Folks, I wanted to thank all of you for being an amazing resource for fellow LS owners. Rarely have you blindly told the masses to go search for an answer, or given the shade for more Jr members.

I'm sorry to report that my time here, short as it mayet have been, is now over. With thousands of dollars in repairs looming, and no reputable warranty groups in sight to protect sufficiently from future problems I've decided to take the rather substantial hit financially and trade the car in for a 2014 bmw.

I need a car that primarily gets me to work every day, while still looking to retain a pride of ownership the LS provided. I decided on a cpo bmw 328 x drive with 28k miles. The tech is way ahead of my 09 LS, while the comfort is traded for sporty nature and 8 more mpg. In total my monthly payment went up 60.00, but it came with piece of mind and a 3 year, 73k bumper to bumper warranty.

If I were to pass some advice to future ls buyers, I'll say a comprehensive warranty is required on the AWD models as many of the common points of suspension failure are not available on the aftermarket. Buying from Lexus does not guarantee a trouble free car is being offered.

I wish you all continued success, and hope the aftermarket ultimately recognizes the need for better control arm support.

Signing off JS

 

Good luck and sorry to see you go. Let us know how you make out with the BMW. I did the reverse of you....trading in my BMW 7 series for the Lexus, due to the insurmountable issues we had with it and our BMW X5. I sincerely hope you fair better than we did. With a warranty, you should be ok. ... at least for the time of warranty.

Take care!

 

$60 more a month to go into a 3 series. Ugh, I feel your pain. Well, the 3 series is probably the most reliable series. Audi makes the best German cars when it comes to reliability. Enjoy and congratulations.

 

My short ownership of the LS has reminded me that i enjoy the firm ride and control that comes from the German camp, plush with a budget to only own 1 car right now I can't bring it to the track.

Audi is far from reliable.. BMW is as good if not better in regards to reliability. Porsche is the best of the German however.

 

Wouldn't Porsche be the best in reliability because people don't drive them? I mean they own them but they usually aren't using them as their daily driver and putting 30,000 miles a year on them. I know plenty of people that own Porsche's, none of them use them as their daily driver...yeah they may take it to work once in a while when the weather gets nice, but other than that they are weekend pride and joy cars. I know they make an SUV and wagon, but I don't see many of those on the road either. So the reliability of a 911 may be great (then again I don't know if that's true) but no one is keeping tract of the fact that the car may only have 10,000 miles on it in five years. These reliability ratings don't track that as far as I know.

 

All y'all are wrong on the German reliability and long-life marque.

That goes to Mercedes. Not between 1996 and 2005 or 2006 (ironically, due to the Lexus beat-down they received), but they're back to W123/124/126 levels of build quality.

Read this with a humorous tone, please...but I'm mostly serious.

Still, I don't think my ultra-lux RWD Toyota can be touched.

 

Not sure where your information is coming from. Audi is not only far further ahead in long term reliability than ANY of the other German marques, it is only a few steps down from Lexus and is in the top 5. Mercedes Benz is near the bottom of the 28 manufacturers and BMW marginally better. Porsche indeed is relatively reliable, but Audi still exceeds their ratings. This has been the case for the last 4 years or so. Lexus and Toyota are at the top of course, and it's been that way for a decade or more.

On another note, have you joined the Bimmerfest forums? They are a great resource similar to our forum here at CL. I was a member there for years, and they're a good bunch of folks and can help you with any issues that arise.

 

Especially the 4th generation A8's. Really the reason why I got my 14 over the 460 is because they are reliable particularly compared to a used S class or 7 series. Plus I got a great deal which always helps the decision. Still love my old LS's. My 430 was the best vehcile I have ever owned.

 

​​​​​​​Love the A8, didn't realize they improved their reliability. I tend to be a bit skeptical with these ratings, but good to know they are trending upward. They are a sweet car.

 

I might have stayed with Mercedes instead of getting an LS CPO. But the Lexus CPO extended warranty is for 8 years, virtually bumper to bumper.
With my Mercedes CPO [S class], I could only get 4 years (and for more money). I felt that reflected poorly on Mercedes's confidence in its own cars.

 

People were thinking I was crazy when I said I don't recommend most people buy these cars when they are old, this is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. The expectation that any 8 year old car would be "trouble free", whether its sold by Lexus or not, is not realistic. The fact that we're discussing payment costs on a vehicle this complex and this age, this member should never have purchased an 8 year old LS460. The CPO BMW 3 Series with a warranty is a much better buy for this sort of buyer.

If somebody can do repairs themselves, is comfortable sourcing aftermarket parts, is paying cash or if taking a loan understands that there are going to be repairs. This is not a car purchase where you can make the payments and that will be your fixed ongoing cost for driving the car. That buyer needs to be in a new or CPO car where he has a warranty and can enjoy the security of knowing "I pay $X a month and thats what it costs me to drive this car". Unfortunately this member took a loss to make that discovery, I hope others will read this and think twice.

Its a great car, the most reliable flagship luxury car by far, but they aren't perfect, and to buy one that old and expect it to be problem free is not realistic.

 

Can you elaborate on your journey with the LS460? It's a 2009 AWD model? Adaptive suspension? What were the majority of the repairs for etc and the costs? I'm currently looking for a CPO LS460 as a daily, albeit a 2013+ and not a 2009 and I would like some insight into your problems.

 

Okay so lets start writing this down and documenting it...... your new story is that its a bad idea to buy used Lexus's?

Do not buy 8 year old Lexus? What about 5 years? Where do you draw the line? Once the lease period is over?

What do you recommend, that we spend $15k + a year renting a newer model like you do ?

Or better yet should we all switch over to your favorite premium brand Hyundai? LOL

Try to keep your reply:

1. On topic
2. Short and to the point

Thanks

 

I'm not trying to speak for him but I think he had control arm issues , and I think hes right that the AWD models don't have much aftermarket support.

A lot of the control arm, Ca bushings and coilovers that ive been looking at for my car all specifically say that it wont fit the AWD models.

Other then control arms and the stuttering issue I cant find any inherent serious flaws in these cars, and even buying used I don't think people would have any significant costs other then basic maintenance and keeping gas in the tank .

 

If SW15LS has valuable information I'd like to hear it. I'd actually like to know what his opinion and reasoning for such opinions would be for this question: