A 3 year review frustrated with 2008 LS460 ready to trade.
10-23-18, 10:51 AM
#16
Pit Crew
The issue is your expectations were not realistic. Everything has a lifespan. We have people who come in here and expect that because “it’s a Lexus” they can buy one 10+ years old and never have any issues and that’s just not reality. With any 10 year old car, it’s best years are behind it, and it’s prior life has a huge impact on how it’s going to hold up now and in the future...and this one was in an accident you knew about.
If you really look at your issues the only problems you’ve had that aren’t well documented potential issues you’ve known going in are a water pump and a starter. For a 10 year old car? With an accident history? You’re ahead of the game.
If you really look at your issues the only problems you’ve had that aren’t well documented potential issues you’ve known going in are a water pump and a starter. For a 10 year old car? With an accident history? You’re ahead of the game.
. The response to you spurred me to figure out the "ignore user" feature of this forum. Wilson1046 gets to be my first add.
The following users liked this post:
SW17LS (10-23-18)
10-23-18, 01:55 PM
#18
Lexus Fanatic
Sw17 "We have people who come in here and expect that because “it’s a Lexus” they can buy one 10+ years old and never have any issues and that’s just not reality."
To clarify I'm writing about a car that I bought just shy of 7 years old not 10, and thought I made clear what the thread was about.
All good though, sometimes dicks have to be dicks, so keep on truckin'
To clarify I'm writing about a car that I bought just shy of 7 years old not 10, and thought I made clear what the thread was about.
All good though, sometimes dicks have to be dicks, so keep on truckin'
If you have $20,000 to spend and you want a car that's going to be always reliable and never give you any problems, then you should buy a new Honda Civic with a warranty, not a 7-10 year old LS460. Sorry if that hurts your feelings but its the truth. LS430 would be no different. Might you get lucky and have zero problems? Sure...there are lots of people here who haven't had any issues with cars of that age...but thats just luck of the draw at that point.
And $7k-9K in on repairs? For what? Are you having it serviced at the dealership? If so you need to stop doing that. Taking an older Lexus to the dealership is crazy. If thats the case you paid 3 times as much for those repairs as you had to.
Last edited by SW17LS; 10-23-18 at 02:21 PM.
10-23-18, 02:59 PM
#19
Driver School Candidate
I brought a 2007 Lexus LS460 with 200k miles on it. I checked the maintenance record and the original owners did all the repair at the dealership. Am I worry about things breaking? Of course I do but I only paid $7,600 for the car. Even thought, I only owned it only for 3 weeks. I am very happy with the purchase since I did not want to spend a lot of money on a luxury car.
10-23-18, 03:09 PM
#20
I guess we lucked out (knock on wood, hopefully won’t jinx myself) with our ‘08. We bought it with rebuilt title (front driver side impact, no airbag deployed) - just under 2 years and 30+k miles later, we’ve only had one problem - a faulty oxygen sensor ($600). Other than that, it’s oil changes, new front brakes, couple HID bulbs, and new battery (all done by yours truly). It’s currently at 120k miles. Got it for $13k... If it lasts us another 2 years, we definitely got our money’s worth.
Luckily (or not), the car spent all it's life in Ohio (and currently in IL) - no problems with melting dash. It did have immaculate service history (second owner got it as a CPO).
Luckily (or not), the car spent all it's life in Ohio (and currently in IL) - no problems with melting dash. It did have immaculate service history (second owner got it as a CPO).
10-25-18, 04:36 PM
#21
Pole Position
I made it to almost 200,000 miles on my 07 before I traded it in. Most reliable car I've ever owned. And I put that thing through hell...even hit a turkey on the highway with it doing 80. The HIGHWAY. Drove the thing through four Boston winters (it was rear wheel drive). One time I had snow up to the doors...the thing was a total beast.
More reliable than my Honda Accord, and a hell of a lot more fun.
More reliable than my Honda Accord, and a hell of a lot more fun.
