LeX2K

If you compare the LS460 to the typical German luxury car you have a point. Compare it to previous LS's then nope. But I'm sure you know more than a seasoned Toyota mechanic that works on them everyday and nothing he showed in the video is valid.

Tdes395

have a nice day 😉👍

Tdes395

I would definitely support a class action lawsuit. But toyota should step up to the plate on their own. If you are okay with such defects then your bar is way below mine. And the ignore button reference is for the person that brought up the idea of ignoring in the first place. Hopefully he takes his own advice and uses it.

SW17LS

But it delivers much better performance than the previous LSs, that’s the point. Everything he says is true, but the trade off is what caliber of car do you want? If you want something sophisticated like a German flagship sedan like I do, then it is what it is, this is potentially what you are going to deal with. I’ve had the 400, 430 and two 460s. I would pay for the upkeep on the 460 every day.

Look at all of the people here who have these cars and repair them here and there and take care of them and their experience is just fine. The worst thing you can do is not maintain a 460, same as an S Class or 7 Series, an LS430 you can leave half broken and it will be fine. Amd says that in his video too.

It’s a car like a German car that delivers performance first, and ease and cost of repair second. It’s still more reliable than a German car though. Do you want to talk about what type of issues a 2011 S550 or 740i could potentially have? Dramatically more than this. The M278 motors in the S550 can develop an oil back pressure into the wiring harness that totals the car lol. Bore scoring that ruins the engine. It goes on

LeX2K

You just finished saying the LS460 is not a money pit now you're justified it.
Valley plate leak is not fine it's a huge repair even for the most experienced DIY'er.
That's not what he says at all, he flat out warned people not to own the 460 unless they are willing to deal with the design flaws over and over again.
That's hardly the point, it is much more costly to own vs. the previous generation. And let's be clear, these are engineering failures not typical or Lexus.
None of this makes the LS460 any less of a pain to own long term.

SW17LS

It’s not a money pit for what it is, if you don’t appreciate what it is then it isn’t for you.

It’s not a $10,000 wiring harness or a new engine because of bore scoring when you’ve faithfully changed the oil. It’s a $1,500 repair, that doesn’t even put brakes on my S560.

We watched different videos. Remember he owned an S Class that he LOVED despite saying it was a terrible car to own. It’s all relative.

And it’s a much better car than the previous generation for all the reasons we have discussed. Engineering failures is debatable, there were big head scratchers about the older LSs too and remember they require a $1,500 timing belt every 90k/10 years where the 460 doesn’t.

Point is every car like this has common issues as they get old. Remember that car is 13 years old. The LS460 is dramatically less expensive to maintain than a comparable German car, and it is comparable to those German cars where the previous generations really weren’t.

You’ve never had one, plenty of people here have and they are very happy with their LS460s. Get a good one and stay on top of them, like Amd said in the video.

LeX2K

I've worked on several 1UZ's and 3UZ's have you? Have you ever done engine work of any kind?

SW17LS

No, but plenty of other people here have including people participating in this thread and agreeing with me. LS460 doesn’t have a UZ engine. How many 1UR engines have you worked on?

I have put nearly 300k miles on 1UZ and 3UZ engines I owned.

LeX2K

This thread is about technical problems. Maybe what AMD talked about went over your head or you don't see it as a serious problem. It is, and increases cost of ownership dramatically to the point where as he points out a single mechanic visit can total the car.

I've only ever done minor things on the LS460 it is not a car have expertise in. But I've worked on just about every Toyota/Lexus engine made at some point.

SW17LS

All of this is well within my scope of understanding thank you. It seems all the ways in which the LS460 is superior to the previous generations is over your head, as are the realities of living with the other comparable cars. I don't see it as a problem because I know what the maintenance requirements of this caliber car are.

If by your admission you are not familiar with the LS460, why are you in here arguing with those of us who are?! I’ll listen to the folks who have had and know these cars thanks. Which includes me.

Let’s put it this way, I have an S Class now. Why would I sit here and argue with you about why the LS460 is a smarter car to own long term than the car I have if I didn’t truly believe that to be true?

A single mechanics visit can total any car that is only with $5,000 lol. If you have kept up with the car and it’s well cared for no mechanic visit is going to total it. A timing belt on my ES300 would total it, does that mean it isn’t a good car? It’s just old and worth very little.

SW17LS

Lets explore what we are really talking about here, these are the common issues with the LS460:

1. Valley plate leak: $1,500
2. Control arms: $3,000 with OEM parts, $1,500 with aftermarket parts
3. Brake actuator: $2,500 with OEM parts, $1,500 with aftermarket parts. This rarely actually fails

Thats really it. There are other things here and there that can come up, common Lexus/Toyota issues like door lock actuators and window motors which were also an issue with all models. Air suspension if equipped is an issue with all models.

For comparison, one set of brakes for my S560 at an independent shop with aftermarket pads and OEM rotors was $2,149.16 at 30,000 miles. Yes it needed new brakes and rotors front and rear at 30k miles...and it will again at 60k miles....and 90k miles. My LS460s needed front brakes around 40k miles at a cost of $453 for pads and rotors. Rears were done about 50k miles at a cost of $274...

It costs about 3 times to do anything to the Mercedes as it cost to do to the LS460...and they do also need control arm bushings around 70-80k miles and the ones with the M278 engine have a LOT of engine related issues that the M176 I have seems not to have, but it still has turbos and a lot of potential costs the LS460 doesn't have. There are also coolant leaks that are common with the Mercedes as well has head gaskets and rear main seal leaks, you wont get ANY of that worked on by an independent Mercedes tech for less than $3k.

So even with those common issues, the LS460 is much cheaper to maintain while delivering 90% of the driving enjoyment and luxury.

Striker223

You want more reliability? Then get a German flagship. They are simply better across the board including ownership costs and how often you need to repair something and parts costs.

Ive owned both. I know what is cheaper and has less issues, at the top end Lexus just isn't competitive. If you want midrange cars then Lexus is great and they will give you less issues due to being a rebadged Camry and Highlander

Striker223

Have you owned them? You don't really have room to talk unless you have owned both, you had ESs if I recall....that's not the same game

Striker223

You know what the most fun part of owning an LS430/460 and an A8 at the same time was?

I could hand people keys to each of them and ask them what they thought of each for comfort, quietness, ride, handling, etc etc etc

The 430 lost every single time in every aspect.

Since I had all 3 I have also worked on all 3 and I'll tell you right now the 430 is way more simple and a lot of repairs take over book time and fight. The 460 is about even with predictions.....I have yet to ever take as long as book on my German cars. Jobs that claim 12 hours I've gotten done in 4 and they have never fought me

Striker223

So how many German engines have you worked on?

I've worked on nearly ALL of them. The only ones I've not seen is the M120 and the pre-2000 era BMW V8s....and again let me tell you that on the high end it's a different game. The UZ is fine until it has a major pain in the *** issue like cam seals or upper pan that are age related and everything around it will fight you on the way out. That takes a huge amount of time, more time than it take me to drop a 4.2 Audi V8 out of the car and replace the rear mounted chains.