When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
My annual income does not have enough "0's" on the end to justify buying a new S class. Spend $100k plus on a car is just crazy! But I guess it is all relitive. Like posted above, the majority of the people on this site have not purchased our ultra luxury car at full price. Either at a discount of MSRP, lease, or used. And when you get these two cars, LS AND S class, as a more attainable price range for many, like 1/2 of MSRP, the LS still appears to be more appealing
Well said. Actually old man's Cadillac is a complement.
That's exactly what I wanted nothing more nothing less. I don't need handling or a 0-60 in four seconds dragster. I just want serenity. I wish Lexus would break away from the pack and build luxury exclusive cars like the old Cadillacs.
Absolutely. If I had wanted a handler I would have kept my GS. I wanted a great riding, quiet and super refined car and thats what I got.
[quote=lexus600hl]Car enthusiasts talk about the S63 AMG but no one talks about the LS600hl. Are the car magazines (which I no longer read), even bother mention it? Does Lexus even show the 600 at car shows?[.quote]
Quite frankly, because the LS600hL has nothing to offer enthusiasts, the S63 does, thats why they don't talk about it and car magazines don't mention it. Its the anti-enthusiasts flagship.
My 2008 LS 600hl is always parked next to my 2010 black LS460l, at my office. The paint on the 2010 460 makes it look like a 5 year old car but the paint on the 2008 ls 600 makes it look like a 2016 (yes 2016) model car. It actually looks like a brand new car. I have never ever seen that in any car - especially the Mercedes. Maybe the Rolls might have such a paint job! I am not exaggerating. I think it is because the LS 600hl Launch Edition came with a $5500 special paint option. From now on, if I am given the option, I would go for the $5500 paint upgrade, for the Lexus. You have to see it to believe it!
Its the same paint, just in a different color. The LS does have really nice paint.
I just think it depends on what you're going for, if its reliability and practicality, then it's the LS. If it's the "wow" factor, then it's the S class. At the Boston car show last winter the Mercedes products in general were the only ones I really came away impressed with, and that includes the Lexus line. The Mercedes just looked nicer..more modern/high end, but we all know that when it comes to everyday driving the Lexus is the machine to own.
So yeah if reliability didn't matter to me I'd own an S class or an Audi A8, but it does, so I don't.
Really? Only 200 of LS 600hLswere sold in 2012? You are probably correct. I am curious.. How would I find out, how many are sold each year?
My local lexus dealer told me that he has not sold one, I think, in the past 3 years.
The LS 600, truly, is an amazing car. Originally, in 2007, as theLS600HLs were being introduced, the lexus dealer told me that Lexus was building the car as an alternative to the S600 and the Bentley. Lexus never did market the LS 600 accordingly. Their marketing people did not give justice (or perhaps they knew better?) to the amazing work of their own technical people.
Car enthusiasts talk about the S63 AMG but no one talks about the LS600hl. Are the car magazines (which I no longer read), even bother mention it? Does Lexus even show the 600 at car shows?
My 2008 LS 600hl is always parked next to my 2010 black LS460l, at my office. The paint on the 2010 460 makes it look like a 5 year old car but the paint on the 2008 ls 600 makes it look like a 2016 (yes 2016) model car. It actually looks like a brand new car. I have never ever seen that in any car - especially the Mercedes. Maybe the Rolls might have such a paint job! I am not exaggerating. I think it is because the LS 600hl Launch Edition came with a $5500 special paint option. From now on, if I am given the option, I would go for the $5500 paint upgrade, for the Lexus. You have to see it to believe it!
The LS 600 had a curb appeal - probably because it's unique color/paint and the launch edition wheels - that people made an observation/comment - that it looked very high end, as compared to the other Lexuses. How ever, with all due respect that I am on a Lexus forum - my 2013 white jaguar XJL literally turns heads, even now (normal white paint job).. For what ever reason, the Jaguar seem to have a much higher "snob/luxury appeal" or "high end appeal" than the LS460L. And frankly, I paid only $78k, with extended warranty and taxes in 20013 for that car, new (list $86k - $10k rebate)! It was cheaper than the LS 460L and not even close to the list price of LS 600h but people look at it and go "wow"! Both my Jaguars have been as reliable as my Lexuses.. Actually, more reliable than the Lexus (amp failure) that they did not need ANY repair in the past 2 (didn't need brake job at 25k) and 3 years (needed front brakes at 25k)!
