Mr. Paw

I just bought a 1992 ES300 - 'cherry' w/69k. Wanted to put my Kenwood cd/mp3/ head unit, 10 disc changer, Rockford-Fosgate 'Punch' 4-channel amp and a 10" Woofer with its own 2-channel amp into this car. I went to Tweeter and they said the RF 'Punch' would not work unless I bought new front speakers because the Lexus amp (under the front passenger seat) has internal crossovers and that if I used the RF 'Punch' I would lose all my midrange or get full bass up front or something (I don't know much about this stuff). They said they could install the other stuff, i.e. 'Sub', "Sub-amp", head unit using the existing system amp. To make this short they not only screwed me by charging me more not to install the RF 'Punch' - they also messed up the speaker system. They originally said I had an input jack on my head unit for the 'Sub' - when I picked the car up they told me that I didn't have such a jack but that they were able to hook up the 'Sub' anyway. The sub used to be portable - I had a connection jack I could just unplug so I could remove the speaker when I needed additional trunk space or put it outside for a picnic or something. They took the 'Sub-amp' and bolted the damn thing to the top of the 'Sub- amp' (they're in the trunk). They also wired the 'Sub' up so that on the head unit 'Fade' control, i.e. front to rear speakers I now hear only the sub-woofer if I set it all the way to the rear. They combined the stock front and rear speakers so they operate all together on the 'front' control. I am in the process of emailing Tweeter headquarters to try to get some satisfaction for this fiasco. Thanks for listening - Tom aka Mr. Paw - email: mrpaw@attbi.com

Percy

Tom,

Hmmm...sounds familiar. That was the placed that screwed up my very first audio system. Back then it was called United Audio. This wouldn't be the same place off of Golf road, would it? They know SQUAT about Lexus. The last guy that was there, Eric Petersime (He's good), he didn't know squat about Lexus either...and he was one of their better installers.

Still sounds like Tweeter/United audio is still up to their old crappy installation tactics.

I would highly suggest working on your own system from now on. There doesn't seem to be any real high end installers in the Chicago area.

Percy

DJ SprinklesNJO

wow that realy sucks. damn crappy installers. i sure hope you give them hell for that. (since thats not what you wanted in your car) esp with that fader nonsence and stuff. and they charged you more damn, what nerve.

on a related but side note. i just recently uninstalled my friends system out of his leased montero. while doing it, i noticed the shop he had it installed at did a crappy job, for starters the power from the battey was a crappy 10g wire then right after the firewall it turned into two smaller (i mean real small guage) wires and run all the way to the amp. (so not only did it start with 10g but then for the length of the car was two small thin gauge wires.

then behind the headunit, (where they tapped off of the speaker leads) i noticed 8 wires had been cut and retaped up. (i guess the first 4 wires they cut were not the speaker leads, so they had to cut another set of 4)

the ground wire was ok but thin as well. i coudnt believe how ****ty they hooked it up. i bet they did that wrong too bc the system DIDNT hit hard at all. i had the same system in my truck and it hit hard. (that system is now for sale if anyone is interested)

but anway yea like percy said, do it yourself next time. and if you dont know how, read up on it and there are plenty of people here that are sooooo helpful.

ChronoJ1

iTrader: (2)

Geez... I have an appointment for similar installation this Thursday.. which the shop is going to charge me 400 bucks. I'm afraid they are going to mess it up too. I have to have these things installed.
- Alpine CDA-9813 Headunit
- Alpine SPS-1304 5.25 coaxials for the back.
- RF RFP-3410 10" Subwoofer.

Mr. Paw

Thanks for the replies to my 'dump' about Tweeter. I had sent their Dir. of Public Relations three emails and had made a proposal to resolve my problem,i.e. I wanted them to restore my fade control, unscrew the 'sub' amp from the 'sub' and install my RF Punch amp to operate the main system. They had told me previously that if I wanted the RF installed I would need new front speakers and they wanted to sell me MB Quart - PSD 260's for $289 + $90 for installation - they said they were a 'great' deal because normally they sold for about $600 - at that time I told them no and then they did what they did. My proposal wanted them to do it for nothing plus give me back the difference between the original estimate and what they ended up charging me (about $80).
I didn't get any, not any response so I forwarded it to another email in Public Relations (this is at Corporate headquarters on the east coast). I still got no response. I had also emailed RF and dumped on them - a guy from the tech department had written me back saying Tweeter was one of RF's biggest dealers and that he had no negative experience with them. He said to let him know if I didn't get anywhere and he would give me the name of RF's local guy and maybe he could help. Turned out this wasn't necessary.

