So, I bought a CPO LS 460 AWD in November with 21,000 on the clock. Love the car and plan to put lots miles on it.

1. I was getting the clunking sound when turning the wheel and hitting a bump. Dealer identified left lower control arm bushing and replaced the control arm. Clunking noise is gone now.

2. I hear the brake actuator noise. Service manager says clicking noise is normal.

3. I was feeling a vibration when decelerating, foot off the brake. My wife could feel it in her feet too. Lexus dealer called Lexus corporate and ended up replacing both front axles with redesigned front axles that are better matched for the AWD model. Said it is a common problem with AWD versions of the LS. Vibration is gone now.

4. Got rear ended. Murphy's Law. Just hard enough to poke the front license plate bolts in to my rear bumper. Lexus body shop pulled the bumper cover, filled the holes and re-painted with triple coat white pearl.

5. At this point, with all the issues addressed, the car is running perfectly. Coming up on 27,000 miles and just had the oil changed and whatever else is recommended at 25K miles. I get the first 4 services free with the CPO.

6. Only complaint I have is the stock sound system is pretty ho hum. I have an Acura TL with the premium ELS system. The LS stock system doesn't hold a candle to the ELS. I do wish the car had the ML system. I'll have to start researching some speaker options if it bothers me enough.

ive been doing a lot of reading here. Thanks to those who have taken the time to put so much info in one place!

 

Your control arm bushing is the surprising revelation. While it's a common problem, I can't recall anyone with the redesign having issues let alone a car that new with that few miles.

Your axle is another surprise and not something I can recall seeing much, but hey it's brand new now. That definitely wasn't a cheap replacement.

My brakes clicked the the minute I drove it off the lot brand new.

I came from an Acura too. The stereo actually isn't too bad. It just takes a while to actually tune it right. Keep fiddling. The speaker placement is different, with the front speakers in the top dash and because if that it just sounds different. I like it now.

 

I think you're going to have to learn to love the OEM sound system. It is carefully tuned and equalized to the car's interior characteristics. Adding new speakers will likely make it sound worse as these speakers will be expecting an unequalized signal.

 

Congrats on the new car! You have had a lot of interesting experiences already with repairs etc. It probably wasn't very reassuring when these problems were discovered and then repaired, but hopefully the rough stretch is over, and you can look forward to many miles and years of happy driving! It would be great to see pics of your car, inside and out.

 

Hey Guys,

Re: front axles: dealer said it was only the second one he'd ever seen and Lexus corporate had to approve the repair. It is a night and day difference in smoothness in flowing traffic when you're on and off the gas.

Re: control arm bushing: it took them 10 minutes to diagnose. I'm assuming they've seen this before. It has t made the noise since.

re: sound system: I guess I'll learn to live with it. The good thing is the car is so quiet inside, you don't need a lot of volume.

Overall though, the LS is the most comfortable car I've ever driven. Everything is just right. And once you have a few thousand miles behind the wheel, every other car seems very basic. I've always dreamed of owning a LS and have no regrets about jumping in on this one. I bought it in late November, empty dealership and this car had been there a few weeks. I ended up getting the car, with brand new OEM tires, for $44,750 plus NYS tax and title fees from a Lexus dealer. I get the remaining original warranty (expires June '17) and then 24 months / unlimited miles on the CPO. Hopefully any issues that might pop up will do so by the time I'm out of the CPO warranty as I'm not planning on buying an extended warranty. In any case, we love the LS. It is one beautiful, purpose built family highway cruiser. ����

 

Yes, I'm not too worried about the early hiccups. The problems were identified quickly and fixed right the first time. He did specifically mention the 2013 Lexus LS AWD was developing a bit of a rep when it comes to the front axles. My dealership had one come through before and the Lexus regional manager got involved and worked with Lexus tech to identify the problem. Mine was the second he'd seen but since he went through it before, Lexus approved it right away after talking to him. I'll pull the receipts one day and post them up here so you guys can see the parts replaced. But overall, I have total confidence in the LS as a long term investment. As so many folks have said, besides the control arms and the brake actuator, these cars are really solid and definitely built for the long haul. :cheers:

 

Actually, it's VERY common on almost all AWD assembled in 2012, for either the 2012 MY or 2013. The batch they got that year from the vendor was not balanced correctly, creating the vibrabion only when disengaged (and could be felt decelerating between 70 to 30 mph).

I've had the issue on my late-model 2012 L. Had to tell the dealer what to do to fix (actually, I referred him to posts on forums!). They changed the right one (for cost issue, I guess), reducing the problem but not solving it. He had to change the left one as well. That's when they confirmed about the bad axle batch.

JP

 

I've said this a million times and agree wholeheartedly with you. So many times, some members here have decided that replacing the speakers and sub and amp is the answer, failing to realize that these systems in our cars (especially the ML) are fine-tuned to work together. "I replaced the stock speakers with Polk Audio", or "I put in a 65 inch JBL Subwwoofer and an 82 million watt amp", lol. There are so many speakers even in the stock system, that messing with it might make it louder, it won't sound better.

 

i have a 2011 and i too feel some vibrations, -- how do you tell its the axle?

 

To determine if the vibration is driveline-related, try bumping the shifter into Neutral while the vibration is happening while decelerating. If the vibration vanishes, you found it.

 

Yep... that's it!

But it's very typical. Drive it to 70mph on a highway, then just release the gas... if you feel it there, and it goes away when you shift to Neutral, you got it. Otherwise it's most probably brake rotor/tire balancing related

 

I wonder if we are going to see this problem start popping up on newer models as time goes on. I had read that mid-2010 models and beyond were safe from the control arm issues, however, I just saw a 2011 listed locally at a dealer and it also had its control arms replaced. The TSIB Lexus issued for the control arms showed the VIN cutoff was JTHBL5EF#A#098437, but the one for sale locally is beyond that VIN. Very interesting to see if the issue continues to advance into newer model years, and if so, how Lexus will handle the situation.

The one for sale locally at a Lexus dealer even puts this in their advertisement: "BRAND NEW LOWER CONTROLS ARMS *** $2,600 LOWER CONTROL ARMS REPLACED 3/2/17 *** HUGE MAINTENANCE VALUE ***"