That's what I figured, thanks for saving me the trouble trying.

 

Harness is here: www.quickconnectproducts.com

 

Just FYI... I have an '08 IS 250 w/o NAV or ML, and my car is at the dealer right now getting Lexus bluetooth installed. You don't need the ML or NAV to have it. As to price, I couldn't quote you on that, because the dealer is doing it free. (Long story).

 

I'd be very surprised if they're not actually installing an aftermarket unit.

Because as far as I know they'd otherwise have to invent an OEM one for this car. It simply doesn't exist on cars without nav.

 

That may indeed be the case. Thinking about it now, there was never a conversation about whether this would actually be an OEM installation.

 

Parrot BT has to be hard wired into the head unit, didn't want to mess with that (don't trust the Best Buy guys) so I just went with a simple BT headset.

 

So, my big question is. What would I have to do for it do what the other cars do? When a call comes in, stereo dies down, ring tone comes thru speakers and when I'm done w/ the conversation, stereo comes back up.

 

The dealership is lying to you.

You need Nav for Bluetooth, but not ML or Luxury package.

Because those memory seats and bad-*** sound are essential to pairing your phone.

 

A lot depends on what the dealer gets from Lexus. I used to work at a dealership in NC and we got only specific packages. We got nav cars without the lux package . It was a base car, then added heated seats, HID. Then you added nav. then other things. We rarely got cars with the lux package. A local dealer can trade cars while the cars are incoming (not at the port) and get what another dealer has, as long as the dealer approves and the car is not spoken for. They just have to ask. We did some trading to get what someone wanted, mostly for color.

 

Well, I got my original information from the Lexus.com site which didn't have an options for NAV without ML. However, I did find a car with just nav at both NC Lexus Dealers so I got my bluetooth phone system (and got the car for about $400 over invoice, back in February). I'm really happy with the car, although the voice activation sucks (why can't it work as well as the Honda/Acura system).

I see that the ES350 is now available with just a bluetooth option for cars without nav. Maybe that will fit the IS250, too.

 

If the main issue is Bluetooth, I don't see how this is the best option. You would have to always have the Garim set up whenever you are in the car in order to be able to use the BT. That seems like a hassle to me.

 

I agree with this. The ES offers BT w/o nav. If it was available, you'd see it on the Lexus website as an option, and it wouldn't be a dealer-by-dealer choice.

 

If the -only- issue is bluetooth then you're right.

if the issue is they want BT and wouldn't mind nav either they just don't want to pay 2500-4k for it, then it's a pretty good choice that gives em both with added features like RT traffic and such.

Heck, you can get the voice-recognition ones for under $400 now

 

Install a Bluetooth phone kit. There are only four connections to make from a phone kit to a car: power, ground, mute, and speaker. Most people use tiny external speakers that come with most phone kits and hide the speaker under the dash but you can use an existing door speaker if you are brave enough to hack into the wiring. For some kits, there are adapter harnesses to facilitate the installation in particular car models.

There are many good kits. Lexus and Toyota dealers in Europe and the U.K. install the Motorola IHF1000 Bluetooth kit as an official option - the control unit that mounts on the dash even has a Lexus or Toyota logo. A handset cradle with interchangeable inserts is also an option over their - provides charging and external antenna connection. They sell inserts for the cradle for a number of popular Bluetooth phones.

My wife and I don't have to remove our hands from our steering wheels when a call comes in -- automatic radio mute, automatic answer, automatic hang-up when the caller hangs up, automatic radio unmute. I listen to music so loud that I wouldn't hear the phone ring if the audio system didn't mute automatically.

 

can u post some pictures of ur setup? thx