Doublebase

I'm sorry, I just keep hearing about how bad the 07's are from 430 owners. I just got back from a trip to Manhattan...560 miles round trip, hottest days of the year, stuck in plenty of NY city traffic. I get home and the car just looks like it went on a short country drive for ice cream. The thing is just so reliable and comfortable. Not once did it not drive like I'd hoped - weather it was passing someone, stuck in traffic, jamming on the brakes - it just performs like a high quality vehicle. And I AVERAGED 26.5 mpg on the trip (with plenty of city driving).

103k miles and I'm still waiting for all the doom and gloom to happen to these unreliable vehicles, because nothing has broken yet. Yes the tires have worn out, the brakes too...and the fluids needed to be changed, but that's it.

CRowe14

I sincerely enjoy and look forward to all that you have to say about these cars. Its simply a testament to the vehicle.
I must admit, I was a bit disappointed with the fact that the UCA's went. Though I've read about how soon they "can" go bad, I didn't think it would occur in my car.
Given the amount of times you've "pushed to start", the miles you've driven in a myriad of conditions (let's not forget about that NE winter that just passed), family memebers in and out...and the car is still a beast for you! Just love to hear about it!
I think you should receive a stipend from Lexus for reporting your experience with the "horrible first model year update" from the 430 to the 460.
Glad to hear it's been remarkable for you.
As I've been driving mine a lot more (funny because you and I share the same color), it's hard not to love this car....it really is.

Doublebase

Thanks Crowe and I'll tell yeah, I dont know if I'm breaking the norm in terms of what to write about, but I think hearing some good things about these cars is cool once in a while.

And I'll probably throw another couple hundred miles on the thing this weekend and push my total to 850 miles for the week...go to the beach, food shopping, out to dinner, etc.

I'm sorry to hear about your control arms and I've got to say I think I have one going bad on mine as well (so there's something negative), but I'd be willing to bet I could get 15k miles more out of it without any problems. So I may see how long I can go - and I'll tell you what - I'm not replacing all of them, I'm going to find the one that's bad and replace it. That's it.

Speaking of NE weather, it sure is fantastic not to have to worry about road salt right now, or the extreme temps. I think I was washing the undercarriage 3 times a week to keep up with all the salt - I don't know if it helped, but I imagine it didn't hurt.

Happy trails.

dlbuckls10

The 460 is fast, comfortable, reliable and smooth. It makes driving long or short distances a pleasure. Lexus the pursuit of perfection.

roadfrog

Love it! Good to hear.

I have in the last three months driven similar trips - once to Portland OR, once to Olympia WA and once to Seattle WA. All three trips went flawlessly and enjoyed similar fuel economy. My trip mileages were like yours (about 500 - 700 miles each). In all of those trips I had a total of four different adults in the vehicle. Everyone commented on how comfortable, quiet and smooth the car was. The car was a delight and exceeded my expectations in every way, each time.

R Z

The Ls460 IS the flagship Lexus vehicle. It's a pleasure cruise on wheels. Can things go wrong? Of course. But the car is absolutely the pursuit of perfection.

tq745

Couldn't have said it better myself.

MrMark

iTrader: (3)

I've seen some real hate on the 460 from 430 owners......

swfla

iTrader: (1)

Some people have difficulty accepting change and enjoy the complaining and mud slinging. Look at the presidential political situation.

Gbp

I come to this forum to learn about my LS460 and try to repay the generosity of members who have contributed their advice and experience to selflessly helping others.

I'd be dishonest not to admit that I also come here to bask in the satisfaction of owning a LS460.

Doublebase

That's awesome! The things are absolutely built to be driven. I have a trip planned to the Dominican Republic in a week, I honestly wish I could drive the thing there...just strap some fins to the tires and just cruise down the Atlantic to the Caribbean. That's how much I hate flying, and how much I trust this vehicle. If I was doing a Florida trip, I wouldn't hesitate to make the 1,800 mile drive down there - and save probably $2000 on airfare for my family.

Keep driving, roadfrog, the car was built for it.

Doublebase

When I first bought mine I babied it...I let it just sit in my garage while I took my other car. My rational was that I didn't want to ruin it, what was I thinking?? Driving this thing will not "ruin it", it can handle it. Someone I knew really had a way of talking me out of my idea of "preserving" or "saving" this vehicle. He said, they're built really well, and just like any car, ten/fifteen years from now it'll go to the junkyard like everything else. Don't treat it like a Ferrari, it's made to be driven, just take care of it and change the fluids...keep it clean.

That was said to me 10 months ago...I've put 29k miles on it since then...I feel I have catching up to do for basically letting it sit for a year. It's been real easy.

Doublebase

I've seen it too. The thing is they realize that the 460 is a better looking vehicle - at least some of them do - so they like to use "quality" and "reliability" factors against the 460, and now that facet of opinion is being tested as well. Because these cars are now getting serious mileage on them and they're holding up very well.

And the 430 is a nice car, I see no reason for the hostility towards the LS 460, especially from the uninformed. And there's a lot of them. I've read about people downgrading the LS 460 because someone's water pumped failed...seriously? They're designed to eventually fail - usually somewhere between 80-120k, and that's what happened. And I have ONE control arm beginning to fail at 103k miles, that's horrible? I went through two control arms, a tie rod, sway bar bushings and links, in the same amount of mileage with my Honda Accord. And that's one of the most reliable vehicles ever built. Not to mention an evap canister, brake caliper, brake hose, and oh, the timing belt, tensioners, water pump and balancer shaft belt needed replacement at 100k. Like I said...and that's one of the most reliable vehicles you are ever going to find.

Gbp

I really don't see all this hate on tne LS460 from earlier LS model owners -- at least in this LS 4th generation forum. There's one non-LS460 owner that comes to mind who visits this forum and habitually disses the LS460, but that doesn't seem overwhelming to me.

The real disdain for the LS460 comes mostly from people who are down on Lexus in general, those who think the external design is boring, and others unimpressed with the LS460's performance. I tend to take all this criticism with a large grain of salt. I like the car's apoearance, the performance meets my needs, and the level of luxury works for me. Add on the reputation for reliability, and the car's a winner for me.

Doublebase

I've seen quite a few and it extends beyond this place, but really that wasn't my point, my point is that the LS 460 is a great car. And the longer it's out there, the more it's proving how reliable it is. I'm starting to see some with close to 200k miles and the reports are excellent. That was the knock on the car, that it wasn't built with the same quality as previous LS's...and I think that's wrong.

As for 430 owners...I've heard the terms unreliable, lower quality, not up to standards, looks like a Toyota Camry, won't last, doesn't stand up to the test of time, consumer reports are poor, looks like your everyday car, not a classic, disappointment, disgrace, too expensive to fix, drive train is outdated, it's got a lot of fancy gadgets but they'll all break, loud, wind noise, recalls, the engine is a black dot on consumer reports. And these people have never owned one. There's one guy that actually is performing his own "study" and "research" by accumulating data regarding the poor performance of the LS 460 compared to previous generations. He's basing it off consumer reports, not actual owner experiences.

I'm not offended, I just think they're wrong.