boB_2006_GS300

Today Wednesday, one day after the start of this thread, I called my California Lexus dealer. He was not 100% familiar with the recall, but had heard about it. He asked my name and pulled up the VIN for my 2006 GS300. He said my car was on the list to get 3 recall fixes; the fuel line, the brake one, and the steering fix. He scheduled me of next week because they needed to order the steering part. He later called to say don't fill my gas tank, because they will fill it after the brake fix (as part of the recall???). So he basically let me know to take advantage that. :) And he indicated they wanted it for 1/2 to 3/4s of a day and they will give me a loaner. Nothing is perfect, but they are going to take care of these issues with little inconvenience to me, so I am ok with that. :)

I had a similar problem. I was putting in an iPod adapter and when I reinstalled the stereo head unit, I pinched a power wire and blew a fuse. I looked at the fuses under the drivers side near the steering wheel and the legend on the fuse box was hard to read, so I pulled each one out one at a time and returned them to where I pulled them from.... or so I thought! :( I later found other fuse boxes to check, and eventually found the proper one, BUT.... apparently there were some fuse boxes that were not fully populated, and when I returned a fuse, I put it in the slot next to where it goes (that slot was empty). My radio worked now, but it said I have a low battery. Since the car was almost 2 years old, I went to get a new one. With the new battery from Sears, I got VSC lights too, and eventually the car stalled and shut off. I jumped it and managed to get it to the Lexus dealer and they said the battery was dead and since it was new, it was probably defective. Lexus charged it for a 1/2 hour and I returned to Sears to return the battery. I decided to get a battery from Lexus to eliminate the battery type as the problem as I rarely seen defective new batteries. The VSC lights came on again and the car stalled so I had Lexus see if they could find the problem. They found the fuse in the wrong slot in less then an hour. They noticed the stereo amp in my trunk and figured an installer put the fuse in the wrong place. I still don't know if the new Sears battery was defective or the VSC fuse was making the car die, but I was in panic that it might be a costly repair, but my local dealer took care of it. My symptoms were just like yours. I thought I would share what happened to me... maybe it's a bad VSC or fuse to it?

Hey-Has anyone used their iphone 3G with the vais? Im not too tech savvy...I have and 06 with the NAV and ML and want to make sure I get the right one---is this the same thing as getting a regular ipod hooked up to the vais? I want to get a iphone this week and get the vais adaptor and will be using it as my primary ipod (16g) I Was going to get a 16 G Nano just for the car but figured why not just get the iphone and have it all?? Here is the link to their forums. There are topics on it there. http://www.vaistech.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=7

Personally I would cooperate as long as her policy says they are entitled to cell phone records in the event the car was stolen, but if not, and no court order, I would say no. They work for you. Expect that. Even if a car is left unlocked, that does not imply permission to steal it. I assume your daughter was not involved, but if the insurance company is hinting that she did, or she actually did have a part... either way, why would you help them? This is not legal advice, just my opinion.

I returned the t-mobile phone and got an at&t razr2 (v9x). it transfers the numbers over like my verizon phone did. good enough :) t-mobile must have extra security on their bluetooth? if you forgot how to transfer numbers, there are cheat sheets on Lexus/bluetooh support page for most phones.

You get to the phone screen (push the off-hook button on the steering wheel, or Info button on the center console>then Phone), then on the screen, press Setup. There is a button to Transfer Phone Directory. After you press that, you send from your phone. Verizon and T-Mobile only let you send a contact at a time, I heard others (???) let you send the whole directory. Anyway, go to a contact on your phone, and press Options, and scroll to SEND TO (varies by phone) Bluetooth. Like I wrote above, both T-Mobile and Verizon let me transfer contacts, but the T-Mobile did not pass on the name to go along with the number. I called T-Mobile and Lexus, and neither could help. The Lexus rep asked another rep and he had the same results. Later that day I borrowed a friends AT&T phone, and it transfered both name and number (like my Verizon phone) properly. I am guessing T-Mobile locks down it's bluetooth security too much, but *maybe* it is model specific?

