dmccombs

Tom, That would be great if you could check. If I don't put in a city, it will not show the Sort By Distance option so then I have to scroll alphabetically. Thanks, Darrell ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have a 2002 RX300 with Gen 2 Navigation. I have upgrade to the 2006 DVD with no problems. My question has to do with usage. If I want to search for a restaurant for example, do you always have to enter a city? On my handheld GPS you can search based on current position (those closest to me appear on the top of the list). When I seach with the Rx300 Nav, it seems I need to tell it what city I want it to search. Can't it just search for the things closest to my position, or at the very least look in the last city I searched? I find it a bit annoying to type in my home city everytime I do a search. Any ideas? Am I missing something? Thanks, Darrell

I have a 2002 RX300 with the NAV system (non ML version). I have done many searches here about the RX300 stereo uprades, but still have a few questions. It seems the 1st recommended upgrade is to add a real sub and a amp for the new sub, leaving the original 4 speakers and amp intact. I dont want to add a new sub and amp because I really need/want all my rear cargo room. I do have (2) 6.5" MB Quart component speakers just laying around. My question is should I use these to replace my door speakers? Will the stock amp drive them OK, or would doing this actually make the system sound worse?

Hey, I saw all you guys with your "new" 2002 RX300s and I had to chime in. I got mine less than a week ago. I picked up a 2002 AWD with 53,000 miles. It seems to run great. I am taking it on a road trip this weekend, so it will get a bit of a test then, even with a little bit of off-road (extremely rough/poor dirt road actually - washouts, etc.) We had a snow here the 2nd day I have the car and it got pretty windy/chilly (for Albuquerque anyway). The heated seats were nice. They were far from necessary, but they were nice. The High setting is a bit much, but the Low setting was comfortable. You will need to decide if $700 is worth it though.

My RX300 is getting near 60,000 miles so I asked my local lexus dealer how much the 60,000 service would cost. They quoted me a price of $960. I asked them how long I needed to leave the car. They said 6 hours. Even if they take 6 hours times their $98/hour shop rate, then add $85 for fluids/parts. The total should be no more than $688. How do they tack on $272 on top of an already top-end shop rate??? I am in the group that doesn't want to do my own maintanance, but don't want to get raped by the dealer either. I think I will try to find one of those places that specializes in Toyota cars, or at least try the local Toyota dealerships.

I just bought a 2002 RX300 and the spare key has the exact same problem as what you describe. I looked on Ebay and found many blank keys, and shells. They should work fine. I am considering going that route ~$28 plus $7 shipping. Regards, Darrell

I have been on the board for a few years but has an ES300 driver. I recently switched to a 2002 RX300 AWD that has the NAV setup. I noticied it has the 2000 version 1 disk. The map is a bit dated now, but I do like the fact that I can work with while driving. I did several searches and it appears at some point that one of the DVD versions makes it so you have to be in Park to work with the NAV system. Is that true? If so, what is the first version that make you work in Park? I see updates on ebay. My RX300 is a Gen2 NAV system so it uses the Gen2/Gen3 DVDs? Some of the updates I see on Ebay are: Gen2/Gen3 Version 1 ~$59.00 This is the one I have. Gen2/Gen3 Version 2.1 ~$99.00 Gen2/Gen3 Version 3.1 ~$159.00 Gen2/Gen3 Version 4.1 ~$179.00 Lexus now has Gen2/Gen3 Version 5.1 ~$288.00 I have seen people reference version 4.1. I heard this version had bugs and was replace by 4.21 (which I did not see on ebay). Is this true? Any help in answering the questions above, and/or correcting the info I have above would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Darrell McCombs

Thanks for all the info. So the rear speakers get full signal all frequencies). This signal comes from amp under the passenger seat. I get that part. Does the wire going to the front speakers come from the Head Unit, or Amp? Now the front speakers have a tweeter and a woofer. In most cars a wire comes from the deck or amp to a crossover in the door that splits the signal sending high frequencies to the tweeter and lower ones to the woofer. Is this how things work in the ES300? Or do they send two seperate wires from the deck/amp (one for the tweeter and another for the woofer)? Thanks, Darrell

I have read that the little speakers in the dash are just "filler" sound and not important at all. I don't have any iinfo on the wiring of the tweeters. I plan on replacing my door speakers with 6.5 components this weekend however so I am curious about any replies you get.

XOFFROAD, Thanks for your reply. It is exactly opposite of my question though. I would like to keep the look of the car the same. Maybe you are saying the weak link in the stock system is the Head Unit, not the amp or speakers? I have a 4 way amp, component MB Quarts for the doors, good 6x9s for the rear (already installed), and 8 inch Exclipse subs that can go in the car. I want to know if I can keep the Stock HU, and wire the rest up in a way that will produce noticibly better sound than what I have. If I absolutely have to replace the Head Unit to get better sound, I can as I already have a decent Sony HU (I have all this extra gear from when my previous car - Miata - was totalled. The reddish color faceplate will look cheap in the Lexus, so I would like to avoid it. Another solution would be to sell the Sony (at a significant loss) and buy a HU that will look better in the Lexus, but again I would like to avoid the cost if I can. Thanks, Darrell

For those who have kept the sock Head Unit and replaced everything else (are you happy with the sound, or do you wish you had swapped out the Head Unit as well? Also, I see some folks have subs as well as 6x9s installed. Can I ask where you mountsed the subs? Did you put those in the same shelf as the 6x9s? Thanks, Darrell

All, Thanks for the in-depth and helpful replies. I will pursue all the suggestions in order from cheapest to most expensive until I find the problem. Then I will report back when I have the answer as it may help others in the future. Thanks, Darrell

I have a 95 ES300 with 105k miles on it. Sometimes when I moderately or strongly accelerate, the car will shift hard (bump). I have done a search on the transmission threads and other thread where people had (bumps) when shifting and I found 3 possible problems. I am hoping you can help me to figure out which of the 3 it is. 1) The problem could be a loose Engine Mount or Tranny Mount. How could I verify if this is the issue? If it is the issue, how much would it cost to correct? 2) The tranny may just need a fluid flush. The service records show a fluid service was done a year ago, but I don't know if the fluids where just drained, or flushed. 3) The tranny is going out and I need to either replace it with a used one or get it rebuilt. How can I tell if this is required? Which route do you recommend? Any input would be appreciated. Regards, Darrell McCombs

Latoilette, if you want bass. upgrade your rear speakers to better 6x9 (only with aftermarket cd player radiosetup) or add an external amp + sub or one of those powered subs. In the note above, you suggest adding and external amp and upgrading the existing 6x9s. I have considered doing that, but I found that the wire currently going to the 6x9s seems to have a filter which prevents the lows from passing. Where in a 1995 model, can we can a full frequency signal, to wire an external amp? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks, Darrell

Hi, I have a 95 ES300. My rear speaker went out so I replaced it with a mid-level set of Infinity 6x9s. It sounds pretty good, but I noticed that there is no base at all coming from the 6x9s. I wired in another known set of working speakers as a test and still no base. It is as if there is a filter somewhere preventing the low frequencies from going to the 6x9s. I know the front speakers are wired to the amp under the driver's seat. Are the 6x9s as well? Is there a filter inline that prevents bass from going to the rear speaker? If so, does anyone know where it is (i.e. the deck, amp, wired in-line). Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Darrell McCombs