2008 Rx400h Any Mods To Add Smart Key Function?

[Skysailor]

About the only irritating feature to me in this great vehicle is the fact that the memory seat/mirror/steering column settings are not selected/activated by the keyless entry remote control. Instead, one must open the door and select the driver 1 or 2 button to activate the appropriate settings. In my case, if my significantly shorter spouse was the last to use the car, the seat would likely be left in a position that is much too close to the steering wheel for me to enter and sit down. This requires me to find and hit the right button and wait for the seat to retract enough for me to be able to get in. Not a big deal on a nice day but a real PITA when it is pouring down rain or 30 mph winds at 20 degrees F.

These two features have been linked together on every other car I have had with two driver memory settings. It's amazing that on this high tech late model Lexus they are not. So....is there a mod or after-market kit that will add the feature so that whichever remote is used to unlock the car will also activate the assigned memory settings?

[1990LS400]

You are one model year too early to have the driver seat automatically move all the way backward when the driver shuts off the ignition. This feature was added to the RX450h and now appears to be standard on all vehicles made by Toyota that have memory seats.

I've never seen anyone ask about doing a mod like you want and have never seen a "kit" that can make this happen.

I suggest that you use the adjustment switch on the side of the driver seat to move it rearward instead of doing it with the memory button - you can do that in the same motion as you sit down in the driver seat. Or ask your wife to run the seat all the way rearward before she exits the vehicle.

[Skysailor]

Yes, I am working on that last suggestion but having only marginal success!! :) I have also used the method you suggested of using the seat adjustment button rather than the memory button but that turns out to be slightly more inconvenient especially if you have some items in your hands when getting in. The feature you mentioned that has the seat always go to the rearward position when turning off the ignition (or perhaps when the key is removed which causes the steering column to retract) seems like the simplest approach. That is versus the dual remote control recognition. Just wondering how difficult it would be to add that function to the existing system? Any experts on the electronics of this model out there that can come up with such a mod?

[1990LS400]

Yes, wife-training is almost as difficult as husband-training. :cries:

I doubt if would feasible to add the driver seat retraction feature since in later model years it is also a customizable feature - "On" or "Off" with the default being "On". That means that the feature is programmed into the ECU that controls the seat memory. Maybe it would be possible to substitute the seat control ECU from an RX450h but who knows if would work properly and the cost of trying it might be shocking.

Maybe look at this as one of the many additional features you will get on your next RX. The 2016 RX is getting lots of new features including heated and power folding rear seats, all-speed adaptive radar cruise control and Lane Keep Assist. The press release about the 2016 RX is on www.lexus.com .

[Skysailor]

Great! So in 2022 when I pick up my next "new" car which will be a used 2016 RX450H it will have the seat memory features I want! :)

[1990LS400]

Great! So in 2022 when I pick up my next "new" car which will be a used 2016 RX450H it will have the seat memory features I want! :)

You've got it. That's one of the frustrating aspects of buying used vehicles or buying new vehicles and keeping them a long time like we have done - one simply does not get technologies and features that have become common since the vehicle was manufactured.

If in 2022 you buy a new vehicle instead of a used one, you might get a vehicle that is self-driving, has a "Back to the Future" flux capacitor and is fueled by rainbows.

[maseace]

If in 2022 you buy a new vehicle instead of a used one, you might get a vehicle that is self-driving, has a "Back to the Future" flux capacitor and is fueled by rainbows.

I'm still waiting for Mr. Fusion!