Call the guys at DICE, they can answer model specific questions. Also, the unit can emulate SAT, CD changer, MD changer... I bet one of those settings will work on your car... ASK THEM! :)

I previously had a Verizon KRZR paired up to my 2006 GS300 w/nav and ML. All worked great. I was able to transfer one contact at a time to the Lexus, and the screen showed about 10 characters of the name, and the number. Good enough! :) I just switched to T-Mobile for a plan that better suits my usage. I got a RAZR2 (V8). I am able to pair it up and transfer numbers, but JUST numbers. It does not pass on the name. I downloaded (and followed) the phone specific instructions from the Lexus website. I asked T-Mobile, they suggested first copying the numbers from the phone to the SIM card, and then try to transfer them. It did not make a difference. Has anyone had success adding phone contacts to the Lexus from a T-Mobile phone (with name)? What phone works? Any idea what I am doing wrong? Thanks, boB

Thanks for your advise. So is the dice one can show track name and artist name on the screen, even my car doesn't have the NAV system? I think seen scrolling text on the examples in their manual. Look at your radio, does it have a TEXT button? See page 17 of the manual. http://www.diceelectronics.com/support/fil...ota_dice_gs.pdf

I have both. The VAIS works great, but you have to setup your music on playlists. I replaced it with the DICE which lets you navigate your music from your car stereo just like on your iPod. I prefer the DICE (Playlist>Artist>Album>Track). Both companies have their users manuals online for download. You can look at how the controls work on each unit. I think they both show examples with and without the nav screen stereos.

I don't know about the headlight washers... but when I pull the wiper handle to wash my windows at night, I notice the headlights dim quite a bit. This happened when new, and I replaced the battery for other reasons, and it still does it.

how much is the device?

I have 2 10" JL-Audio subs in a sealed box in the trunk. I also have a Polk Audio sub-woofer amp in the trunk. The audio input is from a Hi-Low adapter that draws the audio from the existing sub and turns it into low level signal to put to the input of the sub amp. It also senses audio and provides a 12 volt trigger to turn on the amp. There are a few things to keep in mind. My existing Mark Levinson system has a pretty high output. Be sure the adapter is a heavy duty one (I burned one out). The existing system crosses over the signal before it gets to the existing sub (filters out the highs and only lets the bass go to the speakers), so keep that in mind as your new sub amp might also have a filter setting and you might loose some of the range you are trying to boost. Also, there are several technologies of amps. Mine is a class-D which is well suited to sub amps, and as hard as I crank it, it barley gets warm. Basically get a High-Low adapter and proper power wiring from a local car stereo shop, and you add the amp and sub box. Adding this made a BIG difference in the way the car sounds!

the windows is a common situation. after you re connect power, you have to go to each door and cycle the window down and up a few times, and that will "train" the sensors to know to let the switch on the drivers door work properly. as for the radio, I had my "get confused" before and required me to restart the car, so you disconnecting the battery makes sense to me to trouble shoot. since that did not fix it, check fuses, and if you had connected any iPod or SAT radio adapters, check that the connections are tight. good luck, but at least you didn't screw up the windows :)

With CD or MD emulation, there are 6 buttons on the nav screen labeled DISC 1, DISC 2, etc. Each will represent a function, like PLAYLIST, ARTIST, ALBUM, TRACK. The problem here is that you have to remember what each button does. They just say DISC 1, DISC 2, etc. You use the steering wheel buttons, nav screen buttons, or the radio buttons to make a selection (of the current function) forward or backwards. In SAT emulation, the nav screen shows 6 buttons representing SAT stations. The functions DO display on those buttons. They do read PLAYLIST, ARTIST, ALBUM, TRACK. And, although you can also use all of the above buttons on the nav screen, radio, and steering wheel, you can also use the radio's TUNING knob to scroll through each function. Both modes display Track, Artist, Album info for about 20 characters of each field. The up side to the SAT mode is that the NAV function buttons are labeled and the tuner knob scrolling works, but the down side is that it does not show track number or time. (I got used to that fast, no biggie). hope this helps.

