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The German cars have 1/2 the cost for parts btw.....majorly cheaper and easier to get stuff for them vs the hellscape of finding LS OEMs. Half the time on the LS it's impossible to figure out who actually makes the parts
I looked at SL500s and the ABC suspension alone scared me away. I’m happy with my LS so far and have prepared for the worst.
I have a 2007 that was well maintained (complete history on cars and bids). I've done quite a bit in my 6 months and nearly 10k miles of ownership already between my own work and the local shop. Granted it's all been routine: plugs and coil seals, every single fluid (for my peace of mind and to know exactly when it was done), new Michelin Defender 2 tires, replaced sticky trunk button, broken shift dust cover, all filters, Grom vLite2, hood struts, OEM wipers and blades, weather tech trunk liner, OEM trunk net, professional graphene protection and paint correction (looks beautiful now), two oil changes, ATS treatment (has for sure helped the slow oil consumption by cleaning), TPMS in all four tires, and I'm doing the brakes and rotors (already have the parts) within the next couple of months.
Lots of small items but routine and me being meticulous about the maintenance to continue the previous owner who had the vehicle for a long time maintenance record. I even called the shop in Atlanta where a majority of the service took place and they knew the car and said that owner always did everything they even mentioned was optional. The ZLZ, starter, brake actuator, arms, etc where already done when i purchased the vehicle.
Granted I got it for a 10k and have put into it almost 3k (tires being the big expense). We just took it on a 1200 round trip vacation to Hilton Head and it was a dream on the highway. I work from home so there are weeks where I only drive it once or twice a week (short or 200 mile trips though).
I fully realize the suspension will probably need to be replaced which is common sometime over the next 50k miles but if I can get 60k+ miles out of a vehicle for let's say $16k (assuming arms etc will need to be done again in that time) I'll come out quite well for such a comfortable car.
I'd keep it after all you have done as it seems you are close to the finish line.
Yeah, familiar story. Many people getting into this trap. Catch is that this is a premium car that comes with premium cost of maintenance, regardless how much you pay for it. If somebody is selling $100K S class for a pocket change it doesn't automatically makes spare parts and labor free. Same with Lexus. When it comes to this kind of cars there are two schools of thoughts. You can find the newest and most most expensive one that you can afford and drive it relatively problem free. Otherwise, get one really cheap and spend bunch of money over the period of time on catching up with all maintenance items. I had it both ways over the years (particularly when I used to fix cars for living) with different cars and figured it is cheaper to buy expensive one. LOL
Agree with this. What a beautiful car the 460 is. But my wife's 2017 started gobbling up huge maintenance costs. I think the last straw was when the brake booster suddenly failed; can't remember what the stealer charged us to fix it but it was insane. So we sold the car. Most of the stuff on it was way beyond my DIY ability anyway ... we live pretty far out in the country and it's not practical if you can't fix most stuff yourself.
We still have an old LS430 that we use for road trips; not as fancy or quick as the 460 was, but it costs very little to keep running or to insure and most maintenance tasks are dead easy (as long as you can score the parts; sometimes a little challenging).. I'm in finance but I always found working on the car on weekends to be very relaxing ... no phones, no deadlines, just crank up a good classic rock station and get out the wrenches!
Anyway, the thing about buying a car in need of work is, it will always end up costing you more than just paying up front for one that's properly sorted. Always. No exceptions!!
Agree with this. What a beautiful car the 460 is. But my wife's 2017 started gobbling up huge maintenance costs. I think the last straw was when the brake booster suddenly failed; can't remember what the stealer charged us to fix it but it was insane. So we sold the car. Most of the stuff on it was way beyond my DIY ability anyway ... we live pretty far out in the country and it's not practical if you can't fix most stuff yourself.
We still have an old LS430 that we use for road trips; not as fancy or quick as the 460 was, but it costs very little to keep running or to insure and most maintenance tasks are dead easy (as long as you can score the parts; sometimes a little challenging).. I'm in finance but I always found working on the car on weekends to be very relaxing ... no phones, no deadlines, just crank up a good classic rock station and get out the wrenches!
Anyway, the thing about buying a car in need of work is, it will always end up costing you more than just paying up front for one that's properly sorted. Always. No exceptions!!
