John Nooij

That's a very nice and above all cheap solution! The only thing that scares me of a bit are the two mechanical cables I see in the YT-movie, the one with the green and gray piece at the end (you'll see them at 2:46 and 2:54 in the YT-movie). In the movie nothing is explained about these cables. Are those the cables you reference as "the only tricky part"? My experience is that once this kind of cables is disconnected, it's very difficult to get them reconnected again. Or am I wrong here?

I have a 2020 IS300h and I am experiencing the same issue. There are two usb sticks with mp3 files in the usb slot and once in a while one of the sticks isn't recognized. I have to pull out the device and put it back in its slot, and then the stick is always recognized correctly. If it works again, the mp3 music will pick up where it left off the last time the music from that stick was played, so that's a good thing. This doesn't happen very often however, most of the time both stick are connecting correctly. Because it's relatively rare, it doesn't bother me.

The bug was just flying around in your empty car, and that triggered the alarm, or what?

The standard (non-premium) nav doesn't have an SD card indeed. But in the navi menu there is an "Map update" menu item which, when selected, askes you to plug in an USB stick with the map update. That doesn't look like a dealer update only. So, if you have a genuine map on an USB stick this should work I guess. Never tried it anyway. Original Lexus map too expensive, the cheap Satnavishop version a bit risky in my opinion.

And you are sure your new installed map has updated roads, and it’s not only the year notification in the menu that’s been updated? I’m sorry, but I don't trust that low price (30% of the original price). But maybe my suspicions are unfounded.

An old thread, but I like to reply. ColinBarber mentioned the “third party supplier” and for the Lexus non-premium nav (which I have too in my IS300h) I found a map update at Satnavishop, this one: https://www.satnavishop.co.uk/lexus-toyota-15cy-gen9-sat-nav-map-update-usb-europe-2021-2022-711-p.asp But to be honest: I have a little doubt about this product. How can they sell a genuine Lexus map update, where Lexus charges £ 190, for only £ 60. There’s a caveat I’m afraid. Does anyone has an experience with these map updates?

In the Volvo I only used it for real time traffic information in the navi, and that was really a very useful addition. And that's in fact the main reason I started this topic.

Of course, the car itself, reliability, comfort, fuel consumption, etc. are more important than connectivity. But to be honest, connectivity is indeed something I miss, when I compare the IS with several cars I had before. That's why I asked the questions in this topic. I hope you guys don't blame me too much for this...😉

I agree, connectivity and Lexus is clearly not a prodigious combination. Another example is eCall, which is mandatory in all new cars sold after April 1, 2018. Apparently not for Lexus as I don't have it in my IS (CY2020). But hey, the car drives great, that's the most important thing.

Well, of course I checked the handbook, but found nothing specific for this situation. Not an explanation about the fuel engine starting to run after after a few seconds in cold weather anyway. Thanks, I will try this soon (cold weather is coming...)

What do you mean when you say that it will kick in after a few seconds? Hit the ignition button, leave the car gear in "park", and after a few seconds the fuel engine will start?

The IS300h is my first hybrid car, so this might be a stupid question, but I’ll ask it anyway: I wonder how to warm up the car interior in winter, when it’s cold outside and the windshield is iced or heavily fogged on the inside. When the ignition button is pressed, no fuel engine is started. Only when you start driving, the electric engine moves the car initially. So, when no fuel engine is running when the car isn’t moving yet, how can the car interior be heated and windows be de-iced or defogged? Can you force the fuel engine to start, so it produces some heat to warm up the interior for some minutes?

I already took care of a decent phone mount, Brodit holder and an universal clip (and some creativity).

And Phil, you are also right about the "current car location", which is obviously the current phone location. I was fooled by the app, because my phone has always been in the neighborhood of the car. So, I always wondered how this app could know my car location - there has to be an internet connection I thought. Today the car was at my home and I was hiking in the woods. There in the woods I checked the car location in the app and the car was... with me in the woods. I'm a bit speechless I must say...

For me it's no need to stay on-line 24/7, but the only thing I'm interested in is navi traffic information from the internet because RDS is so outdated and unreliable. It was just something I wandered, because in various cars I had prior to the IS300h (mainly Volvo) an internet connection based on bluetooth tethering was quite normal. But as I understand, it's not evident for the IS300h, my model anyway. And Paul, you are right, it's a car and it's a pretty fine car. I just have to deal with not very usable RDS traffic information. Or use Google maps on my phone.

The only thing that's functional in my Lexus Link app is the current location of the car. The app knows exactly where the car is located. So, somehow the car is communicating his gps location with the internet, or am I wrong?

So, no internet connection, that’s a pity. Nowadays mostly every new car can connect to the internet, directly or using bluetooth tethering. I’m afraid the same applies to the Lexus Link app, this app is useless with my IS300h? I can add the car using the VIN number. Then in the app a nice picture of an IS300h is shown, together with the VIN number, but that’s all. I cannot add my navi (presumably because it’s not “premium”) and the “connected services” are not available. Pretty useless app for me I’m afraid?

Hello all, I recently bought a Lexus IS300h, CY2020 (model 2019). I must say, this car drives the best of all the cars I've ever driven. And in my opinion it's currently the most attractive car (but this is very subjective of course). What I am wondering however, is that it seems there's no possibility to have an internet connection in my car. I would like this because of the navigation real time traffic information. There is a non-premium navigation module in de car (I found out, because it must be controlled using a dial button). I can connect my phone without any problem using bluetooth. But in de menu system there is no option to select an internet connection using wifi or bluetooth (tethering). Am I missing something, or is internet connection only available in IS300h models with some kind of higher luxury level? Thanks, John