Rear View Camera Problem

UpSideDown · November 26, 2010

Well, I got this problem last winter when temperature dropped to -20c for few days.

When I start the car in the morning and put in reverse the screen doesn't switch to rear view camera. Everything else works but the camera. This happened like 3 - 4 times last winter. It will work again after a hours warm up in a garage. My dealer couldn't find anything wrong.

Has this happened to anyone else?

UpSideDown · February 15, 2011

Well, I got this problem last winter when temperature dropped to -20c for few days.

When I start the car in the morning and put in reverse the screen doesn't switch to rear view camera. Everything else works but the camera. This happened like 3 - 4 times last winter. It will work again after a hours warm up in a garage. My dealer couldn't find anything wrong.

Has this happened to anyone else?

Nobody has this problem???

TigerFish · February 15, 2011

Did your reversing lights come on as they should even when the camera didn't? If not, I would suspect the reverse lamp switch.

Parthiban · February 15, 2011

Where are you based? Part of the lack of responses could be down to the fact I'm not sure how many on here have experienced -20C!

UpSideDown · February 15, 2011

Did your reversing lights come on as they should even when the camera didn't? If not, I would suspect the reverse lamp switch.

I never checked that as I was sitting in the car and too lazy to get out again... Will check it tomorrow morning.

UpSideDown · February 15, 2011

Where are you based? Part of the lack of responses could be down to the fact I'm not sure how many on here have experienced -20C!

I'm from Sweden. It's pretty cold here this time of year

It was -13c this morning and the camera didn't work at the first start-up. The screen stays at NAV and just wont switch to the camera view. Everything works fine though. I drove the car to the dealer (3 minutes from my home) and the camera worked when I left the dealer 10 minutes after. It doesn't like cold weather...

My dealer has already check it once last winter and found nothing. I just want to check if anyone else experience the same problem so I know if this is another surprising "feature" of the car..

UpSideDown · February 16, 2011

Ok, dealer confirmed that the camera is bad. They will replace it with a new one.

Parthiban · February 16, 2011

Ahh Sweden, that makes sense! Yes it does sound like it had to be a faulty camera, as there are so many parts of the world that suffer these temps (like Canada, etc) so I'd be surprised if they hadn't tested it at those temps.

UpSideDown · February 16, 2011

Ahh Sweden, that makes sense! Yes it does sound like it had to be a faulty camera, as there are so many parts of the world that suffer these temps (like Canada, etc) so I'd be surprised if they hadn't tested it at those temps.

Well, I'll be surprised if they did test the car in cold winter.

Few examples here:

1, My rear view camera doesn't like cold temp and doesn't want to work in below -10C.

2, Auto-folding wing mirrors often freeze in closed position when I unlock the car. Had to push them out manually.

3, It takes AGES to heat up the car. Both the engine and the cabin. It takes approx. 20km motorway drive to get the engine warmed up and at least 15 minutes to get the cabin somewhat warm (I set the temp at 30C on full blow). Well, it's like sitting in a freezer every morning.

Also, NO AWD models available for a country that really need it. WTF?!?! All othe makers Lexus compete with offer AWD.

Parthiban · February 16, 2011

Well, I'll be surprised if they did test the car in cold winter.

Few examples here:

1, My rear view camera doesn't like cold temp and doesn't want to work in below -10C.

2, Auto-folding wing mirrors often freeze in closed position when I unlock the car. Had to push them out manually.

3, It takes AGES to heat up the car. Both the engine and the cabin. It takes approx. 20km motorway drive to get the engine warmed up and at least 15 minutes to get the cabin somewhat warm (I set the temp at 30C on full blow). Well, it's like sitting in a freezer every morning.

Also, NO AWD models available for a country that really need it. WTF?!?! All othe makers Lexus compete with offer AWD.

I agree it sounds like they don't! That's pretty silly, all the Germans test their cars in both extremes of heat and cold so Lexus should really do the same if they want to compete properly.

That's actually quite a long time to get the car warm. I'll have to remember that the next I'm complaining about the 30 seconds I have to sit in my car in around +5C waiting for some warm air to come out

Yep the AWD thing is stupid, they already make the car in LHD and RHD for the Japanese and US markets, so why it doesn't exist in all markets (especially somewhere like Sweden) is ridiculous. Sometimes Lexus' marketing and strategy departments really confuse me.........normally restricting range and options is to keep prices down, but Lexus aren't really that much cheaper than the opposition any more (except perhaps Audi).

Simon_D · February 17, 2011

Interesting. I've noticed that my IS250 takes much longer to warm up than any other car I've owned. My Subarus are generally up to operating temperature in half the time of the Lexus. I miss AWD but we still have one Subaru left for when it gets really slippery.