1990LS400

Could mean something has broken or come loose? You didn't describe the nature of the sound. Attached is a photo of an automotive stethoscope -- great for finding the source of noises ... about $4.00.

The user manuals for your phones should tell you what their passkeys are.

Except for a little sloppiness in the steering which I didn't realized until the strut bar bushings were replaced, the high speed vibration was the only sign of a problem when my strut bar bushings were finally replaced around 83,000 miles after about 6-8,0000 of worsening vibrations -- no clunks or other suspension noises, rotors and brakes were fine -- front brake pads had been replaced for the first time and rotors turned at just over 71,000 miles, rims were and still are perfect. My 00 LS is now at 122,000 miles and still vibration free. I'll probably be replacing the strut bars and bushings for a second time at between 150K and 160K miles.

Good find, Randy. I could get it to work only with the search field at the bottom left of the screen. The Search option at the top of the screen provides only the Google search. I created a shortcut to your "advanced search" on my desktop. Although I don't see info about it, it looks like it is possible to search and find posts that include multiple words by putting a + sign before each word -- just like in the old forum format. Now at least I can find my own past posts. Steve, please don't take this away from us.

If you don't want to "mess" with your radio (i.e. pull it out of the dash to install an adapter harness and electronic module), your options are some sort of cassette adapter or FM modulator neither of which methods are highly regarded. The industry standard iPod interfaces are from http://www.vaistech.com/products/home.php

Would you please elaborate on your personal experience and tell us what warranty claim was denied?

All the little light lenses are held in place by friction and little plastic tabs on the lenses.

Pry the light lens out -- looks like it is held in by friction like on other Toyota and Lexus sedans -- see the attached diagram.

There are kits on eBay that use VAIS components that will look and operate like factory satelite. I think thy are around $300 but they may be more or less -- search eBay. Who knows if would get a competent installer at Best Buy. Installing a sat radio should be a pretty easy DIY project -- it's not difficult to pull the radio out and run wires to a sat antenna.

There are kits on eBay that use VAIS components that will look and operate like factory satelite. I think thy are around $300 but they may be more or less -- search eBay. Who knows if would get a competent installer at eBay. Installing a sat radio should be a pretty easy DIY project -- it's not difficult to pull the radio out and run wires to a sat antenna.

$582.06 parts and labor, not including tax, at a Lexus dealer in May, 2007. Probably would have been less expensive at the indie Lexus repair shop I usually use but I didn't have time to take my car their before going on a road trip.

Yes, the two warnings are often/usually linked. Think of it as like your PC is going into "safe mode." Have the codes read to find out the real problem -- which usually has nothing to do with VSC.

"Now listen to me very carefully. Don't put the candle back." -- Yes, Young Frankenstein is my favorite Mel Brooks film.

The company I retired from was next door to the now nearly empty Sprint headquarters in Overland Park -- it will make a great minimum security prison once Sprint collapses complelely. It was a running joke that Sprint employees couldn't get a strong enough signal around the Sprint campus to use their phones. If you can stand Sprint's horrible service in most of the US and their combative "the customer is always wrong" attitude (not kidding -- that's what their support staff is taught) and happen to live in an area where Sprint provides more than marginal service, find a Sprint employee and get on their "friends and family" plan. At least as of a couple of days ago, the cost was only $20/month for unlimited voice, texting and data service. "Sprint, the company pretending to be a phone company." I've been loaning my Southwestern Bell, then Cingular, then AT&T cell phones to Sprint customers for the past 20 years. Yes, I currently work with quite a few p1ssed off ex-Sprint employees.

The "Lexus Parking Aid 400" and "Lexus Parking Aid 800" systems have been a dealer installed option on the IS250 in Europe but I don't know if you can order either of the system kits from a U.S. Lexus dealer. You can view the installation instructions and part numbers for both systems at http://www.lexus-tech.eu in the "Accessory Installation Manuals" section. The installation instruction manuals are too big to upload to this forum.

Attached is a diagram for the standard 93 SC300 audio system - it shows the wire colors. 1993 SC300 std audio sys diagram.pdf

I'm not speaking for Jainla - the head wizzard of phone kits - but the adapter harnesses listed for Parrot kits at http://www.quickconnectproducts.com/Find/find.php for the 2001 LS430 say that they are for "All incl Mark Levinson".

There is no risk of fire. Use an in-line fuse like my Lexus mechanic did when he ran the power wire underneath my car and put the in-line fuse near the battery or under the engine compartment fuse box for convenience in case it ever blows. If there are "cracks" to slide wires through to the trunk in a 2000 LS400, I couldn't find them. The gas tank is between the rear seat back and the trunk and there are one or two forgot how many) existing holes plugged with rubber grommets on either side of the gas tank -- the seat back has to removed to access these exiting holes.

