My new (to me) 2011 LS 460
 

I saw this car pop up on CarGurus on Sunday, and after rejecting the '08 I looked at on Tuesday, I decided to go take a look at this one. It's a 2011 AWD in Smoky Granite Mica with the Alabaster interior.

The overall condition is excellent. It has four new tires, and the brakes were done a few days ago. The pics are not the best - it's cold outside and I noticed after I was done that I have dust on my camera lens :)

It has the Comfort Package and the Nav/ML package. That's all I need. I downloaded the user manuals and am starting to read up on the car. I'll have to get rid of the dealer decal on the trunk lid, and get a set of winter floor mats.

As we started the paperwork (after finalizing price and trade-in, so it wasn't a sales tactic), the salesman said he needed to go tell the guy who was next in line to see the car that it was sold. I got there at 3pm, the other guy stopped in on his way home from work.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...e0ae920ca1.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...688b019864.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...d0638deb77.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...1fad6133dc.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...181e7551df.jpg

Nice. The matte wood won't show the dust and fingermarks as the shiny wood does.

Beautiful! Great and unusual color combo. I love Smokey Granite, prefer it to the Nebula Grey I have. I also love the alabaster interior.

Enjoy it! The 11 is a much better choice than the 08.

Congrats on the new LS!

AWD without air suspension, ML, matte wood....Lucky!

I hope you said that with your best Napoleon Dynamite voice.....

Yeah, I wasn't interested in getting air suspension. I didn't know for sure that it had the matte wood until I went to the dealer, as they hadn't gotten around to putting pics up yet. I do like the color combination.

A Beautiful LS that anyone would love to have so just drive and enjoy.

Congrats, that must be a really rare combo, I never even seen or heard of one with the matte wood and alabaster leather, you got a great combo, only thing I would change is I would want it RWD but since you live in NJ it would come in handy more for you.

I would have taken RWD or AWD, but you don't see many '10+ RWD cars around here. My last two cars were RWD, and they were fine in snow. I did put snow tires on the S2000, and drove it down I-95 in a snowstorm with the top down and the heat cranked on my way home from work one day. I got some funny looks, but it was fun :)

I second that. Congrats

Looks mint! Congrats on the new car!

Wow, the matte wood finish looks nice and very unique.

Congrats on your new LS! I agree the satin wood looks impervious to fingerprints.

Looks Great ! The 2011 is the better choice. It doesn't appear to be comfort plus package though. You are missing the button to reset the rear seats back to original position. Does your rear seats recline? Also do you have soft door close and are the door armrest leather stitched?

No, it doesn't have Comfort Plus, and I don't have the semi-aniline leather, etc. That's the one option I would have liked, so hopefully I don't end up with the disintegrating armrests. For now, all looks good.

Real Nice! Congratulations

Nice, welcome to the smoky granite mica club. I love that color- it's strange how it photographs sometimes because it almost shows hints of navy blue. In your first pic, the bumper looks grey but the front wheel area up to the hood almost looks navy blue. I almost didn't go look at the one I eventually bought because so many of the pics made it look dark blue.

And I'm jealous of that matte wood grain in yours. Enjoy it!

Well Done - Good Things Come to those who wait - Love the Alabaster interior.

Beautiful car! Low mileage for a 2011 too.Good luck!

Love the matte trim, congrats!

great car realy rare inferior.

Enjoy.

The interior and exterior look great. And si;ce it’s a 2011, your control arms have the redesign. You’ll enjoy some of the features new to 2010-2012: automatic slide-away driver’s seat, integrated Bluetooth audio, integrated turn signals in the side-view mirrors, etc.

Enjoy!

Looks beautiful, enjoy! I'm jealous. Love the color combination and the matte wood trim. Looking for one just like it (I think... Trying to decide between 2012 or 2013.)

I saw a few non-sport cars with the matte wood while I was looking. Here's another one not far from me, although I didn't bother looking at it once I read the Yelp reviews and saw that it's one of those scammy places that tell you in the small print that all advertised prices are based on a $2k down payment. I won't deal with people who play those games.

https://www.rollsauto.com/vehicle-de...pa-id-21666675

I was the same. I've been looking at, and reading up on these cars for over a year. I started looking at the GS 350 with the Luxury package, then gravitated to the LS 460. The changes for 2013 are definitely nice, but having driven the 2011 for a few days, I'm very happy with it. I actually like the touchscreen, and the ride, especially compared to my Cadillac CTS, is just amazing.

If I hadn't been at the point where I just didn't want to put any more money into the Cadillac, I would probably have waited another year and bought a '13 or '14 car. At this point, I'm glad I jumped on this 2011 model. I can see myself driving this car for a long time.

Good to know that you like the touchscreen. Enjoy! I LOVE that interior, especially the matte wood trim. That's a rare find. Love that trim so much that I may decide to wait until the right car with it comes along again. There's one in Indiana with black/saddle tan leather, but the price is out of my budget. A find for someone else.
http://www.lexusofmerrillville.com/V...-IN/3048092783

Dave144239, Do you mind me asking what mileage and what you paid for your 2011? Thanks!

That's a nice car too. I have to say, I think my favorite color combo for the '13+ cars is the one in this video -
My car has just under 52k miles. It was a one-owner car, bought and fully serviced at the same dealership where I bought it. All the brakes and tires had just been replaced. They had it listed for $26,553, and they don't really negotiate on their used cars. I traded in my 2010 Cadillac CTS Wagon with 92k miles, and my out-the-door cost including 7% sales tax, doc fee and registration was exactly $20,000. Based on my research over the past few months, it was a good deal for this area.

The new Head2Head crew better watchout!

Congrats to the OP for a great looking new ‘11.

There were a few packages that gave you matte wood like the 2011 touring package but I don't think any Touring models had Mark Levinson because I have never seen one with ML. There was a 2012 with Topaz leather trim and matte trim too. It looks like some AWD models also offered matte wood trim too where matte was not available on RWD models, I have never seen or heard of a RWD LS long wheel base or with allabaster with matte wood trim but have seen a few AWD models with it.

I would love that car, matte, long wheelbase, no air suspension, but I don't want AWD.

Hello and congrats on your Lexus.

I also have the alibaster and matte in my 2010 460 L. The wood finish reminds of very nice furniture.

Do do be careful if you wear blue jeans a lot because the dye will come off. However, I use Mcguiers as a quick clean and protection and have used the woolite and water (5 to 1) combo to do some cleaning of the leather as well.

I hope you enjoy your new car and have many happy miles.

Best,

Cubby

Try a product called Ultima Interior Shampoo gel for dye transfer...

Is the alabaster leather a lighter color than Parchment? It seems like the same to me.

It is lighter but generally in pictures,it doesn’t appear to be much different.

I haven't seen the parchment interior, but alabaster does seem lighter.

Alabaster is a good bit lighter than parchment. It’s almost white.