LS430 in New Zealand

Thanks guys! My twin in Atlanta's name is Bryan Burnsworth. He's a great guy, and an incredible detailer! www.peachstatedetail.com He was named (along with me!) in AutoWeek magazine as one of the 9 top detailers in the U.S. Do either of you fancy a (working) Holiday in New Zealand - I wish I could find a detailer that good (and reliable) here!

Does anyone have experience of having one key programmed to operate two different cars? My wife and I share the IS250 and the LS460, can we get the keys or cars programmed so we only have to carry one key each? (The keys appear identical)

Thanks for the offer but as she is only two days old she is under warranty thus the dealer will be sourcing it. Hopefully that wont take to long! Have you sold many of these / is it a common fault?

Did yours fail in a similar way -i.e. while playing reasonably loud music? How long did the delivery of the new amp take?

[Posted also in the LS460 forum] I took delivery of my 2007 LS460 today. Very happy. On the way home I dropped in the David Gray CD into the ML and gave it a whirl. Reasonably loud but not over the top. A couple of songs later during an impressive bass line the audio stopped outputing music and started to make a sound not unlike a CD skipping. Except it now keeps making this sound all the time, even if the Audio system is turned of. Eject all of the CD's, select FM - still no difference. Turn the audio off - still it wont stop (and cannot be altered with the volume control - that has no effect.) Only way to stop it is to turn off the ignition. Head end (Tuner / CD etc.,) all operate normally but with no output apart from this continous "ziiippp - click - ziiippp - click" noise. It draws some impressive current as well - the "ziiippp - click - ziiippp - click" noise manages to modulate the interior lights with each ziiipp and click. So it look as if the Power amp stage is very broken. Only way I can stop the noise is by pulling the 30A "AMP" fuse. Anybody had this fault?

I took delivery of my 2007 LS460 today. Very happy. On the way home I dropped in the David Gray CD into the ML and gave it a whirl. Reasonably loud but not over the top. A couple of songs later during an impressive bass line the audio stopped outputing music and started to make a sound not unlike a CD skipping. Except it now keeps making this sound all the time, even if the Audio system is turned of. Eject all of the CD's, select FM - still no difference. Turn the audio off - still it wont stop (and cannot be altered with the volume control - that has no effect.) Only way to stop it is to turn off the ignition. Head end (Tuner / CD etc.,) all operate normally but with no output apart from this continous "ziiippp - click - ziiippp - click" noise. It draws some impressive current as well - the "ziiippp - click - ziiippp - click" noise manages to modulate the interior lights with each ziiipp and click. So it look as if the Power amp stage is very broken. Only way I can stop the noise is by pulling the 30A "AMP" fuse. Any body had this fault?

The Front Subs on my 05 LS430 are just being replaced, it seems that this is normal, My mates 03 has had the same problem. The 99 Ls400 does have better audio....

A week after we bought our 06 IS250 it was back in the shop with a rattle in the dash upper right vent. (Now remember that we have the steering wheel on the correct side i.e. the right hand side / right hand drive) Dealer ordered a new part, fitted it and all is now well, didnt say to much about what was the real problem. Closing the boot made the muffler rattle - dealer fixed that as well

Has anyone had experience with getting the cars to learn the keys or is this a dealer thing. I have a 06 IS250 and a 05 LS430, both with smart keys. The keys are very different in appearance but have a similar function. Can I "learn" the key to both cars so that I only have to carry one key. (This is not to be confused with the key assocaiting itself with each driver for resets of the memory seats etc.)

Well done - I have just done the same thing this week, 99 LS400 said a sad farewell as the new kid 05 LS430 moved in! Fantastic! The 430 has Nav / ML audio, but I have to say that the audio - while good, is not as good as the LS400 (which had the Naka head end I think.) What is different you say - well the AM radio performance is a big dissapointment - while the signal reception ability is good the AM signal lacks the clarity and extended High Frequency performance that the 400 had. Yes I can hear you all out there - "AM Radio - what is that?" But AM frequency response does go out to 7.5kHz and compromising the IF stage peformance ruins the frequency response of the AM radio. (Hey stop laughing out there) The FM performance is fine. The other thing is the oddity with the ML CD audio (which I also didnt like in the demo IS250 we were loaned before taking delivery of our new non-ML-equipped 06 IS250 [also a great car]) The LS400 had clearer CD audio, more open, better imaging and not such a "smeary" sound. Yes - the ML goes loud, has stacks of bass, etc, etc, but there is something else going on in there that is a step back from what was without a doubt the best factory audio that I have ever heard taht was standard in the 400. All that aside the 430 is simply fantastic and I am so pleased that I did not buy that Benz S500. The mornings are a hard choice - do I take the new IS350 or the LS430 (snigger)