Tell that to all the people with junk front suspensions, junk brake actuators, melting dashes, ticking engines, you could hear from inside the car, loud wind noise, cheaper leather and wood etc. Name one weakness the LS430 had like that. Or LS400 for that mater. If your LS is better than mine, then that means mine's a rust bucket. You've said you've barely made it home once in an LS430 bc it was breaking down lol.

 

The really big reveal is when you drive a 460 for 3-4 months then go back to your 430 for a week.

It feels MASSIVELY inferior and you instantly understand all the subtle differences the XF40 has that improved upon the old car.


I have never had to replace a UR engine or do work more major than a timing cover leak, the UZ has a timing belt that will send the car the junkyard plus cam leaks and upper oil pan leaks. The exhausts also very often crack on the trucks and GX/LX vs I've yet to see a UR manifold have a problem. My own two UZ vs UR engines also have no contest between what engine family I've had to mess with more and I've put more miles on the UR stuff now.

 

The weakness with the 430 and 400 vs the 460 is in its suspension design. The 460 has a Mercedes style multi-link suspension vs double wishbone design in the 430 and 400. That makes the 460 much more dynamic to drive and more confidence inspiring at high speeds while retaining the comfortable ride the LS is known for. The tradeoff is failing control arms in the suspension which are a common issue with multi-link setups. The "ticking engine" is a result of the high pressure fuel delivery system which is part of why it has 100 more HP. Failing brake actuators aren't an issue in the LS430 or 400 because they have a 50 year old style hydraulic braking system, the LS460 was one of the first cars out with an electronic brake actuator system. LOTS of industry firsts in the LS460, the first electronic braking system, the first 8 speed transmission, the first self parking car. They really tried to move the industry forward like Mercedes always does.

Aside from that to me the biggest issue is looks. The LS430s are just frumpy looking IMO, they look like a Mercedes clone while the 400s, mainly the 2 & 2.5 gen have their own look which is long and low, very Japanese, and the 460s are sleek and sexy looking.

I think if you gave a 460 a chance you would really like the car...especially an LS460L. Its a great combination of whats great about Lexus and whats great about Mercedes.

 

Melting interior? You mean my 100% brand new, replaced by Lexus for free, literally zero wear interior everyone got for free for a decade? That's a hell if a nice perk and one of the only reasons I got a 460, the ZLZ recalled got me a full new interior FOR FREE.

Cheaper leather? How? The XF40 by default gets better leather than the XF30 and high end trims have far superior leather and way more of it on top of a litany of upgrades. Does your 430 have acoustic glass by default anywhere?

Wind noise? Okay, so fix it. We have the fix here and it takes an hour, then IF your car had that problem it's then one of the quietest cars ever made once fixed. Again I own both and can 1:1 compare them at will and there just isn't a contest and I don't even have an LS600. The 600 would obliterate any 430 in any metric

Your suspention is 100% worn out at your miles, the 430 just simply doesn't ride as well or handle as well as a 460 so you can't feel it.

The 460 can't hide an issue like a simple double A arm setup can so people notice it much easier, when I refreshed my "totally fine" LS430 it was stunning how worn the old parts were and how much cleaner he rode became. It wasn't noticeably bad but in reality it was very degraded.

And yes, my 430 was the only car I have ever owned that I needed to tow home and TWICE I had to tow it to my shop because it had an issue that may have killed the engine and I didn't want to risk it. The damn cam seals were one of them. The second was the VVT oil seals and both are related to the timing belt that WILL kill a UZ before any UR and if very often the death of these cars. People don't have it done or don't know to have it done and it kills the engine

 

To be fair, this is very unusual. The LS430s are very reliable and the vast majority of owners don't experience these issues. Common 460 issues like brake actuator failure, control arm failure, valley plate leaks are more common than those issues are in the 430.

 

Most people aren't checking their cars as much as I do nor do they expect them to work to factory spec. I have also said the 430 hides its issues much better than a 460 many times, doesn't mean the issues aren't there.

How many dozens of posts do we have with UZ engines with low/shaking idle or fluctuations due to clogged intake air bypass ports? You never see that with any UR and it was annoying pulling the intake off and cleaning those channels just so I can get a correct spec idle with AC off and no hunt with AC on.

Most people wouldn't even notice unless the car shakes

 

But thats the point, when the LS460 has these failures they're impossible to ignore. You have the dash lit up like a christmas tree, terrible suspension clunking, loss of coolant.

 

It's good they made it right but the fact that it happened is definitely NOT Lexus LS normal behavior.

Do any 500k mile LS460s exist? I've never seen any. I have the base leather in my car and it's more plush than the 460s btw.

Actually it's not. Lol I took around a curved bend on a back interstate at 120 yesterday, foot to the floor, and was (not surprisingly) very impressed with how it handles high speed maneuvers... still.

 

Absolutely. There are members on the 4LS forum that have cars with 300k+ miles.

Base leather yeah, not the semi-aniline leather. Base leather on the 460s got pretty terrible, the leather in my 2015 was not great...but my 2017 with the semi-aniline leather had incredible leather.

But an LS460 with base leather has 100 more horsepower and a much better drive from its more sophisticated suspension. Tradeoffs.

 

An interesting find today.




I also got cut off by a dude in a 4GS who wanted to get on the freeway before me.

I cooked him on the on ramp.

 

Well holy chit

gut punch that OTA is not an option for Ford.

 

According to other sources, there IS an OTA update for it.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/ford...ontrol-problem

 

My LS460 was one of the best cars I’ve ever owned!! It just wasn’t a fun car.

 

Good.
He deserved it.

 

Huge amount of them yes, and as time goes on there will be more high mile LS460s than 430s because they won't be killed by timing belt failure.

As far as the suspension goes you are free to believe whatever you want.