UDel

It was a major issue/repair that simply should not have happened with the mileage/age of the car. I would be disappointed too because it could be a sign of things to come and should not have happened in the first place. Lexus won't cover every owner/car for this known issue, he was lucky they covered it for him, maybe he is putting himself in the place if he or someone was not covered and they have to shell out thousands to repair a suspension issue known for years, if it was properly designed it should not be failing/needing repair anywhere near 100K miles. He is not bashing them, he is voicing concern and disappointment, fixing his issue is the least they should have done, it is not his fault it was not designed to last and often has issues prematurely. The air suspension is even much worse, disappointing for Lexus and not a good trend.

SW17LS

Like I said, its fixed for $1,500, or potentially even less. Just build it into your purchase plan if you're going to buy one of these cars, its just not a major issue. As for air suspension, thats not an issue unique to the LS460. Air suspension is problematic on ANY vehicle, its the same way on the LS400 and LS430 also, no different. If you don't want to deal with air suspension issues buy one without air suspension. I had two LSs with air suspension and I specifically avoided it on my LS460. In any event, if you do have an air suspension failure you can swap it to coils for way less money.

As an aside, I have a neighbor with a previous generation 750 and a Range Rover. He just replaced his Range Rover with a brand new one (its awesome), I noticed over the past few weeks...he's had a lot of different BMW loaner vehicles, the 750 will be back for a few days, and another loaner. I ran into him last night and asked him about it lol. So the 750 has 65k miles, its a 2011. He's $9,700 into repairs on it this month alone. Computer problems, suspension problems, ECU...every time he gets it back something new goes wrong. He's trapped because they just bought the Range Rover and can't really swap it out, and at this point he's chasing it because he has so much in it already. He called a local BMW independent mechanic and his prices were no better than the dealer given the nature of the issues.

Thats the bottom line, that will never happen to you with an LS460. If you want to complain about $1,500 worth of control arms, go ahead lol. This caliber of car is just never going to be as cheap to maintain and reliable as something like a Camry, expecting it to be so is setting yourself up for disappointment. If the LS460 isn't reliable enough for you, you should not buy any flagship car because far and away its the most reliable of all of them.

roadfrog

Precisely why I exited my 7 series like it was on fire. 50k miles on the odo and needing 12-18k dollars in various engine work. When I figured I MIGHT have to do the control arms on an LS, I thought, "pffft..that's it?" Sign me up. 3 years of bliss, despite the control arms, a water pump and mufflers. Grand sum? 2 grand after 125k miles or so. Yeah.... color me happy.

SupraTurbo

Right on point.

sjzack

Curious whether I should replace just the bushings in my control arms, or the arms/bushings/ball joints combined.

I've got about 240K miles on the original arms of my '08 LS460, now, but the bushings are definitely cracked. Dealer wants $2-3K

Aftermarket DIY brand control arm kits are only about $380 on partsgeek.
But Armstrong sells polyurethane bushings for about $270.

I'd save time having to press out/in the bushings.
But there's the issue of whether aftermarket arms are as solid as the OEMs.

Any suggestions?

Boaty

I live in the place of snow and salt which has caused my control arms to corrode at the bearings. They're seized. I think it affects the ride because it's not as smooth as my '09 was with one bearing seized. All of them nee replacemant at 145,000 km. Alignement center reccomends OEM.

Anfanger

I am not sure what control arms you have. But OEM control arms do not have bearings. I am not sure if it is even possible for a control to seize. If you are talking mount seizing, than it is is a different story.

sdls

it takes guts to recommend non OEM. Of course a mechanic will want you to pay $1,875,000.25 for OEM suspension parts because it makes his life easier with regards to fitment, quality, longevity and satisfaction.