When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
so you don’t put much stock in them because of an assumption (possibly a wrong one) that YOU have made. I’ll take an aggregate over a single all day everyday. Besides, these are problems under TRANSMISSION MAJOR which can’t be ignored.
Think about it this way....a hesitant cold shift from 2-3 would be ignored by most but a guy who bought a "performance" spec Acura would constantly notice and complain to the dealer that something is wrong. A soccer mom doesn't even know how many gears the car has and since it move around and feels like a normal car she will never complain
Even for my own cars I hold them to various standards, I don't expect the same behavior or level of performance out of all of them. An "issue" on one of the nice ones that would lead me to replace the whole subsystem to return to the factory feeling would be outright ignored on other cars.
haha yes that's right, the 9 speed wasn't their finest moment by all accounts. I've never had a car with that particular ZF so have never driven it, but the 8 speeds I've had have all been excellent.
i much preferred the honda 6-speed auto that preceded, it's also tough to know how much is down to the design itself vs just the programming of the software, but whatever the reason the final result was not an upgrade
9 gears is just too many and ruins the use of the paddles, and frequently it would act confused and a bit clunky... i actually did a comparison vid since my butt dyno was indicating to me that the 3 additional gears didn't seem to create any acceleration advantage, turns out it actually made the MDX a bit slower!
call me out of touch or outdated or whatever but i seriously can't think of anything that would be improved by having any more than 7 gears... luckily the 8HP at least works very well, but considering it's pretty much exclusively paired to forced induction engines with a very wide powerband, i can't see a disadvantage of making 7th the new 8th and making 4th-6th all a bit longer
As I browse these I think it’s safe to say that the Lexus LS is without a doubt the most reliable car out of all the cars in this years survey. Pretty impressive. So the next time you hear the lame argument that something is so complex and has too many electronics therefore it can’t be reliable or the sorry mantra “gotta pay to play” just point them to this.
i much preferred the honda 6-speed auto that preceded, it's also tough to know how much is down to the design itself vs just the programming of the software, but whatever the reason the final result was not an upgrade
9 gears is just too many and ruins the use of the paddles, and frequently it would act confused and a bit clunky... i actually did a comparison vid since my butt dyno was indicating to me that the 3 additional gears didn't seem to create any acceleration advantage, turns out it actually made the MDX a bit slower!
You're blaming the wrong thing. The problem is not the number of gears, it's poor implementation. The bolded part is everyone's experience with this tranny. 9 gears is not inherently bad, but the ZF 9-speed--especially as implemented by Honda/Acura--is simply not a good transmission. It would still suck if it has 6 gears.
On the flipside, Mercedes' 9-speed auto is highly-regarded, reliable and one of the smoothest autos ever made by anyone. The Honda 10-speed (which they developed to replace the ZF9) is excellent. As is the Ford/GM 10-speed--in the Mustang, it easily manages cars tuned to over 1,000hp and consistently beaten on.
Originally Posted by Stroock639
call me out of touch or outdated or whatever but i seriously can't think of anything that would be improved by having any more than 7 gears... luckily the 8HP at least works very well, but considering it's pretty much exclusively paired to forced induction engines with a very wide powerband, i can't see a disadvantage of making 7th the new 8th and making 4th-6th all a bit longer
That is in fact, exactly what is done. In most cases, top gear is 6th (1.000), and both 7th and 8th are overdrive gears. Usually .8xx for 7th, and .6xx for 8th. So an 8 speed has just one more "normal" gear than a 6 speed, plus one more "efficiency" gear.
CR stats are basically worthless in the modern age. just look up youtube videos for cars with however many miles you're looking for.
We've been over this a million times in Car Chat. Youtube videos are done to get viewer-hits and make money. CR takes no advertising from vehicle-manufacturers, and posts ONLY the reliability data they get from vehicle-owners who fill out questionnaires....which means that it is untainted and not done solely for revenue.
We've been over this a million times in Car Chat. Youtube videos are done to get viewer-hits and make money. CR takes no advertising from vehicle-manufacturers, and posts ONLY the reliability data they get from vehicle-owners who fill out questionnaires....which means that it is untainted and not done solely for revenue.
Nah. They are some of the last people/sources I'll ask about how things fare long term, it's best to just ask actual owners these days
You're blaming the wrong thing. The problem is not the number of gears, it's poor implementation. The bolded part is everyone's experience with this tranny. 9 gears is not inherently bad, but the ZF 9-speed--especially as implemented by Honda/Acura--is simply not a good transmission. It would still suck if it has 6 gears.
