Hey everyone,

Looks like I finally was able to pull the trigger on an LS. Well almost...still need to get the money transferred and all, but barring some unforeseen issues, this thing should be in our garage in a day or two.

My search started off with me looking for an '08 460 that could fill the duty of being a daily driver and a family hauler in any weather. Soon after, though, we decided that living in the midwest we want AWD, so that meant looking for '09+. This would be perfect as most '09s come with air suspension which I wanted. At the same time my wife said that if we are going for a big car we might as well go all the way and get the LWB. No complaints there, but at this point I also figured that having the rear sear controls/alcantera headliner/upgraded leather/side window shades would be a really nice option to have along with the dynamic cruise control. So now we are essentially looking for a fully loaded 460L with low-enough miles and good enough condition. It was at that point that I realized that I would quicker find a 600 that fit the budget rather than the loaded 460L. And so began my search for an 08 600.

Until last week when I stumbled on an ad for a fully loaded (rear seat upgrade / air / mark levinson / PCS dynamic cruise) local 460L with low enough miles, still in warranty, and most of the earlier model gremlins being sorted out. Well, one thing lead to another and today I put a deposit down with full funds to follow tomorrow or Saturday.

We agreed on the deal being contingent on the car passing a Lexus PPI inspection. So earlier today I took it in to have it looked at. The results were as follows:

• Car needs new tires and the slight vibration felt throughout was a direct result of that. This was my initial diagnoses when I drove the car. It also has the cheap Turanza EL42 tires.
• Will need new pads within 10k miles.
• Front bumper was resprayed without ever being taken off (no structural damage and no sign of a car ever being hit in the front).
• Rear bumper was resprayed without ever being taken off (no structural damage and no sign of a car ever being rear ended).
• Hood was resprayed (selling dealer showed me the "before" pics where the owner put his briefcase on the hood and scratched it up) (again no signs of any accident per the Lexus dealer).
• Evidence of paintless dent repair being done on the rear quarter panel (most likely a door ding of sorts).
• Lower edge of the trunk has a very small indent on the inside (no clue if the owner backed into something, but according to the tech and the service manager the trunk lid is original though the plastic backing attached to the lid around the license plate area was likely changed).

Their end all conclusion was that the car was never in any accidents, has had some minor cosmetic issues which were taken care of, and was overall in very good condition. As the tech put it, if he was in the market for an LS he would get this one in a heartbeat. So that was enough for me to say that the deal is a "go."

Only thing left to do is to get the dealer their full check and drive it home. They are also supposed to pull their own body shop records for me to verify that what they say they did is all that they did. However, I don't anticipate to find any surprises there (or at least I hope not).

All-in-all I am very happy. It has all the options that I wanted, all the updates of that time period, it's under warranty, and it came in at what I would consider a great price.

And here it is:

 

Does this mean you're not going to get the 600hL that I voted for?

Congrats and good luck with your new car!

 

Thanks, and maybe if the wife wants one for herself .

 

Congrats on very nice 460L!

 

Congrats on the find. In reading the list of issues. I'd have them check the rotors. Warped or needing new rotors is what will cause vibration under braking. Wasn't sure if your vibration is under braking or not. Just trying to help. I'd recommend Michelin tires for replacements. Or deduct the price for about $1,200 to put them on elsewhere. 1st thing to go on my 2010 LWB were the rotors (resurfaced when I bought it) and tires (new when I bought it). Both lasted less than 20,000 miles. I had the cheap Bridgestone tires. I bought Michelin last week. Like riding it it new car. Tire has a higher tread wear (500 vs 240 or so) along with a 45,000 mile warranty.
Overall a beautiful car. You'll love the LWB!!!

 

congrats on the ride, it looks awesome!

 

I like those 10 spoke 18's. Try some Michelin Primacy MXM4's on them. That long wheelbase LS combined with a fairly light weight wheel/tire combo and relatively tall sidewalls should be a serene ride.

 

pmiller, what Michelins did you go with on your LS? I am about to get new Michelins too, just have not decided which ones to get. I am agonizing over the decision. Does you car ride softer and quieter than the previous tires? Sounds like the new tires made a big difference. Thanks

 

Congratulations!

can't beat a good clean silver car. (brings back memories of my silver LS)

 

I bought Michelin-Pilot-Sport-AS-3. So far, I am happy. To me, they are better than the Bridgestone Turanza tires the dealer put on it right before I bought it. There are lots of reviews on here regarding tires. That's how I came to the conclusion of which ones to get.

 

Michelins Primacy MXM4's are excellent tires and I put them on my LS 460 a few months ago.
MXM4's are extremely quiet, smooth and comfortable. No complaints.

 

Thank you to everyone for the kind words.

Should have the car in my possession in about 12 hours from posting this. However, I though some might like to know what I've been able to uncover during the last day.

The fact that the bumpers were repainted at some point in time and that this was not showing up on carfax was still getting at me. While Lexus was pretty certain that the car was not involved in any accidents, I still wanted to know what happened. So after doing a little bit of investigative work, I was able to track down the previous (and original) owner of the car. Apparently when the dealer said "it was owned by a CEO of a large company" (which I treated as a feed good BS story) they weren't lying. I wasn't sure if I should bug him, but I put together a short and courteous email saying that I was about to buy his old car and just wanted to know if its ever been in any accidents. To my pleasant surprise, he replied and said that he had two mishaps. The first was him backing into a flower pot at their home. This would explain the rear bumper re-spray and the slight indent along the bottom inside of the trunk lid. The second happened at a stop light where the light turned green, he went, but the car in front of him didn't. Said he bumped into the guy at about 5mph which resulted in no damage to the car in front but some minor damage to the LS's bumper (no damage under the bumper and no air bag deployment). Because of this he decided to replace the front bumper but that's all that needed to be done. Aside from that he said that he thought the car was in great shape.

He seemed very forth coming and in my opinion neither of those things really impacted the overall condition. People scratch bumpers and aesthetic fixes isn't something that's going to cause me to pass up a good deal. His description was also consistent with Lexus' inspection there they saw no evidence of an accident.

At about the same time of getting the previous owner's reply, the selling dealer sent me their work sheet for what they did to the car to recondition it. As they claimed earlier, the sheet states that they sprayed the hood due to some scratches for which they have pictures along with the fenders due to rock chips. Again neither of these things would cause me to throw my hands up in the air and pass up this car. As far as I know, many CPO cars go through this process anyway.

So all-in-all, I really feel that I have a complete history of this car in front of me and I like what I see. It's a car that's had a few minor cosmetic issues and appears to be in great condition otherwise. Now it's time to get it home, give it a thorough detail, put on a set of Primacy tires, get the extended warranty out to 8 years, and enjoy the car for many years to come.

 

Congrats on the car and it looks great! Good investigative work to find out the true history...it should be a nice ride for a long time.

 

I agree, nothing there that would keep me from buying the car.

As to Carfax, if the owner never made an insurance claim, Carfax wouldn't have any knowledge of it.

 

Just got her home. The misses trying out the back seat