Many of you know that we're still shopping for an LS 460L. Having reclining rear seats and rear cooled seats (without chill box, for maximum trunk) is high on my list. However, due to how Lexus shuffled their packages, that limits us to 2007-2009 MY.

If I want the updated nav, easier personal custom settings, and native Bluetooth streaming of the 2010-2012 then I have to give up rear cooled seats and reclining rear seats because you can't get these features and still keep a big trunk. (I would like AWD too but you can only get it, separate from the air suspension, in 2011-2012.)

My question is, over time which do you value more - rear cooled and reclining seats OR updated nav and Bluetooth streaming? I realize VaisTech products can provide the Bluetooth streaming for 2007-2009. I guess I'm caught between wanting a newer 2010+ model year but also feeling the rear cooled and reclining seats are so unique and really sets the LS apart from other cars on the road. Also seems, without the rear cooled/reclining seats, a 2010 isn't that much of an upgrade over our current 2006 LS 430. Wife actually doesn't care about reclining rear seats but I just think the feature is really neat and I sort of know the ventilated seats don't work that well anyways. Trying to get beyond the coolness factor and see what others think about the feature over the years. Do reclining rear seats come in handy on long road trips? Is it any less safe to travel in the fully reclined position? I may be over-thinking this. I can't help thinking an LS for sale is a lesser car with buttons missing on the rear doors.

 

I have the rear reclining seats with the cooling/heating feature and sure its cool to have but how often will you be using it?

The more features you need, the more niche packages you require, will only limit the amount of cars that become available to you , and you will have very little chance of finding a good deal.

As for me, I wanted a low mileage L.....and that's it ...the rest of the features are of no consequence to me as long as I get the car at a good price.

I bought my car having no idea of what features it has, cause the fact is I was buying it no matter what and whether it has the mark levinson, or rear reclining seats really wouldn't of affected anything.

Id try to be a little more open minded and flexible if you want to score a good deal

 

The rear seat option is definitely nice to have, but if you're the one doing all the driving, you'll never miss it. Sure, it would be fun for passengers, but with all the legroom in the rear seats of the L, I don't think it's much of a hardship to not have the recliners.

I'm looking at a 460L as my next car too, but I've decided that the only option I really don't want is the air suspension. I'm also debating RWD vs AWD. RWD gives more horsepower, but if the perfect AWD car comes along, I guess I'll take it.

 

I couldn't care less about the rear seat options. In fact my LS has fewer rear seat options than my GS did, it had rear audio and climate controls and door window sunshades.

Once you show those things off to people you never use them, and your rear passengers don't even know they're there unless you show them and they say "wow neat" and that's that.

Here's a question, you could have had those options on your LS430, do you miss them? Do you feel it's less of an LS because it doesn't have them?

 

I also have the upgraded rear seat option package. I have put 32,000 miles on the car which had 28,xxx miles on it since July of 2014. I have yet to ride 1 mile in the rear seats. I hauled a aunt out to her son's house in Jackson Hole which was about 800 miles one way and she thought the reclining seats and being heated and cooled seats were very cool but other than that trip no one has ridden more than 15-20 miles roundtrip more than 5 times. It's nice but I agree with SW15LS it really is not that big of a deal.
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Dennis

 

It really depends on your family size and kid ages, and how you will use the car. We use the car primarily for long road trips, and my teenage sons ride in the back. They use every feature: recliners, heat and cool and massage. Controlling radio from back, window shades (very useful for watching movies on headrest DVD players). They used the cool box twice, but it is a pain to access with backpacks and snacks sitting on the center armrest. Trunk size is puny with these features, so you can't have it all. In the 2013+, it's very very rare to find these packaged without air suspension. And, the LWB makes a "yuuuuge" difference . It lets the boys keep more stuff on the floor to make up for the small trunk, and still stretch out.

I use all the driver aids every time on long trips - DRCC, LKA, Auto high beam. Sure, it's a bit gimmicky, but keeps me entertained behind the wheel.

Bottom line is you have to ask yourself:

Am I going to keep checking out these features on pictures and other LSs and regretting not having them on my car?

If you answered YES, then you should get them. As 1Willy1 said, the more features you want, the number of available cars gets smaller, and you have to compromise on price and/or distance to make the deal.

 

Is an L Version really necessary? I find the rear space room in the SWB more than adequate to comfortably seat 2 adults. In fact, I find the rear legroom more capacious than other cars I was shopping at the time.

Have you checked out the rear seating on a SWB? you can get the reclining seats, rear seat memory, and other features in the Custom Plus Package. From 2010-2012, that package added semi-aniline leather.