Carefully pry off the plastic lens covering the bulbs with a regular screw driver or a plastic trim removal tool. The lens is held in place by the friction of the four tabs on the lens. I positioned my "4-arrow" mouse pointer on the lens in the attached photo. Pry out the trailing edge first working evenly so that you don't stress/crack the plastic.

It is not just because I own a 2000 LS400 but I have to tell you that there is a huge difference between the 95-97 LS and 98-00 LS. The 95-97 LS was a transitional model with the newer larger body but with mechanicals (engine and transmission) more like the gen 1 90-94 LS400. Of the 98-00 LS400, the 2000 LS400 is particularly desireable for several reasons. If you buy a 2000 LS400 built in about the last half of the model year, it will have many of the issues of the earlier 98-00 LS400 addressed at the factory -- particularly issues with the tilt/telescope steering wheel. Also, the 2000 LS400 was the first year of "brake assist" -- a little miracle feature that senses an emergency stop and automatically increases braking force. And of course, you aren't going to get HID discharge headlights, "snow mode", and vehicle stability control (VSC) on a 97 LS400. VSC literally takes control of the throttle and brakes to prevent you from losing control in wet and snowy weather -- IMO, it is one of the most important safety features ever offered and we would never buy another car with out it. The 98-00 LS400 with it's 5-speed transmission and more powerful engine is much quicker and has better fuel economy than the 95-97 LS which is certainly no slouch. My 2000 LS400 is like new at 121,000 miles but it has been perfectly maintained per the maintenance schedule and no expense has been spared. If the 2000 LS400 you are considering has been properly maintained, including having the full expensive 90,000 mile service, then I would go with it. The 97 LS could be a nice car too, but you will be missing out on lots of cool technology.

Josh, you moved from a lower risk area to a higher risk area. Geico filed its rates with the Washington state insurance commission and can not discriminate against other customers by somehow charging you lower rates than they filed. If you ask they might be able to find a discount or two that they can grant you but these discounts, if any, are also filed with the insurance commission. An insurnance company can not depart from its filed rates and charge different premiums to people in the the same risk class. The insurance company I retired from actually was caught doing that by one state insurance commission auditor team and the total cost to the company was somewhere between $200 and $400 million not including a lot of innocent people who lost their jobs from the fallout.

If all the other companies you checked with have "been either ALOT more expensive, or within $50 of The Gecko's estimated quote.", then it would appear that Geico's rates are competitive. What's your beef? Insurance rates are based on the loss statistics of where you live. It's quite a precise science and is supervised by state government insurance commissions. Insurance companies can't charge whatever they want. They have to justify their rates to state insurance commissions. I don't mean to sound like a shill for the insurance industry but I helped in the rating process for a few decades at a large insurance company and understand the process.

It is possible that a Pro.Fit G3 meant for another Lexus or other model will fit your IS. It depends on whether your IS has a decently sized flat place to attach a bracket after you remove the radio. Look at the instructions for the LS430: http://www.pro-fit-intl.com/Adobe/MV-50-03-G3-p14.pdf It also might be possible to cut off part of the hidden portion of a G3 bracket to make it fit your car. All these brackets are held in place as much by the pressure between the radio and dash pad as they are by the bracket screws. I used a Pro.Fit Legend bracket to mount a Magellan GPS in my 00 LS400. I doubled up two Pro.Fit extension brackets to mount a Garmin to the same bracket used for the phone cradle in our Camry. More info is in my gallery: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showuser=2157&tab=gallery You might have to get a little inventive but my bet is that you can make one of the G3 brackets work in your IS.

I'll continue to let the fuel levels in our cars run down to nearly empty before filling our tanks. Neither my wife or I have had a fuel pump failure in our combined 90+ years and 1,000,000+ miles of driving the relatively few cars we've owned in our lifetimes. IMO, more frequent trips to gas stations to top up fuel tanks are a waste of our time. This method has worked for us but apparently doesn't work for everyone. I even suspect that the reason it works for us is that most of the cars have been purchased by us new or nearly new and the gas tanks have always been run down to nearly empty -- maybe no sediment or water ever builds up in our tanks.

I have also run wires from the trunk forward to the dash through the interior of my 2000 LS400 although I did not punch through and run the wires into the engine compartment. I certainly don't rate removing the rear seat, door threshhold trim, kick moldings, dash components as being in any way "easy" or quick. Of course, I took the time to run the wires through the interior with all the other OEM wires -- I didn't do some sort of "quick and dirty" job. What's your secret, RDM?