Mark Levinson Amp Repair
10-23-15, 11:18 AM
#106
Lexus Test Driver
10-23-15, 11:37 AM
#107
Pole Position
I still have one ls 600hl left.. If anyone found a source for $400 flat repair, please do post. It would be useful information for many of us.
10-23-15, 11:45 AM
#108
Lexus Test Driver
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...ir-tech-2.html
I'd be interested to know what constitutes a $400 repair versus a $700+ repair...
10-23-15, 06:33 PM
#109
Unfortunately mine has never gone more than about 5K miles without some sort of breakage, usually significant. It's undergone pretty much every 'common trouble area' that these cars have, not just one or two of them.
It also kinda bums me out that last month in /new Orleans I rented a new Dodge truck. Monday of this week in Minneapolis I rented a new Chevy truck. Both of them were noticeably quieter (cabin noise) than my LS. Less road noise, less wind noise.
It's a very capable vehicle. For a big car, it stops, starts, and negotiates traffic very well. And it's very good on the highway. It just doesn't instill confidence in me.....I'm always waiting for the next thing to break. I keep the car day and night in a climate controlled garage. I creep over speed bumps when I can't avoid them. I avoid potholes. I park at the back of the lot. But still it breaks....
It also kinda bums me out that last month in /new Orleans I rented a new Dodge truck. Monday of this week in Minneapolis I rented a new Chevy truck. Both of them were noticeably quieter (cabin noise) than my LS. Less road noise, less wind noise.
It's a very capable vehicle. For a big car, it stops, starts, and negotiates traffic very well. And it's very good on the highway. It just doesn't instill confidence in me.....I'm always waiting for the next thing to break. I keep the car day and night in a climate controlled garage. I creep over speed bumps when I can't avoid them. I avoid potholes. I park at the back of the lot. But still it breaks....
10-23-15, 08:29 PM
#110
Lexus Fanatic
The db ratings for those trucks don't even come close to those of the LS. There is obviously something not right with your ride. In fact, the LS is near the top of the ratings for db of all cars currently on the market. I have friends with both of the trucks you mention, and while they are pretty quiet for a truck, there is no way that they are quieter than my LS. Especially given the M&S all terrain tires they ride on. You really need to get your car looked over.
10-25-15, 05:26 AM
#111
Well these were rental trucks with normal street tires.
I'm not sure dB meters are actually able to measure how quiet a car is....they can measure 'raw' sound but there's a lot going on in a car interior - how can they quantify all that? It's like trying to use a meter to measure the taste of wine.
Maybe for kicks I'll go to a dealer and test drive a new LS to see how quiet it is.
I'm not sure dB meters are actually able to measure how quiet a car is....they can measure 'raw' sound but there's a lot going on in a car interior - how can they quantify all that? It's like trying to use a meter to measure the taste of wine.
Maybe for kicks I'll go to a dealer and test drive a new LS to see how quiet it is.
10-25-15, 07:45 AM
#112
Pole Position
I have owned many lexuses.. more than 20..Almost all of them were leased.. therefore, they were all under warranty.. and I would not be the best person for gauging reliability.
These days, almost all cars have become extremely reliable for the warranty period of 3 or 4 years.
For older cars, I hear of more troubles on Mercedes.
Lexus too.. but Mercedes seem more troublesome.
A friend who owns a 1999 ls 400 said to me that it costs a couple of thousand a year in repairs.. A/C to various other repairs, at the dealer.
He has a 2007 ls 460l, which seems trouble free at probably 60k miles. The real test is at 90k+ miles
Lexus suspension is probably a trouble spot.
Engine and transmission are strengths for lexus.. but not water pump.
I am guessing that Electronics are not too bad - except the mark levinson amp - Lexus should offer free replacement for 10 year! They should be ashamed of themselves for charging money.. Clearly, the ML amp has a design or manufacturing fault!
