I lasted 8 years with one in my ecipse, and sold it to my ex-GF's mother, who still uses it in a volvo, going on 12 years old.
My strategy has always been NOT to buy high end decks...maybe that's the secret?

 

I have several of the coveted Alpine 7909's from the EARLY 1990's that went in several cars. Took them out and they are just boxed up and going up in value. Was a reliable beast since it was last in a car and still an awesome sound.

I can get a damn awesome deal on a McIntosh unit, but it becomes a moot point for me to invest that much audio into a car with a lot of inherent road noise.

 

PM me for details or email through our website.

 

personally, i would not invest too much money in an audio system on the S. in real world driving conditions, ambient noise drowns out most mids and bass to the point where you must crank up the system to uncomfortable levels in order to hear everything...maybe i am just getting old.

if i could do it over again, i would just get a deck with all adapters and inputs, low-mid priced speakers, small amp and average front door speakers.

i spent about 1800 on a system, and my mom's ls400 stock system sounds better while driving because its quieter in cabin. also, my old alpine doesnt support usb connection to android devices

 

The real question is whether your stock s system sounds better than your aftermarket system. Comparison to a Lexus stock or not is difficult. I can relate to the need to turn it up, especially with all the noisy bolt on mods.

 

damn i must be the only one who is really happy with my oem stereo.

 

Well, at least the first one I've met.