Consumer Reports Slams LS500
#1
Consumer Reports Slams LS500
While CR rates Lexus the most reliable brand in the USA, it has just given a dismal, failing grade to the LS500 for reliability!!
They use a 5 point scale...Much Better than Average, Better than Average, Average, Worse than Average, Much Worse than Average.
Unbelievably, the LS500 is rated 1/5, MUCH WORSE FOR RELIABILITY THAN AVERAGE!!!!
All the stranger when you actually dig into their ratings:
MUCH BETTER THAN AVERAGE (11 items)
Engine Major
Engine Minor
Engine Cooling
Transmission Major
Fuel System
Electric System
Climate System
Suspension
Exhaust
Paint/Trim
Body Hardware
BETTER THAN AVERAGE (3)
Drive System
Power Equipment
In Car Electronics
AVERAGE (2)
Brakes
Body Integrity
WORSE THAN AVERAGE (1)
Transmission Minor
MUCH WORSE THAN AVERAGE (0)
NOTHING.NIL. ZERO
OVERALL RATING
MUCH WORSE THAN AVERAGE.
This is a mathematical impossibility.
The guys at Lexus better speak to the guys at Consumer Reports, and get this corrected. Fast!
They use a 5 point scale...Much Better than Average, Better than Average, Average, Worse than Average, Much Worse than Average.
Unbelievably, the LS500 is rated 1/5, MUCH WORSE FOR RELIABILITY THAN AVERAGE!!!!
All the stranger when you actually dig into their ratings:
MUCH BETTER THAN AVERAGE (11 items)
Engine Major
Engine Minor
Engine Cooling
Transmission Major
Fuel System
Electric System
Climate System
Suspension
Exhaust
Paint/Trim
Body Hardware
BETTER THAN AVERAGE (3)
Drive System
Power Equipment
In Car Electronics
AVERAGE (2)
Brakes
Body Integrity
WORSE THAN AVERAGE (1)
Transmission Minor
MUCH WORSE THAN AVERAGE (0)
NOTHING.NIL. ZERO
OVERALL RATING
MUCH WORSE THAN AVERAGE.
This is a mathematical impossibility.
The guys at Lexus better speak to the guys at Consumer Reports, and get this corrected. Fast!
#2
Consumer reports summed up the LS 500 as a “misfire” last year. They seem to randomly decide otherwise well-received cars are not up to their standards and they don’t re-evaluate as the model is improved. They just continue to trash it year after year. They hate Lexus Enform and the more features packed within Enform, the more they hate it.
I could understand something like a Tesla Model 3 or a modern Volvo getting low reliability due to poor infotainment as both brands are extremely limited by an inoperable touchscreen, but Lexus are still mostly functional if Enform is being buggy so it shouldn’t be as high up as an engine that tends to grenade or a CVT that lasts 10k miles.
However, to Consumer Reports, it is.
I could understand something like a Tesla Model 3 or a modern Volvo getting low reliability due to poor infotainment as both brands are extremely limited by an inoperable touchscreen, but Lexus are still mostly functional if Enform is being buggy so it shouldn’t be as high up as an engine that tends to grenade or a CVT that lasts 10k miles.
However, to Consumer Reports, it is.
#3
While CR rates Lexus the most reliable brand in the USA, it has just given a dismal, failing grade to the LS500 for reliability!!
They use a 5 point scale...Much Better than Average, Better than Average, Average, Worse than Average, Much Worse than Average.
Unbelievably, the LS500 is rated 1/5, MUCH WORSE FOR RELIABILITY THAN AVERAGE!!!!
All the stranger when you actually dig into their ratings:
MUCH BETTER THAN AVERAGE (11 items)
Engine Major
Engine Minor
Engine Cooling
Transmission Major
Fuel System
Electric System
Climate System
Suspension
Exhaust
Paint/Trim
Body Hardware
BETTER THAN AVERAGE (3)
Drive System
Power Equipment
In Car Electronics
AVERAGE (2)
Brakes
Body Integrity
WORSE THAN AVERAGE (1)
Transmission Minor
MUCH WORSE THAN AVERAGE (0)
NOTHING.NIL. ZERO
OVERALL RATING
MUCH WORSE THAN AVERAGE.
This is a mathematical impossibility.
The guys at Lexus better speak to the guys at Consumer Reports, and get this corrected. Fast!
They use a 5 point scale...Much Better than Average, Better than Average, Average, Worse than Average, Much Worse than Average.
Unbelievably, the LS500 is rated 1/5, MUCH WORSE FOR RELIABILITY THAN AVERAGE!!!!
All the stranger when you actually dig into their ratings:
MUCH BETTER THAN AVERAGE (11 items)
Engine Major
Engine Minor
Engine Cooling
Transmission Major
Fuel System
Electric System
Climate System
Suspension
Exhaust
Paint/Trim
Body Hardware
BETTER THAN AVERAGE (3)
Drive System
Power Equipment
In Car Electronics
AVERAGE (2)
Brakes
Body Integrity
WORSE THAN AVERAGE (1)
Transmission Minor
MUCH WORSE THAN AVERAGE (0)
NOTHING.NIL. ZERO
OVERALL RATING
MUCH WORSE THAN AVERAGE.
This is a mathematical impossibility.
The guys at Lexus better speak to the guys at Consumer Reports, and get this corrected. Fast!
also, what does Body Integrity mean?
#5
I subscribe to CR, so I just logged in to check on this. Sure enough, they're predicting worst reliability with no supporting ratings. Shows 1/5 for predicted reliability, but none of the items under that show any trouble spots. It does indeed look like a mistake to me.