Mr. Paw

(I know - you didn't want all the details but I can't help myself-I will seek therapy)- After receiving no response from anyone I decided to find someway to get in touch with the CEO of Tweeters - I found his name and fax# and faxed him all the stuff I had sent, including my 'proposal'. He never got it - I received a call from the original person (Dir. of Pub. Rel.) who I had emailed. She said (likely story) that she was standing by the fax and saw my email come through and she said she saw her name and the rest of it was unreadable so she called me on the phone (I don't think she wanted the CEO to get it). She said she never saw my emails and thought they had been deleted as 'spam' because my email name is 'mrpaw' and the subject was also one word - 'Disillusionment '. She said that her 'Spam' watch program would have seen the 'one'word' stuff, assumed it was Spam and deleted it before she saw it(yea, sure thing). She said they wanted to do what was right to keep me as a customer and she said she had called the regional manager and that he would call me. I got a phone message from him about 2 hours later - He gave me his number, the store managers number and said they would 'work with me'. I talked with the store manager a couple times and finally he sounded like he was going to agree with my proposal EXCEPT he wanted me to pay for the speakers because they were going to install them for free, etc. I said no, politely but firmly. I told him I thought my entire proposal was fair and equitable and I would settle for nothing less. I said I would accept his decision and I would take it back 'up the ladder'. ( I had also subtly 'dropped' the fact that I knew someone at RF in one of my original emails to 'corporate - RF being one of their larger suppliers might also have got their attention). I also said I would rather get nothing than settle for any less than I proposed. I said since you want to talk about this on your cost basis think of this - If I am able to dissuade only 2-3 people from patronizing your store you'd lose a lot more than a couple hundred bucks - BOTTOM LINE - I GOT IT ALL inc. REFUND - THEY'LL INSTALL IT TOMORROW- new MB Quarts free - I hope they're as good as they said. Thanks for your time - Tom

ChronoJ1

iTrader: (2)

GOOD JOB!

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

now if its screwed up you cant complain. its free. but anytime they are willing to help in any way, they deserve a nice handshake and a friendly conversation from here on out. they will expect you to come in all high and mighty because you "won" but a nice approach with a good attitude shows you respect their admission of guilt and willingnes to help. enjoy your new stuff ,sounds like they suck at installing, but make up for it with good customer care and free stuff

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

I think it really depends on the Tweeter location & installer qualifications. The guy who Dex used at our local tweeter was an absolutely great installer. VERY upfront with opinions and more **** than Dex about getting it done the right way (if you can possibly believe that).

Mr Paw - congrats on getting some resolution to your problem & good luck with the MBQs!

