Hi guys, I am in the market for a LS460, and I did some research on these cars. I found that it has several common problems, control arms failure, brake actuator, air suspension, and coolant leaks. I found a 2014 LS460 WITHOUT air suspension at around 150K 1 owner, always Lexus maintained for about $18k. I ran the service records at Lexus.com and Carfex, and seems like it did not have any previous service records on control arms and brake actuators. Some folks say those issues are resolved by Lexus for the 2013+ models and some say not. I'll definitely do a pre purchase inspection before I go for it, but I still wanna get a general idea on reliability issues for 2013+ models. I am wondering if those issues, controls arm, brake actuator, coolant leaks, still exist on 2013+ model? If so, roughly how much did it cost for you guys to get it fix? Thanks in advance!!!

 

The answer is yes, those issues are still potential issues. These are expensive and complex cars and buying one that is 12 years old and has 150k miles on it, you need to be prepared for potentially expensive repairs simply as a maintenance item.

 

My 2017 LS460 RWD (no air) has about 46K miles on it right now. My brake actuator started to go bad at around 33K miles and was replaced on the warranty. Backlighting in climate control buttons failed few month ago and it was just north of $3000 including labor for the receiver (Mark Levinson). Had some issues with coolant level, but it ended up just an air bubble in the system after coolant replacement. Definitely not the ES350 reliability level but in my opinion this car still worth every penny if you can afford to maintain it, and it is still the most reliable and affordable luxury sedan in its class today (compare with S class and 7 series for example). Catch is, cheap LS460 is the most expensive car you will ever buy. LOL.

 

We acquired our 2014 SWB no air suspension vehicle over 9 years ago that had 20k miles on it. Now with just under 80k, only maintenance items so far have been tires, a battery, and wiper blades. Both the 30k and 60k services were completed.

No complaints. If you are seeking an LS460 a 2014+ is a good choice. (There is some evidence that any issues with the 2013 were addressed in the following years…..).

 

Can't believe Lexus hasn't fixed the brake actuator in 2017 models...

 

The brake actuator in my 2017 failed at 5k miles.

 

At 283k on my 12l awd with air suspension with original rear air struts and original brake actuator. Over last 50k miles only regular maintenance but front right wheel bearing starting to make noise. All maintenance in link below:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...e-repairs.html

 

Its important to realize that not all cars experience these failures, you just have to be prepared for the possibility that they will.

 

I've have a 2013 f sport awd with 35k miles on it and have done the valley plate last fall and will be doing brakes front and rear sometimes this spring. I don't think I would ever buy a car with that much mileage unless at least some of the major known issues have been done.

 

All 460s are essentially mechanically the same no matter the year, newer ones are just newer so less issues. If you buy one you should be well aware of common issues and costs to fix before getting surprised....

That said I have not had issues recur with my 07 and I got it at 128k and it's at 165k now, I did however specifically find a car that had the entire interior replaced and a new brake actuator installed just before (1200 miles) before I got it.

I did all the arms, HPFP/valve covers, valley plate, all driveline mounts, rad, struts, trans pan seal, and a maintenance myself and after that it's been perfect with no issues at all surfacing. So far it's been better than my two LS430s in terms of time taken and parts needed as well










If you take time to search you can also find a near mint car that only takes a few days to bring back to looking reasonable. Biggest issue is the paint is very soft and chips are common, correction is easy though.

 

Before I bought by 2011 with 95K miles through Carvana, I researched on what repairs are typically needed. The car already had brake warning light issues, so they replaced the brake actuator, rotors and pads before I got the car. It still had intermittent brake warning lights coming up, so they replaced the accumulator, and it was finally traced to the fuse box with integrated relays. I also had all the control arms, and valley plate leak fixed fixed at the Lexus dealer, all under Carvana's warranty. They even replaced the rear bumper with a new factory bumper due to flaws in the paint.

 

I just saw this one on autotrader, someone should tell them the prices are down post covid years. There was a 2014 a couple of yrs ago priced similar and disappeared pretty fast, the base and L models when they do come up sit for quite awhile and after a month or 2 the prices drop fast.

https://www.autotrader.ca/a/lexus/ls...=100&modalXS=1

They claim it has spds and looks like the PO was a porker by the creases in the drivers seat.

 

If you are willing to pay that much you should be able to buy a newer model for around that price. I just bought a 2014 SWB one owner base model with 85,000 miles for $24,0000.

 

Well, I'm on my 3rd 460, the first one was a 2007, sold it at around 55,000 miles with no problems whatsoever, the second one was a 16, sold it at the same mileage, the front left bearing was a little noisy, but that was about it.
The 3rd one is a 15 in my garage at 16,000 miles, I have 4 more cars that I drive but I'm really reluctant to sell it ! I simply love them !

 

Why would you sell a ‘16 for ‘15, even with less miles?