LBX - The good, the bad and the ugly

Fazz · October 23

I've had my LBX for five months. You all know the good points - driving position, fuel economy, dynamic cruise control, etc - so I won't go into details.

The bad points, in my opinion, are the relentless onslaught of warning signs, buzzers, chimes and interventions. I can't blame Lexus for a lot of these. They are mandated by the EU's "New Vehicle General Safety Regulations", otherwise known as GSR2. The UK has not signed up to this but Lexus, along with other manufacturers, doesn't want the cost of having a special configuration for Great Britain (Northern Ireland is aligned with the EU's single market). Any new car you buy is going to have the same safety features. So when I exceed the speed limit, and the chimes start up, I firstly blame GSR2 and secondly blame myself for not changing the notification setting before starting. The thought of blaming myself for slightly exceeding the limit rarely occurs to me 😉

The ugly points, in my opinion, are where Lexus has thoughtlessly added to that blizzard of warnings, or made them more difficult to cope with. My main bugbears are:

1. Excess speed warning - changing the notification. It currently takes six presses and one scroll of the centre display, to change the notification to either "none" or "visual". Why make it so complicated? A friend tells me it's much simpler in a Tesla.

2. Passenger and rear seat reminder function. If the front passenger door, or a rear door, is opened then closed before setting off, then you get two warnings after you stop. The first warning is a buzzer and a displayed message. If you have the temerity to ignore the message, and if the front passenger door or a rear door is not re-opened and closed, then when you lock the car it gives a second warning: the emergency flashers are activated and a buzzer sounds nine times. This feature has all the hallmarks of a smartarse IT staffer adding it just because they can. It has nothing to do with GSR2. Being an adult, I can usually remember if I've left a coat or a baby in the car. But this function seems designed for toddlers. Worst still - you can't turn it off permanently. Only a dealer can do that. So when we hand our cars in for their first services, let's all request that this function is turned off. Hopefully Lexus will get the message.

Others may have different opinions.

Pauly C · October 23

I had one as a courtesy car for a short while, so know exactly where you’re coming from. For me, it was the rather odd and potentially dangerous reactions I was getting through the steering wheel, whilst the lane tracking thingy was on….downright odd, unnerving at times and…as I say….potentially dangerous for some drivers if it catches them unawares🤔

EEH · October 24

Totally agree David, if you have a look in our LBX forum most of these issues have been raised a couple of times before, so you can rest assured you are not alone 😉

Hoping that future updates will allow the rear seat reminder alarm to be turned off permanently like it can be done in other Lexus models.

Shufman · October 24

Morning.

yeah I can see where you’re coming from, you can turn alot of the safety systems down but not off. The speed limit bong can be stopped quickly by pressing the dotty button next to climate and pressing the speed limit assist button. Should be 2 presses.

move not had too many steering issues but I set it to low but when it does intervene it is frightening

The rear seat thing is daft, hopefully they’ll put in a future update a setting you can turn off but for now I just mute it.

Heuer · October 24

Many other manufacturers (Porsche, BMW, MB etc) have a steering wheel button to disable the over speed warning. As we have programmable wheel buttons it should not be difficult to include that as an option or permanent fixture.

davemufc · October 25

I bought my lbx just before my wife died in August and I love the car,as mentioned all the road speed noises are a pain ,surely you can turn these off somehow

Tickedon · October 25

51 minutes ago, davemufc said:

I bought my lbx just before my wife died in August and I love the car,as mentioned all the road speed noises are a pain ,surely you can turn these off somehow

You can turn them off for a single journey via the screen. However, EU rules mandate they are re-enabled each time the car starts, so it’s something you’d need to do on every journey.

miop400 · October 25

1 hour ago, davemufc said:

I bought my lbx just before my wife died in August and I love the car,as mentioned all the road speed noises are a pain ,surely you can turn these off somehow

Sorry for your loss

Lbeex · October 28

On 10/24/2024 at 8:45 AM, Shufman said:

The speed limit bong can be stopped quickly by pressing the dotty button next to climate and pressing the speed limit assist button. Should be 2 presses.

Could you please elaborate how to do it exactly in the LBX version without HUD?

Screenshots/pictures appreciated!

Shufman · October 29

I presume the infotainment is the same as the HUD versions but I’ll have a look today and put a couple of pics up.

Don C · October 29

I’ve got a UX which is virtually the same interface I believe. It’s only two presses on mine to get to the choice menu then the third disables it. I’ll film it if I get chance. It did bug me at first but it’s one of those things we have to accept. The next stage is that it will automatically limit your speed which will be fun but rest assured it is already planned.

Shufman · October 29

Ok so press the button next to Climate, then it brings up frequently used buttons and press Road Sign Assist and then it off - if it doesn’t come up then swipe along and it’s there

you don’t have to close the page as it will automatically

Shufman · October 29

You have to do this every trip but it only takes a moment. All the other systems are there so you can switch off what you want to.

Lbeex · October 30

On 10/29/2024 at 9:47 AM, Shufman said:

..press the button next to Climate, then it brings up frequently used buttons...

Smart! Thanks a lot!

Deathstar · October 30

I had one recently as a loan car whilst my NX300h was in. I agree, the beeps and bongs are very annoying, and prove to be a distraction. I'm sure there must be a way to disable them by using a CARLY or something similar.

I wanted to try one to see how much room was in there. Unfortunately, with the baby seat in the back, and the wife in the front; there was no room. It's crazy to think that many years ago a golf sized car was considered good for familys. The CX and CT's boots are comically small. The LBX in my eyes has a slightly bigger boot.

Fuel economy was very good - I averaged 58mpg in comparison my NX gets around 40.

RobRob · November 3

The door reminder function isn’t just unwanted, it’s badly designed. Put something in boot -> drive-> stop -> remove from boot -> lock: the warning is displayed on stopping but the alarm doesn’t sound, which is correct. But then immediately unlock -> reverse into garage -> lock: the alarm sounds!

So the ten second reverse into the garage is treated as a separate “journey” with the boot opened shortly before. They could either disable the warning for very short journeys, or forget a door opening that has itself been used to cancel the door opening from the start of the journey.

Another annoyance: I needed to park half on a grass bank at the corner of a farm track. The parking sensor repeatedly jammed on the brake because there were a few blades of grass. I’m not sure if there is a way to turn that off.

Partridge · November 3

3 hours ago, RobRob said:

The door reminder function isn’t just unwanted, it’s badly designed. Put something in boot -> drive-> stop -> remove from boot -> lock: the warning is displayed on stopping but the alarm doesn’t sound, which is correct. But then immediately unlock -> reverse into garage -> lock: the alarm sounds!

So the ten second reverse into the garage is treated as a separate “journey” with the boot opened shortly before. They could either disable the warning for very short journeys, or forget a door opening that has itself been used to cancel the door opening from the start of the journey.

Another annoyance: I needed to park half on a grass bank at the corner of a farm track. The parking sensor repeatedly jammed on the brake because there were a few blades of grass. I’m not sure if there is a way to turn that off.

I find the proximity sensors mildly annoying where I back into narrow field gates but tolerate the "Press brake" pedal to over-ride it. I also drive a field track that has long grass growing across it which sends the sensors bonkers, however they only operate for a short period (say 7 meters at 5mph) and then become "unavailable" which is an excellent outcome. They "come back" when I next start the vehicle.