Mr. Paw

MY FIRST LEXUS (I've had it about a month) Everyone I asked (friends) said don't do that! You're going to diminish the class of the Lexus. I said to myself, "Self - what the hell are they talking about?" I looked at my '92 ES300- 69k- 4dr w/sunroof - great condition, and what I saw was an ordinary lookin' shape and a color I really couldn't identify - Rose something or other. (I immediately set about to put my Kenwood - CD-MP3 head unit ,10 disc changer, 'sub' and 2 amps into it but that's another story, fiasco really, that I wrote about in the electronic or audio? section of this board)I liked the way it handled as I drive a car hard. I couldn't see what the hell they were talkin' about. Then I finally got it. At least around here a Lexus, the name itself, is a status symbol and people weren't seeing the car they were seeing the name. I just got my first Lexus because it appeared on the scene just when I was lookin' to get rid of my '92 Buick Century that I hadn't done a thing to, I mean rarely washed. I had no idea that people would react the way they did when I either told them about or showed them my car. SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED TO ME - I now want my car to be clean - I even bought a 'little' feather duster with a 'little' handle so I can easily dust my dash when it accumulates. On my Buick I had a wholesaler who bought the dust from my car in 350 pound bales every few months. I still intend to make this car a reflection of my personality. I want people to see it and know its mine. I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do to make that happen - I've done a couple things that I sorta like but I 'll see - after I try 'em out for a while. I study TaeKwonDo so I put some (yea,cheap - Target $15 each) Black, sorta slightly furry seat covers with a Grey dragon at the very top. I put them on the front seats. Then I put 2 TKD patches on each seat at the front corners - I think they look good - so far. The seat covers are just elastically fastened so if I decide I like the look then I will try to figure out how to fasten them better on the bottom 'cause they slip off occassionally. I tentatively put a TKD patch in the center of the steering wheel. I also saw these square rubber floor mats with a bright yellow Tweety Bird on them located a little left center and I bought 4 of those and put them in (I keep havin' to clean the damn bird cause it gets dirty real easy). NOW I'M REALLY NOT LIKIN' THE COLOR- everyone else says leave it alone (I believe they're stuck in the Quiet Unassuming Wealth mode - besides, I'm poor). I'm thinkin' of a Candy Apple Red or Black, you know, one of those colors that have depth and a strong, but not too loud, sense of SEX and POWER. The problem is that could cost a lotta money and I'm in the price range of Maaco - when its on sale. I also thought that maybe I could accomplish some of what I'm envisioning with a little pinstriping. Although I'm not an artist I could probably spray a straight line - well maybe not - but I hear that's not cheap either - the Pin Striping I mean - or a couple designs or something. My nickname is Mr. Paw and so far my car only exudes the M in Mr. Paw - I wanna get the - r,.,P,a,w. Any suggestions other than to 'PLEASE, PLEASE!! - GIVE or SELL YOUR LEXUS TO SOMEONE WHO WILL APPRECIATE IT FOR WHAT IT IS - SO THAT WE MAY BRING TO A HALT THIS INSULT, THIS DEGRADATION, THIS GHETTOIZATION (as one friend said). All kidding aside - I really like the car so far but I do want it to reflect me - oh, I almost forgot. I was in Osco/Save-on and I saw these model planes for $3.99 each - although I'm not a model plane enthusiast I thought they looked kinda neat so I bought the B-1 Stealth bomber and 'stuck' it in the middle of the upper dash, almost touching the window (don't worry - it'll come off without damaging anything - I think - I used double sided tape after removing the wheels. I also bought the movable wing fighter jet and 'stuck' it in the rear window with the nose of the plane resting on the housing for the rear window brake light. I did get colors that sorta blend in so they don't stand out - too much. I know - PLEASE, PLEASE........I'll consider therapy. Any suggestions about the paint job, etc. Thanks - Tom aka Mr. Paw

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

I thought April Fool's day was yesterday . Got to go check my calendar.

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Ya know, I'm surprised they didn't bolt down the subwoofer cone to stop that annoying rattle that most of us call music.
Yeah, DaveGS4, some of the Tweeters actually have good installers that generally know what they're doing. They certainly have a better track record than BestBuy or Circuit City.

Interesting story, Mr. Paw, glad it worked out for you.

Mr. Paw

In response to the April fool comment I am assuming (dangerous, I know) that you thought I was joking. Although I do try not to take myself too seriously I do mean what I say - I have put the seat covers, planes, emblems, etc. (the dust thing was silly) into my Lexus and I would like to paint it and I do want to make it mine.

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Mr P... wasn't quite sure if you were or not, but I did think with all the stuff you talked about adding that you might be kidding. It's a little over the top IMO. Bottom line however, if you like it, DO IT no matter what others think or say . If you want to make it yours, go for it and good luck!

You'll get personal opinion from others here (including me) that some stuff just doesn't belong on/in a Lexus. Keep the luxury and 'classy' aspect of the vehicle intact. If you put too much random stuff in your car (ariplanes on the dash for example) you might just end up like this guy. But at the end of the day it's your car and you should enjoy modifying it the way you want to.

ChronoJ1

iTrader: (2)

WHAT THE HELL ARE ALL THOSE?