Most Reliable Lexus
My most reliable Lexus so far is a 1995 SC300, i pick up this car as a project car that I never started.. it had 210k miles when I pick it up, since it still run and drive cold AC i start using it as a beater and wait till it died.. well.. is has 245k miles now and I have not change the old since I bought it so 35k miles later no oil change ZERO maintance the motor is still rock solid. AC still cold, tranmssion still shift normal. Its great! I intentionally do this just to see how long the car will last just like I put many tank of 87 gas into a leased 07 S550 to see when it will throw a code and it never did.. My 04 LS430 actually had a bit more electronic problem than my 95 SC, back up camara not working, passager door lock don't work, CD changer broke.. other than that it is pretty soild too..My 98 LS400 nav went dead just before I sold it.. my 00 LX470 tranny broke at 80k miles so that make it the most unreliable lexus I ever had.
Lead Lap
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 578
Likes: 2
From: Connecticut
to be honest i see alot of 1st - 3rd gen rx models on the road. i see alot of es300 on the road also. ls alot of 1st and 2nd gen on the road. so i would go with the rx/es/ls being the most reliable from what i see out there.
Lead Lap
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 445
Likes: 0
From: California
the 98' GS is the only lexo i've owned.. so i really don't know.. besides the minor hiccups.. the engine obviously is still flawless after 198k miles.. i was messing around with the e-shift on 2nd and 3rd gear around my neighborhood yesterday and was enjoying the power on a 12 year old whip!
my homie's parents own a 1st gen LS.. i know they've had that badboy for a very long time
my homie's parents own a 1st gen LS.. i know they've had that badboy for a very long time
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 807
Likes: 36
From: Ca
Of the models my family has owned, my 2001 IS300 proved to be the most reliable. I sold it with 150,000 miles and only had to replace the oxygen sensor and thermostat. My family has had quite a few Lexus throughout the years. All of them were reliable but our 1994 LS400 had the most problems. 90% of them happened to most other owners. Of the few Mercedes my family has owned only one has been as reliable as any of our Lexus. My mom just bought a CL550 and im sure it will be added to the list of unreliable cars we have owned.
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 873
Likes: 53
From: NH
I too have heard that the LS's are rock solid reliable.
But I'm surprised no one has mentioned the ES300 3rd/4th gen. Of all Lexus's I see on the road I see 3rd/4th gen ES's the most often. Our '03 has been rock solid with 110k put on since we bought it new. I bought a used '01 with 64k two months ago and although I've only put 2k on it so far everything I've read leads me to believe that it will last me a long time. Also the fact I see these ES's on ebay/autotrader often with 200k+ affirms my belief that they are some of the most reliable cars on the road, whereas I see relatively few of the older LS's. Of course, they aren't the same type of car therefore you really can't make an accurate correlation between the two in reliability based solely on how many you observe on the road.
From my experience I would say the ES is one of Lexus's most reliable cars. Isn't it also Lexus's best selling model?
But I'm surprised no one has mentioned the ES300 3rd/4th gen. Of all Lexus's I see on the road I see 3rd/4th gen ES's the most often. Our '03 has been rock solid with 110k put on since we bought it new. I bought a used '01 with 64k two months ago and although I've only put 2k on it so far everything I've read leads me to believe that it will last me a long time. Also the fact I see these ES's on ebay/autotrader often with 200k+ affirms my belief that they are some of the most reliable cars on the road, whereas I see relatively few of the older LS's. Of course, they aren't the same type of car therefore you really can't make an accurate correlation between the two in reliability based solely on how many you observe on the road.
From my experience I would say the ES is one of Lexus's most reliable cars. Isn't it also Lexus's best selling model?
IIRC, the LS430 set the records and then broke them repeatedly in subsequent years in the JD Power 3 year dependability survey. I think they got down as low as .61 problems reported per vehicle over 3 full years of ownership (in other words, less than one problem per vehicle in the first 3 years. The LS series has topped the list for about 16 years of its existence.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 956
Likes: 3
From: New Jersey
Lexus owner doesn't persuade mother against Benz :)
Of the models my family has owned, my 2001 IS300 proved to be the most reliable. I sold it with 150,000 miles and only had to replace the oxygen sensor and thermostat. My family has had quite a few Lexus throughout the years. All of them were reliable but our 1994 LS400 had the most problems. 90% of them happened to most other owners. Of the few Mercedes my family has owned only one has been as reliable as any of our Lexus. My mom just bought a CL550 and im sure it will be added to the list of unreliable cars we have owned.
Lead Lap
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 442
Likes: 0
From: WA
I think on the initial LS400 it took a while to build sales which could be why there are so few on the roads now. I don't recall the total number built. It was a hell of a car at the time relative to others anywhere near the price. Also, that's a long time ago now.
Lead Lap
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 442
Likes: 0
From: WA
I don't think that was ever a big seller as it was competing directly against the Toyota counterpart. I remember back when the LS400 was the rage, there were not that many ES250s around then. Interesting to know how many they sold.