You and I sound a lot alike... white collar profession, finance/accounting/procurement background, and I'm a car nut too. I'm a DIYer but the LS is a bit intimidating due to the fact that if you break one thing in the process, it's exorbitantly expensive. For instance, when looking for my LS, I found one that had a broken wood trim piece around the rear console vents. $700! I can't imagine tugging on Toyota/Lexus snap together trim pieces. I just see something tearing loose and ruining it. I just cough up the money and let the dealer eat it if they break it and get my 1 year warranty on their parts/labor.
My brake actuator is under the extension until November; otherwise, it's set aside another $2k+. I mentioned other issues in another post I won't bring up again. Love our cars, but they can be infuriating when they need things, and we bought 3 extremely well-maintained vehicles---all Lexus. I won't drive anything else--maybe Toyotas again, but they aren't as refined. I'll just love my car but want to burn it when it breaks. It's a love/hate relationship.
Last edited by JRA2000TL; Sep 6, 2024 at 05:40 AM.
Fixmenow - I feel your pain. Although I've been real lucky / blessed. My 2010 is a real cream puff. It has had nothing go wrong with it, that I can think of. I did the brakes myself, and 2 batteries. I do all my own maintenance. But the car has been rock solid. I bought a cheap daily driver car because I didn't want to just keep pounding miles on the LS. Kind of like Dalton on Roadhouse, he would buy a daily beater and keep his nice car covered in the barn. I drive a daily beater and keep my 2010 in the garage. It has 61k miles.
I kick around the idea of selling it every now and then. Whoever buys my car will get a real cream puff. However, it concerns me that whoever buys it, who knows ... it could go down a similar path as yours. I doubt it, but you never know. Even though my car won't show any maintenance history online, it is WELL maintained. I'm going through a similar thing as you, but with my oldest son's G35. He is in Navy OCS right now. I've been driving and trying to sort out his car to get it as reliable as possible. And it has snowballed into way more money than I wanted to spend on it.
When I started driving it, the alternator and the instrument cluster crapped out simultaneously. I put new filters in it all around, put new door checks in it (so the door will hold open). For a long time it would drip oil on the manifold and you could smell it burning. When the cluster and alternator conked out, I procured a $250 alternator and limped it to the local guy I use when a repair is too deep n dirty (and time consuming) for me to deal with it. He installed the alternator, new valve covers/gaskets, spark plugs, spark plug tubes, some other emission seal. I got it back and put a new battery in it cause I killed the battery to plum dead a couple times when the alternator stopped working (and the battery was 4.5 years old anyway). $865 labor, $250 alternator, $165 battery, and now, I'm dealing with the cluster. I sent the cluster to Atlanta Speedometer. These guys really seem to know their ... you know what. I had pulled this alternator out in 2017 and had the fuel gauge repaired. Atlanta Speedometer said it looked like an orangutan had worked on it, had made a mess out of it, drilled out holes in it, caused areas to corrode from what had been done, and that it is too far gone now to bother repairing. So now, I'm looking at spending $650 on a repaired cluster. And this is a 2005 vehicle. I'm putting just a skosh over $2,000 into this 2005 G35. Hopefully it will be good for him for another year or 3. My middle son has a 2007 G35. His is just now having some emissions issues I'm going to have to deal with. $$$$$s. It's a never ending battle. Such is life I guess. Just glad my LS is so trouble-free.
I've had mine for 3 yrs, the clock stopped working last year for awhile then it recovered and has been fine since this spring. I found some pink crust at the back of the valley plate area but it hasn't started using much coolant yet because I topped up the reservoir and it's been good for months but it will have to be done at some point.
My suspension theory is the awd models will have less control arms issues because the main lower is cast iron and the inner bushing is in an actual mount and doesn't have that extension like the rwd, the lower ca carries most of the load and when that goes all those other chicken wings follow suit soon after.
My 13 still has low mileage, I've put 10k kilometres on in 3 yrs but haven't had to do any repairs yet.
