HushedRide

TL;DW?

I wanted a luxurious quiet car, cheapest/most reliable wasn’t my top criteria.

Anfanger

Interestingly, he didn't mention, unless I missed it, brake actuator/pump, front bearings, front axles (AWD), old radiator design issues, ML amp, engine mounts, rear mufflers etc.

If I would never be able to own my LS if I didn't fix it myself. So, I get away with buying used parts. However, by working on my LS, I learned more in 3 years about how to fix cars than in 15 years before that. I am not professional mechanic if you couldn't tell!

Tdes395

sorry but I’m not interested in the slightest way whatsoever in excuses, passes, pacification, or nonchalant responses. Lexus should fix this and they should reimburse customers that paid to have this defect repaired. There’s no excuse for lexus allowing this to roll out of the factory like this. I expect issues like this from bmw and Mercedes’, NOT the Lexus LS.

SW17LS

This is the long and the short of it. I've had 3/4 generations of LS, a 2LS, 3LS and 2 4LSsThe LS400 and LS430 were great cars, and undoubtedly cheaper to maintain and work on and have less that CAN go wrong. BUT, they are also really old and many parts are no longer made.

The 400 and 430 were great riding cars, but they were not rewarding to drive in any way once you got away from going straight down the highway, and even then they floated around etc. An LS460 by comparison is just as comfortable riding but its much more dynamic when you are off of a highway, and it has a high speed stability that is much more confidence inspiring than an LS400 or LS430. Now having an S Class I can tell you the LS460 is a lot more like an S Class than the 430 or 400 were. The more sophisticated suspension is part of why, and the more sophisticated powertrain gives you much better performance. The downsides to those things are that they require more looking after and more maintenance.

Like a German car, you have to stay on top of an LS460 and keep it maintained where an LS400 or LS430 swallow abuse better.

Tdes395

The level of capitulation to bad design in this comment of yours is ridiculously embarrassing and unforgiving.

The rubber suspension disintegrates easily: oh it’s like a German car with better performance than before

The sealant degrades easily around the valley plate: oh it’s like a German car with better performance than before

It burns oil: oh it’s like a German car with better performance than before

EVERY SINGLE LEXUS LS HAS BEEN AN INCREASE IN PERFORMANCE, REFINEMENT AND COMPLICATION COMPARED TO THE ONE BEFORE IT. And reliability has CONSISTENTLY only improved with every generation despite it already having excellent reliability each time. As I said before, there is no excuse for these issues period. All of these issues have fixes and lexus should have fixed them. To say “oh it’s like a German car with more performance and more “maintenance” is a capitulated copout!! My respect is reserved for solutions, not excuses!

PANICiii

Maybe part of his warning is because he's just tired to break his back on the valley plate leak repairs he sees so many LS460. Also, he refuses to repair with aftermarket parts or cheap out on anything on his customers cars. He probably has a pretty high hour rate. So the repairs there are probably somewhat close to Dealership repair cost. I would definitely trust him with my Lexus or Toyota tho if he was local to me.

LeX2K

I'm very surprised to see you defending the LS460 they are horrible money pits. LS430 is a far far better car.

Boykie

He is a dealership... Jus' sayin'. Probably one of world's best at it.

HushedRide

The latest model is also 18 years old, not viable transportation for many of us.

Gotta say, and really not trying to pick a fight -- but LS430 is one of the best cars for NVH, while every Model Y I've ever driven is honestly up there with the worst. The nonstop boooooooooooming. Like having subwoofers blaring over every bump.
Quite the contrast!

SW17LS

This is not true on any level lol

If an LS460 is a "money pit" you have no business driving a high end car. Its the most reliable high end car you can buy. Not perfect, and has needs but those needs are way easier to deal with than what kinds of needs you could have from a comparable S Class or 7 Series etc.

The 460 is a better car than the 430, but many of the reasons why it is a better car make it costlier to maintain.

SW17LS

I'm going to regret replying to you but I can't help it. All of these things are true, like it or not. Multi-link suspension systems have control arms and bushings that fail because of the design of the suspension, the LS430 and LS400 used much simpler double wishbone suspension that was more durable but didn't deliver the same ride/handling balance. Valley plate seal leak is an issue that should have been addressed but it wasn't. Oil burning with age is another common issue with this engine and it just is what it is, its common with direct injected engines as they get very old, we're talking 150k+ miles. Changing the oil way more frequently from new will solve this issue largely

I did not design the car, we can't make Lexus do whatever we think they should do...all I can do as someone who is knowledgable about the car is share that knowledge with those who aren't as knowledgable. Its not my place to make any excuses for Lexus or anybody else. This is a car that has been out of production for 7 years now, it is what it is.

This statement makes no sense. If the LS460 has "all these issues" then how can "reliability consistently improve"? The fact is the LS430 is not more complex compared to the LS400, they are mechanically basically the same car, the LS460 was a huge departure from the 400 and 430 in terms of design and complexity and the LS500 is an even bigger departure. If you put my S Class, an LS460 and an LS430 up on a lift you would immediately see that, the LS460 looks like the S Class underneath and the LS430 doesn't.

At the end of the day you chose to buy one of these cars at 16 years old, and you chose the most complex one you could buy. If it was so terrible, why did you do that? Your recourse is to sell the car and get something else, but I promise you that you will not find another car of the same caliber as the LS460 that is less problematic.

We have no control over Lexus, and we don't have a time machine so all we can do is advise people how to deal with the realities of what owning an LS460 is like both positive and negative. Ranting and raving about Lexus doesn't do anybody any good. If you aren't happy with Lexus, all you can do is take your money somewhere else and buy another product

I now own an S Class, if you ask me which car would be cheaper to maintain over time....my S560 I have now or the LS460L I had before, I would tell you without hesitation it would be the LS460L.

Tdes395

exactly and there is NO EXCUSE for the 460 to be as bad as it is. NONE!!! Anyone who uses the 7 series and the s class as a baseline has already set the bar very low regarding reliability expectations for the ls460. Lexus needs to stand behind these defects. It is not befitting of the stellar reputation the LS has garnered since inception.

Tdes395

is your ignore button broken?

SW17LS

But those cars are the competition. Those cars are what is comparable to the LS460. EVERY car has defects, Lexus is not going to cover defects in cars this old, nor should they. If you want a car that is going to be covered by the manufacturer you need to buy a new car.

Gerf

How can you be so angry at an automobile manufacturer? Did you get screwed on a LS purchase or what, you've been asking year and mileage on these cars on several problem threads and posts.
Are you gearing up for some type of class action? if so pencil me in if the paperwork is accepted.