yes, residual on the 600hl is super low. actually just last week i checked on the residual on the 600hl again -- 38%. YES, THREE YRS!!!!!!!! that means if someone leases a 600hl today and 3 yrs later he returns the car? the car is worth 40k. price of high tech (maybe that's why i don't have a LS now, wahahhaa)

when i got my ls460l, residual wasn't pretty already, it was 48% i believe. and 600hl is in general lower (just like 460l lower than 460)

 

CVT.

Every high-end auto transmission I've driven, including my late departed (and lamented) LX470, has reminded me that there is still a gear lever inside the gearbox.

Still the same winding up and winding down noise, and if you're lucky the change might also be seamless. Not often though.

But when I drove the rubber band LS600, I was instantly hooked. Still am. It's the most marvelous engineering experience that I never notice.

But the hybrid also pulls a vote. Noiseless gliding is a Jetson-like promise of the future.

--------------------------
2007 LS600hL, 5 seat
2000 Lexus LX470 (traded and missed)

Mercedes SL500 AMG (garage queen)
Mercedes SLK 230 (wife's toy)
Suzuki Grand Vitara (rain & runaround)

 

It's not a pure CVT, rather a ECVT as in Electronic. It still has eight forward gear ratios, but the seamlessness is achieved by a ECU and the use of planetary gears from what I can determine. The transmission in the 600 is a marvel in more ways as well. The motor-generator system is in there as well providing the additional horsepower as well as the regenerative braking effort.

 

Same reason I would ask why people buy a 760Li vs a 750Li or S600 over S550. It's the idea that you got something to stick out in the crowd haha. Exclusivity is definitely one of the reasons to get a 600h

 

Sure, but if no-one knows the difference, then how exclusive is it really? The public would have to be involved with the LS600 in some way, as a dealer, technician or salesman - or owner, because it is dang hard to tell the difference between a 460 and this one.

The blue logo is no giveaway. Nothing on the trunk tells it either. A friend yesterday said that his boss had just bought "one of those." Even when I explained the difference, he still didn't know which model the man had bought.

I rather like that. The idea of sitting in the most advanced car in the world without Joe Public knowing is very comforting. But then I don't like to stand out in a crowd.

--------------------------
2007 LS600hL, 5 seat
2000 Lexus LX470 (traded and missed)

Mercedes SL500 AMG (garage queen)
Mercedes SLK 230 (wife's toy)
Suzuki Grand Vitara (rain & runaround)

 

well it depends. s600 probably has much less difference than the s550 compared to 600hl vs 460, but s600 spells exclusivity, even to normal people

my friend doesn't know much about cars one time asked me (i was driving) the s600 in front of me. he said he doesn't see "600" often, that must be some special version

 

I really love that blue logo on the front grill,I would like to swap it out on my LS460,I actually priced it from the dealer and its $56, not bad compared to the black logo with radar, that logo is $1100 .

 

I wonder what that unit costs,It looks like it comes off the space shuttle,then again its probably more advanced then some parts on the space shuttle

 

How would you pretend you have a hybrid? Turn the motor off when cruising downhill?

--------------------------
2007 LS600hL, 5 seat
2000 Lexus LX470 (traded and missed)

Mercedes SL500 AMG (garage queen)
Mercedes SLK 230 (wife's toy)
Suzuki Grand Vitara (rain & runaround)

 

The LS600hL don't have the radar integrated into it's blue logo ??

 

that's what i was going to ask. both setup should be the same. and i thought the front emblem is sold separately

 

No,from what I understand you cant get the anti crash radar in the LS600.But im not 100% sure. I think if the car is equipt with radar the logo looks similiar to the blue logo but black.

 

Thats the only way I can afford it ,$56 later I have a hybrid, lol

 

I like that unless I'm valet parking it, it attracts no attention. I can never convey how annoying it is to be hounded while driving an exotic car. You never really can understand it until you own one. In a million years, no one will do a U-turn to take a picture of my LS600hL. And I love that more than I can ever describe.

The LS600hL is a pleasure to drive every day. As I plan on keeping it for the typical 7-8 years I keep LS's, it's residual value now is pretty irrelevant to me. We'll talk again in another 6 years.

The way I get to look at it, I get to drive an amazing technological marvel. It's reliably, quiet, has power, handles reasonably well, and is roomy (except for the trunk.)

I'd buy one again (though I would negotiate a better deal in this present climate.)

Anyway, my $0.02.

 

haha doc, i guess i would at least want to try the feeling of being "chased" once