My 2009 Rx350 Radio Is Insane

[Kyle Ashley]

I took the leap and bought a 2009 RX350 with 67,000 miles back in the end of January. I've already done 5000 miles on it and it's been great so far. But, I have discovered that the radio has a mind of its own.

I do have an XM subscription and transferred that over from my previous vehicle with no issues.

90% of the time when i start the car for the first time, the SAT does not work and I get "loading" and then "tuner err" in the display screen.

Sometimes pushing the main Vol/on/off knob does nothing - if the radio is already ON it stays ON, or if it is OFF it won't turn on.

Sometimes I can turn the radio on/off by pressing one of the preset buttons. The tuning knob also does nothing at some times.

Sometimes scrolling through SAT1, SAT2, SAT3, AM, FM and back to SAT1 will make it work - sometimes it just turns the radio OFF.

Basically none of the buttons or knobs exhibit any consistency - they just randomly activate different functions on different days. Usually turning off the vehicle and re-starting will correct the radio issues and then it seems to work fine for the rest of the day.

I've seen some other weird radio issues reported here, but nothing quite like mine. Anyone else see these issues.

[pj8708]

Hi Kyle and welcome.

That is a problem. I had a similar thing with my 2010 Rx. When I would plug in the mp3 player, the language between the two players would not allow the Lexus to control the usual functions of when working with a portable player. Also, if you turned your car off and got out, when you come back and start the car, the sound system would be dead again. I had to get rid of the mp3 and move to a ipod. If you read the owners manual for your RX you will understand that Lexus made their head unit mostly compatible with Apple.

I never found a reason for the problem nor did I find anyone who could help.

Please come back Kyle and let us know what you find out.

PS -In order to help you find a starting point, there is a company in New York called "United Radio". They repair almost any radio ever mad. In fact, to my knowledge, Including United Radio, there is only one othe place in the States that will work on Mark Levinson stereo

[RX400h]

We use an FM MP3 player in our RX400h without incident but your issues really are strange. It's hard to believe your XM subscription has anything to do with the radio and its controls. Perhaps Paul's suggestion about repair is your best bet.

I have XM in my Mazda 3 (2014) with tech package and I love it.

[Kyle Ashley]

My XM receiver was factory installed and I'm not using any iPod or phone devices to connect through an aux. My only issue is with the satellite. Over the last few days it never works at the first startup of the day - I just get the tuner error and loading message. However, after I stop and re-start the car again, it usually returns to normal. I will mention it to service the next time I'm in.

thanks guys!