The Lexus Enthusiast

Got a photo. Alex

Was travelling home for weekend from London on M4 with my mom whose car it is by the way, we were in the fast lane, traffic began to slow to a steady controlled stop and after a few seconds of being stopped in traffic with the hand break on I felt a massive smash into the back of the car and got pushed forward in my seat. The guy behind whose fault it was, was in a little Toyota Prius with his wife and very small kid who was in tears. He gave my mom his name and telephone number and full address and said "we're not waiting here", despite my offer that we all head over to the shoulder. I asked him for his insurance company and he said "i'm not quite sure at the moment" then I said "are you insured"??, and his wife got angry at ME!!! Other than a tiny pain when I lean forward in a little area in my lower waist and an occasional dull ache in my back, we are okay. Amazingly the rear bumper except for some little scuffing and a bit where the paint has been taken off is absolutely fine, really don't understand how since the impact was enough to move the car forward even with foot break on. Also lucky that since the foot break was on we didn't get pushed into the car infant of us as well and caused a complete pile up! Have never stood in the fast lane of a motorway before, the noise was prolific with stuff coming the other way at full speed. Kind of creepy atmosphere. As usual of the M4, the traffic began to move again and in a few minutes was like the traffic jam never existed! He said he will take about 2hrs to get home, so we're sorting everything out now and will phone him in a while, am hoping he picks up and that he had a genuine bond blank abut the name of his insurance company. Drive safely everyone! As usual of the M4, the traffic began to move again and in a few minutes was like the traffic jam never existed!

Sounds great Mark. Will wait to hear from you. Thanks again.

Unfortunately he was not able to extract it despite trying for ages with a plethora of tools. He said that despite the fact that it is clear of the spindles there is something clasping it in there and he can't imagine what it is. I can see into the deck that there are some parts out of place so I think that even if I dismantle it and try to remove it the player is ruined anyway from trying to pull out the cassette unfortunately. If you are still willing to let me have your spare unit Mark, it would make my day! Thank you, Alex

That’s incredibly generous of you Mark! Your offer would be most appreciated! I’ve got a local guy coming round this evening to try to extract the tape but even if he succeeds I think the player has been damaged. I’ll let you know what happens later today. Many thanks, Alex

Perhaps it’s certain cars- our other ls which is 2001 seems fine, mind you I certainly wouldn’t put it past Lexus to have fine tuned it for the passengers ha ha!

I take full responsibility Phil, I should have noticed that when I brought it in towards the deck it felt a little different, I should have been paying more attention. The car made it worse for itself since when it got half way it began pulling it in further a centimetre at a time and since I was away from home there was nothing I could do to stop it. Was a result of my carelessness and the car insisting on not letting its owner down

Unfortunately the cassette demagnatiser got jammed into the player. Tried for ages to get it out but have failed. Not really sure where to go from here. Alex

The sound is okay I suppose, being old technology after all. Admittedly there’s a bit of a lack of bass, a bit like my subwoofer shrunk . In our other Ls the bass from the cassette is much sharper and it might just be me but the overall sound quality is a bit better too. The biggest problem is the balance. Will try the demagnetiser that Phil suggested and see if it improves. Can the head player be re aligned? Thanks, Alex

Have just ordered it from eBay. The description sounds hopeful. Sounds like it could be just the thing! I didn’t even know that these existed. Will run it in the deck when it arrives and let you know how I get on. Thanks so much for the idea. Alex

I put my ear to every speaker in the car and the front right door speaker sounds muffled and distorted almost as if someone poored a drink into it is the best way to describe it. Perhaps that is why there's more sound from the left. It's odd because I replaced that speaker about 3 years ago but perhaps it has blown already? Alex

Many times. It improves the sound of the music but unfortunately does nothing for the balance. Thanks for the reply , Alex

Hi Stewart, Unfortunately I never ended up buying the xcar product since when I contacted the seller on Ebay (after sending them a photo of the audio unit in the car) they claimed that it definitely would not be compatible, I found this hard to believe since it worked for Roger, and the listing said it was for the car. I resorted to buying a cassette adapter and not risk the cost. Yes, I believe that the connector did change on the facelifts, so if your car is mid 2003(53) or later the pins will be different. It has been a while since I took the unit out so have forgotten what the connector pins look like exactly. So to summarise, I THINK that a 2001- mid 2003 LS430 has a certain type of pin connector, and then 53 and later is another type. Since your Reason being that am pretty sure I remember that when the audio unit died in our 2001 LS and we tried to replace it with one from a facelift model that my neighbour crashed into his house (long story) after taking everything out we failed miserably since the pins were different. So yes, if I remember correctly, I think pre facelift 430s have the smaller 66 plug. Alex