Just in the past month, two visitors, to my office, said to me "Wow, I love your Jaguar. It is amazing" and the LS 600Hl and LS460L were parked right next to it.
Bottom line.. Reiterating my opinion: S550, XJR are superior in many respects, to LS 460L and equal to the LS 600h (while ignoring the reliability factor for all). New or CPO, buy with 100k factory warranty and reliability factor would not be an issue. By the way, Lexus was the company which started emphasis on "service customer satisfaction surveys". Now, the Jaguar's service writers literally plead with me to give them an "outstanding" rating - they said, Jaguar monitors customer feed back very seriously. I owned Mercedes and Audi - I don't recall whether or not their service writers seem to emphasize it as much as the Jaguar's seem to.
PS: on a side note.. since LS 460l owners might read this thread.. I found a great deal on Goodyear eagle 19" tires for the 600, 19" - only $520 delivered for the set of 4. Great price for 19" tires. You can google.
"Lexus aimed to sell 1,200 to 2,000 units a year in the U.S., but that has not happened. The best sales year was 2008, with 980 cars sold and the numbers have diminished every year with 2011 tallying only 84 units. Just 19 buyers stepped up in the first quarter of 2012."
I LOVE absolutely love the big cars of yesteryear and the LS460L & your 600 both have grabbed my attention. As much as I'm trying to wedge myself into an GS it's a bit tight. One could say who cares your the driver but passenger comfort for those days people need to sit back there be it family or friends is important to me. I've been doing a ton of research and the 600 is on my top three. Hopefully one can be gotten for a good price. It's a shame Lexus didn't marke this car well. Did they think it would sell itself? Perhaps the distance between this & the LS is to close?
Car enthusiasts talk about the S63 AMG but no one talks about the LS600hl. Are the car magazines (which I no longer read), even bother mention it? Does Lexus even show the 600 at car shows?[.quote]
Quite frankly, because the LS600hL has nothing to offer enthusiasts, the S63 does, thats why they don't talk about it and car magazines don't mention it. Its the anti-enthusiasts flagship.
Its the same paint, just in a different color. The LS does have really nice paint.
The paint option is now the same for the 600 and 460. I did not see the $5000 paint upgrade option at lexususa.com
I have seen about 3 other 600s. None looked as good as mine. My friend and my nephew both owned ls 600hls. The exterior of their cars looked looked ordinary, just any other ls460L for the paint part.
For several years, my friend complained that his car simply never looked as good as mine.
I have never seen that paint quality on any other car - Lexus or otherwise - well maybe except a Bentley or a Rolls might have it but I don't come across too many of those. I see a couple of Bentleys at the club but I don't recall them being that outstanding in paint job - but are very good. I can't recall comparing. I drove a new Bentley once and remember being very impressed by its exterior and interior. It did seem quite superior in finish to the 600. I am not an expert at paint but I think maybe the Cadillac has better paint finish than the S class.
I have never seen an S class with impressive paint - frankly, even the current S class paint job looks equal to a C class or a Chevy. I think the S class has some kind of Designo color option.. I did drive a S63 but its paint was not at all impressive. It was probably not the designo option color. I found the S 63's designo interior to be more impressive and appealing than the 600's
The picture above does not do justice because the 600 was unwashed and the 460 was washed.
For anyone comparing our LS paint to those of the Bentley's or other super cars, it's not a fair comparison. Bentley paint application for example, is done by hand and takes approx 80 hours to apply. There are 115 colors to choose from.
There's a TV show up here called "How It Is Made - Super Cars". I was watching an episode that covered the Rolls Royce line, where they talked about the paint application process, and it blew my mind. Wet sanding by hand between coats, etc. Crazy stuff.....but I guess that's what a few hundred thou gets you.
For anyone comparing our LS paint to those of the Bentley's or other super cars, it's not a fair comparison. Bentley paint application for example, is done by hand and takes approx 80 hours to apply. There are 115 colors to choose from..
I agree. As I wrote, the new Bentley I drove, seemed clearly superior in appearance, both inside and outside, as compared to the 600 - deservedly so - at almost double the price!
