The advice about home-made CDs is good advice.  It's worse if you use
sticker labels on your home-made CDs.  When my 02 es300 non-lev CD changer
imploded, I had it repaired by FCSR (Factory Car Stereo Repair), in Florida,
for around $300 early in 2007.  You can find them with a google search on
the full name.  They have removal instructions on their website.  My Lexus
dealer wanted something like $700 for their refurb replacement unit.  I
chose to save the cash and send it off for repair myself.  It works great,
and I would use them again in the future, although hopefully I won't have
to.  If you are handy with tools and don't mind driving your car with a hole
in the dash for a few weeks, then give it a try.  If, on the other hand, you
can get it covered by the extended warranty, then by all means, have the
dealer take care of it.  Either way, it should get your problem fixed.  But
watch those home-made CDs.  If you use the recordable CDs in the car, just
insert one disc into the changer, keep 5 slots empty.  This should keep the
jamming limited to the music and not to the changer mechanism.

I had the same problem with my '01 IS. I bought the car new in '00 and
owned it for nearly four years, and went through four CD changers.
Each time it jammed (also ERROR3) they would replace it, and some time
later I would receive the stuck CDs in the mail with a note to only
use store bought CDs, even though they always were, and I never used
anything else.

The bottom line is, it's a known issue, even if they won't acknowledge
it, and it should be covered.

I just purchased a 2007 ES350, and am worried about the wisdom.  We always
back-up our CD's that go into our car.  It's the only safe thing to do to
protect your costly originals.  After reading the owners manual, the "News",
and talking to friends , it seems that almost everyone has had trouble with
the Lexus CD player.

The owner's manual specifies a bunch of criteria for the CD's (I didn't know
that there were that many variables).  Does anyone have brand names of
"blanks" to avoid?  Or better yet, do you have brand names that work without
problems?

Graybeard