New member & bought wife 2006 GS 430
12-31-09, 08:54 AM
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New member & bought wife 2006 GS 430
Hello, I'm a new member here and thought I'd introduce myself. I recently bought my wife a 2006 GS 430, red with black interior.
I'm trying to get up to speed on some of the quirks and what modifications I should do to it.
Things I want to do to immediately are:
I just spent the last 48 hours searching and reading topics here and PMing a member who has been extremely helpful.
I'm thinking the vaistech SoundLinQ SL2i-UP (audio) or SoundLinQ2 (SL2Vi) (audio + video). There is an iSimple device available from Best Buy but I haven't seen any discussions about it on either of the forums so I imagine it's not the best choice.
As for the bypass I really don't want to cut anything since the car is under warranty for the next three years. So I want to go plug and play, I see the Prestigious Society harnesses on ebay for less than what it goes for on the Prestigious Society website. I've seen some people mention a vendor/company called Tom's that has something similar too, is there a link to Tom's? Are there other plug and play alternatives?
For now, it's got the 4.2 software so I can do the touchscreen override...but eventually I'll need to update the maps (it doesn't even have my home street listed).
The car is allot more fun to drive than I thought it would be. For those with a GS 430, when you want to have fun with it...are you turning the TRAC off and putting it SPORT mode?
I also like some of the LED modifications people have done to the parking lights, trunk kits, etc, so I'll probably do those as well.
Hopefully I wasn't taken for a ride on this purchase. I bought it from a dealer and originally they were asking $34K. KBB says it's worth around $33K and Edmunds says $34K. It has 40K miles on it. It has the ML System with Navigation. It's covered under the Lexus Certified Pre-Owned plan up to 100K miles and 3 years.
After haggling back and forth, I wound up paying $29,114.00 out the door (tax, fees, licensing, etc. included). I had been watching some on Auto Trader for sale by private sellers going for $26K to $28K but none of them had the ML with Navigation nor did they have the warranty, plus my wife had her heart set on the Red on Black and could never find one in that color on Auto Trader.
Well, I stayed up way too long last night reading the DIY thread...lots of good stuff in there I'll need to try out.
I'm trying to get up to speed on some of the quirks and what modifications I should do to it.
Things I want to do to immediately are:
- Use an iPod.
- Bypass the navigation block while in motion.
- Bypass the DVD block while in motion.
- Bypass the Bluetooth block while in motion.
I just spent the last 48 hours searching and reading topics here and PMing a member who has been extremely helpful.
I'm thinking the vaistech SoundLinQ SL2i-UP (audio) or SoundLinQ2 (SL2Vi) (audio + video). There is an iSimple device available from Best Buy but I haven't seen any discussions about it on either of the forums so I imagine it's not the best choice.
As for the bypass I really don't want to cut anything since the car is under warranty for the next three years. So I want to go plug and play, I see the Prestigious Society harnesses on ebay for less than what it goes for on the Prestigious Society website. I've seen some people mention a vendor/company called Tom's that has something similar too, is there a link to Tom's? Are there other plug and play alternatives?
For now, it's got the 4.2 software so I can do the touchscreen override...but eventually I'll need to update the maps (it doesn't even have my home street listed).
The car is allot more fun to drive than I thought it would be. For those with a GS 430, when you want to have fun with it...are you turning the TRAC off and putting it SPORT mode?
I also like some of the LED modifications people have done to the parking lights, trunk kits, etc, so I'll probably do those as well.
Hopefully I wasn't taken for a ride on this purchase. I bought it from a dealer and originally they were asking $34K. KBB says it's worth around $33K and Edmunds says $34K. It has 40K miles on it. It has the ML System with Navigation. It's covered under the Lexus Certified Pre-Owned plan up to 100K miles and 3 years.
After haggling back and forth, I wound up paying $29,114.00 out the door (tax, fees, licensing, etc. included). I had been watching some on Auto Trader for sale by private sellers going for $26K to $28K but none of them had the ML with Navigation nor did they have the warranty, plus my wife had her heart set on the Red on Black and could never find one in that color on Auto Trader.
Well, I stayed up way too long last night reading the DIY thread...lots of good stuff in there I'll need to try out.
Glad I could be of help
12-31-09, 12:42 PM
#7
The things you want to modify I also modified. Here is my advice:
1) to use ipod - there are 3 options:
i) Vais SL2i-UP or a Dice ipod kit or the Lexus one. These will all allow you to use iPod music features. I think the Vais one is the best of these though some prefer Dice. The Lexus one is the same as a cheaper Dice kit which has less ipod control features.
ii) Vais SL2vi - This is an ipod kit which allows you to use your iPod's video features as well the music features.
iii) Vais MultiMediaLinQ - this is a hard-drive music system for the Lexus which allows you to transfer the music to the hard-drive, and also to play music from USB storage devices in addition to iPods.