On the flipside, Mercedes' 9-speed auto is highly-regarded, reliable and one of the smoothest autos ever made by anyone. The Honda 10-speed (which they developed to replace the ZF9) is excellent. As is the Ford/GM 10-speed--in the Mustang, it easily manages cars tuned to over 1,000hp and consistently beaten on.
sorry for being unclear, i'm not blaming the number of gears on the subpar performance, just saying that having so many makes the paddles less engaging to use and generally speaking there's just no need for that many gears
also regardless of the public consensus i'm not a fan of the mercedes 9-speed... my parents GLE450 has it now as well as the C300 they had before that, it can get clunky at slow speeds (particularly downshifting from 3rd to 2nd) and really isn't nice in stop and go traffic... the aggressive stop/start system in the GLE (it'll stop the engine while you're still moving) seems to make this worse and i'll typically disable it until i'm able to consistently stay above 10mph or so
from my experience the only way the 9 speed could be consistently nice is if you live in a quiet, somewhat rural area and only like driving in a very relaxed, unhurried way
you just described consumer reports. Are u seeing your contradiction?
No not at all since its 2023 and you can just go ask owners on SM directly and not rely on some 3rd party intermediary that siphons cash from anyone who wants to see their "data"
Much easier to get an overall picture of something by just talking with multiple people who own it about the car.
No not at all since its 2023 and you can just go ask owners on SM directly and not rely on some 3rd party intermediary that siphons cash from anyone who wants to see their "data"
Much easier to get an overall picture of something by just talking with multiple people who own it about the car.
I just want to make sure the first year is okay bc we may end up with a 2018.. Lexus is historically mostly fine with that.
I wouldn't even give it a second thought.
Originally Posted by Tdes395
As I browse these I think it’s safe to say that the Lexus LS is without a doubt the most reliable car out of all the cars in this years survey. Pretty impressive. So the next time you hear the lame argument that something is so complex and has too many electronics therefore it can’t be reliable or the sorry mantra “gotta pay to play” just point them to this.
Except that having had 4 Lexus LSs and having spent a lot of times on their forums and talking with Lexus mechanics I can tell you that you do in fact have to pay to play with the LS460. They have several very expensive common issues. Air suspension is a huge failure point, control arms in the front suspension, brake actuator, valley plate coolant leak, and oil usage over 150k miles. These are all $3,000+ repairs. Both my 2015 and 2017 LS460s had brake actuator replacements under warranty, 17 had 5,000 miles on it and 15 had 25,000 miles on it.
Except that having had 4 Lexus LSs and having spent a lot of times on their forums and talking with Lexus mechanics I can tell you that you do in fact have to pay to play with the LS460. They have several very expensive common issues. Air suspension is a huge failure point, control arms in the front suspension, brake actuator, valley plate coolant leak, and oil usage over 150k miles. These are all $3,000+ repairs. Both my 2015 and 2017 LS460s had brake actuator replacements under warranty, 17 had 5,000 miles on it and 15 had 25,000 miles on it.
I would not own an LS460 without a warranty.
completely agree on those specific examples. But I will add that those failures were not only addressed by Lexus to avoid repeats but also many were covered by Lexus through secret warranties and goodwill efforts because it did stray from the reputation that the Lexus LS has built.
completely agree on those specific examples. But I will add that those failures were not only addressed by Lexus to avoid repeats but also many were covered by Lexus through secret warranties and goodwill efforts because it did stray from the reputation that the Lexus LS has built.
Seeing that I had one of the very last 2017 LS460s made and the brake actuator failed at 5,000 miles I would challenge that they have been addressed lol. Many people in the 4LS forum have replaced their control arms multiple times and there is no updated part replacement for the air suspension. These are potential issues for every LS460, and there is no special warranty coverage for anything but the brake actuator. The LS460 is plenty reliable, but if you are going to buy one you have to be prepared for potentially expensive repair bills not that different than with the Germans.
In fact, the W222 S Class has far fewer common expensive failures...suspension and air suspension for insurance is much more robust on the S Class...no actuator issues...
Bottom line is NO car that complex will be as trouble free and inexpensive to maintain as a Camry
Seeing that I had one of the very last 2017 LS460s made and the brake actuator failed at 5,000 miles I would challenge that they have been addressed lol. Many people in the 4LS forum have replaced their control arms multiple times and there is no updated part replacement for the air suspension. These are potential issues for every LS460, and there is no special warranty coverage for anything but the brake actuator. The LS460 is plenty reliable, but if you are going to buy one you have to be prepared for potentially expensive repair bills not that different than with the Germans.
In fact, the W222 S Class has far fewer common expensive failures...suspension and air suspension for insurance is much more robust on the S Class...no actuator issues...
Bottom line is NO car that complex will be as trouble free and inexpensive to maintain as a Camry
i will say that my 2004 ls430 cost me less to own than my 2005 Toyota Corolla that I owned. But regarding the brake actuator are you saying that Lexus has not updated the part? Im now curious to know who has had a replacement brake actuator also fail.
Youtube videos are done to get viewer-hits and make money. CR takes no advertising from vehicle-manufacturers, and posts ONLY the reliability data they get from vehicle-owners who fill out questionnaires....which means that it is untainted and not done solely for revenue.
