stever500

Hi folks,

I posted on here about a year ago and was looking at LS460's again lately. Having some issues with both my current cars, they cost over $7500 total last year in maintenance and was thinking of dumping them both to get an '08 LS 460. I really want the '10 LS460 Sport I saw today at the dealer but I can't afford it.

The cheapest 2010 LS460 Sports with 11k miles are still $60k on cars.com vs. the $78k new one I looked at. My budget is more like ~$40k or so max so I was thinking in theory of getting an '08 with some miles on it and putting the 19-inch split-10-spoke forged alloy Sport wheels on them. Do you guys like these wheels? I checked back 15 pages of posts but didn't see anything on this subject, surprisingly. I'm not the best at searching so I could easily have missed something...

This is the look I'm drawn to:


Or are these a PITA to clean? Do they even fit on the 08's? (SWB or LWB?)



I wish it was 3 years from now and the prices on these sports were down to where I could swing it easier but that's not reality. While at the dealer, they have a way of putting things that makes one believe that paying $78k for the car is actually the way to go due to the car lasting so long, you have a new car that smells fresh, and 100 other rationalizations they come up with. I felt intoxicated sitting in it with that matte wood and cool, custom looking two tone leather interior. How utterly sumptuous.


Love the thick padded steering wheel on the sport vs. the wood and leather regular wheel. I guess I could wait 2-3 more years but my current cars will have A LOT more miles on them and be worth a lot less.

If that 2010 SL460 Spt on cars.com was $50k instead of $60k I would probably have bought it today but it's not. I could find another $10k to have made that work.

Lastly, I don't want to maintain a black car. Is the dark grey one a good bet in terms of looks, or is silver the way to go in your opinion? I have a close friend with an '08 Silver/Blk LS460 and another friend with an '07 Silver/Blk LS460L so I don't want to be too much of a copy cat!

Wife left 12 months ago so the decision is all mine now. Since she didn't work, life is a lot less expensive living as a single guy in many ways. The only thing I wonder is ... is the LS460 too big for a single guy car? I looked very closely at the 2008 IS-F's (love it but I do a lot of driving and want more comfort), the ES350 (not my style at all), the GS (not really me either, but not bad - claustrophobically small back seat though as well as the trunk is kind of tight), or the 07 Acura RL - that's what she has so I don't want the same thing. I really need a reliable, cheap to maintain car, Japanese car and I want some luxury - not a Honda Accord, Camry or Avalon.

I thought the LS would fit the bill quite well as it kind of matches the luxury of my older 7 series BMW. I'm not totally in love with the LS's exterior except for the newer Sport Model. There's something about those wheels and the grill - or is it all in my head?

The BMW is having problems here and there and I'm getting a little beat on fixing it and the 911 is sadly having problems that I really don't want to go into right now. I never thought I'd want to part with these 2 cars but extreme maintenance expense is fairly killing me.

So - Sport wheels on an older '08 LS? Or is that "posing"?

By the way, they had a cool 2008 US Open Official Vehicle golf ball dimpled car on the showroom floor. It was all white and looked like a golf ball on the entire surface. I'm sure you guys have all seen it before but I hadn't. Here's a pic of it from Auto Blog.



Cheers,
Steve

01 BMW 740i
96 911 C4S

CJITTY

Whether it is the 19" five spoke touring wheel, 19" LS hybrid wheel, 19" LS Sport wheel, 18" Telious wheel or the 18" 10 spoke wheel, they are all LS wheels..so rock what you want. Posing would be putting a GS460 emblem/badge on a GS300..but, too bad we can't get a hybrid badge to put on a non hybrid LS so we can roll the HOV lane here in ATL lol

stever500

Thanks for that. I haven't seen a Lexus anywhere around town or on the web with the wheels from the Sport yet so I was wondering if anyone here had done it yet. I'm guessing with the difficulty factor of cleaning them, it may not be that common.

CJITTY

im assuming the sport wheels are 19x8 with 35 offset just like the other 19" LS wheels, so should be no fitment issues. I saw one the other day and with the kit the sport has, the wheels don't look wide enough. it would of been nice if they were 19x9 or even 20s would of been a better look for the sport