Lexus Climate Concierge - Man, is this A/C complex or What??? Passenger detection???

[JoeRob]

Still in the discovery mode of using the A/C in the GX 550. Trying to determine how to operate the A/C and reading through the Owners' Manual.
In this question/discussion, my GX is most likely just like yours - there are no "knobs" or physical, mechanical buttons, the Climate system is operated on a "glass" panel, with "touch" on/off switches indicated.

I want to be able to run the fan for general ventilation without operating the compressor. Is that possible?
When I "touch" the Auto "button", the little blue indicator comes on and the temperature control knob shows a number (temperature) - does that mean the compressor is engaged??? If yes, should the "A/C" blue indicator also be on???
When I "touch" Auto, the blue indicator button above comes on, but the blue indicator above A/C does not come on. I can "touch" the A/C and then the blue indicator comes on.
Q1. Is the compressor running when the Auto blue indicator is lit?
Q2. When I touch the A/C button and the blue indicator comes on, is that when the compressor is running?

If a reference to a page or pages in the owners manual, Section 5-1, Lexus Climate Concierge, can be provided for me to read, it will be greatly appreciated.
It appears to me that Lexus has created a nightmare of controls for the vehicle and it is a challenge for me to read and understand.

Thanks for any replies.

 

[rent]

Q1. Is the compressor running when the Auto blue indicator is lit?
Not necessarily. When in auto mode (blue indicator is lit on "Auto"), the car decides to heat / cool based on difference in ambient temperature and your desired temperature. It may not need to engage the compressor if the ambient temperature is already close to or slightly below your desired temperature. In that case it may decide to just blow ambient air around without running the compressor. So it's entirely possible to be in Auto mode without the compressor running.

Q2. When I touch the A/C button and the blue indicator comes on, is that when the compressor is running?
Yes. Also see page 414 of manual, left column: "If the “A/C” indicator is turned off, the system will blow ambient temperature air or heated air."

 

[FJMainiac]

Agree. 1 year in and still I find it confusing. Ironically, the biggest challenge is when I don't want heat or AC because the outdoor temp is fine. I swear I turn off everything (auto, AC, climate concierge) and it still feels like it blowing AC or heat and not "ambient" air. Things also are complicated if the seat ventilation or beverage cooling box are on--that will trigger the AC compressor; can also be triggered if the passenger side has a lower temp setting or is not in SYNC mode. I believe there may be safety feature at start up that will sense cabin air quality (separate from temperature) and turn things on for a minute or two.

 

[JoeRob]

Agree. 1 year in and still I find it confusing. Ironically, the biggest challenge is when I don't want heat or AC because the outdoor temp is fine. I swear I turn off everything (auto, AC, climate concierge) and it still feels like it blowing AC or heat and not "ambient" air. Things also are complicated if the seat ventilation or beverage cooling box are on--that will trigger the AC compressor; can also be triggered if the passenger side has a lower temp setting or is not in SYNC mode. I believe there may be safety feature at start up that will sense cabin air quality (separate from temperature) and turn things on for a minute or two.

FJ - I have thought the same thing about "everything" is off and still it seems cold air, below outside air temp, is blowing out the vents.
Yesterday, I sat in the vehicle, in the driveway, with the owners' manual and read through the manual - turning on and off the A/C. I think I learned some things - I watched the RPMs, toggled the "A/C" switch, monitored the air temp for changes I could feel.
With the system OFF, no air blowing, no blue indicators lit, I checked the RPMs. I touched the "AUTO" button - the fan indicator moved to the "mid" position, air started coming out the dash vents but only center and left vents. I found out why, on the center display, touch the Climate setting and the screen opens to four toggle switches. One of those is "ECO" something, I don't have the manual in front of me, Toggle that to OFF. When ON, that causes the vehicle to "sense" where people are sitting in the vehicle, resulting in air blowing to that person as well as turning on seat heaters and seat ventilation - man those seat heaters will roast your buns - in a hurry. When OFF, that allows the car to blow air through all vents in the vehicle sans steering wheel and seat heaters.
I won't go on, but this is what we are up against. An extremely sophisticated system that is fantastic on paper but, for me anyway, is a killer in practical application.
I advise everyone to go and sit down in their vehicle with the owner's manual and read up and go through the Settings of their vehicle and "play with" the settings.
Ya'll have a good day and if you would rather me not get into the "weeds" with this stuff - just say so - it won't hurt my feelings.
I love this vehicle, it is a "techies'" dream and what a wonderful ride.
I'm going to post a picture of my OT sometime today - I hope - this basketball "stuff" has me tied up on the couch and Tennessee has won one game - maybe they will make it two later today!!

 

[OB Tom]

FJ - I have thought the same thing about "everything" is off and still it seems cold air, below outside air temp, is blowing out the vents.
Yesterday, I sat in the vehicle, in the driveway, with the owners' manual and read through the manual - turning on and off the A/C. I think I learned some things - I watched the RPMs, toggled the "A/C" switch, monitored the air temp for changes I could feel.
With the system OFF, no air blowing, no blue indicators lit, I checked the RPMs. I touched the "AUTO" button - the fan indicator moved to the "mid" position, air started coming out the dash vents but only center and left vents. I found out why, on the center display, touch the Climate setting and the screen opens to four toggle switches. One of those is "ECO" something, I don't have the manual in front of me, Toggle that to OFF. When ON, that causes the vehicle to "sense" where people are sitting in the vehicle, resulting in air blowing to that person as well as turning on seat heaters and seat ventilation - man those seat heaters will roast your buns - in a hurry. When OFF, that allows the car to blow air through all vents in the vehicle sans steering wheel and seat heaters.
I won't go on, but this is what we are up against. An extremely sophisticated system that is fantastic on paper but, for me anyway, is a killer in practical application.
I advise everyone to go and sit down in their vehicle with the owner's manual and read up and go through the Settings of their vehicle and "play with" the settings.
Ya'll have a good day and if you would rather me not get into the "weeds" with this stuff - just say so - it won't hurt my feelings.
I love this vehicle, it is a "techies'" dream and what a wonderful ride.
I'm going to post a picture of my OT sometime today - I hope - this basketball "stuff" has me tied up on the couch and Tennessee has won one game - maybe they will make it two later today!!

I'm lost in the details! Can anyone tell me how I can get outside air inside without turning on heat or air-conditioning?

 

[KAR120C]

I customized it and it now works pretty easily. Step 1) Turn off the concierge feature. Your blood pressure will immediately drop.
Step 2) In the climate option screen turn the A/C auto switch operation to OFF.

Now, the entire system will work easily. Simply touch the Auto button which will control fan and outlets, and set the temperature. The system will now operate without the compressor and behave like any other car with auto controls.

I have mine set this way and it works great. And its simple to force the vent and fan to manual with a simple touch of whatever control you want.

You can always get the compressor involved by simply touching the AC on the screen.

When it gets to summer and I have a regular desire for AC, I'll go back into the climate settings and turn the A/C auto switch operation to ON so it runs automatically.

 

[Jesse H]

This is the worst auto climate I've experienced; constantly requiring user input. Mercedes, Acura, Nissan, Toyota, Chevy have all been better. I set it at 70 and it does its thing no matter what the outside weather is like.