Replacement audio for ES300??

I have a 96 ES 300 with a dead Pioneer CD changer. Replacement of the Pioneer costs a lot, and it is dedicated to the existing in dash unit. If the in dash unit (8 years old) failed, it too would be very expensive to replace. I want to replace everything with a new in dash unit, but I want it to sound as good as what I have now. I don't need mega base, but I do want to feed the Lex speakers a good clean signal. My budget is $3-400 installed, Any suggestions?

One feature I would like is to be able to scan radio stations with a dial like old analog radios. I find that the seek misses stations while the scan stops on everything. I'd like to just turn a dial and listen for myself. Any modern tuner enable me to do this? Any help appreciated. Thanks

Reply to
TANKIE
Loading thread data ...

I checked with Crutchfield on this very issue about a week ago; it's labor-intensive to do this.

You can get a kit to fit a radio in the dash, no problem. The problem lay with the factory amp under the seat and the factory wiring. With most simple cars, you wire an adapter plug between the new radio and factory wires, and away you go. Simple. The factory wires take the new radio's output through the factory wiring to the factory speakers. But with this Lexus setup, there is no adapting an aftermarket radio to work with the factory amp and wiring. You have to bypass the amp and go right to the speakers--and there's no way to do that with the factory wiring.

So, you're stuck with re-wiring everything from the new radio over to the speakers--both in the door and in the rear deck. Labor could be costly. In addition, you need to see if the factory speakers can take standard radio output or if they were custom-built for the factory amp and would need to be replaced with something else that *can* take standard radio output.

This isn't impossible, but I think for $400 it's impossible.

I got my 94 ES300 for Christmas (red bow and everything, sitting in the driveway). It doesn't have ANY accommodation for CD. (What were they THINKING when they built this car?) Anyway, I'm going to solve the problem by putting my Delphi SkyFi XM radio in. I figure, who needs CDs at that point. I'll just tune around 100 satellite stations and deal with it that way. I'll start by using the cassette adapter, and if I need to I'll move over to the FM modulator for an interface. It's a WHOLE lot easier and cheaper than trying to put a CD player into that car.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

You might try taking the CD changer out of the trunk and bringing it to a car audio shop. (Or let the shop do it for more money.) I did this twice. It cost $150 to fix, but only lasted about one month. Then I took it to a different shop, it took $135 to fix, but only lasted another month. (Different parts were replaced each time). Then I resorted to destroying the changer to get 5 CD's out (the 6th was deeper in the playing mechanism, and I cracked it while trying to get it out.) Or you could bid on a used changer on eBay, but all that fit are at least as old as yours (1992-1996 are the same.) I've noticed they usually sell for a little under $200 plus shipping. I wish there were NEW direct replacement units that you could just screw down, plug in, and use. I guess there isn't enough demand.

Reply to
Larry Parker

Reply to
badegg

Within your budget, forget the cd changer and get the XM radio. This is the only way you can do this for under $400. There is another way, a more adventurous way. There is a company that makes conversion kits, that allows you to plug in other CD changers into the Lexus system. Here is the link. It worked on my friends ES300, but not without some tinkering(if you do not want to tinker, get the cd-changer they tested with, which i believe is an alpine for around $250):

formatting link
and another where you can get similar parts:

formatting link

Reply to
Dan J.Smereczynski

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.