I can't really show the whole thing because it's huge and all graphics, but essentially it looks like this:
(I believe this is why the OP listed the items under their ratings rather than trying to post of picture of all these weird icons).
I can't really show the whole thing because it's huge and all graphics, but essentially it looks like this:
(I believe this is why the OP listed the items under their ratings rather than trying to post of picture of all these weird icons).
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#8
Consumer reports summed up the LS 500 as a “misfire” last year. They seem to randomly decide otherwise well-received cars are not up to their standards and they don’t re-evaluate as the model is improved. They just continue to trash it year after year. They hate Lexus Enform and the more features packed within Enform, the more they hate it.
I could understand something like a Tesla Model 3 or a modern Volvo getting low reliability due to poor infotainment as both brands are extremely limited by an inoperable touchscreen, but Lexus are still mostly functional if Enform is being buggy so it shouldn’t be as high up as an engine that tends to grenade or a CVT that lasts 10k miles.
However, to Consumer Reports, it is.
I could understand something like a Tesla Model 3 or a modern Volvo getting low reliability due to poor infotainment as both brands are extremely limited by an inoperable touchscreen, but Lexus are still mostly functional if Enform is being buggy so it shouldn’t be as high up as an engine that tends to grenade or a CVT that lasts 10k miles.
However, to Consumer Reports, it is.
I think CR serves a purpose, but I wouldn't buy/not buy something solely on their recommendation.
#9
How it works is each year they ask members to submit surveys. They ask you what car you have (or still have), and what specific issues you had with it that year. They tabulate those responses to come up with the reliability scores. While the icons don't represent trends, in most car models you see more and more problems the older the cars are. The issue here is that the total reliability score doesn't make sense since none of the individual areas have low reliability. I will try to email them and see what they say.
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MrDOS (04-24-20)
#10
Consumer Reports Is Right
I have been to the Lexus dealer to check out the LS500. Relative to the all the LS series that preceded it, 400, 430 and 460 this car is an abomination.
The exterior is a cartoonish nightmare of overstyling. The interior is smaller, cramped, visibility compromised. The ergonomics of the
instrument panel are a horror. The simplest operation requires multiple steps with an infuriating mouse through a maze of menus
requiring WAY too much attention away from the road. Read the road test text that accompanies the rating...I agree with their findings.
The LS that we know and love is dead. I will never buy another one beyond the 2012. The LS430 was the high point for Lexus. The 460
was a slight downgrade. The 500 has fallen off a cliff.
The exterior is a cartoonish nightmare of overstyling. The interior is smaller, cramped, visibility compromised. The ergonomics of the
instrument panel are a horror. The simplest operation requires multiple steps with an infuriating mouse through a maze of menus
requiring WAY too much attention away from the road. Read the road test text that accompanies the rating...I agree with their findings.
The LS that we know and love is dead. I will never buy another one beyond the 2012. The LS430 was the high point for Lexus. The 460
was a slight downgrade. The 500 has fallen off a cliff.
Last edited by obsessed; 11-22-19 at 07:11 PM.
The following 2 users liked this post by obsessed:
aypues (12-05-19),
LS460Crown (12-03-19)
#11
Yeah, it's been well documented that owners that loved the old LS's typically don't like the new one. Lexus is after a younger customer here. That said, I don't think it's fair to continually criticize the new LS on the forum devoted to those young people that liked it well enough to buy or lease one.
My point in posting here was to say that Consumer Reports is doing a disservice to Toyota by publishing (apparently) incorrect reliability ratings.
My point in posting here was to say that Consumer Reports is doing a disservice to Toyota by publishing (apparently) incorrect reliability ratings.
#12
The Consumer Reports road test focused mostly on the misguided design and engineering choices Lexus has made...not the reliability.
The car is no longer as attractive, as comfortable, as user-friendly or as smooth as before. None of these issues affect reliability
but they greatly affect the pleasure of driving. Lexus had tried to turn the LS into a sports sedan. This is not the role of the LS.
If Lexus wants a sports sedan they should make one, not "repurpose" the LS. What they have now is a
Neither-Fish-Nor-Fowl mess. BTW, few "younger customers" are buying $80,000+ sedans. C.R. is not doing a disservice to
Toyota. Toyota is doing a disservice to their customers.
The car is no longer as attractive, as comfortable, as user-friendly or as smooth as before. None of these issues affect reliability
but they greatly affect the pleasure of driving. Lexus had tried to turn the LS into a sports sedan. This is not the role of the LS.
If Lexus wants a sports sedan they should make one, not "repurpose" the LS. What they have now is a
Neither-Fish-Nor-Fowl mess. BTW, few "younger customers" are buying $80,000+ sedans. C.R. is not doing a disservice to
Toyota. Toyota is doing a disservice to their customers.
Last edited by obsessed; 11-23-19 at 07:48 AM.
The following 2 users liked this post by obsessed:
aypues (12-05-19),
LS460Crown (12-03-19)
#13
Yeah, it's been well documented that owners that loved the old LS's typically don't like the new one. Lexus is after a younger customer here. That said, I don't think it's fair to continually criticize the new LS on the forum devoted to those young people that liked it well enough to buy or lease one.
My point in posting here was to say that Consumer Reports is doing a disservice to Toyota by publishing (apparently) incorrect reliability ratings.
My point in posting here was to say that Consumer Reports is doing a disservice to Toyota by publishing (apparently) incorrect reliability ratings.
#15
Of course, it's a Lexus decision. As an LS owner
I have a right and a responsibility to express
an opinion when I think they are making a mistake. And you are correct...I will try to
keep my LS running as long as possible as I will not be buying another until/unless Lexus
rediscovers sensible and ergonomic design. R.I.P. LS.
Last edited by obsessed; 01-16-20 at 09:11 AM.
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