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Yeah the aniline leather and the suede headliner make a big difference don't they?
Quite a bit, which surprises me. The headliner, I expected to give a different feel, but "upgraded" leather...pfft, yeah whatever.
Oh, was I wrong!
The instant my butt hit the seat, even through what my wife calls my 'wooly booger' sweatpants (they're rather thick, purchased in Breckenridge when we lived up there), I could tell that, "ooooh, much softer, yet somehow thicker-feeling". A much softer feel to the surface, too.
I'm going to clean them with the stuff I used on the RX 300 and my old 460, then Leather Honey them. Doing one car is a multi-hour job, so I'm in no hurry. Oh, wait, I have door panels, now, too. Well, better than the sticky, gunky vinyl!
If the above is true, I'd HIGHLY recommend getting it corrected and then ceramic coated. Will help to prevent swirls on that dark paint and you just hit it with a hose to clean it off. If you don't like to clean but you like a clean car it's worth every penny.
Oh, I'll run it through an automated car wash when it's dirty. It rained the past two days, so I'll run it through, today. I'm very selective about the automated places I'll use, too. They have to be new, like less than a year old, and nicely presented/kept up.
The car could use a buffing, I can see that in the sun, now, and I'll look into having it done...maybe clay bar'd, too. I have all I need to do it, save for the clay bar stuff, but that's a solid day of fairly intense work, and I really don't want to mess the finish up.
I'll have to look up how to address the edges where the 3M clear vinyl protector is, and there's a goodly amount of it. Nose, backs of the mirrors, door edges, around the door handles...and that's just what I've noticed, casually. The last thing I want to have happen is to leave marks at the edges or damage either surface.
Oh, I'll run it through an automated car wash when it's dirty.
Considering I'm the type to go and do this every so often on a silver car....
... the idea of running a dark colored car through any automatic wash gives me anxiety
Maintenance washes consist of multiple buckets with grit-guards, foam cannon to emulsify dirt before I put anything to the paint, and a stack of microfiber towels. Those happen every other week except for periods of rain.
Seriously though, call around and get some pricing on a professional ceramic coating. It's the "easy button" for those that like clean cars but don't like cleaning.
Air Suspension Controller. To eliminate the AWD, jacked up, off-road capable appearance. You'll know what I mean when you get one. I didn't think I was going to care for it. But, the L especially, looks so much better with the wheel wells filled. It makes it look even longer. And the ride remains excellent. I'm glad I have it.
He needs to be careful with the controller on an AWD car though and pay close attention to any vibrations. The balance issue with some of the runs of front driveshafts get noticeable worse when the car is lowered and I'm pretty sure it was this vibration that did in the bearings and my front differential, resulting in close to $4K in needed repairs.
The controller in mine is more to ensure that the car doesn't lower itself beyond what I set it at. Without the controller the car will still lower itself when cruising above 65, resulting in driveline vibration when slowing between 65 and 45. I brought the nose down to even with the rear, removing the factory rake, and I leave it there any time the car is in motion. No more vibration problems.
It won't be sunny for another few-to-several days, so I broke out the flash. On my un-modified HP 27xi LCD monitor, this is remarkably accurate in terms of color.
Just look at the outside seat bolster's condition! The B-pillar trim is nearly perfect, too.
Doh! I didn't think to remove the microfiber towel from the rear seat. I've been cleaning windows and the like at stoplights, if I see a dirty/foggy spot.
Without the controller the car will still lower itself when cruising above 65, resulting in driveline vibration when slowing between 65 and 45. I brought the nose down to even with the rear, removing the factory rake, and I leave it there any time the car is in motion. No more vibration problems.
On my '08, I attempted to verify, multiple times, the car lowered itself at speed, and never could.
75 MPH for ten minutes. Take an empty exit, brake hard as soon as I'm off the highway, kill the engine (we're talking less than 10 seconds from highway speed to engine off), get out, measure the fender lip to ground distance. Hmph...that's where I set it to be.
Fire it back up, and wait. Nothing.
Tried three other times, gave up. I'm not convinced it lowers itself, unless you're in Height High while at highway speeds for however long it requires to trip the function.
This car has much, much less nose up/tail down rake to it. Much less. Enough so that, I may not touch it, at all.
I've looked for exactly that when approaching it at work, and it appears dead-level to me.
Great pics. Your interior does look like new. It almost appears as light as mine. I, too leave the armrest down in back by I think it looks so cool.
Like you, I haven’t noticed a change in ride height while driving at speed and then getting out. My moms Grand Cherokee has a light that let you know it’s in “aero” mode. But I assume Lexus wouldn’t mislead in this as it gets freat mileage on the highway.
Anyway, you got a beautiful car and I really like the colors.
The LS 460 gets the MPG it does for a few reasons.
0.27 Cd
High performance V8
8-speed trans which allows said V8 to loaf along at 2K RPM while cruising at 80 MPH
The underbody is almost completely enclosed (for a passenger car), and that helps a TON. Automobile undercarriages are notoriously 'dirty' when it comes to air flow, and out-of-sight, out-of-mind.
12-15-18 | 07:11 AM
, a rare find indeed.
