New owner 08 Lexus LS600HL
04-26-16, 02:56 PM
#1
New owner 08 Lexus LS600HL
Hey everyone, new to this section of the forum. Wanted to say hello and hopefully get some insight on a couple of things since after searching i didn't really come up with anything.
The thought process
I've been through a lot of cars in my time and being 31 now married with 2 kids working for AT&T as a B2B outside sales rep and my wife running our nail salon... I could say i'm living the american dream aside from the house with the white picket fence and that simply hasn't happened yet because i refuse to buy a house in S Jersey. Every time i say never though it seems like i turn into that state farm guy that did everything he didn't want to do. In my lifetime I've had a 94 Pathfinder, 94 ES300, 97 SC400, 07 IS350, 07 M45, 03 350Z, 10 IS250 AWD, 07 MURANO, 10 RX350, practically in that order and now a 07 Sienna AWD for my wife and i just traded in my RX for an 08 LS 600HL. As you can suspect where i started to sacrifice for my three year old son and my now 10 month old daughter. The LS was really a spontaneous buy. Being a part of NELOC and always loving the big body VIP style cars the LS was a car i always wanted. However life gets in the way and sacrifices are made and cars turned into just vehicles that gets you from point a to b. Anyway so this past friday night as i was just browsing cars for fun I received a recent IG video of kevin hart from a buddy of mine and in the message was literally "Stop telling me your going to do something and just do it. Sit your a$$ down. No one wants to always hear what your planning to do." It was funny and motivational but i didn't pay it no mind. I went to sleep and woke up, went to the gym and as i went home ate and got my son ready for this rainy saturday. I went to go get my wife coffee stopped by our shop and had him say hello to everyone and told my wife... i think i'm going to go buy a car and left. I justified this buy because ever since we got the minivan the RX is no longer really the family car. So not needing a SUV i wanted a sedan and looking at cars.com the LS has a lot more pros than the RX aside from the trunk space which i'll get into later. The main items were that the LS is a true AWD, even though from what i'm reading its not a true 50/50 split but it is way better than the RX FWD with AWD option at 15 mph or under. If you don't know.. now you know... the RX AWD is only available once you press a button and stay 15mph or under. I felt bamboozled after finding thats actually how it works after taking the car home for the first time. Second most important thing is the interior space which at this point is not necessary but is nice to have if needed. 2 seaters and tight cabins aren't an option and won't be an option i feel until my kids are at least 10 years old. In my LS 600H L it is way bigger and has much more cabin room then the RX. My wife is very petite and for her to have a slight lean in the RX would normally only give my son 2-3 inches of room to my son's kneecaps in his car seat and in the LS its a good foot or even 2 away. So i've checked off all the boxes with this car but thats the reasoning... and anyone with a family i'm sure could relate. I also had routine maintenance that was coming up and i was trying to avoid. Cracked windshield from a rock chip, rotors were on there way out, tires would only last until winter. Tuneup was coming which isn't really much of an excuse since the LS is around the same mileage and i would need the same tune up on that car as well...but it sounded really good when i was explaining this selfish purchase to my wife.
The sale
2008 LS600 HL for $21500k with 103k miles on it. Traded in my 2010 RX350 with 97k miles on it. Trade was $14k so essentially i got this beautiful black on black with rear entertainment hybrid for $7k. Clean car fax however i think the front bumper was repainted, hoping that is due to rock chips because i currently have a whole lot of rock chips on there even now. I'm sharing pricing with everyone because i'm not looking to resell or do anything really other than keep it til it dies... i know we all say that all the time but unless something really goes wrong with this... i am riding it to the ground. I live in jersey and while in the moment i called the dealer to see if they had it and asked if anyone had a deposit on it. When i got a no on the deposit i told them i was on my way and drove 3 hours to Virginia. got there at 3 and left at 7 home at 1030. Took a while because they were trying to rape me on APR rates, it sucked but worth it.