Wind noise is a problem that I have heard of and actually experienced in the 2007 to 2012 model lexus LS460/LS600 (I have had four of these and I think they all had some kind of wind noise or other - I am not100% sure though.. Memory fails me.. Maybe the 600s were fine? But i do remember being annoyed by the wind noise).
I am particularly surprised that your car has problems every 5000 miles. I would be interested in knowing more, about your experience - just for informational purpose.
After buying 26 or so lexuses over the past 26 years, I am now no longer a fan of Lexus. I am a a fan of the Jaguar cars.. and the S550/S65..
I have two jaguars, which I bought new in 2012 and 2013. They are as reliable, so far, as the Lexuses. To me, the spindle grille styling styling of the LS460 is unappealing to me.. Of course, its drive is very nice!
Last edited by lexus600hl; 10-25-15 at 11:12 AM.
10-26-15, 05:02 PM
#113
Unfortunately mine has never gone more than about 5K miles without some sort of breakage, usually significant. It's undergone pretty much every 'common trouble area' that these cars have, not just one or two of them.
It also kinda bums me out that last month in /new Orleans I rented a new Dodge truck. Monday of this week in Minneapolis I rented a new Chevy truck. Both of them were noticeably quieter (cabin noise) than my LS. Less road noise, less wind noise.
It's a very capable vehicle. For a big car, it stops, starts, and negotiates traffic very well. And it's very good on the highway. It just doesn't instill confidence in me.....I'm always waiting for the next thing to break. I keep the car day and night in a climate controlled garage. I creep over speed bumps when I can't avoid them. I avoid potholes. I park at the back of the lot. But still it breaks....
It also kinda bums me out that last month in /new Orleans I rented a new Dodge truck. Monday of this week in Minneapolis I rented a new Chevy truck. Both of them were noticeably quieter (cabin noise) than my LS. Less road noise, less wind noise.
It's a very capable vehicle. For a big car, it stops, starts, and negotiates traffic very well. And it's very good on the highway. It just doesn't instill confidence in me.....I'm always waiting for the next thing to break. I keep the car day and night in a climate controlled garage. I creep over speed bumps when I can't avoid them. I avoid potholes. I park at the back of the lot. But still it breaks....
Well these were rental trucks with normal street tires.
I'm not sure dB meters are actually able to measure how quiet a car is....they can measure 'raw' sound but there's a lot going on in a car interior - how can they quantify all that? It's like trying to use a meter to measure the taste of wine.
Maybe for kicks I'll go to a dealer and test drive a new LS to see how quiet it is.
I'm not sure dB meters are actually able to measure how quiet a car is....they can measure 'raw' sound but there's a lot going on in a car interior - how can they quantify all that? It's like trying to use a meter to measure the taste of wine.
Maybe for kicks I'll go to a dealer and test drive a new LS to see how quiet it is.
I am sorry that you are experiencing road noise and wind noise with your car. That is not normal. It is very likely that your car can be repaired.
Please let me assure that the noise level in the cabin can be quantified with a sound meter for the purposes of comparison but it is not worth your time and effort to do that. Just as a wine connoisseur can distinguish between a sip of vinegar and a sip of reasonable wine, you can recognize that your car has a problem - it's intuitive, you already know that you have a problem.
You can test drive a new LS460 and you will surely find it exceptionally quiet. And you can test drive many of the used LS460s on the used car lot and find most of them just as exceptionally quiet.
The vast majority of the cars that are not quiet, and you car seems to be one of those, have a trim defect that causes that problem and they can be transformed with a simple and inexpensive repair.
Repairing your car will enhance your pleasure of ownership immensely.
11-03-15, 06:25 PM
#114
"Just curious.. which year/model car do you have? Miles?" It's an '07 that just turned 100K. I don't mean that a BMW or Mercedes* would be better - they wouldn't - but just that Lexus ain't what it used to be IMO.