As you walk away from the car, push the button on any of the outside door handles and it will lock all doors. It's not automatic, but it is easy and easy to get used to.

this link shows pictures... http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=216004

I had the Vais brand (only did "playlists" on a 2006 GS), now I have a Dice unit. I really like the Dice unit in the SAT emulation mode as I can scroll through the selections with the radio's tuning knob. The Dice does browsing just like on the iPod itself (Artist>Album>Track).

call vais @ 720-733-2348 or dice @ 888.342.3999 both make great iPod interfaces. I have both. they will know if it will work in your car. I switched from Vais to Dice because most of the adapter brands figured a way to fully support the iPod with Artist>Album>Song browsing, but some of them do it a bit different. Vais uses the MP3 capability in newer cars, but my 2006 isn't compatible. The Vais only supports playlists (in the pre 2007 cars), but that would be like you having a 99+ disc CD changer, so that would be better then you replacing your bad cd changer. The Dice unit makes the radio think it is a SAT radio and allows the Artist>Album>Song browsing on my car, but also works like the Vais unit too (playlists). I think they both even hook up to different cables, so one brand may work if the other doesn't. Either brand is just plugging their harness between an existing connector, so there is no cutting. give them both a call and they will know if their unit will work on your car.

I don't know what year car you have, but I read some posts in the 2006+ GS forum that some people that had a keyless ignition and left the key-fob in the car for a long while had their battery drain too.

Hours: Monday-Friday 9 AM - 5 PM (PT) Phone:1-888-DICE-999 (1-888-342-3999) call them and ask. I talked to Zoltan at extension 111, he seemed to be knowledgeable. I actually ordered from him and installed myself.

yes. The manual is viewable on their website. Click SUPPORT, and the manual is there in PDF form. It shows the controls for the various radios. The more I use it, the more I like it! I am sick of playlists... this is much better. I would say the difference is about a hundred dollars :D seriously, the Dice, Peripheral, and Scosche are plastic modules, and the Vais is metal of high quality, but both the Vais and the Dice have GREAT sound and work fine. I only switched because Vais does not plan to support the better browsing on my 2006 car. I haven't tried the others. With nav, I recommend the Dice as I like it, but since you have a different radio, look at the manual for the Dice and Peripheral and read how the controls work to navigate the iPod. One of them may see more instinctive or intuitive for you or the way you use it. http://www.diceelectronics.com/Merchant/me...ICE_IPOD_TOYOTA http://www.peripheralelectronics.com/produ...ProductID=276#0 http://www.scosche.com/products/sfID1/151/sfID2/159 http://www.vaistech.com/home.php

Just like Madyash said. Remove the nav/sterao like in the DVD bypass instructions, unplug one cable, and put the Dice cable between it existing connection. You also have to choose which emulation you want (CD, MD, SAT, MP3) with 2 dip switches. Thats it! I wonder since you did this last summer that you have the ARTIST>ALBUM>TRACK browsing from the nav screen? I thought that was new this year? Are these units able to be upgraded when new features come out? I looked at so many, I forgot. I ordered mine from DICE and it was $160 plus tax and shipping (I live in the same state).

I just got the Dice i-Toyota-R iPOD interface for my 2006 GS300 with Mark Levenson and Nav. It is replacing the Vais unit because I wanted to be able to browse by Artist>Album>Track. (this also does playlists too) Just want to let everyone know it works great! It could emulate SAT, MD changer, or CD changer to adapt to most situations. I am using SAT. You can browse using the tuner knob (in addition to the screen buttons and steering wheel buttons). You can browse while listening to current track, and it then automatically goes to selection 1 second after you stop scrolling. If most of your iPOD is filled with CDs ripped to iTunes, this works great. The guys at Vais are also working on this, but only (so far) intend to use MP3 emulation which was not on the 2006's.

don't know about speaker volume, but seen this for an IS to at least change the mic volume. haven't tried it myself though. check out this thread.... http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191734