10-25-18, 10:17 PM
#22
So far no big dollar stuff on our 08. Needs parts in front end as it clicks when turning up driveways. Bushings ok. Worn drivers door armrest from PO resting his bent leg against it. Drivers seat bottom foam compressed. It’s available for replacement. Have it just not instslled. Replaced rotors and pads. No pulse anymore. No brake actuators clicking from the warped rotors anymore. Replaced Pirelli p1 Chinese tires with Michelin power pro 4s’s. No wander, adding 6k kelvin headlights like our 430 has. Whiter lights. Adding a grom v2 to the non ml premium stereo.
Non oem windshield. Will replace for less glare and heat input.
Nice torquey motor. Fairly fast car. 22-27 mpg driven agressively. Spring rate is fairly close. Shocks soft. KYB gas adjust are 10-15% stiffer. Should be just right.
Wind noise right front window. Rubber parts down there appear to be folded over.
up to 67k miles. Want to get to 367k miles.
Really nice car. If it broke a bunch of stuff I still would say the same thing.
Sorry your luck was not as good. So far.
Non oem windshield. Will replace for less glare and heat input.
Nice torquey motor. Fairly fast car. 22-27 mpg driven agressively. Spring rate is fairly close. Shocks soft. KYB gas adjust are 10-15% stiffer. Should be just right.
Wind noise right front window. Rubber parts down there appear to be folded over.
up to 67k miles. Want to get to 367k miles.
Really nice car. If it broke a bunch of stuff I still would say the same thing.
Sorry your luck was not as good. So far.
10-25-18, 11:21 PM
#23
im in the same boat I think, not that my car has been unreliable, its been two solid years (36 000+ miles) of daily driving with 0 breakdowns and little to no operating costs other then a few small things and general maintenance , but it just hasn't been as good as I had hoped and to be fair most of that is my own fault.
For starters I paid more for this car then any other car ive ever owned, even my supercharged corvette z06 was purchased for $2500 less then this one
It was an 08 with about 37 000 miles on it , so I just assumed the car was going to be rock solid and trouble free (my fault for assuming and not having it checked out)
I bought the car blind because I was madly in love with it, (my fault) and of course had buyers remorse after because I found minor issues here and there that I had to deal with and wished I used those as leverage to get a better price (Overpaid by about $2500) and it left the whole start of my relationship with this car very anti climatic
Was disappointed with the cheap materials in the interior forsure (impressed with the semi aniline leather though, its holding up great
Car is an L with many added options yet doesn't have the ML sound system
I quickly realized having air suspension was a source of stress and wished I didn't have it
left side was sitting much higher then the right side, dealer said it could not be adjusted, took a lot of time to figure out how to do it myself (my fault, should of noticed it before purchase)
Bought a set of 22 inch forgiatos and they just didn't look right from the start, too sunk in and they kept cracking and losing air, every month a new crack it seemed (nothing to do with the 460 , just added to the frustration )
Car was vibrating periodically on the highway , changed tires and it went away but was like that for a few months
Brakes started vibrating badly on the highway , replaced them with akebono pads and centric rotors, 6 months later they started doing it again and rotors had to be resurfaced
Developed wind noise like crazy from the drivers side window, a loud whistling actually that is just so annoying (spent days locating the issue and fixing it = the triangle thingy)
Radio was acting up for a while , would randomly turn off , ***** wouldn't work, then they worked again, had mechanic check it out and now seems to be fine (maybe loose wiring he said)
Now today my VSC and VGRS lights came on, the steering wheel is 45 degrees off centre to the right , and it seems like the kind of problem only a dealer would be suited for
I still love the car and the 460 model, so much so I bought a second one 1-2 weeks ago , but all these issues left me going back and forth all the time on whether or not I really wanted to keep it
The 13\s are becoming more plentiful on the used market but they are almost too good to use as a daily driving work vehicle which is what I would need it for, but I do give serious thought to moving onto something else at times
For starters I paid more for this car then any other car ive ever owned, even my supercharged corvette z06 was purchased for $2500 less then this one
It was an 08 with about 37 000 miles on it , so I just assumed the car was going to be rock solid and trouble free (my fault for assuming and not having it checked out)
