That's very polite of you.

 

Agreed. The second I can easily afford it I'm going Porsche.

 

Out of curiosity. Looked up replacement cost for a regular non 48V S class battery. Found this on MBWorld. A lot of $$ IMO.

https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...batteries.html

If I am correct, many German cars use brake wear sensors that have to be replaced when brakes are worn? Lexus LS used to have these. No idea of new Lexus models have them

I think anything that is higher in price will cost more to maintain. Nothing wrong with that but it does

 

Those brake sensors are about 30$ a pop and I wish all Lexus cars had them. My ls had them and they only go bad if your brake pads are gone which should not happen if you regularly service your cars.
my ls460 never needed anything other than oil changes. I did brakes myself till I sold it within 140k miles.

 

Fair point on the $30. I too wish my cars had that system. But I just was looking at the service costs. Very interesting. My 04 4R costs a fortune on maintenance and replacement stuff. My newer 4R is not as much (but it’s brand new)

 

Don't want to get too far off-topic, but did you ever get a chance to test-drive a Ford Excursion? (not the Expedition, but the truly massive 7000-lb. Excursion, done on the F-350 Super Duty chassis). Driving an Excursion is downright scary ....easily one of the worst-tracking/handling vehicles I have ever sampled. The suspension and steering are simply inadequate for its massive bulk. Trust me.....in comparison, it makes a Suburban feel as steady as the Rock of Gibraltar.

 

Interesting topic. I feel Lexus and BMW have different approaches when it comes to SUVs and caters people with different tastes. I won’t have hesitation leasing either. If I had to keep it long term then Lexus would be my choice. I used to prefer bmw style over Lexus spindle now it’s opposite i prefer Lexus design to the very odd looking bmw grills. Performance, options and driving dynamics bmw has edge. Reliability, hybrid tech, bof suvs and pricing Lexus has edge.

 

I'd actually challenge that statement, but it all comes back to most people don't have a bunch of cars. They have to make do with 2 cars in their household. For me, I would gain utility with an SUV. In a perfect world I would snap my fingers and have an S Class for daily use, and then snap them again and have a LWB Escalade for highway trips and snap them again and have a 3 row unibody crossover for family duty, but it just doesn't work like that for most people. Thats why I always seriously consider an SUV when it comes time to change vehicle ownership, one of these times I will wind up doing it I'm sure.

Its a $125,000 car. How often would one have to change the battery? Since I have been leasing cars I have never replaced a battery out of warranty (I have had several bad OEM Lexus batteries). A lot of that is dealer cost. I was quoted $1,200 by Mercedes to replace my pads front and rear, no rotors or even resurfacing of the rotors. The pads are literally $73 for all 4 pads. No joke. $73.

All my LS's had them, they're cheap and I always replaced pads before they went bad.

Better stuff costs more. You can't have a car with the performance of a Porsche, or even a Mercedes S Class without having expensive components that need to be replaced from time to time. Part of what appeals to me about cars like this is they are engineered to deliver the best performance, not to deliver the longest life or cheapest repair costs. When I buy a car like that I'm buying it because I want an excellent car not because I want something thats going to be inexpensive to maintain. If I wanted something that would be pretty nice and cheap to maintain I would buy an ES, and did twice.

 

I felt the same when I drove a sequoia 06? By contrast lx drives much better almost German

 

I never drove those old Excursions, but I have heard they were a mess.

 

The same battery fits a Mercedes Metris and a Mercedes S560.

https://mbparts.mbusa.com/oem-parts/...ery-0019828208

 

They are $5 each or free with any decent pad set, plus if you check them you never have to change them. Last 5 set of brakes I've bought have included them, I haven't used any since I change brakes when the chamfers are gone not when the sensors trigger.

That battery replacement cost is normal but you can easily do it yourself.

 

Thats just what high end AGM batteries cost, even from a place like AutoZone that battery is still $240:

https://www.autozone.com/batteries-s...cca/319459_0_0

Using old flooded cell batteries is another way Lexus vehicles are cheaper to service, but less sophisticated. AGM batteries are just better, but more expensive. They last much longer, are much harder to discharge, they can be safely installed in places a flooded cell battery cant be.

The cheapest battery AutoZone sells for my Chrysler Pacifica is $210, and thats a flooded cell battery. Considering that the Pacifica has TWO batteries, in perspective that AGM OEM Battery from Mercedes for $295 is not outrageous.

 

Sure. Of course. You can also also use non OEM parts when the air suspension wears out. But looking at the Mercedes/Lexus parts department keeps us honest. Brand for brand. Because the car is $125,000 means nothing as the same battery fits the basic van. One can also go to a quick lube for an oil change too

I am now reading that Lexus LS brake pad sensors are reusable. Very different approach compared to Mercedes.

I also understand that Mercedes magic wipers are not cheap? A Lexus wiper is like $5 for the refill.

nothing wrong with all this…but the idea that German cars are on par with Japanese cars for maintenance costs doesn’t seem to be true. Mercedes definitely costs more from my research






This can’t be for real can it?

 

Lexus LS brake pad sensors are not reusable. Going through the pad sensor in an LS results in having to replace the sensor.

Did you look up the cost of an OEM Lexus battery for an LS? This is hilarious. Its $1,400.

https://www.lexuspartsnow.com/parts/...800-31450.html

So, $295 doesn't seem so bad huh?

I remember this issue. Lexus vehicles from Japan come with Panasonic batteries, dealers don't stock or use those batteries because they are so shockingly expensive. They use a "Lexus" branded battery but its not the same battery, I guarantee that Lexus branded battery is $300 or so also, and its not an AGM battery.

$295 is not a crazy price for an AGM battery, in fact you could pay more than that for an Optima, etc.

Magic wipers are expensive, but they're better. The Lexus wipers are the same units as Chrysler uses on my Pacifica, they are identical (third party supplier), the Mercedes units are proprietary and they have the magic vision heated washer system in them. So...they cost more.

Like I said, better stuff costs more.

The point is, if you're worried about a once every 5-7 year battery replacement being $100 more, then you would never have bought the car to begin with. $100 fragrance refills, $250 wiper blades, its just part of having a car of that caliber. If you don't want to pay that, don't buy that kind of car. I waited until I really had a lot of disposable income before I finally took the leap and got one of these...something like an X5 or X7 is pretty accessible being all in with the payment, but a GLE or GLS is going to be really expensive to maintain at the dealer if you don't have a prepaid maintenance package. RX isn't going to be cheap either though.