2) For the ability to control Nav, bluetooth and DVD video while driving, you need to get the Prestigious Society Nav/TV override kit. Google Prestigious Society and buy direct, or to save some money, look on eBay or on the clublexus classifieds and you should be able to get it for 100 dollars less like I did.
1) to use ipod - there are 3 options:
i) Vais SL2i-UP or a Dice ipod kit or the Lexus one. These will all allow you to use iPod music features. I think the Vais one is the best of these though some prefer Dice. The Lexus one is the same as a cheaper Dice kit which has less ipod control features.
ii) Vais SL2vi - This is an ipod kit which allows you to use your iPod's video features as well the music features.
iii) Vais MultiMediaLinQ - this is a hard-drive music system for the Lexus which allows you to transfer the music to the hard-drive, and also to play music from USB storage devices in addition to iPods.
2) For the ability to control Nav, bluetooth and DVD video while driving, you need to get the Prestigious Society Nav/TV override kit. Google Prestigious Society and buy direct, or to save some money, look on eBay or on the clublexus classifieds and you should be able to get it for 100 dollars less like I did.
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12-31-09, 01:44 PM
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Nice deal. Enjoy!
May want to consider this for the iPod interface too. They're about $100-$150 and very easy to install.
http://usaspec.com/product.php?Produ...eShowProduct=1
May want to consider this for the iPod interface too. They're about $100-$150 and very easy to install.
http://usaspec.com/product.php?Produ...eShowProduct=1
12-31-09, 03:31 PM
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The things you want to modify I also modified. Here is my advice:
1) to use ipod - there are 3 options:
i) Vais SL2i-UP or a Dice ipod kit or the Lexus one. These will all allow you to use iPod music features. I think the Vais one is the best of these though some prefer Dice. The Lexus one is the same as a cheaper Dice kit which has less ipod control features.
ii) Vais SL2vi - This is an ipod kit which allows you to use your iPod's video features as well the music features.
iii) Vais MultiMediaLinQ - this is a hard-drive music system for the Lexus which allows you to transfer the music to the hard-drive, and also to play music from USB storage devices in addition to iPods.
1) to use ipod - there are 3 options:
i) Vais SL2i-UP or a Dice ipod kit or the Lexus one. These will all allow you to use iPod music features. I think the Vais one is the best of these though some prefer Dice. The Lexus one is the same as a cheaper Dice kit which has less ipod control features.
ii) Vais SL2vi - This is an ipod kit which allows you to use your iPod's video features as well the music features.
iii) Vais MultiMediaLinQ - this is a hard-drive music system for the Lexus which allows you to transfer the music to the hard-drive, and also to play music from USB storage devices in addition to iPods.
2) For the ability to control Nav, bluetooth and DVD video while driving, you need to get the Prestigious Society Nav/TV override kit. Google Prestigious Society and buy direct, or to save some money, look on eBay or on the clublexus classifieds and you should be able to get it for 100 dollars less like I did.
May want to consider this for the iPod interface too. They're about $100-$150 and very easy to install.
http://usaspec.com/product.php?Produ...eShowProduct=1
http://usaspec.com/product.php?Produ...eShowProduct=1
Nice color choice and color combo..
12-31-09, 07:24 PM
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Got the Check VSC message along with three other dummy lights illuminated. Took it to a Toyota dealer (the nearest Lexus is 1.5 hours away) just to check what the code is. Should have read here first, would have saved a few bucks to find out is was just the gas cap.
Although, they did say that there was a code popped for the power steering as well but it could have been old and tied to a factory recall for the power steering pump and I need to call Lexus to ensure the recall was done.
Are there any other recalls I should be aware of. As I was doing some more research here I stumbled across some horror stories about frame damage and Carfax not picking it up and that people should use Autocheck. Gotta admit, I post on like 7 automotive enthusiasts message boards and I've never heard of Autocheck. But, I just did it and the car is clean with a score of 92...sigh of relief.
Although, they did say that there was a code popped for the power steering as well but it could have been old and tied to a factory recall for the power steering pump and I need to call Lexus to ensure the recall was done.
Are there any other recalls I should be aware of. As I was doing some more research here I stumbled across some horror stories about frame damage and Carfax not picking it up and that people should use Autocheck. Gotta admit, I post on like 7 automotive enthusiasts message boards and I've never heard of Autocheck. But, I just did it and the car is clean with a score of 92...sigh of relief.
