PDM

They are now rolling out the first stage of the updates: tracker and OBD geofence devices. The next stage will (we all hope) be the true CANbus fix via an additional hardware component called a CAN blocker and this is the thing that has an unknown time frame. My RX had the tracker and geofence fitted earlier this week and my wife's NX is having it done at the moment. Others on here are also reporting that they have recently had this work done. So try to push the dealer to get at least that part of the updates installed. Cheers, Paul

Perhaps you have more than 32GB of music? I think the new MM21 system only supports 32GB (lord knows why... Even MM13 in my wife's car supports over 64GB. Whittle it down a bit and see if it works? Dealerships tend not to be very specialist at these things unfortunately. Paul

I note some of the Lexus magazine website has been down last night/this morning, so perhaps they are having some infrastructure issues?

Generation 4 RX vehicles are easily stolen and insurance is very high. Same with gen 1 NX. You will find many posts about it on this forum. You should get some insurance quotes first... And beware of the theft risk. Paul

I would be very surprised at this point if they do not get around to rolling out the CANbus blocker device in addition to a tracker and geofencing. They have mentioned the CAN blocker on their webpage (the one where they admit to the issue on the Lexus magazine) and I have it disclosed in an emails from CR, I think as do some others. So I would say it's not so much a question of if, but when, for the CAN blocker. And how much longer....? I hope I'm not wrong.... Paul

I'm guessing that this is related to the move from Lexus Link to Lexus Link Plus and associated wider changes. When a vehicle is migrated from Lexus link to the "plus" version it seems to use a different back end too. I am just in discussions with customer service about the apparent removal of the in car hotspot function which is related to no support for it in the new back end. The OTA update to maps was always broken though - and hence always better to do from a memory stick. If you do an OTA update on an MM19 system maps it will breaks speed camera warnings. Paul

There are plenty of usb-c flash drives available that will plug straight in that will be cheaper than a cd player. Also a lot more compact and I think overall a lot less fuss. But there does seem to be a decent selection of BT enabled in car CD players on Amazon, but I have never tried them. You would want them to work with the up/down track buttons on the infotainment system. Paul

Kenny, How attached are you to a physical CD player? I think the new MM21 infotainment systems can read lossless flac files from USB, so you could get a good number of CDs converted to flac and put on a USB stick. I think the limit on USB size on MM21 is 32GB for some reason, but that's still about 50 CDs worth. Paul

Peter, I thought I had turned off MAC randomisation, but perhaps that is only as a client and not a hotspot, so you may be correct. I have found internet Bluetooth tethering to be very unreliable. I also have a pixel 7. Perhaps I should try that again. Paul

Thanks for this. Can I just ask - on the web portal, even though you don't use itz is there an option to buy data for the hotspot? Paul

Interesting. Since I was migrated on to the Lexus Link Plus app, nothing works. I have been back and forth with customer services now for well over a month. Are you on the old app or the new app? (The back end also seems to change when you love to the lexus link plus app - I'm other words it's not just the app, but the website portal too that changes). I like the vehicle location in the app (useful in large car parks) and I like the real time camera info that you get when internet connected. Yes, Bluetooth works for me every time. Paul

Incidentally if anyone with an RX4 has these things working please let me know because it suggests a specific issue with my vehicle and suggests it may be possible to fix....

The problem is, it's not just the security that's broken. On RX4 (and it may be a different of the new RX with MM21), Radly internet radio doesn't work (supposed to be available on cars with a hotspot), the subscription service for the hotspot doesn't work, you can't tether the car to your phone hotspot without typing in the password each time you start the car, location data in the app longer works, send destination to car doesn't work, trip data is not available, there are other bugs in the infotainment system and unless you are on a very old version then voice commands for playing mp3s doesn't work. Too much stuff is broken and they simply don't fix it, despite these issues being clearly communicated. Consequently I have little to no confidence that if I bought a new vehicle from them, and there were bugs, that they would fix them. Thinking otherwise would be hope over experience. From my perspective the brand has significantly changed since my current car and my last car.

Not to mention that there are reported cases on here of thefts with plates installed. Instead of unplugging the CAN connector on the headlight they just cut the wires instead, so the plates are only a small deterrent for a rookie thief. Given my interactions with customer service on the security and other issues (mainly related to software and vehicle connectivity) they need more training. Paul

Paul, I was under the impression that the OBD device would stop the vehicle being driven outside of a specified area (geofencing) rather than deal with wireless/relay type hacks. Paul

On board diagnostics. It's a port used to read data from the onboard electronics modules.

Never say never, but I think it has got to the point where it is worth looking at other brands.

It won't work anymore with iPhone or modern versions of android. I do not know the reason. I used to think it was due to randomised MAC address on the hotspot but it is some other security related enhancement that the Lexus software cannot cope with. I would suggest using the hotspot in the vehicle if you have one, but at least for me, this is not working either since we were forced to use Lexus Link Plus. The only thing that might work is to purchase a dedicated hotspot, or you may have some luck using Bluetooth tethering of the internet but I have also tried that and it only works for me about 20 percent of the time. Paul

I hadn't really considered that. I guess some could have but I would expect it to be quite a small number. I think more likely they moved to NX. Paul

It is interesting, however, to look at RX gen 5 sales figures. They are much lower than when gen 4 was launched, so perhaps many RX3 customers upgraded quickly but very few RX4 customers are changing to RX5, perhaps because of the engine, or the thefts. Lexus sales figures are now dominated by the LBX and UX rather than the larger vehicles. NX also significant.

I wonder how many people who have been burned by the 4RX security issues would be willing to buy a new gen 5? It would depend on how big the few £1000s is. Paul

Ok, so I just had a response from customer services. All they are offering is a tracker and a geofencing device (which is the OBD device discussed above). No mention of an immobilizer or an actual fix to the security flaw. I find this rather amazing. Paul

I have just written to "customer services" to ask for clarification. If the news reported here is accurate it is a huge disappointment to say the least. What is the OBD device they will be fitting? Paul

Have they also got a software fix for the CANbus? Paul

I always found the internet enabled speed cameras (like average speed camera zones) very useful. Is Bluetooth working ok on your phone? Paul