* My wife has a 2013 Mercedes ML350 which I despise most thoroughly. And her previous car was a GL450, which I also despised. Terrible controls, poor transition between stop-and-go, etc. Get this...her ML350 has a steering wheel that intentionally vibrates when the car decides you have made a lane change against its better judgement. WTF? After 100 years of trying to get cars to vibrate less, they make one that vibrates on purpose.
Back to the Lexus, I don't mean to imply the car is garbage-truck noisy, just that it is not as quiet as I'd expect.
I'd like to think I could take it to a Lexus dealer and have them quickly and simply fix any issue with it....but my 'reality meter' tells me that I'm not going to pay Lexus dealer hourly rates for their "technicians" to go on a goose chase with my car. That's just an open invitation for headaches.
In any case....the noise level I can live with. It's the chronic problems I could live without.
* My wife has a 2013 Mercedes ML350 which I despise most thoroughly. And her previous car was a GL450, which I also despised. Terrible controls, poor transition between stop-and-go, etc. Get this...her ML350 has a steering wheel that intentionally vibrates when the car decides you have made a lane change against its better judgement. WTF? After 100 years of trying to get cars to vibrate less, they make one that vibrates on purpose.
Back to the Lexus, I don't mean to imply the car is garbage-truck noisy, just that it is not as quiet as I'd expect.
I'd like to think I could take it to a Lexus dealer and have them quickly and simply fix any issue with it....but my 'reality meter' tells me that I'm not going to pay Lexus dealer hourly rates for their "technicians" to go on a goose chase with my car. That's just an open invitation for headaches.
In any case....the noise level I can live with. It's the chronic problems I could live without.
11-03-15, 06:35 PM
#115
Anyhow, back on topic...
As an update to the whole Mark Levinson amp repair, I sent mine to United Radio last week. It arrived Friday and they called me the same day to confirm it was in fact broken in the manner that they usually break. The repair is $725. They told me they would have it fixed by Monday (yesterday) which they did and it's on its way back to me.
I asked the guy there if there would be any 'upgrades' as part of the repair. He said "Definitely. We modify the board to include several components that are way more reliable than original. You should never have this sort of failure again out of this amp."
I asked "What about sound upgrades? I've heard some people say they have better bass, etc." He said "No. We don't do anything to influence the sound; that is pretty much an inherent attribute of the amp. We do perform checks to the repaired amp using equipment to verify it is operating within range, equipment that can hear far better than any human ear. If someone says they are hearing a different sound out of the amp they are imagining it."
I told him I learned of their service through the Lexus site. He said he knew United was mentioned in a few threads and made the comment "The only problem we have is people who read the first posts from 2008 and expect us still to repair the amps for $325..."
He said their repair they do today is a much more thorough repair than it was in 2008, and the cost of several components have gone way up. Plus all the usual effects of inflation, etc.
As an update to the whole Mark Levinson amp repair, I sent mine to United Radio last week. It arrived Friday and they called me the same day to confirm it was in fact broken in the manner that they usually break. The repair is $725. They told me they would have it fixed by Monday (yesterday) which they did and it's on its way back to me.
I asked the guy there if there would be any 'upgrades' as part of the repair. He said "Definitely. We modify the board to include several components that are way more reliable than original. You should never have this sort of failure again out of this amp."
I asked "What about sound upgrades? I've heard some people say they have better bass, etc." He said "No. We don't do anything to influence the sound; that is pretty much an inherent attribute of the amp. We do perform checks to the repaired amp using equipment to verify it is operating within range, equipment that can hear far better than any human ear. If someone says they are hearing a different sound out of the amp they are imagining it."
I told him I learned of their service through the Lexus site. He said he knew United was mentioned in a few threads and made the comment "The only problem we have is people who read the first posts from 2008 and expect us still to repair the amps for $325..."
He said their repair they do today is a much more thorough repair than it was in 2008, and the cost of several components have gone way up. Plus all the usual effects of inflation, etc.
11-09-15, 02:44 PM
#116
Anyhow, back on topic...
