jstjohnz

I purchased my 2007 LS460L in San Francisco 2 weeks ago, and have been driving cross-country on I-10 for the past 4 days. Overall the car is very pleasant to drive. These are just some random observations so far-

Seat comfort, good but not great. No better than my 430, maybe worse. And I will NEVER understand why they couldn't extend the seat tracks a couple of inches so that you at least have the option of giving SOME of that extra LWB length to the front seats. I have more rear seat legroom than I will ever need, but front seat legroom is just so-so.

Wind noise; definitely there to some degree. Hard to quantify. JMCRANEY has kindly sent me a couple of his patches and I will put them on when I get home.

Lexus has maxed the cruise control out at 88mph. The speedo seems to read 1-2 mph slow, so it's really about 86mph. A bunch of I-10 through Texas has 80mph speed limit, so a couple of more mph on the top end of the cruise range wouldn't hurt.

Radar cruise seems to be able to slow the car more aggressively than on the 430. Driving through Texas you can literally go hours without touching a pedal. Still annoys me that the cruise drops out with just a 'beep beep' notification when it slows you below about 25mph. I don't mind it dropping out of cruise mode, but it seems like it would be better if it continued to slow the car if necessary.

Tonight I noticed that I had an "AFS OFF" light on the dash. Don't remember what AFS is, don't know why it's off. Time to break out the manual.

A lot of folks have complained about the lack of road feel with this car. Personal preference I guess, but for me, for freeway driving, I'll do without the road feel. I just want it quiet and smooth, and that's what I get.

I have yet to get any cooling of the cool box. Not sure what's up with that. There is a little plastic door that's supposed to be slid open when you want the box to cool, but it seems to slide closed on it's own while driving.

Have not noticed any weird shifting issues that some have reported.

I love the headlights on this car. Low beams throw a lot of light to the sides. I can't say that I have noticed the left-right headlight aiming feature in action though, if it's doing anything it's subtle.

A couple of annoyances re the keyless system. #1, why do you have to be on the brake to start the engine? If I am in the passenger seat and I want to be able to start the engine to run the A/C I can't do it. Pain in the butt.

Also, what if the wife has her key fob in her purse and wants to leave her purse in the car when we go in a restaurant? Can't do it, even if I have my key with me, the car won't lock if there is a key fob inside of the vehicle.

Mark Levinson is awesome, and the Vais Tech adapter to play MP3s from a memory stick works flawlessly.

Nav system has some great features and some serious flaws. How many years have we have nav units that pronounce street names? It's a travesty that the Lexus system can't do that when a $150 Garmin can.

It's also annoying that it won't let you enter in an address as a destination if it doesn't think that exact street address exists. I tried to put in our hotel address tonight, but it thought that exact street address didn't exist, so it wouldn't let me do it. More gripes with the nav system than I can list here.

Denso seems to have a bad case of not-invented-here syndrome.
I do have the PS nav override, and it works pretty well, but it's silly that I have to resort to something like that in the first place.



Well, enough rambling for now.

melymel96

The AFS system is what makes the headlights move with the steering wheel. I hope you dont have any issues with it. I bought my car used and it was off. Come to find out the car was in a minor accident and now I have to replace the AFS system. There is a button on the left hand side just depress it and it will turn AFS back on. Then drive around with your headlights and see if the alarm comes on when you turn the steering wheel to the left or right. Mine comes on when I make left hand turns.

I agree with the seat comfort. I drove from Orange County to San Francisco and my butt didnt feel too great when I got there. I drove to Vegas and Tucson plenty of times in my GS400 and I must say I didnt ever feel uncomfortable.

Wind noise...no comment. jmcarney PMed me about the fix and I have yet to respond...sorry about that jmcarney...I have been totally swamped.

I agree with the nav.

Anyways still a great car and I'm glad I have it. I rather have a LS that runs than a BMW or Mercedes that's always at the dealer.

G2Lexus

A couple of annoyances re the keyless system. #1, why do you have to be on the brake to start the engine? If I am in the passenger seat and I want to be able to start the engine to run the A/C I can't do it. Pain in the butt.