I went to get it just as they finished with this job. I started the car and smelled fuel. I popped the hood and they found the rubber fuel line going to the HPFP on the passenger side was squirting fuel out. They said it was dry-rotted. I assume maybe they nicked it. Either way, they replaced it for free with some spare hose they kept on hand. Then.....it stopped working..
It would start, then die. A couple of times it started and idled, but when you pressed the peddle it would die. I had to leave it.
I'm sorry you're having such a bad time with this LS 460, obviously the previous owner just let many things slide for a long time, before selling it to you! Maybe I can help things a little bit, because I read over your account, and I think I spotted the source of one of your problems.
A careful reading of one of your trips to the shop provides the answer, to the subsequent problem you descrube. "Car starts and dies." The answer as to "what changed?" to cause that is per the quote above, the mechanics replaced the section of fuel hose. Obviously, your mechanic used the wrong type of fuel hose. They must have used the flimsy rubber kind you'd use to siphon gas from a lawn mower. When your fuel system gets pressure to it, that rubber hose is probably just swelling shut and cutting off fuel! I think that hose they changed needs to be changed yet again, with the proper OEM high pressure fuel hose.
I bought a 2009 LS 460 with 133k miles on back in March of 2023. I paid 13,600 out the door. It is very clean and in good shape. But I had no idea what in the world I was walking into. If only I had a pre-trip inspection!
A few weeks later, I found out the bottom control arms needed replacing and it needed valve cover gaskets replaced. It also needed front struts and it was also time for spark plugs. My brother did the labor and I ended up getting all eight control arms done, but while he was in there he said I needed sway bar links and tie rod ends. Then it needed the lower ball joint replaced on both sides. I got Delphi brand control arms and parts, or Moog. I got Lexus struts and he swapped them out with new strut mounts too. This whole thing ended up costing me over $2k. I held off on the rest. it was down a month working on this and waiting each time we ordered more.
Then I heard a roaring noise shortly after getting the front fixed, and Toyota said I needed tires. Replaced all four tires somewhere else much cheaper, and STILL had a roaring noise. Took it to Lexus and they couldn't find it. Took it to a local mechanic who specialized in foreign cars and he figured it out in one short drive. Rear wheel bearing (how did Toyota and Lexus miss this??). That was around $500 to have that mechanic replace. Noise went away.
I drove it for a while with the VSC and check engine light coming on every few months. Over time, it got increasingly common after resetting it. Always O2 sensor codes. After the initial hit of investments, I wanted to get rid of it. But I owed too much still since all my extra was paying for work instead of paying off the car. This past spring, it gets even better....
I decided to keep the car and get the valve cover gaskets replaced (losing 2 qrts a change), the spark plugs changed, and get the O2 sensors changed. I took it to a local shop that has been in business for 40 years and has a good reputation and reasonable rates. (Shop owner's son who also works there went to school with my brother). They said they work on Lexus cars all the time. They did the valve covers, spark plugs, flushed the radiator, and said I needed a new cam shaft sensor (they only use Denso or name brands). All that was just $800. They forgot about the o2 sensors.
Two days later I get home and my radiator is spraying steam. I looked and realized the infamous broken plastic nipple that these are known to leak from had been repaired previously, and now it is leaking and overheating (I guess the flush did it). So I had to get a new radiator. They did that for me at $375 installed.
I took it back to get the VSC codes dealt with since it was coming back on pretty much daily. They put on both upper O2 sensors. Another $700 due to each sensor being $200 (Denso)! I went to get it just as they finished with this job. I started the car and smelled fuel. I popped the hood and they found the rubber fuel line going to the HPFP on the passenger side was squirting fuel out. They said it was dry-rotted. I assume maybe they nicked it. Either way, they replaced it for free with some spare hose they kept on hand. Then.....it stopped working..
It would start, then die. A couple of times it started and idled, but when you pressed the peddle it would die. I had to leave it. I'm now at one month with it in the shop at this point due to taking it back over and over, and I'm up to $1800 in maintenance. I know this is a good price for what I'm having done, but still...that's a lot of money. And now I have a car that won't drive and I still owe around $12k of the original amount.