Previous owner
The previous owner did a couple of mods and hopefully he or she is reading this because i do have some questions for them. There are two switches that are not supposed to be in the car. i've figured out what they are used for and it has to do with one being able to watch dvd while driving and two if option one is being used the second button allows you to get GPS back to get navigation directions. I installed the same switch in my minivan for my son to watch despicable me but i didn't have the second switch... with only the first switch if i do decide to watch dvd while driving it would shut down my GPS and my map would not move. Kudos for the second switch... it makes sense. The previous owner also had a radar detector made by passport? my install guys says that its a really good unit and said however the main block was either removed by the owner or the dealer which we both thought it was the dealer because all the wires were still ran throughout the car but the main block was missing. Thanks for the mods.
My mods and purchases
3 days in i just...
changed out all of the bulbs to LED
Ordered HID Fogs
All weather floor mats
installed remote start with factory remote
10 washes at the local hand wash for $100
..... nothing fancy
Issues
Dvd player doesn't play sound through stereo. Went to my installer checked every setting and every wire. i had to purchase headphones so that now my son could watch and hear despicable me in my LS. It's the factory unit.... if anyone knows how to fix it... please let me know... the only thread that has anything related would be 766400-ivic-dr-ps-bypass-install-no-sound-when-dvd-playback.html. doesn't say much but in his second post it said there was a dedicated audio wire basically which we had the car a part and everything was definitely connected. cd player and every other audio source is fine... just dvd movie sound is not working
Check engine light came on day after i got home. Effers... so they reset the ECU and got me.... so i had it checked out and it was error code 1084 which I'm not exactly sure but based on the description it sounds like an O2 sensor which in my time... have saw a lot of in many different models. won't really affect me until both sensors completely go i'm sure but if i were to swap it out now i'm sure it would be out of pocket around $1300. thats just my guess
Front bumper looks painted... which i'll repaint again to avoid rock chips... i had already mentioned that.
that's... really it..
things that are awesome
The car as a whole... can i say that?
the room is definitely worth mentioning
reclining chairs
rear dvd screen
rear entertainment controls
a cooler?
rear window shade
side window shade
mirrors that fold up once car is locked
uh... the self parking feature which i haven't used yet
the auto trunk which is kinda annoying when your standing there waiting for it to lift... but i guess its cool
Plans
This is the debate... mods are mods. to me its go big or go home. i could spend the money overtime and days of eating roman noodles for months is over. however with kids and i'm going to say ***** there... you don't want to spend on dumb things and being that it's a depreciating asset to invest money into it... is probably not the best idea.. but i don't really like incomplete mods either... and if i get it to look the way i want it to look... i'd feel no matter what wherever i go, whether its to customer appointments with work i'd need to drive with a helmet... no matter if its a VIP styled car or not. 4-5 inch lipped rims will ALWAYS stand out... or i think the new thing these days are con caved wheels. Regardless. i'll look like a speed racer.
Driving with rims is different from driving with factory tank tires. The dodging and weaving is not going to be fun with family in the car. so this comfortable ride won't be as comfortable because people with 2-5k rims put rims above everything... might dodge a pot hole and hit a tree depending on how expensive my rims were.
so i'm getting tint thursday and i do have left over green tint... i feel like that "mod" will set the tone of what direction i'm going to take this car.
kids are waking up from their afternoon/evening nap now. hope you enjoyed the intro to me. feel free to leave thoughts or if you have a fix to my audio issue i would much appreciate it.