Since there's no rear A/C in the SWB, you get the larger trunk size. 2010-2012 Custom Plus Packages are rare, but exist.

 

I too see no need for the L version.

 

Really depends on your situation and how you plan to use the car. For me, I don't have kids and don't ride many passengers in my car so just having rear heated seats and no other features works for me. Most of the time it's just me and my wife in the car which we use for any trips we take.

 

I have the rear reclining heated/cooled seats that very seldom get used and is was just part a of package deal that I could have done without. My favorite features are the ML sound system, radar cruise, quietness, comfort and reliability.

 

Thank you, all, for helping me get some better perspective.

I took my wife's 2006 ES 330 in for some brake pads and a transmission mount and noticed some of the digital segments on the driver's temperature display went out (so a '7' looks like '1' and an '8' looks like '11) -- AC and heater work fine, it's just the display. That got me thinking that the various LCD displays are pretty old on the 2007 and 2008 LS 460L models I had been considering up to this point. Started to really reconsider my "must-haves" and beginning to place more weight and priority on a newer model year. Below are some of my responses to everyone's questions. Thank you for the input, much appreciated.

Completely agree, Dave. I would love AWD without the air suspension, but that means 2011 or 2012 (if I can even find that configuration). Most sale listings are predominantly 2007-2008.

Very good point, Steve. The feature is not common in cars so you're right, most people wouldn't even take notice unless I'm just showing off. I didn't know the LS 430 could have the reclining rear seats, TBH. I learned that after the fact and didn't come across any that had the features so I was just ignorant to the fact. I certainly don't miss the feature in our LS 430, mostly I wish the 430 had more tech...but when going to an LS 460, I guess I'm expecting a grander experience (i.e. reclining and cooled rear seats). Then again, it has been posted before that once you've experienced a brand's flagship it's hard to replicate that feeling of amazement again because each future flagship is incremental and the divide isn't as great as when comparing a mainstream vehicle. So perhaps I need to stop expecting the next car to have more checklist items.

Definitely, Gbp!! SWB are plentiful to find but I see it as pointless to go from our 430 to a SWB 460. Furthermore, we definitely can use the room, especially on road trips. We went camping last Summer and also drove to Disneyland last Thanksgiving (400 miles, one-way) and we packed the 430 to the gills. We also plan to visit Yosemite this year. Even though we're two adults and a 5-year-old, we tend to carry a lot. Heck, we were three people with a Sienna minivan! Granted, we thought we were going to have more kids but it didn't work out that way. I just like a lot of space and if we're replacing the 430, I would only consider a 460L (plus, I find the 460 SWB profile looks awkward with the short rear doors...the 460L seems better proportioned.).

Agreed, dlbuck, I do highly value the comfort, quietness, and reliability.

 

I am not much into reclining seat either. When I was looking for my 460L, focused more on driver related options. If I were repeat that again, will definitely look for radar cruise, lane departure assist, advanced cross traffic and pedestrian detection systems at the minimum on a L base with air suspension.

The options I frequently use and like are radar cruise, air suspension and ML system !.

BTW FatherT01, I liked both of your signatures but "Honesty is a very expensive gift, don't expect it from cheap people. -Warren Buffett" the most

 

I think the only truly must haves are the Nav/Mark Levinson Package, Comfort Package and Intuitive Park Assist. I do wish I had the semi aniline leather interior, but...

That said, many enjoy the radar guided cruise, but I have always found the following distance too conservative if you live in a city. Moreover, you can turn off the radar cruise and use the regular cruise at will so certainly not a deal breaker if you don't find it to your liking.

 

Jungle, two points.

1) I didn't know you could turn off radar cruise and use in standard cruise mode. How do you switch? I remember reading about this somewhere...

2) In the sort of highway driving I do (very little traffic 90% of the time), the distance settings for the DRCC work just fine. I use the shortest distance setting, and I agree that is still a bit conservative. But I can speed up the car, approach closer to the vehicle ahead of me, and let DRCC take over. It will maintain the new distance and not revert back to the longer distance setting. Of course, in city freeway traffic, you don't want to be using DRCC anyways with all the cars weaving in and out, and I would never try this trick to drive so close to the car ahead of me that someone can't pull in between us.

 

I believe to engage regular cruise you just push the lever forward and voila. My experience with the radar cruise on my 2005 LS430 UL that also had pre-collision totally turned me off it. While my Infiniti M45 likewise had it, I just never used it. All that said, I hardly use cruise control to begin with.