http://www.autoweek.com/article/2011...IEWS/110119906



EDITOR WES RAYNAL: Not that I love any of them, but this is my least favorite Lexus. Always has been. The last several I've driven have had serious flaws--squeaks and rattles, the cars have been beaten all to hell, etc. I remember one I drove, I turned on the wipers and they got stuck in the top position. This one seemed well screwed together at least. Build quality and materials inside looked and felt more refined and better than most. Still, the ergonomics are a bit of a mess (putting switchgear behind drop-down panels bugs me).

The car drove OK. There's decent power, and it comes on in a smooth and seamless whoosh as long as you are accelerating hard. The ride is competent and there's good grip, though the steering feels way overboosted and unconnected and at times, in quicker transitions, you can feel the car's weight.

The best thing I can say about this car is that it's $10,000 less expensive than the hybrid version.

COPY CHIEF WENDY WARREN KEEBLER: Forewarned by Wes, I was on alert for squeaks and rattles. And guess what? I was quite annoyed by a prominent rattling in the dashboard. Other than that, though, and the pull-down panel for things such as mirror adjustments (I'd forgotten about this quirk and had to resort to the owner's manual), also noted by Wes, I found the car super-pleasant, nicely nimble and overall a good ride and a good drive. Fuel economy was as advertised (maybe a tad better). It's awfully pricey for its size and meekish presence, though.

 

the blog below is worth reading. Better then the article

 

AW never liked the GS and its their opinion of the car (and some points we have discussed, others are just bias) which they are entitled too but hot dog!; some of those comments are scary. To think some of those people vote, teach and have kids The people with a clue making some good comments are just arguing with people that seemingly have the I.Q of some lead.

The gene pool could use some chlorine.

I chuckle b/c I get AW for free and wouldn't buy it for anything.

 

I get the top three, C&D,R&T,& Automobile......used to get Motor Trend until I realized they liked everything....Auto Week's bias's are like they have a meeting & decide who & what to slam before they write it.....maybe they should change the spelling to Auto Weak...

 

oh no bad reviews everyone run for the hills

 

There were a few good comments in the blog.

About once a month I feel like throwing in the towel and going back to BMW the supplier of my first 4 cars, until I got my GS460, my dirt Lexus.

This reminded me why I drive a Lexus.


"My wife is a "car poseur", so I have to purchase BMWs for her. My "car buddy" neighbour (owner of the supercharged Jag, the Ferrari, the Railton, the Innoccenti (sp?) and the MG) has a wife who is much more pragmatic and drives Lexus. The quality of the two brands is miles apart - the BMWs demand much more attention, repairs, etc., there really is no comparison. Last Sunday, my neigbour drove me to the airport in his wife's Lexus (my luggage wouldn't even have fitted into my wife's stupid 3 series) and the ride, comfort and quietness of the Lexus was a world away from that of the BMW.

If I want a "driving experience", then I'll drive one of my sports cars or take the 'bike but in the over 20 years I've been purchasing accursed BMWs, I have only once taken one of them for a drive for pleasure. The attraction is lost on me but perhaps it is the burning pain in my wallet that distracts me from recognizing their attributes. I long for the day when my wife will let me purchase a Japanese or American car for her but unfortunately, she's prepared to live with unreliable and annoying vehicles provided they have the right "badge". (And don't get me started about the stupid Porsche that seized it's engine on the third day after I purchased it for her when we first married......)"

 

Honest true squueks, rattles, and all the werid noise u get going on bumps really makes this car horrible, if that wasnt there i feel like it would of been the perfect car.

 

True!If it wasn't for those problems,I may still have my '08 today.
One other thing I hated was the ML sound.Too much center channel.

 

AutoWeek is pro-American, pro-Union.

They bask with the glory of Chrysler and GM and NASCAR.


Now, I understand that most magazines are skewed towards certain brands (like how C&D would do ******** for Honda and BMW). AutoWeek is no different with GM/Chrysler. And if that means they don't like ToMoCo, then so be it...

 

I'm not sure this is entirely fair about C&D. I think C&D are driving enthusiasts. It's evident in the way they have been punishing BMW recently. I also think Lexus shoots itself in the foot by sending in cars with the worst handling tires. When I first drove my GS460, the car was sliding in the rain, and in the dry had very little grip and strong understeer. Quite frankly I was regretting having bought it. I had test driven a friends car which was quite good, but I hadn't driven the stock car I bought. Then, after just 700 miles on the brand new car, I changed the tires to Michelin PS2s, and the car all of a sudden drove like a performance sedan to rival BMW. It should have been like that in the first place.

It astonishes me that Lexus chose to equip this car with Bridgestone EL42 run-flats. The average respondent in tire rack surveys gives 1.2/10 on the question of whether they would buy again. Out of 78 tires which have enough data to have a survey rating on tire rack, the Bridgestone EL42 is 78th with an average score of 4.4. The lowest rated out of 78 tires. Lexus chose the worst rated tire out of all of them to be the OEM tire on the GS460.

So it is not surprising that Lexus gets slammed in the test. Honestly they ought to find the guy who was responsible for tire selection, and have him dragged over coals, raped with a power drill, and then buried alive.

See here, GM has a team of former journalists who provide input to development, but who can also make sure the car is suitably prepped for the automotive press. Lexus should have this.
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/25/h...et-weapons-at/

 

opinions are like buttholes.........

any of you can be an AW magazine editor. Just make sure you use spellcheck and have decent grammar

 

Man, i always login to complain about rake jobs on the GS, but that one is just ridiculous. MEEK LOOKING??? Don't get me started, ah hell I'm already started. Thanks AW for torpedoing the value of our cars with your stupid, f'in dead wrong opinions. And yes, opinion CAN be wrong, especially when they are ridiculously critical of the GS.

 

Of course as long as We're being critical of the GS, it's ok. But as soon as the automotive press starts coming down on it..

 

Off topic, but the surround sound can be deactivated and should be deactivated if you're listening to regular music.

 

True. The only thing I've ever played in my ML system that sounded like it took advantage of the surround was a DVD.