ikonjohn

Members I am looking for an ls460. Any suggestions or recommendations on what year 2008-2011 and which wheel base. I love the car and the wife said go for it. Also do you recommend dealers or private party. Any help would be appreciated. - ikonjohn

Falbz

If you need the extra leg room in the back I would go with the 460L. I love mine and I would definately recommend picking one up with the factory air ride suspension.

Nospinzone

We rarely have rear seat passengers, and the legroom back there is plentiful anyway. If you don't need the extra 5 inches you can save money without the extra weight and length.

Of course a lot is going to depend on the deal, but generally I would say you are better off with a CPO. If you buy through private party, you should definitely consider the Lexus Platinum Extended Warranty.

And welcome to the Club! Don't be a stranger.

Silverpaws

Yeah, my swb has plenty of legroom even with the front seats all the way back. As far as year, that depends on your budget but I will say that the valve spring recall was applicable to the 2007-08 years. My 08 has been trouble free however.

I also want to welcome you to the club. I know that you will find some very useful information here which will permit you to enjoy your Lexus even more.

Jlacck

I am actually curious about this question too except I am now considering a 2009 and up to avoid the VSR issues. However, after searching the forums I see a lot complaints about rear struts or suspensions failing... (especially on air models). Is this a common problem for all years or just a few model years?

JFNash

Your options are basically dependent upon the following choices:
1- SWB vs LWB vs LWB Exec. vs LS600hL (short vs long wheelbase vs long wheelbase with the executive pkg vs the top of the line hybrid LS600hL). The long version has extra legroom in the backseat and extra trunk space along with other optional features such as rear side sunshades, rear armrest controls for a/c & the entertainment system, rear 9" entertainment screen, separate rear a/c system from the front system. You need to consider your garage space if you decide to pick up the long version. Many found that a deciding factor when they bought their car.

2- '07 - '09 vs '10 - '13 ('14?). The car has so far received one facelift which is expected to last till the end of the current generation in 2013 or 2014. The first two years of the car suffered from a few design or manufacturing defects/problems. The most popular one is the valve springs issue which Lexus recalled all the affected cars to replace the valve springs with stronger ones. The process required access to the engine and its internal components, so you may want to make sure that you're okay with that if you're getting one of those. Other defects have been popular in the early models such as the wind noise (mostly '07 and many '08 LS460's), rattling dashboard, gloves box defect, weak front seats cushion, noisy brake actuator, and malfunctioning sound system amplifier. From what I read, the '09 seems to be the least affected by these problems. It hasn't be recalled. Then comes '10 - '13 or '14 model. As far as I know they've been trouble-free. Lexus made improvements along with slight changes in the interior/exterior design, but no radical changes.

3- RWD vs AWD. If you decide to go with the AWD, make sure you read through the related threads on this forum that thoroughly discussed few issues with the tranny being problematic or at least not up to the expectations. Some even got it replaced by Lexus to no avail. I'm not saying they're all faulty. But you may want to be knowledgeable about the known issues so you know what to ask about and pay attention to when you decide to buy it and test drive it.

4- New vs CPO vs Used. Lexus generally is a reliable car. But if you decide to buy a used Lexus, the extra $ put on the CPO may or may not pay off but certainly will give you the peace of mind throughout the warranty lifetime. That's especially true if you decided to pick up one of the older models ('07 - '08).

5- Optional features: Seats cooling/heating, steering wheel heater, parking guidance system (a useless $6K feature that supposedly allows your car to par itself, but in reality it's totally impractical), a must-have Mark Levinson 19-speaker sound system, air suspension, touring pkg which's basically beautiful wheels, electrically-powered rear side sunshades, rear armrest entertainment control buttons, and few other options that I can't remember.

I personally prefer the '10 model. It has the current design, the upgraded nav system, an embedded USB port with full integration with iThings, it's trouble-free, and it shouldn't be as expensive as the most recent ones. It's kind of the optimal choice at this point in time. Again this is my personal opinion.

Hope this helps.

ikonjohn

Thanks again for everyone's input and suggestions. I plan on test driving a few different years this week. I will probably go with the SWB based on your input about the garage and I am leaning towards the 2010 model and preferably a CPO. Looking forward to joining the Lexus family.

Mikey100

Hey JFNash ...........

That was a REALLY nice and concise comparison write-up.

Many Thanks. I am sure you've helped many peoples.

Enjoy a really great day !

Mikey
Lake Oconee, GA