Arrta

So, my wife has a 2005 RX330 with NAV and a broken CD changer. I ordered a replacement online, and the guy told me his was working before he shipped it to me. They only replaced it because his daughter wanted bluetooth.
I took my wife's radio out and installed the one I got from him and again the CD is not working, but now the tape deck (built in to the radio with the CD) is not working as well.
I contacted the seller, only to have him tell me that the radio has a security code, and that I probably installed it wrong. I contacted Lexus and was informed that they have not used security codes on radios since 1995.
His response now is, "The unit I mailed you was in perfect working order, and I am positive that the problem is in your car, not in the unit I mailed. Spend the money to get it hooked up by someone who knows what they are doing. If I was to get the unit back and confirm that you were wrong, then I would want to be paid plus whatever it cost me to get the unit checked out." He also claims to have contacted his Sewell Lexus and been told it sounds like I forgot to connect the digital conversion cable. I can find no information about anything called a digital conversion cable. There are a total of 5 cables, 2 for the antenna(s) and 3 for the connection to the car/headunit. Does anyone know what this bull**** he is spouting is?
I installed my first radio over 20 years ago when I installed an aftermarket radio in my first car. Over the years I have installed many others. This install, which is a direct 1 for 1 swap is the only one I'm having an issue with, and I'm not even rewiring it. I'm using the OEM connectors. Strangely, when I connected my wife's radio back to the car after finding out the new one is broken, her CD changer started working.... As I bought the car off my dad a few years ago. I called him about it and he said, oh yeah it does that when you pull the battery.
the seller is also being very combative, saying in 15 years he has never had a bad review, yet he only has 8 reviews. I also haven't given him a review, yet.. To me it sounds like he has a defective radio, knows it, sold it anyway and is trying to get away with it.

Update: Took it to Lexus, half hour free testing confirmed that the radio I received is defective. They found that 6 disks are still inserted, seller mentioned that they forgot to take them out before I bought it, and that the unit was likely not put in to shipping mode before being removed. As a result it likely was damaged in shipping. So the seller might not have sold a damaged item, but it was damaged when I got it.

gundy

I would be willing to bet that the radio was defective in the first place. Considering all the excuses the seller was making and then finding out from Lexus that it was in fact defective. The infamous CD "Error 4" code is well known and is probably what happened to the sellers CD player since once this occurs, the discs get stuck and can not be ejected. Who leaves the CD changer full and then sells the whole thing????

Arrta

This guy is a total tool..
His initial response to my claim that it was defective was that I screwed up the install, and he would only believe that there was an issue with it if Lexus looked at it and stated that. So I had them look at it and confirm the unit is defective, and now he doesn't believe them...
Currently just waiting for the time to run out so I can have ebay take care of it. His rating is high enough they are offering a money back guarantee for this purchase.
Its actually reporting Error 3 on the display if you leave it in CD mode long enough. But you cannot eject the CDs to try and fix that.
He is also now claiming to have talked to 2 dealerships about the issue and been told that having the CDs in the unit for shipping actually made it more stable and less likely to be damaged.... LOL

ToledoRX

I replaced the radio unit in my Lexus RX a couple of months back because of the error 4 messsage (stuck CD changer) with a unit that I bought off of Ebay.

Did not have any problems at all with security codes or with any of the connections and hookups. All I did was remove the trim, unhook the defective unit, remove the radio and then plug in the new unit and attach it back in the center dash - took about 1 hour. I am novice when it comes to car care and I thought it was the simplest thing to do.

I would contact ebay and ask the seller for the money back.

Arrta

I was just biding my time till I could get ebay involved. I submitted my request for them to step in this morning and less than 5 mins later they decided in my favor.
I have to return it, not that I wanted to keep it, and he has to accept it. If he does not voluntarily return my money, he will get it taken out of his ebay profits..

Over the years ebay has gotten better at their decision making skills.
Years ago, before hyperthreaded computer processors I built a computer with 2 physical processors. Trying to save money I bought the 2 processors from ebay, they were Athlon MP processors. When I received them however they were Athlon XP that had been modified by the seller to be recognized as MP processors. This did not work as they have to be manufactured to a higher tollerance (both processors had to operate at almost exactly the same speed or it would not work). I reported it to ebay after the seller and I could not come to an agreement to return them. ebay sided with the seller claiming there was not a significant difference between what I got and what I ordered. A processor was a processor and it was my fault for not verifying that I was ordering MP models before hand, even though the listing said they were MP and not XP..