Should have said that I tried that already but it's fine. I was sitting in the car earlier this afternoon listening trying to figure this all out and it seems to me that the problem is actually the cassette deck itself, I played an old tape and the same result- more audio on the left than right hand side of car. A while ago the whole audio unit died and the only one I could find was a used ebay replacement. When I have lots of time over the summer I will have to remove it and adjust it if that's possible or replace. Doesn't help that the right door speaker is muffled and I think needs replacing and the subwoofer is worn. Perhaps it's my hearing already

I can adjust it in the sound settings on the nav screen, looks like it could just be the adapter though . Thanks, Alex

Sounds reassuring, since in the other LS with a different adapter it plays better so it is possible that the first adapter is a bit faulty. I might order a better one online. Alex

Hi all, I have recently started noticing that when I play music from my phone to tape cassette adapter there is far more audio coming from the passenger side of the car than the right hand side. The right side speakers work fine but just don’t seem to be playing much audio at all. The problem isn’t noticeable when listening to a CD or fm, just when using the tape deck. Is this just the result of modern songs confusing dated technology with the tape or is there something wrong with the audio system? Or a faulty tape deck? I have plugged in the cassette adapter into our other 430 and the audio is exactly balanced and the bass seems stronger so that leads me to believe something is bad in the first LS. Could it be that a speaker is blown on the right hand side so it’s forcing it to play audio more on the left? Any help much appreciated, Alex

Sounds simple enough so long as it will clip back on and not rattle. Thanks, Alex

How should I remove the cover so I don't break anything? Alex

Thanks for all the advice. I once read somewhere that using an aftermarket sub might damage the amp? Not sure wether that's true though, but an upgraded sub is tempting since if I mend and reinstall the old one it will probably just tear in a few months. Mind you, I have a feeling that the sub isn't actually torn because I don't hear that usual popping sound. I haven't listened to a standard Lexus sound system so can't personally judge, but it seems that although the ML sounds great, at times it can be too powerful and just end up wearing out speakers and usually the bass drowns out other frequencies especially when you have to turn it up on the motorway. I will probably think about it and either fix and reinstall the old one or splash out on a new sub. Thanks, Alex

You learn something new every day! I remember watching a video on Youtube years ago about Mark Levinson explaining just how many tests they conducted to select just the right grain of leather that would have the best acoustic effect! Personally, I'd be prepared to forfeit a bit of sound quality to have longer lasting more durable speakers though especially since this is the third speaker that has gone wrong in the car over about 3 yrs and we never listen to anything at skull shattering volumes. Alex

Thanks for replying, This too happened to me twice! Unbelievable that they make these things out of paper! Unfortunately it isn't making that torn sound so I think it's something more serious, perhaps the entire speaker has just blown or something? Luckily I have the old subwoofer so I might mend it with silicon and get someone to fit it if all else fails. Alex

Hi everyone, Recently purchased a cassette tape adapter and have been playing songs from my phone to the standard Mark Levinson audio system. The other day I forgot to turn down the CD before switching to the tape and the music from the phone came on incredibly loudly. I immediately turned it down, however I instantly noticed that the bass seemed to be almost gone. I thought at first that my own ears were just a bit shocked but ever since it happened there seems to be a considerable reduction in bass. Earlier today when we got home I played some music from a CD in the changer and turned it up. I sat in the back of the car and realised that all the bass that was present seemed to be coming from the rear door speakers and only a tiny amount from the actual subwoofer which was kind of muffled. Has my subwoofer become damaged/blown in some way? I was also using an equaliser on Spotify app to play music and had the EQ set at maximum bass to make up for the sound performance on the cassette adapter for a day or two until I realised what a bad idea that was for the speakers Have I damaged something? Any advice much appreciated, thanks, Alex

Just incase anyone else is going the cassette adapter route, I went back to Maplin the other day and picked up a wired cassette adapter in addition to the Bluetooth one that I got. The sound quality just blew me away! With the bluetooth one, I had to use Spotify as it has an EQ, whereas now with the wired one, the quality is so good that i can play even the worst quality of tracks and it sounds no worse than a CD R. I also purchased a cassette cleaner and ran it for 20secs (as stated in instructions) and that has got rid of most of the noise that the tape player makes and has also improved sound quality, so, for best results clean that old tape player first! Other non BT bonuses are that theres no issue of it running put of charge in the middle of the journey. Think i'm going to buy one for our other 430 as well, because it really is a great device and now means that i don't have to bother buying an expensive kit from Ebay and risk it not fitting/ damaging something. I have also noticed that since I started playing CD-r's in the changer (before I knew of the adapter) that now, occasionally the changer starts saying 'CD ERROR' ever so often, so using the adapter gives stops me having to use dodgy CDs.

Wish I had delayed purchasing that adapter!