Check Rear Seat Warning + Beeping after Locking

[Ry Cizzle]

Hi all,

Two (maybe) separate issues I've noticed in the past couple of days. When I lock the LC, it beeps once like normal, then is will beep 8 more times. I've heard these warning beeps before but I think I had it running and stepped out so I figured it didn't like that the key was too far away from the vehicle in my pocket. Then, I've been getting this warning from the app to "check the rear seat". I dont have anything in the rear seat or trunk. Any ideas?

 

[Captain Trips]

Hi all,

Two (maybe) separate issues I've noticed in the past couple of days. When I lock the LC, it beeps once like normal, then is will beep 8 more times. I've heard these warning beeps before but I think I had it running and stepped out so I figured it didn't like that the key was too far away from the vehicle in my pocket. Then, I've been getting this warning from the app to "check the rear seat". I dont have anything in the rear seat or trunk. Any ideas?

View attachment 3824

Page 133 of manual.

 

[Ry Cizzle]

Page 133 of manual.

Thanks @Captain Trips for the quick find. I'll have to adjust that setting as it's a bit uneccesary in my opinion.

 

[LCNorth]

It’s to prevent infant deaths from being left in the vehicle. Several other manufacturers from GM to Mercedes are doing this now. If it saves one child’s life, it’s worth it. And yes, you can turn it off.

 

[KyLandcruiser]

It’s very sensitive. I’ll have my lunchbox in the floor touching the rear seat. The system picks this up. I think it’s awesome Toyota has this feature.

 

[elsie]

Sorry to revive this thread but I recently got my LC and have hit this issue several times now. From what I'm experiencing, the alert (both the audible beeps as well as the app notification) are happening when nothing is actually in the rear seats; however, if I had something in the back seat earlier in the trip (like a passenger I dropped off), then it will beep and alert when I park/lock the vehicle - even if there's nothing on the seats at that time.

Is this really how it's intended to function? I've re-read that page of the manual several times, and given how poorly it's written I'm struggling to understand if what I'm seeing is normal or not.

PS: just as an aside, I'm amazed at how poorly worded much of the manual is. It's like they used AI to translate it from Japanese, rather than have an English speaker localize it.

 

[Captain Trips]

If you haven’t disabled this behavior in the app, I believe the beeps are triggered by whether the rear doors were opened and closed. I don’t think it has anything to do with something on the seat. I could be wrong, but I think I remember seeing elsewhere about opening and closing the door

 

[elsie]

If you haven’t disabled this behavior in the app, I believe the beeps are triggered by whether the rear doors were opened and closed. I don’t think it has anything to do with something on the seat. I could be wrong, but I think I remember seeing elsewhere about opening and closing the door

Yeah after some more testing that seems to be the case - simply opening/closing a rear door triggers this alert. Oof, what a brutal feature. I'm always amazed by bad product decisions, especially at big companies like Toyota who should know better. Oh well, at least it can be disabled.

Coincidentally, I was reading the Road and Track review of the new LC last night and he mentions the annoying "8 beeps" in the very opening paragraph, lol: Does the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser Still Feel Like a Land Cruiser?

 

[LALC]

Yeah after some more testing that seems to be the case - simply opening/closing a rear door triggers this alert. Oof, what a brutal feature. I'm always amazed by bad product decisions, especially at big companies like Toyota who should know better. Oh well, at least it can be disabled.

Coincidentally, I was reading the Road and Track review of the new LC last night and he mentions the annoying "8 beeps" in the very opening paragraph, lol: Does the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser Still Feel Like a Land Cruiser?

Why is it a bad design? It can be turned off easily. The horror stories of parents being distracted and leaving their children inside are brutal. I have no children, and would absolutely want this feature if I did.

 

[NoMe cruiser]

Also, make sure the rear seats are properly locked in to position after folding them.

 

[elsie]

Why is it a bad design? It can be turned off easily. The horror stories of parents being distracted and leaving their children inside are brutal. I have no children, and would absolutely want this feature if I did.

Because it's a lousy implementation. Since it's not actually controlled by seat sensors (or doesn't appear to be?), it's going to be inaccurate 99.999% of the time. Constant false alarms and unnecessary notifications means 1 of 2 things will happen: People will ignore it. People will disable it. Now the feature is worse than useless, because people realize it can't be trusted and is simply noise.

It's not that it's a bad idea, it's a terrific idea - I have kids and would argue that this should be in all vehicles - but only if it's something that is going to be useful, like you park the car and the rear seats sense that there is weight in the seats. (not based on a rear door opening/closing)

 

[LALC]

Because it's a lousy implementation. Since it's not actually controlled by seat sensors (or doesn't appear to be?), it's going to be inaccurate 99.999% of the time. Constant false alarms and unnecessary notifications means 1 of 2 things will happen: People will ignore it. People will disable it. Now the feature is worse than useless, because people realize it can't be trusted and is simply noise.

It's not that it's a bad idea, it's a terrific idea - I have kids and would argue that this should be in all vehicles - but only if it's something that is going to be useful, like you park the car and the rear seats sense that there is weight in the seats. (not based on a rear door opening/closing)

Vehicle prices continue to climb due to complexity. Its a simple design that works. How would a seat sensor help all that much? If you are opening the back door, good chance you'd be putting something in the seat that would trigger that sensor as well. Children don't weigh much, it would have to be a very sensitive seat sensor.

 

[elsie]

Vehicle prices continue to climb due to complexity. Its a simple design that works. How would a seat sensor help all that much? If you are opening the back door, good chance you'd be putting something in the seat that would trigger that sensor as well. Children don't weigh much, it would have to be a very sensitive seat sensor.

Simple yes, but I think I think my experience indicates that it doesn't really "work"? Anytime I drop my kids off somewhere, or have multiple people in the vehicle this happens. If the point is to prevent a child being left in the car, I would think a seat sensor would be a much more accurate indicator, and we've been doing this for years in the passenger seat of cars with regard to disabling the airbag so I wouldn't think this is new science or anything. I agree with you on the cost, I'm sure someone at Toyota figured this was a way they could still "check the box" on a safety feature w/o having to use actual seat sensors which add to the expense of the vehicle.

Maybe I'm making a mountain out of a molehill here, and admittedly haven't let the coffee kick in it this morning before typing. I just worry that these things wind up frustrating end-users and they end up ignoring/disabling it and then what was the point?

 

[TrailWhale]

Seat sensors don’t work because the kinds of kids who can’t get themselves out are almost certainly in car seats. That’s a child size weight that is permanently installed in the back. There is no way for the sensor to know with any certainty if a child is there or not.

At any rate, I have kids, and I have grown numb to these notifications. Will they go away after my 1yr trial expires?

 

[Don]

Its possible that when Carista has a full 250 implementation that some of the beeping can be tamed.

 

[Uncle_Spike]

Why is it a bad design? It can be turned off easily. The horror stories of parents being distracted and leaving their children inside are brutal. I have no children, and would absolutely want this feature if I did.

sadly this happened here in TN a couple days ago, guy went to work left the infant in car all day. Infant dies after being left in hot car, father charged