Have an 02 GS430 with 107,000 miles on it now and bought it with 41,000 miles on it. All stock. First Lexus and most likely will be my last. These cars are junk after 90,000 miles. As soon as you pay it off, issue after issue starts arising. Dumb sunroof rattles, door panel rattles when playing music, driver window seems randomly began letting loud wind noise in, Mark Levinson amp failure, door lock actuator goes out, replace it, 2 months later another one goes out, drivers windows randomly won't go up and down replace bad drivers door ecu 2 months later passenger side doing same thing. Check engine light code P0420, everybody here says exhaust leak, take it to an exhaust guy who seals cat gaskets where possible leak, check engine light comes back on, dealer says bad cats, replace both cats, light back on after a month.
Never got advertised gas mileage ever since I had the car even with feather foot driving, but sister and mom in laws heavier LS430 gets better averages than i do!?
Tires always balding prematurely. Car has never tracked straight. Always a fight to keep the car straight and causes driving fatigue. Change outer tie rods, shocks, ball joints,passenger side steering knuckle,lower control arms,caster arms,upper control arms,steering rack bushings, Lexus alignment and guess what....drum roll..... the car still drives like squirrely, always stock 17's and Michelin Pilot Sports. On top of that, the steering wheel seems to be tilted to the right when going straight on some roads. So much money dumped into this car with very little satisfaction.

Great car Lexus

Discuss? Please no flaming and no fanboys who believe Toyota cars are the only cars to buy and all other car companies suck.

By the way, drove my uncles 1998 Mercedes S320 and that thing was quiet as a tomb, no rattles, door closed like a vault and i could almost drive that thing with no hands on the steering wheel. Not saying ima buy a Benz, but Germans seem to put more quality materials in their cars that last. Audi is attracting my eye.

I laugh when i hear guys say "ok, leave Lexus if you want and go German, you'll be dealing with all sorts of electrical problems". Any car i buy next will pale in comparison to the problems in my GS.

Or maybe i'm mistaken and the LS430 was the only Lexus worth buying because it seems thats where they put all of their engineering/quality/reliability into?

 

Damn man you must have some bad luck. I've had my 99 GS300 for 5 1/2 years with barely any problems at all. Bought the car with 78K and it now has 135K. Starter went out last year and now my water pump just started getting crazy in the past couple of days. I can't complain. We'll see in another year though.

 

Good to hear from someone that actually has problems with their GS. I have had no such problems with my GS but then again, my car has only seen about 30K miles a year. One of my clients had an 01 GS that he couldn't get to track straight so he took it into a competent alignment shp and they found that the front crossmember was out of alignment. The car had hit or been hit and never reported (he bought the car used). Replaced some mounts and has been running great ever since, just over 250K miles.

Good luck with your next decision.

 

Sounds like you've been experiencing all of the problems the GS is notorious for...all at once. Think of it this way - now that they're fixed, you shouldn't have to deal with it again.

 

To compare an S class to a GS is kind of apples and oranges.

S-class is the top of the line 80k+ car, where as the GS was a mid range luxury car tagging probably around 40k.

I would expect the S to be substantially quieter.


It sounds like you've ran in to a lot of small issues, and since you dont do the labor yourself and possibly may be taking it to incompetent mechanics you got hosed and keep having issues.

For comparison, my buddies 03 325i Sport Package BMW, he has replaced every window regulator twice. Transmission (5spd manual) had to be replaced at 80k, starter went, then I replaced a few small sensors for him myself around 100k, MAF just went bad, not to mention bushings/ball joints/etc.

 

Maybe you just drove it into the ground and let all these issues build up instead of taking care of things when they needed to be taken care of?


either that or you happen to get a lemon?

My car has 205+k on it
have also had a SC300 with 245k one with 145k
and one that I turbo'd around 175k and they have been great.

buddy of mine had a SC with 268k and sold it to another friend that still drives it now.



dunno what to tell you though man, I'm presonally pretty happy with most of the lex's and Acura's i've had, maybe try one of those new Buicks..


BTW I don't think Toyota or Lexus is perfect by any means, I had a 03 Camry which was total junk, I sold it after 6 months, Trans started slipping, cars have notorious head leak from stripped headbolts from the factory..

The lex's I have owned have just been great quality IMO and i've had better luck with them.. Alot of my family are Ford Owners and they never have issues with them, the moment i got a Ford it was the worst car i'd ever owned, I tell them to get a Toyota and they hate it..

Different strokes for different folks i guess.

 

Get one, and you'll wish you never sold your GS.

 

Am I the only one with radio rattle? It's not like the typical rattle noise...more like the sound of a electrial wire touching something it shouldn't. I spoke with one other guy and he told me his stock radio does the same. The noise comes and goes.

 

What makes these cars Junk after 90k?

Interior rattles when playing music? how loud? i get a few squeaks here and there but never had a problem. I know the 3rd Gens have a problem with interior squeaks.

The Window motors may be the problem not the ECU.

code P0420- Did you check your o2s?

Seem like the Alignment shop did not do a good job if your steering wheel tilts to the right when going straight.

To sum it up;

No doubt you have had problems with your car. the problems posted WE HAVE ALL HAD. after so many miles things are meant to go, the only difference is maybe yours went out earlier =( Plain Bad Luck)

Who guided you towards fixing your issues? Clublexus? Some people here cant even change their light bulb. Dealership? They are not car gods either, sometimes you bring your car in with one problem and come out with two.

from your post you just want car to be a car and not so much in the whole car tuner scene.. i would lease a new car (any make) and swap every year. Call it a day.

we all have preferences when it comes to manufactures, most of us are limited by money some not. Some of us have had the opportunity to drive many cars, not just your uncles Mercedes to make comprehensive compare.
I have driven a couple of driven Mercedes and owned a CLK-500.. I would NOT swap my GS4 for another.. i will leave it at that

 

Sorry to hear about the problems you've had with the GS. This is my 2nd Lexus and I've owned many Acura's. Acura's have been great and I'm hoping the GS will be just as good.

 

Dude , do you ever use common sense.. start another thread on your electrical noise question..STAY ON TOPIC

 

203k here, replaced some suspension parts, car has no rattles. Never replaced door actuaotors probably will have to at some point no biggie. Car drives straight and i got 485miles to a tank on a highway...its a gs400 btw. I did have po420/421 codes replaced rear o2s cleared codes and light has been off for over a year now.
I work on cars for a living and i can tell you german cars are not reliable...period. It sounds like your mechanic dosent know what he/they are doing. Good luck with your S class though or audi(even worst)wait until something goes bad on one of those cars or even regular maintnance. German cars a notorious for oil leaks...my gs has over 200k and its dry as a bone. Price out a timing belt/water pump/tensioner job on 2.8 a4....lol. New 7 series bimmers burn out piston rings...New 2.0t VW/audi engines burn valves.

 

I don't mean to go off topic, but how did you manage to get 485 miles on a tank?!

 

......priceless.......

 

To the OP, that sucks and I hate reading things like this since I haven't had my car too long. Hopefully those items don't attack my car soon especially with the amount of low miles on it. I know it will happen, hopefully not all at once (sounds like this happened to you). My pass door actuator just went out so I'm not too happy about that. After looking at the DIY, I just don't feel like messing with it. For now, I will just reach over and lock. I must say I came from a Infiniti and I was VERY happy with build quality. Everything worked on the car like new at 257k. The only thing I replaced was the radiator and alternator.

If you do sell the car, the next owner will be lucky because, hell you replaced almost everything...which will make it a solid car for another 200k easily.