Hi,

I have been a Lexus owner for many years owning an ES300, and later a GS300 with both models proving to be nothing but immortal. I am currently thinking of buying a 2007 LS460 which has all the refinement I am looking for in a car, and perhaps the presence I have been longing for too. Little to my knowledge that after searching the forums here in the UK and also in the US many people seem to have had issues with this particular year(2007) with wind noise being the biggest issue noted, while others have suspension, electrical, and many engine management issues.

My question is this ! .... Does anyone own a 2007 LS460 ? And if so what problems have they had if any so far ? The one I am looking at has 114,000 miles on the clock with a Full Lexus service history.

Thanks
Euphratis

 

I doubt very much that you'd find any disappointment with a 2007 LS. Yes there are SOME issues, but non are insurmountable. Rock solid engines and transmissions. Control arms and water pump (and Mark Levinson amp) are the only soft underbellies you may encounter. But again, even those can be repaired for reasonable costs. I've not really heard of any electrical gremlins to speak of.

 

I haven't really had many problems with mine and I'm right around the 150,000 mile mark. In fact I'd call it the most reliable car I've ever owned (and I generally buy Hondas). I've replaced control arms a wheel bearing and a blower motor. That's it.

I will say that these cars in general are expensive to fix...parts are high and if you can't work on them yourself, labor times are high too. So keep that in mind. Having said that, I think the 2007 and 2008 LS460's are the most criticized vehicle in the Lexus lineup because of the valve sprig recall and control arms. And I don't think it's warranted at all. I'd say these cars are the best luxury value on the used car market.

Knock on wood, I have never had a check engine light or anything even closely resembling an electrical issue. Nothing.

 

Other than partial control arm bushing replacement, I have had zero mechanical problems with my car. I am curious what the "many engine management issues" you reference are.

If you are concerned about reliability, stay away from a 750/740, S550, A8, XJ and [insert any other model here].

 

I think you will be getting a great LS with a full service history but its ten years old with some wear and tear. Like any ten years old vehicle odds are likely you may have some problems. The 460 is reliable but like all other vehicles parts fail and wear out.

 

Getting in on this thread as well for some of the same questions.

I've had an '04 LS430 for a couple years now but it just lost it's battle to a major hail storm a couple days ago. I won't know for a few days but I think they will total it because of the age and mileage (134K). So, I'm in the process of looking for another LS430 but I'm also considering laying out some more money and going with a LS460. I can only afford an '07 - '09 but I don't know much about them. I've randomly heard they have some front suspension issues but don't know more than that. If anyone has any suggestions of that to look for and what to watch out for, ex: on 430 you stay away from the UL version unless you're ready to pay out the money for the air suspension that will almost be guaranteed to need replacing at some point.

I've heard the 460 doesn't need timing belt replacement like the 430 does?

 

I saw that hailstorm in Texas on the news. They showed hail the size of baseballs. I had never seen hail that size, amazing.

On the 2007 there were three recalls, make sure they were done. Unless it is a low mileage car, it has probably had the control arms replaced. There is no timing belt, it's a chain.

 

I have a 2007 with 165k miles. Runs like new and I expect no problems, although I need to sell it soon as I bought a new Tahoe to pull my travel trailer and the Tahoe is too new to just sit and wait for camping trips to come around. I am reluctant to make the Tahoe my daily driver and will miss the 460 for sure..

 

So, the control arms are the main issue to look out for on the '07 - '09? The ones I've been looking at all have over 100k miles. If I find one I'm serious about I'll look up the service history on the Lexus site.

Yeah, I've lived in Texas all my life and have never seen hail this size. It started out as quarter size, then mostly golf ball size, and then some baseball sized mixed in. I have a couple holes in the roof of my house were the hail went through the shingles and put holes in the plywood decking, only one or two though. My LS was outside and it's in bad shape, however, it actually fared well compared to others in my neighborhood. My LS was the only one that still had the main glass in tact and untouched but my sunroof didn't make it. All the other cars around me had windshields smashed so bad you could hardly see out of them and the rear glass completely gone through. It was crazy and I'm completely bummed that I'm probably going to lose a great car over this. I just hope to find one as good as I had.

 

Many thanks for your replies guys and also for the reassurance. Caverman I hope it all goes well near where you are. The hailstone not completely writing off your LS is a testament to its manufacturers.

I tend to do a lot of the work on the cars myself as a hobby however I am not an electrical Wizz Kid and seem to struggle diagnosing any issues, however if Bushes, control arms, and an amp is all I need to worry about then I am happy. I do appreciate that it is 10 years old and envisage some wear & tear issues, but equally believe that when you're paying this amount of Money(At least here in the UK) with a full Lexus Service history, then you would expect the issues to have been ironed out or indeed rectified during this time just as Nospinzone mentioned.

Great response guys.

Caverman, good luck trying to find an LS430. I know a guy here who has the 2003 LS430 with 426K on the clock, with no major issues at all. I think this was the year before the air suspension upgrade ! But I'm not sure.

 

WOW....that's awesome to see that kind of mileage on the clock. Is that measured in miles?

 

most likely KM. about 265k miles

 

Correct......but don't be surprised if the control arms are just fine. I only needed to replace one control arm bushing and a ball joint on my 140k mile 08. I ended up going ahead and replacing ALL of them (8 control arms and two end links) as a preventative measure and it cost me 1500 dollars inc labor and new shocks all around. Cheap. As already noted, these cars do NOT have a timing belt to worry about. And no engine management issues or electrical issues, other than MAYBE an ML amp. My ML amp has never failed me and I abuse the crap out of it. This is easily the best and most reliable car I've ever owned....and I've owned WAY too many!

 

Euphratis,

No one has so far answered your question about "Wind Noise" so I will try to give you some information about that.

Without a doubt, wind noise was the most concerning problem with the 2007 LS460s. A sort of the thread-views in this forum will show that the combined wind noise discussions have had more views than any other thread, except the thread dealing with how to customize the navigation home screen. An advanced search, in this forum, for threads with "wind noise" in their titles will show 62 threads. It was not just this forum, but several other Internet forums where owners, from all over the world, were complaining and discussing this issue. It was a HUGE problem for Lexus - they replaced the glass in the front doors of the '07 models with laminated glass in an attempt to rectify this problem. Glass replacement did not solve the problem. Lexus was forced to buyback many many cars through Lemon Law actions. Lexus finally ended their attempts to solve this problem by declaring that all cars met specifications - case closed. Although the wind noise problem was most prevalent in the '07s it was also a problem up to and including the '13s. Reports of wind noise declined in each subsequent year after '07.

Turns out the wind noise problem was related to a trim defect on the front doors. Many owners found relief with a DIY fix. Details are here: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...noise-fix.html

When the trim defect is properly repaired, these cars are as quiet as any mass manufactured car - they are exceptionally quiet.

 

Thanks for the detailed reply jmcraney, and to be honest if owners have found an ever lasting remedy to this then I am onto a winning formula. I was lucky enough to have stumbled onto a you tube video posted by someone on the forum that detailed the door lock motor replacement for a Lexus GS many years ago which has saved me a lot of money and time. It is people on these forum that make the difference.

I have already made contact with Lexus Customer relations to obtain the service records as well as a detailed account of all the recalls the vehicle has had. I will let you all know how I get on once I find out...

GHARP57 & caverman ! Yes, this is in Kilometers and not miles. The guy is obsessed with changing the oil every 4000 miles though , and does most of the work himself too. In saying that though ! The million mile Lexus speaks for itself. I'm not sure if the guy actually got to the one million miles yet.. Now that is one hell of a mileage..