They kept the car for another four weeks and didn't figure it out. They had someone come with a professional style computer ($10k system) and found nothing. They called Lexus and Lexus told them this is a common problem with this model and they don't have a fix for it. The Lexus dealership an hour and a half away said they had two on-site that they have replaced a TON of stuff on and they still don't work. So now, I'm getting pretty sick about it. They did replace the fuel pressure sensor and the car would consistently start and idle without shutting off, but it still would shut off if you pressed the peddle.
I finally had to towed to a foreign car specialty shop (the guy that replaced the rear hub). Two days later I get a call the car is ready. The previous shop reversed the fuel lines. A month of headaches and wondering for that.....SMH.
I get the car back finally after not having it for two months (been leaving my wife and kids without a car during the day al this time), and the VSC light is STILL on, but I found out the code is now for the lower driver-side O2 sensor. So I just ordered two Denso lower O2 sensors and I'll get them replaced myself.
All in, this car has been the worst. Not really the car's fault. I just bought it when maintenance was needed and it stacked up. I have around $18-19k in this car now including some other things I had done like Ceramic tent early on. The shop that had it two months also got greese and dirt all over, so I have to do some serious cleaning and reapply that sticky dash fix to cover up mess. If i knew I'd spend this much, I would have bought a newer car to begin with and just be done with it.
I am torn on if I want to keep it or get rid of it. I put it on a 0% card and with all this extra I'v had to reset that 0% now. Part of me wants to pay it off and drive it, but the other side is so scared to try that due to it continuing to need something. Pretty sure I've replaced about every sensor this car has in the engine at this point...ughh...
Caveat emptor - Buyer beware
I'm not being critical of your purchase, as a lot of us have done the very same thing. Since I admit to making poor purchase decisions. Age and experience helps a Lot.
I recently bought a 2011 LS460. It had 133k showing on the clock. The 1st thing I did was run a Carfax on the car. Once I had the VIN, I then went to the Lexus website which provides a Maintenance history of the car. I admit that a Carfax Report and the Lexus Maintenance history report can't predict what problems may occur going forward, one can see if known issues have been addressed; llike lower control arms
Please understand that I'd been looking for the "Right Car"for quite a while. Some were too expensive (I'm Semi-retired - fixed income.), some were too cheap (Cheap usually meant no maintenance history). There were some that had options I Didn't want (Air suspension for one).
I'm 75 years old and have been lucky enough to have had a rich history with Automobiles; including M-B, BMW, Porsche 911s, and Audi. I even restored a '59 MGA by myself.
My point is, given the complexity of these cars, including the LS460, for Me, a good Maintenance record is a must.
The LS460 I bought, is a one owner car. The owner did take care of this car. The car has been serviced at Every Lexus set mileage. Again, I bought the car with 133k miles. The owner took the car in for its 130k Recommended service (he had the front Brake Rotors and Pads replaced). The Maintenance History on this car is why I bought it. When I got it home, I put my Scanner on it - Zero Codes.
I sincerely wish you luck with your car. Without a doubt, my LS460, excluding the Porches, is the Finest Automobile I've ever owned.
Last edited by Theodore24; Sep 7, 2024 at 11:08 AM.
Any vehicle can get expensive to repair, my old reliable 4x4 f350's front end has been seizing up for awhile now causing almost emergency like situations when trying to come out of corners. Couldn't even beat the rotor off with a short sledge and had to take it off with the hub, it needs everything both sides of course and I will be going oem so it won't be cheap. it's real grunt work at this stage and I'd rather be working on the 460.
Any vehicle can get expensive to repair, my old reliable 4x4 f350's front end has been seizing up for awhile now causing almost emergency like situations when trying to come out of corners. Couldn't even beat the rotor off with a short sledge and had to take it off with the hub, it needs everything both sides of course and I will be going oem so it won't be cheap. it's real grunt work at this stage and I'd rather be working on the 460....
So Gerf where's the rest of them pitchers! I do wanna see how you finished this truck also what the damage (cost) was?
So Gerf where's the rest of them pitchers! I do wanna see how you finished this truck also what the damage (cost) was?
The parts are ordered but they won't be here till the 29th of this month. I decided to get them from rockauto because they were less than half the price from the dealers here even with the exchange and shipping. I just use the truck now for dump runs and picking up lumber etc so these parts will work fine.