see you guys around
The thought process
I've been through a lot of cars in my time and being 31 now married with 2 kids working for AT&T as a B2B outside sales rep and my wife running our nail salon... I could say i'm living the american dream aside from the house with the white picket fence and that simply hasn't happened yet because i refuse to buy a house in S Jersey. Every time i say never though it seems like i turn into that state farm guy that did everything he didn't want to do. In my lifetime I've had a 94 Pathfinder, 94 ES300, 97 SC400, 07 IS350, 07 M45, 03 350Z, 10 IS250 AWD, 07 MURANO, 10 RX350, practically in that order and now a 07 Sienna AWD for my wife and i just traded in my RX for an 08 LS 600HL. As you can suspect where i started to sacrifice for my three year old son and my now 10 month old daughter. The LS was really a spontaneous buy. Being a part of NELOC and always loving the big body VIP style cars the LS was a car i always wanted. However life gets in the way and sacrifices are made and cars turned into just vehicles that gets you from point a to b. Anyway so this past friday night as i was just browsing cars for fun I received a recent IG video of kevin hart from a buddy of mine and in the message was literally "Stop telling me your going to do something and just do it. Sit your a$$ down. No one wants to always hear what your planning to do." It was funny and motivational but i didn't pay it no mind. I went to sleep and woke up, went to the gym and as i went home ate and got my son ready for this rainy saturday. I went to go get my wife coffee stopped by our shop and had him say hello to everyone and told my wife... i think i'm going to go buy a car and left. I justified this buy because ever since we got the minivan the RX is no longer really the family car. So not needing a SUV i wanted a sedan and looking at cars.com the LS has a lot more pros than the RX aside from the trunk space which i'll get into later. The main items were that the LS is a true AWD, even though from what i'm reading its not a true 50/50 split but it is way better than the RX FWD with AWD option at 15 mph or under. If you don't know.. now you know... the RX AWD is only available once you press a button and stay 15mph or under. I felt bamboozled after finding thats actually how it works after taking the car home for the first time. Second most important thing is the interior space which at this point is not necessary but is nice to have if needed. 2 seaters and tight cabins aren't an option and won't be an option i feel until my kids are at least 10 years old. In my LS 600H L it is way bigger and has much more cabin room then the RX. My wife is very petite and for her to have a slight lean in the RX would normally only give my son 2-3 inches of room to my son's kneecaps in his car seat and in the LS its a good foot or even 2 away. So i've checked off all the boxes with this car but thats the reasoning... and anyone with a family i'm sure could relate. I also had routine maintenance that was coming up and i was trying to avoid. Cracked windshield from a rock chip, rotors were on there way out, tires would only last until winter. Tuneup was coming which isn't really much of an excuse since the LS is around the same mileage and i would need the same tune up on that car as well...but it sounded really good when i was explaining this selfish purchase to my wife.
The sale
2008 LS600 HL for $21500k with 103k miles on it. Traded in my 2010 RX350 with 97k miles on it. Trade was $14k so essentially i got this beautiful black on black with rear entertainment hybrid for $7k. Clean car fax however i think the front bumper was repainted, hoping that is due to rock chips because i currently have a whole lot of rock chips on there even now. I'm sharing pricing with everyone because i'm not looking to resell or do anything really other than keep it til it dies... i know we all say that all the time but unless something really goes wrong with this... i am riding it to the ground. I live in jersey and while in the moment i called the dealer to see if they had it and asked if anyone had a deposit on it. When i got a no on the deposit i told them i was on my way and drove 3 hours to Virginia. got there at 3 and left at 7 home at 1030. Took a while because they were trying to rape me on APR rates, it sucked but worth it.
Previous owner
The previous owner did a couple of mods and hopefully he or she is reading this because i do have some questions for them. There are two switches that are not supposed to be in the car. i've figured out what they are used for and it has to do with one being able to watch dvd while driving and two if option one is being used the second button allows you to get GPS back to get navigation directions. I installed the same switch in my minivan for my son to watch despicable me but i didn't have the second switch... with only the first switch if i do decide to watch dvd while driving it would shut down my GPS and my map would not move. Kudos for the second switch... it makes sense. The previous owner also had a radar detector made by passport? my install guys says that its a really good unit and said however the main block was either removed by the owner or the dealer which we both thought it was the dealer because all the wires were still ran throughout the car but the main block was missing. Thanks for the mods.
