O.

 

Here we go. I found the dash cam manual.
/https://www.lexus.ca/lexus/en/maintain-your-lexus/accessories

 

That's the Canadian version of the Lexus Dash Camera Owner's Manual. The US version of the INTEGRATED DASHCAM Owner's Manual just has one procedure for establishing the Wi-Fi connection to the dash cam - the Android Wi-Fi Direct method that isn't supported by Apple in iOS.

I have no idea why an iPhone 14 could make a Wi-FI connection to the dash cam and an iPhone 15 could not. Perhaps the iPhone 15 has plugged a security hole that is present in an iPhone 14 that allowed a third party software library to directly manipulate the Wi-Fi hardware in order to establish non-Apple supported Wi-Fi Direct connection to the dash cam. Or perhaps the iPhone 14 was establishing the Wi-Fi connection using the Canadian Owner's Manual procedure whereas the iPhone 15 was trying to use the US Owner's Manual version which was trying to establish a Wi-Fi Direct connect using the dash cam app which wouldn't work with an iOS device.

That said, since there's no Apple supported method for an iPhone to establish a Wi-Fi Direct connection, the procedure in the Canadian Owner's Manual is the avenue to pursue that has the most chance of success. If you can get the iPhone to join the dash cam's locally set up Wi-Fi access point you've got a least one part of the puzzle solved.

 

Cool that they finally sell an included dashcam. Ouch that it's $700! And an even bigger ouch if they are using "your tech is too new" as an excuse already.

I find it hard to believe that it works on 14 and not 15, considering iOS versions are the same? (I'm on Android so I don't follow iOS releases).

 

iPhone 14 was initially sold with iOS 16 as the earliest version of iOS supported; whereas, iPhone 15 was/is sold with iOS 17 and is the earliest version of iOS supported.

Depending upon when the iPhone 14 was purchased and the iPhone 14's owner's iOS updating practices, the iPhone 14 could still be running a version of iOS 16.

 

For those who are following along.
Dash Cam problem resolved.
Turns out that my iPhone had VPN enabled and that appeared to be interfering with phone establishing a link to the camera (idea suggested by Dealer Tech ...).
Disabled VPN and was able to connect and view recorded videos.

That was a pretty subtle issue, so watch out w those Lexus apps that require iPhone connections.
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My karma just ran over your dogma
Current Hers: '24 Lexus ES350 LUX
Current Mine: '23 IS 350 AWD F Sport

 

Not sure if possible on iphones (I'm an android guy) but look into if you're able to use split-tunneling in the vpn settings for the dash cam app (I assume there is an app).

Best of both worlds then.

 

From Apple's documentation, it is possible to configure per app and per network domain VPN usage on MDM (mobile device management) managed devices (e,g., iPhone, iPad, Mac, etc.).

That said, I don't know at the moment what Apple allows, and if allowed what exists, for that sort of control on unmanaged iPhone devices.

As to the iOS Lexus DashCam, the app itself has no specific controls that I can see for establishing the Dash Cam's Wi-Fi network connection. It just launches iOS's Settings->Wi-Fi for the user to select and connect to the "Lexus Integrated Dashcam" named Wi-Fi network using the default "1234567890" password.

 

MDM is mainly for corporate use, so shouldn't apply if he was using his personal iPhone. If he was able to to go into settings for whatever app he used for VPN, and configured split tunneling all should be fixed.

Had to do the same on my android since I have always on VPN and needed a video real quick from my VIOFO while testing placement.

 

Dmanufacture: What model of ES are you using with the Dongar? How did it fit within the mirror enclosure? How was the experience of removing the mirror cover?

I'm moving a camera to my newly acquired, used, 2022 ES, and while I have a hardware kit it seems like the fuse box cover won't go back on, and I'd rather not be stuffing wires into the pillars and such. The Dongar seems easy. The FitCamX seems neat, but it isn't clear that one can access the SD Card once that unit is installed....so Dongar and dashcam seems the way to go.

 

2024 ES Ultra Luxury.

Cover popped off super easy, cables hid just fine, plenty of room. I only have the front camera plugged in for now but plan on running the cable for the back one sometime in the fall.

 

The fitcamx you can remove the SD card after install very easy to do.