Sentinel

Ive noticed on this forum for a reliable car there are a fair amount of issues that are pretty consistent to the model

Various Bushing Replacements on cars with under 150k miles
Door actuator issues
Blown Speakers
Steering wheel movement issues
Mirrors malfunctioning

Which made me think when people say this car is reliable is it from a mechanical point of view?

I have a 05 ls430 (80k miles)
Telescoping motor is blown
Air shock went gone (Ill give lexus a pass on this shocks blow)
The car wanders so I think some bushing needs to be replaced(Maybe the steering)
Pretty sure one or both of the tweeters are gone
Volume on the steering wheel doesn't work

For Reference(to be fair)
I have a 06 Trail blazer SS
Front wheel hub
Door lock broke
Wiper switch went
Starter went (leaving me stranded)
Water Pump Went
Some diode went so I had no heat
Lights on right side of dash board went

I also have a is300 02
Heater solenoid went
Random CD Jams


To me this isnt really a high standard for reliability now I know the car has a large amount of technology packed in that can break. I have noticed when discussing reliability people seem to now only count things that leave you on the side of the road.

Thoughts? I pulled the maintenance reports on a lot of ls430s when I was buying mine and a lot of these repairs were common

ejthomp

I agree entirely. Most guys on this website seems to wear rose-colored glasses when talking about their LS430. Our 2004 430LS UL with 60k miles has had way too many issues...radar cruise control failure...bad left rear tire wear from poor rear camber alignment FROM FACTORY...rear speakers blown...questionable air shocks...factory chrome rims causing air leakage due to peeling...automatic side mirrors no longer stay in place...probably needs some bushings replaced in the suspension as there now seems to be a little more rattle then there should be....driver's seat is hard...

And this is my 50 year-old wife's factory stock car.... She's never taken the thing over 75 mph.

My wife's Camry sure gave us a whole lot less issues.

The LS sure looks nice though.

Ty419

Remember, this is where people come for help when things are broken. It may seem like there are a lot of issues, but this is not a representative sample of all LS430's. Overall, it is one of the most reliable cars ever built.

CarGuy89

Had mine for about a year, put a good 9-10k mi on it, drove it during the winter, no issues whatsoever.

Sentinel

I dont buy that. like I said I ran alot of service histories before I bought my ls430 and saw these issues.

Also all of these issues (except the air shocks) existed before I bought the car I doubt the previous owner is on these forums.

I dont go on forums because I have issues, Im on forums anyway.

ejthomp

If I'm not a representative sample, I don't know who is... My personal experience is that over 100k miles a Toyota Camry will have far fewer issues than a Lexus LS430 UL.

I don't want to compare to a Chrysler minivan...but... the Lexus is certainly better than that....but...when it comes to the cost of repair....

The Lexus certainly looks nice though!

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

It's a reliable car in the sense that the drivetrain will pretty much go beyond 500k miles if you maintain it with scheduled oil changes and what not and take care of maintenance stuff like timing belt, water pump, etc. Not many others cars can lay a claim to that.

But remember this is a luxury barge... all those electronics are bound to fail or give some sort of issue at one point or another. Any rubber components on the car will also give way eventually, especially when exposed to elements such as road salt and humidity.

If you still want a luxury car, this is as reliable as you can get. Period. End of story. MB, BMW, Audi, or most other luxury car makers don't make a car reliable as the LS. Comparing the Camry to the LS isn't fair either because of how simple that car is when looked at side-by-side.

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

Sure there is a electronic mirror issue with the LS (extremely common). The Camry (like 99% of all other cars) don't have electronic mirrors, so there is nothing to fail. The Camry also doesn't have telescoping steering, hence nothing to fail being a manual unit.

As far as blown speakers... I cannot believe you even mentioned that. Pretty much every car I ever owned (excluding the SC) or any of my family members had that issue. My GS430 had a blown sub which I replaced with a aftermarket unit. My mom's 2000 and 97 Avalons both had several speakers blow and subs. My dad's 02 Sienna had speakers blow at one point. A friend's 98 Camry had the speakers go.... it's gonna happen man. Factories don't use the best equipment when it comes to sound systems. Their factory subs are inferior along with many other components.

Sentinel

Ive never had a blown speaker in any car, Hence I mention it.. Dont take it personal its not meant to be. Speakers with in reason should not blow the entire system (radio amp speakers) can be designed so it doesnt happen. Speakers are not new, neither are telescoping steering wheels.

sojah

iTrader: (1)

my rear screen is starting to get a little bouncier than it should. i need to research how to fix this or how to replace a part on the cheap, like a clip instead of having lex charge me wayyyy more than necessary if i bring it in.

Marklouis

true a Camry proves more reliable in certain areas than the Lexus. I test drove a new Camry before I considered a Lexus - but my 95' LS400 had a much better quiet ride than the new 2010 Camry and even the instrumentation was still superior.

I believe the older Lexus LS models (89-2000) probably had a higher standard of build quality from the workers than the newer models. now having my 05' LS430 and being able to compare the 2 rides - I still will take the 05' over the 95' despite it's more common quality issues. the Powertrain is still smooth as silk and bulletproof and I hope the quality dept. in Lexus sets the standard again - there are just so many factors now that go into these cars, that the Quality issue fabricates from the different Vendors for all the different parts that go into any car make. Lexus had to make these same decisions to find new Vendors for certain parts because of bancrupty or change of partnerships or because they have been getting low quality parts for high quality prices for years and the mistake is starting to rear it's ugly head in our aging LS430/LS460's.

but for comparison purposes you can list the TSB's for any car make you want that is 6 years or older and the LS430 is in the top category for the least amount of issues...so far.

also as a Mechanic I can tell you that the Lexus LS series is the eeeeasiest most common sense vehicles I have ever worked on. I would have no quaroms tearing one of these powertrains down and rebuilding them, However I have the piece of mind that I will never have to.

Sentinel

Hmm so it seems drive-train is reliable everything else is a crap shoot...

To me reliable is you buy the car new and for 5 years you never go to the dealer except for routine maintenance. That might be a thing of the past.

airtime

Issues will arise as the car gets older.

Also have to note that there are a lot of options on this car that "normal" car may not have. You're talking folding mirror, auto telescoping steering, air susp (on UL), radar, etc.

Some stuff even if broken doesn't hamper the car. Leave the mirrors folded out, have dealer turn off the telescoping steering wheel, etc. Granted a little bit of hassle but not a really big deal in my mind but that's just me. I have experience some of the issues listed from others above and most are pretty quick Saturday afternoon fixes.

Sure, realistically, my wife's 8 year old Honda Pilot have basically zero issues all these year and it's her daily driver and its a great vehicle, but..... it doesn't have the luxury refinement close to the LS. I'll take a non working folding mirror car over her's any day though

airtime

[QUOTE=Marklouis;6541723
I believe the older Lexus LS models (89-2000) probably had a higher standard of build quality from the workers than the newer models.[/QUOTE]

I agree, I had an old LS400 and its was fantastic powerful and tight body car. The one thing I didn't like about it was as the car aged, the leather seat just became plain ugly with wrinkles, etc. Just could not handle that so traded her in

caddyowner

My LS which I bought when it was 5 years old has certainly been more reliable than my previoius Cadillac CTS and SRX units which were bought new. It has been more reliable than any of the new GM cars and trucks I had purchased or leased since 1993. The only vehicle I've owned in the past 20+ years that could rival it was my leased 07 Lincoln MKZ which, IIRC, had only one minor issue in the 39 months I had it.