Why would anyone complain about our cars being "too quiet?" GS's were built as a luxury sedan, not a race ready sedan.

Anyway.. I hate the door actuators the most, then the old school look of our in dash radios.

 

Interesting thread...

I've owned a 2001 GS430 for about a month now. My basis for comparison is a 2003 BMW 540i, 1997 Benz E420, and a 2010 Honda Accord (which are all in the family now).

I will start off by saying that the GS430 is my favorite of the four. It's the most plush, and offers the best compromise between acceleration, handling, braking, and interior/exterior styling imho.

There are a few things I've noticed that I think Lexus did fumble during their "pursuit of perfection" however.

a.) There's been no shortage of complaints here of the imfamous steering wheel shimmy at highway speed. I too have noticed a bit at 65mph. Although it's not bad at all, it seems to be most noticeable when the tires are cold and certain surfaces seem to bring it out more than others. It also disappears above 70mph or below 60mph. I have not tried to rebalance the wheels yet but plan to start with that. I must acknowledge that our Benz and Accord have a certain amount of this too. I owned a 1996 Mustang Cobra that also was plagued with this annoying problem. I first rebalanced the wheels, later replaced the wheels, and changed every bushing in the front end over a 2-year period and never completely eliminated it. Steering wheel shimmy is a common problem across many makes/models and certain people are more sensitive to it than others.

2.) A performance sports sedan with no LSD? Come on! To be fair, our e420 and 540i-Sport don't have it either. >$50K sports sedans with no posi-traction. Seems silly imho.

3.) Excessive front windshield air-noise. This is the first thing that jumped out at me the first time I took the car on the highway but I haven't seen anyone else complain about it. For a luxury car, the interior air noise from air hitting the windshield seems excessive. This problem does not exist on either of our German cars.

4.) 3-4" of "Ford Taurus" fender gap on a luxury sports sedan? Again, come on... really?

5.) And last but not least, you guys know the thin tubular lining that goes around the seams/stiching of our front seats. Well, 99% of 2GS cars seem to have a break in this tubing in at least one place.

Overall I have a lot more positive to say than negative, but that's me knit-picking the little stuff I've noticed.

BayAreaLex

 

Some of these lists I would think you guys should just get rid of the car...lol

 

Suspension noise!

 

things you hate about GS - too hard to let go

 

I would have to agree. But it's more of Tein's fault then Lexus's.

 

I dunno if anyone else has mentioned it yet, but I hate the sagging under engine cover!

 

Bayarealex, check the stickies for a thread on wind noise, might be worth checking to see if you're missing a body plug or two, could help with your windshield noise, might not be it either but easy to check.

Thomas, mine sags like that too, little annoying but I'm low enogh now that its not too noticeable.

 

I kno right. Some of these list are wayy long

 

My list is more like "how far from catching perfection is Lexus"

On the front windshield noise there is a gasket on front top window you need to change. You can get it at Sewell

 

e-brake location
suspension noise, creaks like a grandma over bumps etc.

 

Suspension problems galore

 

Found this while car shopping, The fact that I sold a blk/blk gs400 with many of these issues and NOW 6 years later I'm shopping for another one. For the money and how they're equipped you cant beat the little issues. Seems when I call about a used GS they never mention the door lock problem until I point it out.. then they are like "Yeah, I think one of the doors you have to help out sometimes". Mine also had the shimmy at 60mph and a few other little things that were mainly due to not inspecting it close enough when I bought it. Great to see over time what little things may need attention though!

 

* Mark Levinson amplifiers are unreliable and a huge number of them seem to give problems.
* The Motion Lock on the navigation system is unjustifiable, senseless and maddening.

 

Suspension issues - I have pretty much replaced everything, and it still isn't right, so am replacing everything else right down to diff mounts and subframe bushings to try and sort.

Suspension noise too - fairly sure it is the pillow ball top mounts though.