msgtpimble

The F-sport has air suspension, and brembo brakes will this jeaprodize the reliability of the car. Are there any issues with these items?

PRSUIT460

iTrader: (3)

I just picked up a 2013 F-Sport. Mine is certified until 2025 with unlimited miles so I don't have any worries. The Brembo brakes and air suspension are more expensive to replace but I'm very happy with the purchase.

SW17LS

Depends on what you want. The F Sport doesn't appeal to me, I don't care for the metal trim or the sportier feel (even if it's only slightly sportier). If you like those things though, then I'm sure the F Sport would be the better LS for you.

Brembo brakes are slightly more expensive to replace, air suspension potentially more problematic, I wouldn't worry about it.

JLAWS

Welcome.
What years are we talking about 2010-2012 or 2013+ ? Sounds like you want one without a warranty that you plan to keep for a while. There is nothing really "sporty" about an F Sport. Brembo brake parts will be much more expensive compared to standard brakes which cost about the same price online as an non luxury vehicle. Folks on this forum tend to shy away from air suspension. ONE air shock is about $600+ for aftermarket rebuild. Coil over conversion parts are about $1000 to cancel Air suspension. Regular non airshocks are about $100 a piece for oem KYB. People have had success with other brands for much less than $100. I wanted an Ls460"L" version but it was hard to find one without airshocks, I settled for a fully loaded 2008 LS460. I could not be happier with the decision.

Tec80

The 2010-12 Sport gives you the same hardware (IS-F transmission with paddle shift, Torsen diff, Brembo front brakes, sport-tuned air suspension) as the 2013+ F-Sport, but with very nice matte wood and 2-tone leather - so that's another option.

Power Stop pads fix the Brembo dust and squeal issues and the pads are less than $50. I've put 10k miles on mine and am very happy with their performance. They do work better than the non-sport brakes, but I can't make use of that performance with Wife in the car because it makes her very angry, LOL (something about being suspended against the shoulder belt during hard braking isn't as fun to her as it is to me). They are really impressive.

The air suspension is handy, because it is paired with the adjustable dampers and includes the HEIGHT HIGH function. It trims some of the impact harshness that the 19" 45-series tires induce over the base 18" 50-series tires.

FatherTo1

Wow, I wished our 2013 had the option of warranty coverage till 2025 and unlimited miles!

To the OP, test drive both and see which one you gravitate towards more. I like the F-Sport mesh grill more, but prefer the stock foglights. I agree with SW15LS that the F-Sport didn't feel that much sportier than a standard LS with air suspension. Personal tastes, but I also preferred our Flaxen interior over the metal accents of the F-Sport. What really turned me off to the F-Sport though was that it rode so stiff and even in Comfort mode. It sits 1/2" lower than stock and the one we test drive had Michelin Energy S8 tires, so all that could have contributed to the overly stiff ride. Glad we went with our non-F-Sport. I do enjoy having the air suspension but admit the next time I will forego it if possible, not from a reliability standpoint but rather from the fact I now keep it in Normal 95% of the time.

I had fun with the Sport+ setting during the first few months of ownership but ironically the air-suspension doesn't give me the transmission/suspension combination that I would want most, which is ECO throttle response with Normal ride...you can only get this serring combo with the non-air.

Scrutator

I really like the paddle shifters on the F Sport. Not available on the standard LS. And while I like the F Sport grill, I have no love for the standard '13+ model.

Also, I found an unanticipated use for the air suspension. Yesterday when parking in a structure I found that all of the parking blocks were set ridiculously far into the space. To avoid crunching the undercarriage I just raised the car and parked without a problem!

Dryrunner

iTrader: (1)

The interior of my 2011 sport is so nice. Better than the other LS models. And if you really worry about a $1000 problem that may not happen, you might be better off in the Camry forum

SW17LS

The issue with the air suspension isn't a $1,000 problem lol. If you want to preserve your factory abilities and ride characteristics, etc its potentially a $4000+ problem. I can understand why people would avoid the air suspension...I avoided it also.

The interior from the 10-12 Sport can be had on the regular 13+ LS460 also FYI. Black/saddle brown with matte wood. Its rare but its out there.

Dryrunner

iTrader: (1)

Maybe I was a little flip on my last statement. What I meant is that buying an $80K+ car in general has increased costs of just about everything compared to a Camry. Tires, brakes, head unit failures, insurance, gas, oil changes, etc. So, where do you draw the line? Taking away the pleasure/benefits of air suspension? We have a GL550 with all the breakable bells and whistles. We knew what we were getting into, but the ride, oh, its good, real good. The non air, non active curve ride, not so good. If you going to live large, go for all of it. IMHO.

FatherTo1

That's for sure. I have a friend at work that drives an hour-long (mostly freeway) commute to work and home everyday. His 2003 Camry, with the 4-cylinder, has 300K miles and he recently told me he replaced all four tires for $139. ALL FOUR! That doesn't pay for one tire on our LS! And I'm sure his Camry crankcase needs a whole lot less than 9-quarts of oil that our LS requires, and so on. You are absolutely correct, Dryrunner, everything is more expensive on a higher-end car. I find it worth it though at my current station in life. I could deal with a noisy barebones car in my youth. I didn't need the isolation, the soft leather, the cooled or massaging seats, and the stiff suspensions of Integras and Civics went unnoticed by younger me. However, times and tastes have changed and I do want, and can appreciate, the better stuff now...and yes, at added cost.

FatherTo1

I have yet to try out the Height High button out of fear the car will tip over on stilts. So far, I've been fortunate with placement and height of those parking blocks. What I do find myself doing though, is making mental notes of whether I could have gone with an L and still fit, lol. We have not complained about lack of interior space or legroom, but a part of me still wants that long wheelbase. I was at Costco earlier today and surprised to see two other LSes parked nearby. One was a rare Metador Red Mica 2013+ with the 18" split five-spoke wheels and the other was a 2010-2012 LS 460L that still looked striking. That L fit just fine in Costco's parking spaces. In the past six months I probably noticed five occasions when parking that I truly am glad I didn't have the extra 4.8" of an L. Also, I would have to be more careful with left turns to avoid hitting the median if we had an L, or at least take the outside-most turn lane when available. I love our LS but still fantasize about the L. Oh yes, I need to try the HH button sometime and get over my hangups about it.

comotiger

I use the HH button regularly precisely for the reason Scrutator indicated. I don't try to guess whether a parking block is too tall; I just put the car in High to avoid any issues. The HH setting is also useful when I pull into end spots, and want to avoid hitting the curb, especially since I try to park as close to the curb as possible to create maximum space to the adjacent spot. I return the vehicle to normal height after pulling out of a spot, so I don't worry about any stability issues at speed.

Fto1, why do you think I bought a 460L? I had a 2012 SWB car, but within a few months had buyer's remorse about not having the extra space and other features in the LWB UltraLux. I just had to stop fantasizing about the L and satisfy my desires

FatherTo1

Lol

After a 430 last year and 460 this year, the wife will kill me if I went searching for an L. Fortunately, our SWB is UltraLux. From how you're describing it, the car stays in HH mode even after the engine is stopped? I always thought the suspension reset to Normal (unless it was at ECO or Comfort).

comotiger

I drive in the Comfort setting exclusively. Maybe that's why the HH setting does not reset upon turning the engine off. I thought the HH setting which controls ride height, and the Comfort/Normal/Sport setting which controls suspension firmness are independent features of the air suspension, so one should not affect the other.