mmarshall

I have to disagree, Lil. This is an widely held view, but grossly inaccurate. Some of the worst and most unreliable auto designs ever done were simple cars with few features. The Chevrolet Vega was a classic example, with Swiss-Cheese body rust, fall-off-as-you-drive trim/hardware, ground clearance so low that road debris and automated car wash tracks constantly damaged underbelly parts, and a truly junk aluminum 4-cylinder with cast-iron liners that heated up unevenly, warped, and ruined the engine block. Other simple, but grossly unreliable or dangerous, cars were the Ford Pinto, Plymouth Horizon/Dodge Omni, AMC Hornet, Renault 5 (LeCar), Yugo, and GM X-Body compacts (Citation, Phoenix, etc...).

Conversely, the complex and feature-loaded Lexus LS 400/430/460 and Infiniti Q45 were (and are) some of the most reliable cars ever built.

I could go on and on with many more examples, but I think you see the picture here.

doug_999

Um, aren't we being a little quick to call the LS460 one of the most reliable cars ever built? Stand by and you will see - the car has lots of technology and will have its share of issues as it ages (heck, it already has its share of issues).

mmarshall

I was referring to the LS line in general. It has an almost 20-year reliability record that is well above average....and at or near the top of the reliability list from both Consumer Reports and J.D. Power. While sudden, unexplained drops in reliability do occasionally happen with vehicles (witness the latest V6 Camry and Tundra, for example), there is little reason to believe that the LS460 will not continue to show the stellar reliability of its LS400 and 430 ancestors. So far, in its less-than-two-year life, it generally has.

Of course this car has a lot of electronic technology.........but who makes better and more reliable electronics than Lexus? With the possible exception of some of the last-generation IS and ES transmission programming, it is been virtually foolproof.