Acrad

LA Times Column: The switch to 5G wireless could shut down SOS buttons in millions of cars

klinquist

I did contact Lexus through their website asking about a retrofit. This was the response I received.


Dear Mr. Linquist,

Thank you for contacting Lexus regarding the sunset of 3G wireless services. We appreciate your inquiry regarding a potential retrofit.

At this time, Lexus has not announced any plans to launch a genuine Lexus part or accessory to allow 4G, and above, the capability to access Enform services beyond the provided date. You may also consider reviewing our 3G Wireless FAQs for additional clarification.

For your awareness, telematics features are determined at the time of manufacturing. While we appreciate your proactive thought process, the unit that you are referencing would only be available as a replacement unit for a compatible vehicle. The units are simply not, as you noted, 'plug and play'.

We greatly appreciate your feedback and your email has been documented at our National Headquarters under file #xxxxxxxx. Guest communications do remain remain available for review with the appropriate departments. If you have any other questions, or if we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us .

Sincerely,

Bo S.
Lexus Guest Experience Center

DavoLBC

I agree with everything you said. It is very close to another post I put up on another thread. at this point I think we need to start contacting government officials because I do believe we are being robbed literally. We were sold a bill of goods and they renegged on products and features that were promised when purchasing the vehicle. I know I would not have purchased it had I known I would lose the app and the other features included with the car infotainment system. I find this to be extremely outrageous. Is Toyota trying to make us mad or others sweat it out and then at the last minute come and save the day with some type of fix that we will have to pay a fortune for or lose it all? This is no way a company can stay in business better yet an extremely large corporation with millions of cars purchased and on US roads. There are government agencies that do watch dog jobs just for crap like this where the consumer is involved and takes a loss on something promised. You shouldn't have to pay a lawyer to go with you to the dealership and work out a contract that suits both you and the manufacturer but cost you almost as much for the lawyer as it does for the vehicle. This is just ridiculous if I had my way no Toyota or Lexus vehicle would ever be allowed to be sold in the United States. Not just because of my anger but because of the millions of people that will be affected as a whole. After reading the response and the Toyota representative saying it's not plug and play and seemed to have no caring for the car owner whatsoever. So call your congressman your senator or email them about this I'm sure they can help us and send us in the right direction this is a federal issue. I don't think they would allow a company to sell a cell phone for $1,200 and then tell you the phone part won't work after 3 months and the data won't work after 18 months. All because they're upgrading technology of course you would be told this after you had already purchased the phone with no refund available. Definitely a federal issue.

captainnem

I received a notification that my Vivint security panel at home needs an upgrade because of this and they will come upgrade the wireless in the panel for free.

I’m sure that the module for the GX is a lot more expensive, but Vivint I would think has a pretty large customer base.

klinquist

The difference here is Vivint is collecting a monthly fee from you... and if their module stops working, people cancel the service.

DavoLBC

We we have no idea if the part is more expensive or less expensive all we know is that Lexus isn't doing anything about it. The labor may be more expensive but they need to make people that buy luxury expensive cars happy unless they want to get out of the luxury car business. They could at least meet part way if the car is over 4 years old then switch it out and make it right for at cost parts and labor. If the car is 4 years or newer it's completely on them and they should upgrade it free of charge. I didn't pay over $60,000 to have my info payment system for only 2 years! Lexus needs to get their act together this isn't a home security system it is a very expensive luxury car. The remote app and Alexa and infotainment system was a big part of my decision on buying this vehicle. Of course it's a beautiful car but not if these essential to me features do not work properly. I want the SOS to work for safety what if my kid is driving and they get in an accident they're going to freak out and not know what to do I want help to be on the way as promised when I purchased the vehicle. This is stupid and completely ridiculous again they will lose a lot of customers and we're not talking about small money here. I could switch out my home security system for a couple thousand dollars not tens of thousands.

klinquist

I posted the MSRP of the communications module above..

Lexuss07

....Another canned response from Bo S. Reach out to Shaun Yzquierdo at Lexus Corporate in Plano, TX. He is responsible for this 3G sunsetting. The source is reliable and trustworthy.