I don't know of any car with a push button starter that you can start without having your foot on the brake.

Also, what if the wife has her key fob in her purse and wants to leave her purse in the car when we go in a restaurant? Can't do it, even if I have my key with me, the car won't lock if there is a key fob inside of the vehicle.

This is a pain but probably a good thing. You have to use your remote and press the lock button. The handle locking system doesn't work with a fob in the car. This has saved me more than once as my fob fell out of my pocket while driving.

davedan

are jmcraneys wind fix pieces avialable for purchase i had the tsb done on my 09 460ls awd swb jim you were right does not look good -does not work factory rep is going to be looking at in the next two weeks to do sound decible test service manager says there is a definite problem that factory has to address

jmcraney

Jim,

The AFS is the system that moves the headlights and you should notice that they are responsive if the AFS is on and in good working order. The switch to turn the AFS on and off is located near the side mirror adjustment control.

As for locking the car when one of the remote keys is inside the car: You can not lock your car by using the buttons on the doors when one of the remote keys is in the car. But, you can lock and unlock your car when one of the remote keys is inside by using your other remote key. You just press the lock symbol on the remote and the car will lock. When you do it this way the car can not be opened by the proximity sensing feature and must be opened with the remote key unlock button - remember to hit the unlock symbol twice to open the passenger side and also remember you have a 30 second window to enter the car before it automatically re-locks.

Audriuss

What???? In my LS radar cruise control works up to speed 180 km/h and cruise control without radar 210 or 220 km/h!

jstjohnz

Thanks, I am thinking the button got pressed accidentally since I haven't seen that light before.

jstjohnz

This is the first keyless vehicle that I have owned. I just don't see the point of requiring the brake pedal to be depressed if the transmission is in park.

I wasn't aware that the lock button the fob would work even if another fob was in the car, that's good to know.

encore888

Regarding the cool box, it requires that the rear A/C be turned on for the cooling action to work, IIRC.

Nospinzone

Lexus has maxed the cruise control out at 88mph.

Tell me about it. Here in Boston I barely get ready to run the next red light and the system shuts down!


I have yet to get any cooling of the cool box.

I complained about this to the dealer, but he explained that the driver must also be cool.


Also, what if the wife has her key fob in her purse and wants to leave her purse in the car when we go in a restaurant?

Never take your wife into a restaurant. Wives tend to order appetizers, lobster, dessert, and multiple glasses of wine.


It's also annoying that it won't let you enter in an address as a destination if it doesn't think that exact street address exists.

I think there was a Twilight Zone episode about that.


Beyond that, congrats and good luck with the new ride!

bobrxlex

i bought a new 08 leftover back in may and read a post on this forum about getting your front seats replaced with a more cushiony seat. i had it done and now the ride seems more comfortable. try to find the post on this forum, i think it was in august or september, also check with the dealer, the seats on the 07 and most 08 ls models are included.

jmcraney

I do not believe a factory rep with a sound meter will glean anything useful about your wind noise problem. We have seen numerous reports of this tactic being used and the results were inconclusive or they were interpreted to indicate that there was no problem. It is very unlikely that Lexus or a Lexus dealer will be able to resolve your wind noise problem. I am sure that the technicians are making an honest effort but the manner of their tests just don't yield anything meaningful. It is possible to use a sound meter to distinguish which cars have problems but it is time consuming compared to repairing the trim.

cmasten

For the record, I didnt have the wind noise problem on my 07 LS.

jmcraney went out of his way to send me detailed instructions and the small metal parts to fix it in the future. I found that the seals on my doors were very good, hence no noise, but I installed the fix anyways and I can tell you it is much quieter in my cabin now than before. It took me maybe 15 min tops to do both sides and now I don't have to worry about it.

I didn't think the cabin could get quieter, but this certainly made a difference for me, and I had no issues before.

Thanks again Jeff!

Mike_TX

I don't have the so-called "intelligent" cruise (I personally wouldn't have one), but I would almost swear my "regular" cruise will lock in at speeds higher than 88mph.

Is that another example of its intelligence?

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