kjheadley

I am thinking about upgrading from my 98 LS 400 to a newer LS 460. I have a couple of questions, Which would you recommend, 2010, 2011, or 2012. I ;like the looks of the 2013, but my pocketbook is not that deep. Also what about AWD versus RWD.

greg3852

2012 is the last before the 2013 refresh, so it has most if not all of the bugs worked out of it. Of course as with anything, it depends on the car. Check the service history of any you look at.

I have RWD and live south of Boston. Never had an issue with the snow. There are several others who live nearby and also don't have issues. The traction control and snow mode really make it easy.

litesoarer

I'm sure the 07-09 are fine cars but if native streaming BT audio matters to you amongst other improvements then 10+ is your best bet.

I was in the same boat you were regarding the 10-12 vs 13+ and when it came down to it and I went with a well kept '10 sport with a great service history.

My only gripe is with the issues I've had with the air suspension. Let's just say I'm glad I had a very keen eye on deliver inspection or I'd be in the doghouse with as much as our air shocks cost.

islandbeef

^this

The BT audio streaming is a critical component which I must have if I should move up to an LS, thanks for posting this.

seanl

Last month I upgraded from a '97 LS400 Coach Edition to a '12 LS460 Sport. As much as I liked my LS400, talk about night and day difference!

Going from a '12 to a '13 is $10-20K bump up depending on options/condition/mileage. I ended up spending $33K + tax etc on the '12.

For me, I was moving forward 15 years from the '97 so a '12 Sport in my preferred color choice was a no brainer!

R Z

Greetings. I didn't quite take the route you are considering. I went from the 95 LS400 to the 05 LS430 and then to an 08 LS460. Love my 460. No bluetooth audio but it's available in an aftermarket add. But yes, if you want factory BT then consider a 2011 or 2012.

Doublebase

I personally think these cars are less trouble with the RWD non air ride models. I'm not not saying AWD is a "problem", but there have been reports of vibration issues, etc, and it makes it a heavier car...little slower...little less fuel economy. And the air rides, like all air rides, are expensive to fix when they break...and they will break.

I live north of Boston and I've driven through two winters with the RWD. I've had no issues whatsoever (as long as I've had snow tires on), without the snows it's a totally different story. The traction control works great in these cars. But I've heard the AWD are beasts in the snow...total tank...can't be stopped.

As far as the year, there are slight variations in the tail lenses and nose, from 07-12

seanl

I'm sure you're right...anytime there's less complexity there's less things that can go wrong.

I *wish* I could have gotten the Sport model with a non-air ride, but it's not available. Given what the shocks cost to replace, I went ahead and bought an extended warranty for 48mo / 50K miles. I'll need 2 shocks to go bad to break even. Plus I have peace of mind for just about the entire car.

litesoarer

How much did you pay for the warranty? $3,500? More?

seanl

$3200 for the 48mo/ 50K mile Easycare/Totalcare warranty from my Lexus dealer (I bought the LS460 from SF BMW). Since I only drive about 7500 miles per year, I'll time out in 4 years...

Covers just about everything, not as good as CPO but unless the car is sold by a Lexus dealer no CPO warranty is available.

roadfrog

You can have BT streaming with a Vaistech unit which works just like factory. Everything on your screen even. Steering wheel controls work with it etc. less than 300 bucks.

CarGuy89

I went through the same debate too. Pretty much I learned that to avoid all the potential control arm/air issues its best to go for a later build '11 or better yet the '12. It all depends on what you want. Air was std with AWD for '10 I believe, but it was an option for the '11/'12s and in fact rarely seen with SWB AWD models. However, if you're really looking forward to having an air suspension setup, then the '10 would be a better choice as there seemed to be more when I was searching.

The most important thing is to go on https://secure.drivers.lexus.com/lex...-lexus/home.do. Register (you dont need to necessarily own a Lexus), enter the VIN of the car you're interested in, and make sure it has all the proper service records every 5k mi. The Lexus drivers site helped me uncover a few potential 'deals' without any carfax accidents - but it turned out the car had been crashed but repaired at the dealership with cash so it wouldn't show up on those records lol. It was a CPO car too so you really can't be too careful!

litesoarer

While this is true, some of us prefer to have a no fuss no muss system from the get go.

That being said, if the earlier models didn't have as many teething issues as they did then I'd have gladly pocketed the 3-4K difference for one with similar mileage even if it meant giving up the Sport features.

UZ214

absolutely love this color, actually i didnt even see a single one when i was looking in the color combo.

SW17LS

Thats nebula grey, same color as mine. The only pre-13 460 you could get that on was the 2012, so there are very few nebula 2012s.