Disabling the MOST annoying feature of an otherwise remarkable vehicle - “Kick (yourself for getting it) Sensor” aka “Back door - Hands Free” feature (4 Viewers)

[Emergencymed]

Attended an Alcohol- Free cowboy wedding event today down in Southern California for the first time.

Everyone had a great time .. and without ETOH - no drama, and no trauma - just a Joyful event .. made even better by disconnecting the “most annoying” feature of an otherwise remarkable motorcar: “the kick sensor.”

Before getting on the road we packed box after box of boots, hats and event supplies in the cargo space of the GX.

In that process the GX OT+’s kick sensor activated 4 times causing the hatch to descend onto my head at the least opportune moments of packing.

This experience wasn’t new or unique to the GX, as I had the same complaint with an X1 we owned with the same feature …

So when optioning my vehicle, I went to great lengths to order my GX without this flawed feature..

Unfortunately, the vehicle put before me when my number came up at Longo checked every box: OT vs OT+Atomic silver, Onyx roof, etc … but it came standard with the kick sensor.

So half way down - we stopped at SB Lexus for a complementary wash and quick coffee stop. One of the techs popped into the driver seat attacked my kick sensor woes like a pit worker at a F1 competition … he quickly toggled through options on the screen, finally changing the “hands free option” to off.

Now life is as it should be .. the hatch opens and closes when I want and no TBI from the hatch.

 

[Emergencymed]

Easy steps for turning kick sensor aka “hands free” lift gate activation to off:

Main screen:

1. Settings
2. Vehicle customize
3. Door control
4. In right side of screen scroll down to “back door” in lighter print and then change the “hands free” toggle to off.

So it’s NOT 100% intuitive. In Lexus speak - “hands free” toggle is the same as “kick sensor”

 

[CaryGX550]

I turned mine off as well. It is amazingly annoying if you install and remove your tow hitch receiver on a regular basis.

 

[Emergencymed]

Coming to terms with my OT plus kick sensor:

So since my initial post on the problems with the “hands free” hatch opening feature, I’ve reached an acceptable compromise.

Now I leave the sensor on “most of the time..” as I’ve come to appreciate its value for grocery loading, and daily use.

But whenever I need to work near the back of the vehicle, from maintenance to repeat loading and unloading, I just toggle it off, as the process has now become “old hat.”

 

[cmfhsu]

The kick sensor has been reliable for me, but I discovered my car has a duplicate piece of functionality to open the tailgate when you simply stand near the back of the car for ~15 seconds. I'm worried that might accidentally open the trunk into an attached trailer's jack, as I've almost triggered it twice while hooking / unhooking a trailer, but I was able to jump out of range before it actually started to open the trunk each time.

I wish I could enable the kick functionality, but disable the (seemingly undocumented?) "open the trunk when you just stand by the back of the car while carrying the key" functionality. Hopefully the infotainment toggle will disable both functions, and I can just disable it while towing.

 

[Emergencymed]

Thankfully it does disable the (at additional charge) “just standing near the rear door open feature”

 

[Emergencymed]

I’m going to reach out to Lexus - and see if they will update their app to allow us to access turning on and off the kick sensor from our phone / digital key ..

 

[YellowLab]

The kick sensor totally SUCKS. I disabled mine after being hit numerous times washing the car. Damn thing drove me nuts -

 

[cmfhsu]

I believe the kick sensor doesn't work if the key isn't within range of the back door. When I wash the car, I put the key in the car or back in the house away from the car, because it's annoying to have the doors lock & unlock while I'm washing it. Side benefit is that the trunk won't open via the kick sensor or the "stand back there for 15 seconds" function either.