jbbreeden

Driving into a parking lot this afternoon, my 2005 LS430 suddenly rang it's "doorbell." That's what it sounded like: Ding-dong. An electronic doorbell.

The radio wasn't on, no warning lights or messages appeared; just a louder than normal radio level or navigation guidance-voice level "ding-dong." Just once.

Anybody ever had this happen? My wife said it happened to her when she was driving alone yesterday in the car.

Also, the radio has come on by itself twice since we got the car, but then the '07 GS Levinson radio did that occasionally too.

Does this car have a benevolent ghost?

rjfiore1

Ah yes, the ding-dong! You have navi I assume. You somehow set either an address or lat/lon with an attribute to ding-dong. I have it set to when I come home.

rjfiore1

As far as the radio coming on, maybe you hit a steering wheel stereo button. That has never happened to me without me pressing some button. I really don't think you have to just push the power/volume control to turn the radio on.

jbbreeden

You're probably right about the radio. I guess we hit one of the buttons that changes mode or moves the station up or down. I think they turn the system on, too.

About the "ding-dong" though: That is really strange. How do you set it? I went to the Lexus owner's site to check the on-line docs (usually an easy search) but the site was all screwed up AGAIN, not showing my current car but the 2003 LS of yesteryear. And, even after re-entering the new information, the site kept putting up 2003 manual information even while showing the 2005 LS.

I gave up on the site.

rjfiore1

Hi jbbreeden-
look at page 69 of your 2005 NAVIGATION SUPPLEMENT MANUAL. There will everything you need to know.

Now, please tell me! I have the same rims 18" with SP5000 Dunlops and 24k miles on them, with probably 10k tread left, and I have the sam car 2005 LS as you. Tell me that your car rides very hard and you hear shakes and tire noise and stuff???

jbbreeden

Actually, the ride on this 2005 is remarkably smooth and the steering very tight and precise. I'd had an LS400 that wandered all over the road while I held the wheel dead center. My 2003 LS430 (silver on black) had Michelins on 17" rims and rode pretty well but the steering wasn't as precise as any of the front-wheel or all-wheel drive Lexii I've owned. I figured it was the rear-wheel drive that made the LS less "on rails" than the others. Still the others (16 and 17" rims) rode smoothly.

This is the first set of 18" rim's I've owned. The tires are brand new Michelin Pilots (installed with the CPO inspection) on 18" factory polished alloys. They have very crisp steering, every bit as good a "feel" as the front-wheel drive cars with no wander at all and the ride is good. Not Cadillac-soft but as good as I remember the other LS430; the '99 LS400 was a bit sloppy by comparison on the highway at speed when you hit bumps.

Overall, this is the best riding and driving LS I've had and way better than the GS350-AWD I dumped for it. I've had Dunlops before and haven't been happy with them. I'm reluctant to say that's your problem, but I've been very happy with the Michelins on two RX300s, an LS430, and an EX330. They are quiet, have good wear and handle well in rain and even light snow as well as dry pavement on normal roads.

rjfiore1

thanks for your input!

chrispy

iTrader: (21)

Did you set a marked point and get close to it? I mark my friends' houses and when I get close it makes a sound.

jbbreeden

That may be the answer. The GPS didn't "ding-ding" like either the GS350 or the '03 LS430 and it wasn't under "guidance." But, I just got the car with 36006 miles on it off a 3-year lease and it had something like 106 memory points assigned. Right after the "ding-dong" I erased all the old points so perhaps that was it.

It reminds me of the '99 LS400 CPO I had. When I drove it off the lot I got about 3 miles from the dealer and all sorts of beeping started happening. I went right back and after 20 minutes of looking under the hood somebody spied the signal unit for a K-40 undetectable radar unit which the previous owner had installed. Mmmmm.

lexusthai

Yes, like others have answered here, it's the Navi, you probably chose an icon that came with the sound (I believe there are 4-5 of them that provide sounds).

I have it set to sound when I come home too, the navi guidance does not have to be running for it to sound (i think).

airtime

too lazy to read the nav manual. Which icon can I set mine to?

Stebro

This is an old thread and I'm a new subscriber:

LS430 UL 2004.

I sit next to garage in which said Lexus is parked. At random times, it seems, the car says "ding dong" once. I've had the car several years and this is new. I bought it used and learned how to turn off the maintenance prompt on the dash just before leaving on a trip recently. I turned off all the maintenance flags and there were no other reminders entered. That's the only thing I can think of that's different. All keys are accounted for and in their usual location.

I've checked my home location and made sure no sound is linked. Even if it were, why would it sound just sitting the garage? It does it once or twice a day. I've been all through the manual and this site. Any ideas?