R Z

Maybe, but then again, when the 460's came out, I didn't get a smoking deal on an LS430, which some thought Lexus would be giving away. I did loads of research and thought I got about as good a deal as I could find.

We shall see.

Stereorob

control arms seem to be a thing on these. ive noticed general wear and tear on the early 460s is different than the 400. the non ML stereo sounds like crap so gotta go with the ML, but those fail at an alarming rate so im sure ill have that to deal with when I get one.

im keeping my Ls400 till it blows up, which is probably still a good ten years away, but im going to start really going after an Ls460 around 2018. im hoping ill be able to find one at that point with 165k on it (that's the sweet spot for the 400 so im guessing same goes for the 460). should be able to find a sub 10k 460L by then. id like to find one with the executive package but those are almost unobtanium.

thing is this. ive been an Ls400 guy for a lot of years. I know exactly what to expect of them, how they handle, how to work on them, what to listen for when it comes to possible problems, and the Ls460 is a totally different animal so im going to have to re-learn everything. there are two things on the 460 though that REALLY do not sit right with me. the electronic E brake and the sealed transmission with no easy way to add fluid. as these cars get older I see this becoming a major problem with them in the future. might just be paranoid but not sure.. thoughts?

R Z

I had my 400 for 10 years. it certainly had loads of life left. I wanted to get a few more comfort features which is why I jumped to the 430. As for fears, there are too many other fears in the world for me to be concerned about a car. I love my 460 about as much as you can love an inanimate object. It didn't come with a certification but the car had most everything in my price point that I could want. Since I leave the maintenance to a mechanic, I just sit back, crank up that ML sound system, and smile as I drive down the road. It's all good!

dlbuckls10

Yes indeed just looking at my 460 makes me smile.

roadfrog

"Alarming"? I dunno. There's only a handful of members here who have had this issue, but clearly it's one of the weaker points in the LS460 (along with the control arms). FWIW, my '08 with 100k miles has had neither of these issues. Same with most others here at CL. Perspective.

I agree with the above.....after 35 years of driving MANY cars/trucks of many kinds, this LS is one of the few that has CONSISTENTLY left me smiling after hitting the lock button on my FOB.

tom240

I have 159k on my 2007 LS460 and have not had any problems and am madly in love with it.

ambrown307

130k miles here with basic maintenance only - with the exception of the ML Amp. Original owner had it replaced under warranty at 40k miles, then I replaced it at 95k miles. In the past, I usually change cars every 18 months or so. I've had this car for 2 years and don't see myself getting rid of it anytime soon.

Also, I still have the original control arms and am not experiencing any symptoms whatsoever. No creaking, popping, or clunking. I even made it up to 45k miles on my last set of tires.

Kennyr44

I'm convinced now to wait on control arm replacement till I get a synonym. They just look worn at 84k. My ML amp was replaced under warranty by its previous owner. As for LS400 and 430 people who love their cars, they need to understand there are degrees of love. Let's picture a decent looking woman and a knock out gorgeous woman. Just an upgrade that's gonna put an even bigger smile on your face. Cruising in a 460 is really special and you will wish you swithed earlier. At least that's my case and nobody loved their ls400 more than me. Of course it didn't come without a cost.

Doublebase

Love hearing high mileage stories, it doesn't matter what type of car it is, I love them. But hearing them about the 460 is even better. Tom240, 159,000 miles and having nothing gone wrong with the vehicle is quite an accomplishment.

Kennyr44, regarding the control arms...probably a good idea to wait. I did the same thing with my car.

The symptoms I experienced were...slight vibration at 70mph, slight pull to the left on the highway, a clunk when going over bumps coming from the right front, tire wear, and a noise when braking hard. I drove with those symptoms for 20k miles before changing the control arms. Replacing the control arms didn't solve all those problems...it made the clunk over bumps go away, and it made the vibration decrease, but it didn't eliminate it. Also the pull is still there and the squeak while hard braking is still there. It's too early to tell if the unusual tire wear problem is gone, but I imagine it will help.

I just find that regarding control arms and bushing wear...it happens on all cars...you can't avoid it. And unless you replace every damn piece of rubber in a suspension, it's not going to be perfect once the car has some higher mileage on it. My car does feel better, but the control arms didn't solve everything. I also replaced the passenger side front wheel bearing - it was shot - that eliminated some noise as well. I do wonder if waiting to replace those control arms placed some stress on that bearing, causing it to fail sooner than I would have expected.

I appreciate a car that is reliable, as a car ages, it can do it one of two ways...it can do it while feeling pretty close to new, or do it feeling like it's going to fall apart. The LS feels pretty damn good...damn solid. I'm impressed by that, and I've talked to "experts" that tell me the LS460 will continue to feel like new all the way up to 225,000 miles.

dal20402

If you're willing to take the increased stress put on other suspension components, the other reason to do control arm replacement is tire wear. My car with worn control arms wore out the inside edges of a set of tires very prematurely, to the point that I had to replace my tires along with the control arms even though they had plenty of tread across most of the tire.

alisurti

I drive 09 LS460 with 103k miles on it currently having put almost 27k in the past 12 months with just regular oil changes and tire rotation at the dealership. I drive from Atlanta to Charlotte every week and what is surprising is not just the ride but the mileage I get is extra ordinary for any V8 engine. I cruise at about 78 mph and get anywhere between 30 to 31 mpg. Most of my driving is in the 8th gear. The rate at which I am putting miles on this car I will be hitting the 125k with in the next 7-8 months. Will keep y'all updated.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

True, but I don't know of any other car that costs over $5000 to replace them!

greg3852

They only cost that much if you go to a dealer. The parts are less than $1000 from Amazon and about 4 hrs work for the home mechanic.

And thanks to Doublebase we even have a How to!

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...tures-etc.html

idp1

Bought a 1995 LS in 2003 at 110k miles and sold it in 2011 at 224k miles. And bought a 2002 LS430 with 80k miles in 2009 and traded it in Nov 2015 at 183k miles. One of the best make/models to reward the owner with ROI.
The first LS had an air suspension which, at times, showed its own quriky temper! Did timing belt changes for both and LS430 was a sprinter... the best Lexus I owned. I told my wife I always want an LS in the stable: bought a 2010 LS460 AWD CPO with 50k miles in Nov, 2015. Hope it will serve us as well as the others.

Lexmob

I just got one straight from a Lexus dealership. It was taken care of since it’s birth. 220k miles, very clean for $6,500. I feel lucky