CRowe14

Double, I also initiated this thread, in part, because of you and what happened to your previous thread...still no clue as to what happened and why though.
Beast indeed my friend!
I wanted to quickly say though, that idly enough, about a few months ago, I too had to replace 2 of the four tpm's on my car. 8 years isn't bad at all. Purchased 2, installed for about $160 but purchased them from the tire shop.
If I had exercised patience, I could have purchased from ebay and ended up a little cheaper, but the dash alert was annoying!

Doublebase

Yeah I think the battery is a little weak on one of them Crowe, it probably would be best for me to replace all of the. We'll see how it goes, I think I can buy 5 of them on eBay for $170 or so.

CRowe14

Drats!
Patience is a virtue, and indeed a weak battery.
I guess you should think about trashing the LS now...
From the sounds of it, you'll obtain 5 for what I paid for 2.
Good deal.

Doublebase

Yeah but don't feel bad, you had them installed for that much. That's not bad.

Tee

Good read! I have say thst Lexus does not design nor make the ML amp and system, so the I would not blame issues/failures on them. ML makes them for Lexus and I'm surprised to hear of a 2010 amp failing as well. Bummers are very fun cars to drive, I see them as performance/sports cars more than luxury focused vehicles and with high performance cars comes plenty of maintenance. Although a lot of the issues and nightmare stories I have heard I found absurd for a premium car. My brother actually owns and services bimmers for a living so im very aware of the challenges owners have, some of his customers love their cars and the brand to no end, no matter how horrendous the reliability is. One of the funniest things my brother told me is he would go broke working on Lexus because they don't break enough. Atlanta is a BMW town so he has plenty of work to keep him very busy!

PrinceAkim

iTrader: (2)

Great read gentlemen. I have an 07 with 157k miles on it. During my last inspection my tech said all was well with my car. My older brother bought his wife a 2011 BMW 550 last year and he's getting ready to get rid of it. He hasn't told me the full reason why (although I imagine high repair costs) but he simply stated he's over the BMW thing and is ready to get her something different. I love my car, when people see it they can't believe it's an 07. I've had the amp failure as well, and control arms replaced under warranty. Other than that, I've replaced the rear sub and a battery. I'm very thankful for the reliability we have in our vehicles.

Doublebase

Wonderful, I like hearing some of the higher mileage stories of these cars, because there just isn't that many of them. Miles are low and people don't really drive them all that much, some guys actually only put 5k a year on theirs.

It seems as if the major problems are the amp, the control arms and the brake actuator. I don't know much about the amp, because I don't have the Higher end stereo, but as far as the control arms go, I can replace all eight of them for around $500 myself. This is stuff I can live with. What I can't live with is transmission failures, engine problems, electrical nightmares, traction control problems, corrosion issues, water leaks, axle and bearing failures, starter and alternator malfunctions, and AC issues. This car has none of those, which is huge in today's day and age. I can't tell you how many cars are diving around the roads with their check engine lights on right now, or having the transmission fail before it reaches 150k miles. I hardly ever hear of anything like that with these cars.

Devh

I have a few questions for you if you don't mind.

1. Did you have your transmission flushed?
2. What kind of oil do you use and is your car burning excessive oil?
3. How has your interior held up?

Devh

Notice how the candid owners have nearly bullet proof cars. I believe there is a silent majority that are doing just fine and don't need this place.

rxonmymind

Reputation certainly precedes itself when it comes to BMW. A good friend of my wife has a BMW. Prior to our purchase of the two Lexus vehicles she inquired about her BWM suv(forgot the model) & like others here that posted she said they are GREAT to drive but the repair bills were killing them. Cautiously we went about our search for a vehicle and landed at Lexus due to the uber reliability of the Toyota we had. 300k miles & ZERO problems aside from usual maintenance. Toyota laid the faith & foundation to reach for something a tiny bit more luxurious ( to us anyway) and even then we are an overly cautious couple & bought used to see if truly they are what they say. So far I'd give Lexus a solid B. They have little grimlins but what car doesn't? Now to the point of me being in the LS forum. Was at a wedding tonight and seated at a table with us was a gent that owned the executive package LS460L. He was a character! But absolutely loved his LS and showed off his car to me. I'll tell you what, when those 19 speakers came and he hit the recline feature in the back seats and hit the massage button I could have stayed there for an hour or two making that my sound studio. Amazing car. Absolutely awesome. Only thing I'd add for the kids is a head rest LCD screen. Other than that it's a beaut.

dlbuckls10

Some may feel Lexus needs to up its ante because the Europeans continue to do so. Maybe so but the LS offers all the options and gadgets I need. It's all about reliability and Lexus is known for that. Lexus may not make a grand entrance (the new BMW 7 series can park itself in the garage without a driver, not the reason I buy a car) but Lexus will hold its own.

CRowe14

That executive pckg is pretty special and as you may or may not know, they are hard to find, and if you do find one, it then become a matter of making sure the car had been well cared for.
Not to influence you, but i'll share a few things with you regarding my pre purchase concerns.
I saw that you posted in another thread regarding the list of items another member had to have repaired on his LS.
I really don't think that you should allow that to effect your decision on furthering your research and possibly purchasing an LS.
All cars have issues, but the thing that I summed everything up to, was that this car really only has a handful of so-called repeated/known items that require attention.
for older models (07-10), its the control arms, but upon a healthy search amidst this forum, you'll find how often its been discussed and there is more than one way to skin that cat.
Water pump failure which can be done very easily per DIY and cheaply with an indy.
The brake actuator is more of an annoyance than anything else, but those, from my reading and research and from speaking to a good few people and Lex techs, have more of a tendency to fail in the swb, if they fail at all.
A few other things, but all in all, honestly, if your looking into purchasing a high end luxury car with minimal need for repair, the LS is honestly your best bet.
I've done my brakes, water pump and will be addressing my upper CA's soon, but they aren't bad at all. Just a small bit of vibration at about 75mph.
Other than that, the car really made and makes me feel like I had been being robbed of a true driving experience.
It sounds silly, but I swear its true.
There's many reasons why many of us selected this car to purchase and enjoy it as much as we do.
You simply got a small dose of one of the many...

roadfrog

Absolutely. I am almost giddy every time I get in my car and drive away.

Let's put things in perspective as far as repair goes. Let's say one had all the issues that are common on the LS:

ML amp (if your LS is equipped) 700 dollars
Control Arms (aftermarket and Indy) 1500 dollars - maybe less
Rotors 150 bucks plus a couple hundred at an indy (It's an easy DIY)
Brake actuator Seen them on EBay for 1500 bucks.
Subwoofer Ebay - seen them for 200 -300 dollars
water pump 50 bucks plus an hour or two at indy

So if your car was afflicted with ALL of the above, you'd be out 4500 bucks.

So far, after nearly 100k miles, my car has had the water pump replaced and the front rotors, for a grand sum of 300 bucks. Oh.....and mufflers for 400.

Yeah....I'm pretty happy. LOL

CRowe14

I don't know RF,
I honestly think that you should consider getting rid of it...
I mean..the mufflers??
That's just ridiculous!
Water pump should be good for at least 100k+!
Let me stop...

roadfrog

Right? LOL. I think I'm the only member here at CL who has had to replace them. They were truly rotted out. I posted pics and they were BAD. Trouble was finding replacements as there are no direct fit aftermarket ones out there. My shop measured them and found that with just a little tweaking, Chevrolet Cavalier GT muffs were a perfect fit. LOL. That 400 bucks included all the labor etc.