Thanks for reminding me to follow up! The dealership & auto repair shops are all clueless. The dealership originally quoted me $800 parts + 500 install (for an hours work) for the lower radio/CD unit when it would have ended up being the upper $1700 climate control unit that needs replacing. You can buy a used one on eBay for less than $200 though. No codes or programming required. Watch a YouTube video on how to take out the dash & it’s all simple plug ins from there. Anyone can do it. Just make sure you plug everything back in. The plugs only fit in one spot. The hard part is that the cords aren’t very long so its hard to pull it out far enough to view it & unplug everything. There’s a couple spots where the cords are anchored to the metal brackets holding the CD player & climate control together that you have to detach before you can unplug them.

You need to make sure, however, that the part number from the wrecked vehicle matches the part number from your car based off of the vehicle VIN numbers. This needs to be checked by the Lexus parts department. None of the eBay listings show the part numbers you need. So look for 06-08 IS250 climate control unit’s for sale, write down the car VIN #’s of several (probably have better luck with your exact year) take this to your local Lexus dealership parts department. Tell them you need to match some used part numbers to your vehicle. They’ll look up the part # to your car with your VIN, make sure they are looking at the upper climate control unit, not the CD player & then have them look up the cars off eBay you wrote down & see which ones have that same part number. There’s at least 3 different part numbers that look identical but the airbag module in them is different & will give you that airbag warning light if you have the wrong part number. Don’t go off the part number on the lower radio/CD player part. The part number isn’t printed anywhere, they need to look it up by VIN.

There’s also a chance it may just be a loose connection. The connection that powers the climate control is on the back of the CD player. It’s the small, middle plug in the group of 3. I’ve attached a picture. I ended up wedging a tiny piece of foam tape it with it so it would stay clipped in. I might not have even needed a new unit but by the time I figured that out I was so frustrated I didn’t want to bother with unplugging everything & returning the “new” used part.

Every time I had to pull the units in & out I scraped the edge of my gummy dash a bit

so hopefully this saves someone else the trial & error. Even with all my failed troubleshooting it only cost me $400 versus the $2300-3000 the dealership would have charged me (depending if they would have made me keep the CD player they first would have installed that I wouldn’t have actually needed).

 

This is the best video for removing the radio console. If you don’t have the socket wrench extension for those first 2 lower bolts you can use a long flathead screwdriver wedged into the 10mil socket instead. You can also remove the console around the gearshift & then ashtray to access those lower bolts easier. All the other videos show how to do that. My car is manual transmission so slightly different but easy to figure out still.

 

Hi Tiffany, thank you very much.
I will check the connection of the wire at the back of the CD player that you showed me. I hope that it is a loose connection. If it works, I will let you know.
Also, there was a recall for Lexus to replace faulty dashboards. We had our changed two years ago. they changed all of the panels.
We were sent a letters about the recall and was informed to contact our local Lexus dealership. After we informed them, we had to wait a year for the parts to come in.
They changed the dashboard and all of the panels. The car looks new on the inside. You should contact your dealer about that.
The recall letter should come from Lexus.

 

Thanks, I’m up to date on all the recalls that pertain to my VIN but maybe they can do it if I complain. It wasn’t in bad shape prior to this but I now notice if I knick it with my finger nail it will scratch like play doh. I bought it from the dealership & it’s registered to me so I do receive recall notices. Let me know how yours works out. Once you unscrew the climate control & pull it out, I found it easiest to scoot the seat all the way forward to sit up super close so you can get in behind it to the cords. Have a towel to lean it on also & I didn’t but should have put blue painters tap on the edges of the dash as soon as you pull it out.