2002 SC430 - Mark Levinson stereo won't turn on. Any suggestions as dealership will only replace with refurbished 2002 model for roughly $1000.00?

 

On the assumptions that 1) someone has done enough troubleshooting to rule out fuses and any other simple fixes and 2) you have no help from extended warranty, I think you may hear from a number of folks on this forum that will tell you that your $1000 will buy a better aftermarket audio system than the ML. What you could lose is the steering wheel mounted controls and possibly the minimal existing integration with the nav system. I think that's what I will probably do if mine goes south and I am unable to repair it. Mine is also an '02 with fairly low miles.

 

You can definitely get much better for less doing an aftermarket setup...but then you will want to do speakers, etc.

If you want to stay stock, however, I can recommend a refurb unit of your own and go to a toyo dealer, stereo shop or less expensive place to have it switched out. Not 100% positive, but a head unit to head unit swap may be fairly easy too???

I like eBay for used parts...save hundreds. There are several on here...one from a 2002 with ecru at $298 and also a repair ship offering a fix for $150 for SC430 stereo.

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=sc4....c0.m270.l1313

 

I'm one of them

$1K will EASILY cover the cost of the electronics. For that amount, you can get a new head unit that controls iPods, has connectctions for thumb drives AND new component speakers up front AND a new amplifier for the fronts and sub AND a new sub that will go in the stock location (or somewhere else). AND each items I spoke of WILL be of MUCH better QUALITY, will SOUND BETTER and can be Played LOUDER AND if you ever decide to upgrade a piece or if a piece needs replacement you can EASILY replace it because unlike the ML system, these after market units are pretty much compatible. and usually everything can be taken out and installed again in your future car.

One bad thing with getting an aftermarket unit over the stock unit, and this is VERY important...you won't ever EVER be able to play tapes again.

 

PS

The headunit's internal amp can power the rear speakers.

i never use rears anyways (it screws up imaging) plus no one sits back there anways. Rear speaakers, even if they are better than the fronts, usually cannot sound that good for front passangers because of their location and the passangers are facing their ears away from the spks. If anything, just use stock rears for rear fill (again, that ruins stereo imaging. adjust the from balance a tad to the right - something most peole never do- and that in itself improves imaging - for the driver that is)

 

PSS

The photos below contains Mark Levinson electronics (not the speaker on the left, that's a REAL car speaker, but the one on the right)

I don't know what the heck comes stock in our cars. Mark is laughing his way to the bank on this one and Lexus thinks we are fools. it really pisses me off.