Hello all. Several months ago, I posted regarding my thoughts on buying a 2012/13 S-Class or potentially upgrade from my 2004 LS430 (265,000 miles and going STRONG). I appreciate all the feedback that was received. Most of the feedback was to buy another Lexus and avoid the maintenance headaches of a S-Class. One person here and another close friend weigh-in and said go buy the car you always wanted - S-Class. So I threw caution to the wind and pursued a 2012/13 S-Class. Well, I looked, looked, and looked some more. Saw a CPO 2013 with 50K miles for $34/$35K. Drove 2 hours to Tyler, TX to see it and it was sold before I arrived :-( Drove another S-class at a Benz dealer and check engine light was on and pulled hard to one side. Tried negotiating with a non-benz dealer in CA that had a beautiful red 2013 for $34K. Had it checked at local benz dealer and it had bent rims and needed new engine mounts. Not bad, I think in terms of issues, but dealer didn't want to negotiate. At this point I'm 4-6 months into my search and getting a little frustrated. 3 weeks ago, I see another S-Class with respectable miles at a benz dealer with a great price ($33K I think). Low price was due to front end damage that was repaired, but I said what the hell. Drove to Plano, test drove the car and it leaked all (a gallon or so?) of the headlight washer fluid from the bottom of the car. At this point all of the warnings about maintenance on S-Class kicked in.

So I drive home in my ancient, solid as a rock, but technological deficient 2004 LS430, peeved. At 10pm that evening (Saturday), I decide what the hell...went to autotrader (my new best friend) and searched for LS460 in Red. Lo and behold, a 2013, CPO LS460 with...wait...wait...wait 18,750 miles was available for sale in Arkansas. No pictures, and the previous owner had hit some type of pole, but no airbags deploy and it was CPO. Sent an email to dealer (Parker Lexus) that evening and the salesman, Eric Shaw, emails and says he will have photos to me on Monday. Photos looked good, we negotiated a d*mn good price. I also decided on the 5 year extension of CPO (yeah I read the threads about whether CPO extended warranty is worth it). Eric offered the best price on CPO warranty (I called the other people on various threads). So at this point I am the proud owner of a 2013 red LS460, that is covered bumper to bumper until 2025 (yes you read that correctly 2025).

A few points:

• Eric Shaw and the folks at Parker Lexus live and breath customer service. I cannot stress how professional and timely Eric was in answering questions. Great guy, great dealership.
• Lexus dealers in the DFW area refuse to negotiate on their overpriced CPO cars, thus I ended up buying out of state.
• The LS460 is a much better car in terms of interior than my LS430 (and you know I love my LS430).
• The LS460 seems to accelerate in a smooth silky manner...doesn't growl at you...just smooth acceleration in most cases
• The red on the LS460 looks fabulous.
• The LS460 is not an S-Class. S-class is a different animal, I liked the interior and space much better in the S-Class. And when the S-class accelerates it growls like a beast and I like it. However I couldn't in good conscious pass up the deal I got on this car.
• The LS460 engine is noisy as H*LL, which I don't like, but oh well I can't win 'em all.

Now I need to figure out if I should change my handle to TXLS460 (I kept the LS430)

 

You like that color? Been looking at one pretty much the same...

 

Just a little bit :-)

 

Sweet ride...congrats! Good call on the LS vs. S class....no comparison in terms of reliability.

 

Good decision. Beautiful LS so drive and enjoy.

 

Nicely done. You put in the effort and time to test and drive both and you pulled the trigger on the perfect one for you! Looks great and love that bumper to bumper! Gratz!

 

Sweet upgrade! I went from a 2004 LS430 with 250k trouble-free miles to my 2010 460L and have virtually no regrets (I do miss that 430 engine though). The interior upgrade of a 2013 compared to your 2004 must feel like you just entered a time machine! The 3rd Gen LS interior definitely shows its age when compared to the 4th Gen.

Congrats- an S class would be awesome as well but clearly the universe was pulling you in a different direction this time around with all of the problems you discovered on various MB's. Cheers,

 

The LS460 purchase was meant to be. You just saved yourself a lot of headaches too.

 

If you own a Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi or VW your just a punching bag. Great find.

 

This is certainly true! My mum's 2004 S430 back in Hong Kong. I cannot count how many times going back to repair since I was a kid (She bought it brand new). However, I have to admit S class do look nice!

 

Hey TXLS430 Congrats to your new LS!

You have an elegant pedigree of LS! It is not common to see a maroon 430 here. This makes me want to share a few pics of mine

Despite she is 15yrs old now, she still drives young and smooth and always feel like a new car (although I am the 3rd owner). I am always dedicated to make her shine by joining an unlimited washing membership in the city.

 

TXLS430 - You have 2 great looking cars. I still think the 430 and 400 look great. And, a red / dark red colored car with a tan interior is my favorite combo. I'm confused about you and the growl. Sounds like you liked the growl of the S-Class. If you want a nice bit of growl with your 460, I'm your man. See the threads linked, and search for one named something like, Oliver exhaust mod.

 

Congrats!

Thats why you need an LS460L

This worries me. So the engine in the 460 is not quite as quiet as the engine in the 430 for sure, but shouldn't be "noisy as hell" by any definition. What sort of noises are you hearing?

 

Willing to bet this is just the initial adjustment from the dead-silent 430 engine to the 460 engine. Louder at idle, louder during acceleration from a stop. Just takes getting used to as so many of us know- it took me a solid 2 weeks converting from the 430.