Flavorus

Planned obsolescence. It will drive sales to for those that value these features. Just sucks coming from what I thought was a premium luxury brand.

klinquist

Sort of.
Almost all automakers have some sort of cellular connection in them these days. Is it "planned obsolescence" on nearly all automakers' parts by using LTE, which will inevitably be decommissioned in favor of 5G at some point? Or is it planned obsolescence on the cellular provider's part? Or is it just paving the way for better technology?

Flavorus

I believe they could have engineered a hot swappable solution for the cell connectivity. Surely when they designed this, they understood that cell technology is one of the fastest evolving technologies we face.

Acrad

I saw this on another thread here. Not sure if Verizon is a provider for Lexus system though.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/5/22...ork-old-phones

Verizon is indefinitely delaying the shutdown of its 3G network, pushing back the original plan for the network to shutter at the end of 2020 to an as-yet-undetermined point in the future.

The news comes from Verizon spokesperson Kevin King, who tells Light Reading, “Our 3G network is operational and we don’t have a plan to shut it down at this time. We’ll work with customers to move them to newer technology.”

According to Light Reading, Verizon previously announced that it planned to shutter the 3G network at the end of 2020, which was already a delay. (The company originally intended to close the network at the end of 2019.) Now, it seems that Verizon is once again punting that decision down the road.

The interesting part of this decision is that Verizon is making it solely for customers who are still using their existing 3G devices. The company no longer allows customers to activate new 3G phones on its network (as of 2018), nor does it offer prepaid 3G service (as of 2019). Obviously, Verizon would prefer that its customers upgrade to new 4G LTE — or, at this point, 5G — plans (presumably with new phones that they’ll buy through the carrier). But the repeated delays in shutting down the 3G network seem to suggest that the transition isn’t going as fast as the company would like.

Verizon isn’t the only network working to move customers off of its legacy 3G network. AT&T recently advised its customers using 3G phones that it plans to shut down its 3G network sometime in early 2022, while T-Mobile is reportedly looking to make voice over LTE (VoLTE) a requirement early this year.

Thread over in IS 3rd gen forum
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...ct-2022-a.html

mdengland

I've got a 2018 Lexus GX460 Sport / Luxury that I bought in 2018. The wife and I love the truck and had hoped to keep it - I even named her (I never name cars). I shored up the CarPlay deficit with Gromm's VLINE2 (works great), and added the new ConsoleVault to the vehicle - so I thought I was set. I checked today about a replacement telematics module - and to everyone's point, mine sits in the center dash and the 2021 unit sits in the ceiling (in front of the sunroof). The newer 4G unit appears to have different part numbers, wiring harnesses, etc. It's sad in that Toyota/Lexus used to lead in their commitment to their clients, technology, and customer service. I can't say that any longer (4G had been out for 8-10 years when my car was built at the factory). Other car vendors (Chevy, etc.) replaced the telematics unit when the industry went from 2G to 3G. Technology does change frequently, but I expect my vehicles to have a longer depreciation / useful life cycle than my laptop.

I'll be going with a BMW X7 in the next month and will be leaving the Lexus family. To not have an upgrade path on a 3 year old car - it's unconscionable, and a gross display of disrespect for their clients. Not having an SOS function puts my family at risk. Enform has also stopped tracing the vehicle in motion, and now only reports on last parked location (I noticed that this week-end). I can use Apple AirTags, Find my friend, etc. for tracking - but we shouldn't be forced into finding alternatives for functionality we believed to have purchased. It shows a lack of integrity and customer focus on the part of Lexus corporation. I'm sure I won't be the only one exiting the brand.

PNWRacer

Seems to me that Lexus has just been flat lazy and cheap with upgrading the electronics packages in the GX. Just because the model came out in 2010 doesn't mean they couldn't have replaced the crappy head unit with one that has AirPlay and replaced the 3G radio years earlier, even if they did so with one with both 3G and 4G/LTE radios so they could switch things over when the sunset date that everyone knew was coming arrived.

boisvert00

Has anyone heard anything as to what Lexus plans to do when Enform stops and if we can use the KeyFob to still start the car? I am assuming the system will still be gimped but you never know. I have referenced all the forums:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...ct-2022-a.html

https://www.reddit.com/r/Lexus/comme...exus_nx_found/

I was just wondering if anyone knew of anything specifically from Lexus other than installing an aftermarket system? My parents did this with their 2017 RX and it works great.

Thanks,

Christopher