I bought the car blind because I was madly in love with it, (my fault) and of course had buyers remorse after because I found minor issues here and there that I had to deal with and wished I used those as leverage to get a better price (Overpaid by about $2500) and it left the whole start of my relationship with this car very anti climatic
Was disappointed with the cheap materials in the interior forsure (impressed with the semi aniline leather though, its holding up great
Car is an L with many added options yet doesn't have the ML sound system
I quickly realized having air suspension was a source of stress and wished I didn't have it
left side was sitting much higher then the right side, dealer said it could not be adjusted, took a lot of time to figure out how to do it myself (my fault, should of noticed it before purchase)
Bought a set of 22 inch forgiatos and they just didn't look right from the start, too sunk in and they kept cracking and losing air, every month a new crack it seemed (nothing to do with the 460 , just added to the frustration )
Car was vibrating periodically on the highway , changed tires and it went away but was like that for a few months
Brakes started vibrating badly on the highway , replaced them with akebono pads and centric rotors, 6 months later they started doing it again and rotors had to be resurfaced
Developed wind noise like crazy from the drivers side window, a loud whistling actually that is just so annoying (spent days locating the issue and fixing it = the triangle thingy)
Radio was acting up for a while , would randomly turn off , ***** wouldn't work, then they worked again, had mechanic check it out and now seems to be fine (maybe loose wiring he said)
Now today my VSC and VGRS lights came on, the steering wheel is 45 degrees off centre to the right , and it seems like the kind of problem only a dealer would be suited for
I still love the car and the 460 model, so much so I bought a second one 1-2 weeks ago , but all these issues left me going back and forth all the time on whether or not I really wanted to keep it
The 13\s are becoming more plentiful on the used market but they are almost too good to use as a daily driving work vehicle which is what I would need it for, but I do give serious thought to moving onto something else at times
Last edited by 1WILLY1; 10-25-18 at 11:41 PM.
10-26-18, 07:01 AM
#24
Lexus Fanatic
The following users liked this post:
mckellyb (10-27-18)
10-26-18, 09:36 AM
#25
Lexus Fanatic
I'll chime in about my former '08 LS. 230k kms (about 142k miles). One battery, brake pads and rotors, water pump, shocks and bushings, mufflers, that's it. It also suffered a 13k dollar collision in 2009, a collision with a deer in 2014, and I got rear-ended in 2017. so, pretty much the most bullet proof car I've ever owned.
As for Steve...he calls it as he sees it. He doesn't name call, but if the truth hurts, that's on the other party...not him. I got all the time in the world for a lad like that.
Now...back to the SHO forum I go...(boring).
As for Steve...he calls it as he sees it. He doesn't name call, but if the truth hurts, that's on the other party...not him. I got all the time in the world for a lad like that.
Now...back to the SHO forum I go...(boring).
10-26-18, 11:37 AM
#26
Racer
In conclusion, the love for your vehicle diminishes with every out of pocket repair bill If you can work on the car yourself or have a loyal mechanic you go to that can give you a great/fair price for thing you can't do, research and purchase oem and aftermarket parts online new or used thru a vast sources on the web. Utilize a great car forum like this one, then these car used at around 7 to 10 years old is DEFINATELY worth it over anything new.
If you can work on the car yourself or have a loyal mechanic you go to that can give you a great/fair price for thing you can't do, research and purchase oem and aftermarket parts online new or used thru a vast sources on the web. Utilize a great car forum like this one, then these car used at around 7 to 10 years old is DEFINATELY worth it over anything new.
10-26-18, 12:00 PM
#27
Lexus Fanatic
10-26-18, 07:23 PM
#28
Id never be able to enjoy seeing a lovely 13+ depreciating so fast just to be used as a work vehicle. Most of my family do fairly well but they drive like $1000 beaters for work vehicles, its not for me but sometimes I get why they do it.
Back on topic regarding the issues mine had, I also forgot the horrible OEM brakes which were probably the worst brakes I ever had in any car. Like an on/off button with no in between.
I had to throw them out and get new pads and rotors (akebono + centric)
10-26-18, 07:42 PM
#29
Lexus Fanatic
I also forgot the horrible OEM brakes which were probably the worst brakes I ever had in any car. Like an on/off button with no in between.