My mods and purchases
3 days in i just...
changed out all of the bulbs to LED
Ordered HID Fogs
All weather floor mats
installed remote start with factory remote
10 washes at the local hand wash for $100
..... nothing fancy
Issues
Dvd player doesn't play sound through stereo. Went to my installer checked every setting and every wire. i had to purchase headphones so that now my son could watch and hear despicable me in my LS. It's the factory unit.... if anyone knows how to fix it... please let me know... the only thread that has anything related would be 766400-ivic-dr-ps-bypass-install-no-sound-when-dvd-playback.html. doesn't say much but in his second post it said there was a dedicated audio wire basically which we had the car a part and everything was definitely connected. cd player and every other audio source is fine... just dvd movie sound is not working
Check engine light came on day after i got home. Effers... so they reset the ECU and got me.... so i had it checked out and it was error code 1084 which I'm not exactly sure but based on the description it sounds like an O2 sensor which in my time... have saw a lot of in many different models. won't really affect me until both sensors completely go i'm sure but if i were to swap it out now i'm sure it would be out of pocket around $1300. thats just my guess
Front bumper looks painted... which i'll repaint again to avoid rock chips... i had already mentioned that.
that's... really it..
things that are awesome
The car as a whole... can i say that?
the room is definitely worth mentioning
reclining chairs
rear dvd screen
rear entertainment controls
a cooler?
rear window shade
side window shade
mirrors that fold up once car is locked
uh... the self parking feature which i haven't used yet
the auto trunk which is kinda annoying when your standing there waiting for it to lift... but i guess its cool
Plans
This is the debate... mods are mods. to me its go big or go home. i could spend the money overtime and days of eating roman noodles for months is over. however with kids and i'm going to say ***** there... you don't want to spend on dumb things and being that it's a depreciating asset to invest money into it... is probably not the best idea.. but i don't really like incomplete mods either... and if i get it to look the way i want it to look... i'd feel no matter what wherever i go, whether its to customer appointments with work i'd need to drive with a helmet... no matter if its a VIP styled car or not. 4-5 inch lipped rims will ALWAYS stand out... or i think the new thing these days are con caved wheels. Regardless. i'll look like a speed racer.
Driving with rims is different from driving with factory tank tires. The dodging and weaving is not going to be fun with family in the car. so this comfortable ride won't be as comfortable because people with 2-5k rims put rims above everything... might dodge a pot hole and hit a tree depending on how expensive my rims were.
so i'm getting tint thursday and i do have left over green tint... i feel like that "mod" will set the tone of what direction i'm going to take this car.
kids are waking up from their afternoon/evening nap now. hope you enjoyed the intro to me. feel free to leave thoughts or if you have a fix to my audio issue i would much appreciate it.
see you guys around
Last edited by Batmobile; 04-26-16 at 04:07 PM.
04-26-16, 04:24 PM
#2
Advanced
Welcome to the LS section!
The only suggestion that I can offer about the radio is to contact www.***********.com (located in Syracuse NY) and see what they have to say...... They do radio repairs for Lexus dealers and offer a fast turn around once you send them the defective unit. The radio removal is very easy and there is a YouTube video on how to remove it with simple tools.
BTW! Nice ride and enjoy the American Dream because you have earned it!
The only suggestion that I can offer about the radio is to contact www.***********.com (located in Syracuse NY) and see what they have to say...... They do radio repairs for Lexus dealers and offer a fast turn around once you send them the defective unit. The radio removal is very easy and there is a YouTube video on how to remove it with simple tools.
BTW! Nice ride and enjoy the American Dream because you have earned it!
04-26-16, 04:37 PM
#3
Welcome to the LS section!
The only suggestion that I can offer about the radio is to contact www.***********.com (located in Syracuse NY) and see what they have to say...... They do radio repairs for Lexus dealers and offer a fast turn around once you send them the defective unit. The radio removal is very easy and there is a YouTube video on how to remove it with simple tools.
BTW! Nice ride and enjoy the American Dream because you have earned it!
The only suggestion that I can offer about the radio is to contact www.***********.com (located in Syracuse NY) and see what they have to say...... They do radio repairs for Lexus dealers and offer a fast turn around once you send them the defective unit. The radio removal is very easy and there is a YouTube video on how to remove it with simple tools.
