Originally Posted by CJITTY

I stand corrected on the inverter. That is covered with the Lexus VSA Plantinum Extended Warranty period. Here are the hybrid components that are covered past the 8/100 factory warranty if you have a Lexus Platinum Extended Warranty.

Originally Posted by hfahmy

Thank you for checking!

I am CPO till 2020, 8/100 ends Feb 2017 and currently at 35K miles.

I am hoping that my battery fails earlier rather than later

Originally Posted by dlbuckls10

If I couldn't buy a platinum warranty (at least 3 yrs/36K) that covers most repairs I would have to pass on a used 600hL, especially the older ones. I wouldn't be willing to take that expensive chance.

Originally Posted by CJITTY

I plan on creating my own thread about this very unique experience I had,

Originally Posted by CJITTY

I plan on creating my own thread about this very unique experience I had, but I think this is a good thread with a ton of info in it for potential used LS600hL buyers. I had a good amount of warranty repairs on my 600. After all, this car has a lot going on just in general. I do realize that the car regardless of the amount I paid for it a few years ago still sold for over $118K when it was brand new in 2008. I really wanted to get to the summer of 2017 and then sell it once all the warranty coverage expired for the extended portion, but I still decided to abandon ship as I have noticed the prices falling pretty hard on the 2008's (especially those hitting auction) and I could get a nice prorated refund back from my extended warranty.

I came out on top, so I'm content. I wasn't trying to make a profit on the car. I'm going to use this time and really take my time to find my next car. I rushed buying it after selling my 460 and settled for a color that wasn't my first choice. The 2013 LS460L's are slowly coming down, but more of the 2013 lease returns will begin to show up in the market and it should lower the price more.

My advice is to seek a 2011-2013 600hL which will give you until 2019-2021 worth of hybrid component warranty assuming the car is well under 100K miles. If you get a VSA Platinum Warranty, at least the other major hybrid components are covered, assuming you go out to 125K miles on the extended warranty. And remember, if you want a Lexus extended warranty, the old rule used to be that the car must still be within the original 4/50 warranty period.

Originally Posted by riknchar

The prices on the 2008 LS600hLs do seem to be in free-fall right now. I paid $42K for a CPO 2008 w/58K miles in June of 2014. I paid an extra $2K to extend the warranty for another 3 years/up to 125K miles. I now have 72K miles on the car, and the KBB Trade-In value is showing around $26K (which may be tough to actually get at a dealer given the low auction prices). I am very "upside down" on the car, which is somewhat disappointing since I had hoped the worst of the depreciation hit had already been taken. However, I still LOVE the car and have no plans to get rid of it until my extended CPO warranty is used up (June of 2020). I'll be risking battery failure in the meanwhile, but all other repairs should be covered. My car has already had the brake actuator recall completed, the TSB on the rear transfer case, and the Upper Control Arms were all replaced at 58K miles, so I should be good to go for a while. I haven't had a single problem with it for the 20 months I've owned it (knock on wood!), and I still love driving it every chance I get.

Originally Posted by jainla

Ouch. Look they aren't indestructible; but branding the 600 with a scarlet h seems a bit much.

Over 100k miles I'm sure climate, driving style etc. are all factors in how long the hybrid components last; I agree 90k miles seems a bit low for a battery failure. My friend with the Prius is waiting for the battery to die so she can buy a Tesla. She's been waiting for 3 years and the car has about 160k miles on it; probably more as she drives about 20k miles a year. But this is LA with dry summers and mild temperatures so YMMV.

Over 100k miles yes the battery is a bit of a crapshoot. I agree at that point I'll probably be thinking about if I want to sign up for a new battery in the not so distant future or just sell and move on; but hopefully when I hit that marker cheaper options will be available. You have to do what you're comfortable with; and what works for you.

At the end of the day these are $100k+ cars that you can now buy for a fraction of that. It's going to want maintenance and parts costs comparable to a $100k car. Over at the benzworld forums they have a saying… "there's no car as expensive as a cheap Mercedes" because people buying a 20 year old S class for $5k are surprised when it needs another $3k of work.

Given the choice between an LS600h and a BMW 760 or S600 of similar age I'd take the hybrid hands down. You haven't seen expensive until you see a service rep casually hand you an estimate for $22k of work on a 10 year old car (happened to an S600 owner in one of the forums). Or if you just 'know' that your car will need a $5k coil job at a certain mileage (all V8 W220 cars). To say nothing of the expensive and fussy Mercedes air suspension. Or BMW transmissions that just seem to grenade around 100k miles. Or my good friend who happily paid his dealer $6k for a new set of brakes and rotors on his 3 year old S4 'because it needed it'.

But like you said; the only way to have absolute piece of mind is to have a comprehensive warranty. I have one but some people are ok without it. It might be a cool survey topic to ask how many 450h / 600h owners have had battery issues and what mileage those issues generally occur (the power of community forums).