As an update to the whole Mark Levinson amp repair, I sent mine to United Radio last week. It arrived Friday and they called me the same day to confirm it was in fact broken in the manner that they usually break. The repair is $725. They told me they would have it fixed by Monday (yesterday) which they did and it's on its way back to me.
I asked the guy there if there would be any 'upgrades' as part of the repair. He said "Definitely. We modify the board to include several components that are way more reliable than original. You should never have this sort of failure again out of this amp."
I asked "What about sound upgrades? I've heard some people say they have better bass, etc." He said "No. We don't do anything to influence the sound; that is pretty much an inherent attribute of the amp. We do perform checks to the repaired amp using equipment to verify it is operating within range, equipment that can hear far better than any human ear. If someone says they are hearing a different sound out of the amp they are imagining it."
I told him I learned of their service through the Lexus site. He said he knew United was mentioned in a few threads and made the comment "The only problem we have is people who read the first posts from 2008 and expect us still to repair the amps for $325..."
He said their repair they do today is a much more thorough repair than it was in 2008, and the cost of several components have gone way up. Plus all the usual effects of inflation, etc.
As an update to the whole Mark Levinson amp repair, I sent mine to United Radio last week. It arrived Friday and they called me the same day to confirm it was in fact broken in the manner that they usually break. The repair is $725. They told me they would have it fixed by Monday (yesterday) which they did and it's on its way back to me.
I asked the guy there if there would be any 'upgrades' as part of the repair. He said "Definitely. We modify the board to include several components that are way more reliable than original. You should never have this sort of failure again out of this amp."
I asked "What about sound upgrades? I've heard some people say they have better bass, etc." He said "No. We don't do anything to influence the sound; that is pretty much an inherent attribute of the amp. We do perform checks to the repaired amp using equipment to verify it is operating within range, equipment that can hear far better than any human ear. If someone says they are hearing a different sound out of the amp they are imagining it."
I told him I learned of their service through the Lexus site. He said he knew United was mentioned in a few threads and made the comment "The only problem we have is people who read the first posts from 2008 and expect us still to repair the amps for $325..."
He said their repair they do today is a much more thorough repair than it was in 2008, and the cost of several components have gone way up. Plus all the usual effects of inflation, etc.
I don't care what the URS tech said mine definitely is louder! Lol. I did buy my car a year ago used w/70k on it so the amp was probably on its downwind leg. Got it repaired this past July. Very happy thus far.
11-09-15, 03:11 PM
#117
wind noise is a problem that I have heard of and actually experienced in the 2007 to 2012 model lexus LS460/LS600 (I have had four of these and I think they all had some kind of wind noise or other - I am not100% sure though.. Memory fails me.. Maybe the 600s were fine? But i do remember being annoyed by the wind noise).
After buying 26 or so lexuses over the past 26 years, I am now no longer a fan of Lexus. I am a a fan of the Jaguar cars.. and the S550/S65..
I have two jaguars, which I bought new in 2012 and 2013. They are as reliable, so far, as the Lexuses. To me, the spindle grille styling styling of the LS460 is unappealing to me.. Of course, its drive is very nice!
11-09-15, 03:44 PM
#118
Lexus Fanatic
I'm still a Lexus fan and I'm not impressed with the spindle grille. I had my amp replaced under warranty. I've never had a wind noise issue and I thought my 460 was quiet but my friend new Chrysler 300 is just as quiet if not quieter. My brother Buick Lacrosse is extremely quiet. Other automakers are catching up when it comes to quietness.
11-10-15, 06:51 PM
#119
I'm not having a wind noise issue or a decibel meter but the Chrysler 300 was extremely quiet. Noise levels varies for many reasons. The 300 was new with about 700 miles. Not as comfortable and smooth as my LS but it seems quieter. I'm guessing by being new gives it a little edge over a 5 years old LS. The Lacrosse is almost Lexus quiet in my opinion but I wouldn't trade my LS for both of them.