LS 460 F-Sport
06-04-14, 09:50 AM
#16
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I landed on my '13 AWD F-Sport quite accidentally, in early '14. Was shopping around many vehicles and was in no way prepared to spend 90-ish, but found this one with ~2K miles (GM-driven for a month or so), and they were fairly aggressive on price, and after working my best deal drove off for about 10K under sticker.
After almost 3 months and about 3K more miles, I am <knocks wood> happy to report that as of yet I have had only two issues, both promptly dealt with by the stealer:
1. The infamous BBS (Brembo Brake Squeal). Shim kit knocked out 95% of the squeal, almost entirely eliminated. Still hear a little occasionally.
2. The rubber gasket around the sunroof was very badly weathered. According to one [insider] account, they've seen this more than a few times, and, so they say, have submitted a report up the chain to get it redesigned. In any event, they replaced the entire unit no questions asked. I got a strong sense I should not be surprised to see this issue reappear.
Other than these two issues, I've been exceedingly happy with the car, and after having owned several luxury nameplates, I suspect I will be in the Lexus family for the remainder of my driving years.
After almost 3 months and about 3K more miles, I am <knocks wood> happy to report that as of yet I have had only two issues, both promptly dealt with by the stealer:
1. The infamous BBS (Brembo Brake Squeal). Shim kit knocked out 95% of the squeal, almost entirely eliminated. Still hear a little occasionally.
2. The rubber gasket around the sunroof was very badly weathered. According to one [insider] account, they've seen this more than a few times, and, so they say, have submitted a report up the chain to get it redesigned. In any event, they replaced the entire unit no questions asked. I got a strong sense I should not be surprised to see this issue reappear.
Other than these two issues, I've been exceedingly happy with the car, and after having owned several luxury nameplates, I suspect I will be in the Lexus family for the remainder of my driving years.
06-04-14, 09:58 AM
#17
Hey, I'm far from an expert, it's just that I have (as have most of us) owned my share of nice cars and drove a stick for many years. I know what I like and what I don't. The main problem (and this is one shared by BMW and the cars I tested today) is when you try to accelerate from a coast. The transmission hesitates and is very jerky when engaging. Are there transmissions that don't exhibit this problem? I don't know, but these three do. BMWs have a severe delay when accelerating from a stop (I didn't necessarily notice this on the LS or S500). The Lexus, OTOH, took a second or two to "think" about things when I did a manual downshift. Both the Lexus and S500 also exhibited hesitations and a bit of jerkiness in certain acceleration scenarios.
Are the transmissions on the LS and S500 "exemplary"? Well, I'd have to look the definition up but in my VERY humble opinion, while they may be near the top of the heap they still, as I say, need work.
I WILL say that the S500 was about the most comfortable car I've EVER driven,
Are the transmissions on the LS and S500 "exemplary"? Well, I'd have to look the definition up but in my VERY humble opinion, while they may be near the top of the heap they still, as I say, need work.
I WILL say that the S500 was about the most comfortable car I've EVER driven,
06-04-14, 10:53 AM
#21
I don't think you'll find much complaint about Lexus warranty treatment. On new vehicles, the usual (and expected) treatment is all problem issues dealt with no fuss, no muss and NO EXPENSE to the customer. That said, maintenance is not "free" as with some other makes, so that must be considered. Also, design defects can be very difficult to address (see the LS wind noise mega-thread or its various offspring on this forum) until and unless Lexus "officially" recognizes the problem and proffers a "fix." Even in that sticky situation, many dealers are willing to have their service people do everything they can to try to alleviate the problem. All in all, Lexus warranty service is excellent.
06-04-14, 03:08 PM
#22
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Believe me, I didn't intend any slight on Lexus or its warranty policies, it's just that I can see a complaint about brake noise being met with something like: "Sir, this is a performance car and noise is unavoidable with high performance brakes like Brembos" (even though that's not true).
However, I will say that, despite Lexus' vaunted reputation for having a sterling dealer network, you have to be careful where you shop. I wouldn't set foot in Rallye again (the ones who told me Lexus didn't distribute F-Sport AWDs in the northeast) and the dealership where I test drove the F-Sport was crowded, not very well kept and the salesman was, shall we say, high pressure but less than forthright. But they were polite and I have no information on the service department, so it wouldn't dissuade me from trying to do a deal on what I thought was a VERY attractive car.
However, I will say that, despite Lexus' vaunted reputation for having a sterling dealer network, you have to be careful where you shop. I wouldn't set foot in Rallye again (the ones who told me Lexus didn't distribute F-Sport AWDs in the northeast) and the dealership where I test drove the F-Sport was crowded, not very well kept and the salesman was, shall we say, high pressure but less than forthright. But they were polite and I have no information on the service department, so it wouldn't dissuade me from trying to do a deal on what I thought was a VERY attractive car.
06-04-14, 05:18 PM
#23
Good points, all. The quality of the dealer is central to the quality of the relationship. What I meant to suggest is that, by and large, Lexus dealers seem to have a bit more leeway than others to put customer concerns above purely commercial ones. As you point out, this tendency does not hold everywhere and at all times. It is, however, the norm.
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