uhaveit

This is my first Lexus and I have been driving European cars for more than 10 years.
This will be my wife's daily driver. This past Sunday we went out for lunch in our new Lexus and experienced some thing interesting.

I was driving and I forgot to stop the engine before we left. Interestingly , the car was still running when I returned after 45 minutes . I thought it was ridiculous tech to let the car running even when the Key fob was not in the close proximity. Luckily , the car was not stolen.


For comparison, my 2012 5 series and my brothers 2014 ML350 will stop the engine if the key fob is not to be found within 3 feet of the drivers seat.

toyotaman7

So would the Benz shutdown if your spouse walks away with the key if you drop them of somewhere and you keep driving?

Did the doors lock with the car running?

uhaveit

I can tell you if the car is in the P position and if the key fob is not around , the engine will stop ( For BMW and Benz) . I did not test how the car would behave if it is in D or R and the key fob is not found

I am not sure if the doors were locked . I guess the locks open when I get close without pressing the unlock button on the remote . So it is difficult to tell if the car was locked or not.

Oldfart

Have you actually tested it? Or just speculating?

What would happen when you are on a freeway going 80MPH and fob battery dies?
What happens when fob battery dies and you are in the middle of nowhere? If you do not know than there is a way to start car with dead battery in a fob.

aznkorboi

I believe they did this in case the key fob battery dies your engine won't die with it.

I know if the fob dies, you have to touch the fob against the start/stop button and the engine will turn on.

dchar

No car that I know of turns off the engine when the key leaves the proximity of the car, whether in either P or D.

Like already mentioned, it would be dangerous for the car to shutdown when the key is not detected. I think it's crazy the OP didn't notice the engine noise or the car beeping at him when leaving the car. That's pretty irresponsible on his own part for not switching off the car before leaving the car.

Darith

I have to disagree about making this a default feature. This feature would make sense only if it was an optional setting that you can turn off or on. I have had passengers (wife and kids napping) hang out and wait in my car without me for more than an hour while at the park. Honestly, if I forgot to turn off the engine before I left I would consider myself neglectful on my own vehicle.

kitlz

uhavelt, the RX will not lock if the vehicle is running. And there's supposed to be three beeps as soon as you close the door and walk away with the fob. It's warning you the RX is still on. To check/confirm the RX is locked, try using the side mirror auto fold feature. That works if you want to visually check from a distance. There's also the Lexus Enform app. It can give you vehicle status (locked, unlocked, window open, window closed, tailgate open, tailgate closed, etc.) from anywhere and at any time. And think about having the dealer disable the beeps when locking (one beep) and unlocking (two beeps). It will still do the corresponding blinks. That way you won't be confused with the other warning beeps. I did it so I don't hear it every time.

I'm glad nothing bad happened. We have a few stories in the 3RX forum where this happened. You're not the first and certainly not going to be the last.

clwu

This video is pretty interesting about smart keys.
What happens when you throw the key out while driving...ect.

coolsaber

last i checked the F series platoform lets you start the car driveoff without a key, annoying popup, however unless you turn off the vehicle the engine remains on. Once the engine is turned off you have a 10 second window to restart without key.

ggebhardt

I feel asleep half way though the video.