I did see that show you mention.. I agree.. they were very meticulous.. Also, I noticed that Rolls was using a polish called Visomax from Germany (I had to pause and rewind to get that name Visomax). Here is a thread on that
Back to S class Vs 600.. I am not a fan of paint quality on S class. It is not bad.. but not a "wow"!
FYI...my 2010 ES350 was truffle mica, same as your LS. It came out for the Launch edition LS600hL but they quickly spread it to the rest of the line. Its a great color. Nothing as special as you make it out to be though.
FYI...my 2010 ES350 was truffle mica, same as your LS. It came out for the Launch edition LS600hL but they quickly spread it to the rest of the line. Its a great color. Nothing as special as you make it out to be though.
I didn't know that. Did they charge extra for that color? I am not sure but I thought that there was an up charge of around $5000 for the paint job. I don't recall.. It was a long time ago.. I assume your paint looks brand new, as does mine?
The reason I made it sound so special was because I owned 7 LS models, over the past 26 years.. no other car had this good of a paint job.
Come to think of it, the 2013 RX with Red was also very good. I think it had mettalic paint. But I personally didn't use that car much, to notice. It was an employee car.
Another car we owned was a metallic green 2010 ES.. that was not as deep of a paint job as my 600. I think we bought about 26 Lexuses of various kinds, over the 26 years.. No other car had this level of a paint job. That's why the emphasis. But then, I didn't use half of those cars - except that they are usually parked next to mine.
The upcharge was for the launch edition, not for the paint specifically. Originally on the ES it also was a part of a special edition only, then came to the paint palette as a color with no upcharge.
There isn't anything special about the paint itself, its just a neat color. The LS460/LS600 has really nice paint, its hand sanded, etc. The paint on my LS460 is nicer than that on any of my other Lexus vehicles, including the LS400 and LS430.
I feel the MB S550 is superior in price, handling, technology and quality materials. I would say the S550 interior is a notch from Rolls quality. That's all good but if I was offered a free new S550 or LS I would still go with the LS. The LS is in a category by itself and I should have purchase one years earlier. The LS is beautiful, graceful and a head turner. I'm not impress with the S550 body style and it isn't a head turner but I like its interior. My LS sums it all up for me and everything it have to offer suits me well. No complaints and each to their own.
Just for the heck, I browsed few Benz forums to see how LS460 is compared/criticized. Common observations are LS460 is not in par with S class in driving performance, interior material quality, technology etc.
I haven't driven S class. So I don't what would that be or what to admire/criticize. It ranks better than LS by many magazines (not counting on reliability).
Here is my question - those who have owned or driven S class, what is lacking in LS or in other words why not S550 instead LS460?. Please note that I understand the reliability factor between these two models. So, not interested in reliability discussion.
Mercedes in general is better quality interior. Will it outlast a Lexus mechanically....probably not. But the Benz life is different from the Lexus life, trust me! When you have a Benz EVERYONE takes notice
Mercedes in general is better quality interior. Will it outlast a Lexus mechanically....probably not. But the Benz life is different from the Lexus life, trust me! When you have a Benz EVERYONE takes notice
Completely, I concour with howie. When I owned the S class (2000) and the LS simultaneously, both new, the S class was in an upper class at the country club scene, as opposed to the LS 430. Even in general use, the S class got a lot more admiration and had an upper scale image, compared to the LS430 at that time.. Of course, in 2000, I think I paid $95000 for the S class and maybe $55,000 for the LS 430.
I just moved from the LS 600hl to Jaguar XJL. Certainly, the 600hl got noticed but now, and even 5 years after introduction of the current XJL body style, I see people passing me and passenger's head turning to admire the Jaguar. In my personal opinion, Lexus LS and the BMW 750il have both lost their mojo in styling. In 2007, certainly the LS very uniquely beautiful... but with the latest iteration and the spindle grille, no more.
I would vote for satiger to get the S550.. the LS is simply one level below in most respects, other than reliability and fuel economy. Even the Jaguar XJL, in my opinion, is above the LS in overall appeal. For driving pleasure, they are different but are all good in their own ways.. The S class gets a slightly higher mark on driving..
11-06-15, 06:09 AM
