No offense, but I've been on here for years and am getting quite annoyed with the direction this forum is headed. It seems like most of the new threads are newbies asking for purchase advice, many without doing any searching beforehand to find all the answers to their questions. Second to that is the general low quality of many of the posts, poor grammar/spelling/English, lack of posts about detailed technical/repair/maintenance information and/or follow-up to posts.

Anyone else feel the same or am I just being a phallus? Maybe there can be a new forum started for those seeking purchasing advice?

 

Forum veterans will tend to check stickies for the basic FAQ type questions. With newcomers to any forum, stickies are not a primary focus so they get overlooked unfortunately. As far as repairs and tutorials for the car, just goes to show how well designed the car and parts are that went into it.

The moderator team has discussed having a buying guide. With so many online guides already present, the basics carry across regardless of manufacturer. This is where the FAQ for frequent discussions on the model are important for potential buyers. Even so, we do see any number of what to look for threads and the moderator team does attempt to condense the info for easier searching.

Forum members comprise a range of ages and backgrounds and with that varied level of owner-driver we want the community to be pleasant for all. For the younger drivers, this will be a learning process and we hope that the regulars will show them patience as they become familiar to Club Lexus.

 

theres always a learning curve, newbies will always post up new threads instead of searching. all we have to do is help them and then just point them in the right direction. But sometimes, certain threads dont always come up in search...so maybe another member had used a older thread to help and is able to help.

 

Like most corporations do, it would be advantageous to have a short orientation setup for new user accounts on Forums that they have to complete before joining the masses. There would have to be a slight overhaul of the Website, but it would save space for sure

 

ancdmd, as the car becomes cheaper with each passing year, a more diverse range of folks are introduced. It's happened to nearly every section on this forum and quite frankly, it's how the cookie crumbles.

 

I honestly don't mind the guys asking for help on purchase, I enjoy seeing what other people are paying and I think its smart to check in here first before a purchase.

I actually find the flamers that complain about every new thread to be the most annoying of all, the SC forum was rife with them, and the fact is information changes, and sometimes its hard to find answers to YOUR questions in other peoples threads so I don't see the problem.

The only thing I have about this LS430 forum is we don't seem to do very much in terms of mod's or thinking outside the box, my car is completely stock as are most others so we don't have the most interesting threads.

Aside from that its great here , I am really grateful for this site.

 

Information changes. Opinions change. I see no problems here.

No likey. No clicky. Pretty simple.

 

Maybe a separate sticky, buying guide only thread all the way on top in big, bold, red colored letters will help. In it quotes from FAQ and other related threads.

 

Since I do Real Estate I was looking for a car that had a boring Forum for their Luxury model. I read all the Stickies and 20 pages of the discussions. As with all the other forums from Goldwing to VW diesel Passat the search is pretty useless and Google works much better.
If you want more reading look at the IS or GS as they have a few more issues and tend to do more in depth upgrades. This sight is very professional with a .good touch of humor. I researched, I bought, and I am updating and upgrading what is needed. 54k
30% ceramic tint
2010 ls460 mats Brown
Throttle body cleaning
MAF cleaning
Denso Plugs
EBC RED brake pads
Brake fluid Flush


Thanks again everyone for all the great info on a great car.

 

Ya gotta like the 01 150k ultra question about air suspension.
Been here for 5 years interesting how trouble free these cars are.
The price range can vary so much and as Alex has said many of the folks embelish the facts and if yur looking for a $12k LS ya better do yur homework more importantly than asking? As Jab says the good ones go fast.
Many of these $12k folks are better served with an Avalon or ES.

 

I haven't been on CL for long but ive been on other fourms with previous/other cars and compared to the others, its not terrible. When I started here, I got the impression that some of the IS/GS/LS were comprised of slow rich kids who all they want advice on is how to spend their mounds of money they don't have. (some kids some not)

I've been trying to avoid those threads lately but when I avoid them, I find my self not really posting anything at all.

 

Just a thought about my first-hand experience:
I found the "normal" search to be quite useless, and this may be a contributing factor to a new member being unable to use it effectively.
It seems that the "advanced" search is much better at providing relevant search results.
Of course, it may be that I don't know what I'm doing :-) If so, please enlighten me.

 

I'd personally like to see more "How To's" even if it's about something really basic, most people come to a forum for information like that. It feels like the LS430 forum has a lot less of this type of information than other forums for cars I've owned in the past. As a comparison, the LS400 seems to have a lot more DIY type info with detailed pictures.

Maybe as values go down, there will be less owners that just take their cars to a dealership for service? That usually seems to be a more "new car" phenomenon, but once the cars value decreases, suddenly $1,200 for a dealer service visit starts being questioned.

I will agree that the "should I buy this LS?" threads can get a little old, but I can always just ignore it and not click.

Also, one pet peeve I have is when someone posts a problem, people comment on what they think the issue could be, and the original poster just sort of vanishes without letting people know how the problem was resolved. Maybe forum moderators could gently nudge for an answer from these posters?

 

My perception is that the forum is being used by younger people who are used to being spoon fed without any work effort on their part. I have no need or sympathy for those comments, especially when they show the post is made for the simplest of issues and no effort has been made to read the owners manual. They just want to post a quick question and expect to receive quick answers.

Yes, for old owners and users of this forum, it is becoming more irrelevant. And yes, I can and will increasingly start to use the forum less and less. But such is the internet society we are evolving into. Old timers have less need for this. There are more important things in life than being spoon fed (or being the feeder).

 

The demographic of the buyers of LS owners is probably a little older than the IS group but a lot of younger folks are finding the ls to be a cool car. If I find something that doesn't interest me, like coil overs, I don't read it. I use the forum to learn things and hopefully help me maintain the car or even fix it. Just yesterday I replaced the high brake light based on info acquired on this site. I'm sure lexus would have charged me 50 bucks to do it. Part of the fix was to "karate chop" the rear bulb holder....huh? Well it worked the first time and the bulb got changed for 4 bucks. Anyway to me it's a pick and choose what you want to read and that's how I use the forum