wordwrkr

Thank you for that extremely informative reply. This sounds like a mountain I dare not climb.

Thank you for that very thorough and helpful response! Is there no way I can revamp the system for use with my current Bluetooth-enabled cellphone? Are the steering wheel-mounted controls simply worthless from this point?

I just bought a 1996 LS 400 from the local Lexus dealer. They sold the car to the original buyer, but had no idea what the buttons were for on the steering wheel that appear to be phone-related. They insisted it must be an after-market item. When I got home, I reviewed the service records and discovered that this very dealer had installed the Lexus Telephone option back in '96 just before the car was delivered. I have 2 questions: Can I resurrect this system for use with my Bluetooth-ready cellphone? If not, what do I have to unplug to get it to stop chirping now and then?

Surely this topic has been covered already, but I have had no luck searching the existing forums. I just bought a 1996 Lexus LS400 from the local Lexus dealer, (Superior Lexus of Kansas City) and the car has some steering wheel-mounted controls obviously designed for use with a phone (because there's a phone icon on one of them). The dealer has no idea what they are for, and insists it's probably an after-market modification. I'm sure this is not the case; it looks like something that came from the factory. My question is, what are these controls for? There are three buttons -- 1, 2 and 3 -- and a separate long button behind them. When I press them, something beeps. Does anyone know anything about these controls? I've gone through the owner's manual page by page, but there is no mention of them, and the dealer is lost.