BTW! Nice ride and enjoy the American Dream because you have earned it!
Its not THAT annoying to me right now because my son could still watch videos and listen now with headphones on... But I'll definitely do it if that is the only resolution.... Would hate to drive around with no music and see an empty hole in my car for a month
04-26-16, 04:55 PM
#4
Congratulations!
Also, check this post 740079-aux-port-in-my-08-a.html
post#71 "Apparently somehow the "mute" wiring got damaged that runs back to the amp. To replace the harness is $4000. They are going to cut the wire and run a new one and hope it works without causing static feedback. They said they don't typically splice wires but will do it for me. "
Also, check this post 740079-aux-port-in-my-08-a.html
post#71 "Apparently somehow the "mute" wiring got damaged that runs back to the amp. To replace the harness is $4000. They are going to cut the wire and run a new one and hope it works without causing static feedback. They said they don't typically splice wires but will do it for me. "
Last edited by hfahmy; 04-26-16 at 05:10 PM.
04-27-16, 01:06 PM
#6
Lexus Test Driver
Congrats on a spectacular vehicle!
I would contact either caha14 and/or CJITTY.
caha has and does own a few Lexus vehicles, once currently being a '10 600.
JITTY had a pretty modded '08 600 that he recently sold and a few of his mods were entertainment system related.
Good luck, congrats and keep us posted!
I would contact either caha14 and/or CJITTY.
caha has and does own a few Lexus vehicles, once currently being a '10 600.
JITTY had a pretty modded '08 600 that he recently sold and a few of his mods were entertainment system related.
Good luck, congrats and keep us posted!
04-27-16, 02:56 PM
#7
Congrats on your purchase. I hope you solve your issues so you can drive and enjoy and let it shine.
Trending Topics
04-27-16, 03:42 PM
#8
Moderator
Congrats on purchase. I think your audio problem is rather simple and something I discovered on accident when I had my 600. On the screen, move the remote until it highlights on Speaker Output. It should then toggle between headphones and headphones and head unit. My youtube video should help. Search for LS600 CJITTY
04-28-16, 03:48 AM
#9
Congrats on purchase. I think your audio problem is rather simple and something I discovered on accident when I had my 600. On the screen, move the remote until it highlights on Speaker Output. It should then toggle between headphones and headphones and head unit. My youtube video should help. Search for LS600 CJITTY
I'm not sure if it's a fuse or wire that was disconnected but everything in and around the head-unit is connected when we had it all torn apart.
Ahh... When I have time I'll tear everything a part maybe. LoL
04-28-16, 05:57 AM
#11
Congrats on your new car, and I wish you good luck with it!
04-28-16, 03:12 PM
#13
Thanks. I definitely played with every setting I felt even the sound output in the rear... Sound output in the rear will turn my headphones on and off however while my headphone is off there is absolutely no sound coming from the speakers itself.
I'm not sure if it's a fuse or wire that was disconnected but everything in and around the head-unit is connected when we had it all torn apart.
Ahh... When I have time I'll tear everything a part maybe. LoL
I'm not sure if it's a fuse or wire that was disconnected but everything in and around the head-unit is connected when we had it all torn apart.
Ahh... When I have time I'll tear everything a part maybe. LoL
Thread is here one more time https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...n-my-08-a.html
04-28-16, 05:26 PM
#14
I don't know if you have seen my response above, someone had a similar problem and found an issue with the mute wire to the amp. Check if you can't hear anything from your phone connected by AUX to the middle console port.
Thread is here one more time https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...n-my-08-a.html
Thread is here one more time https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...n-my-08-a.html
Hey Bud,
totally missed it... sorry... i took a look at the thread... his issue was a little different though... i'm just not getting audio from DVD's with video... haven't tried my aux input yet but i am getting sound from CD's, FM,AM... everything else works great... i'll have to read the whole post to go over what dx3 is talking about when theres an aux switch... but thanks for the input and the follow up man...
appreciate it.. i'll report back my findings
