Should I trust anyone other than a Lexus dealer to do a 4 wheel alignment on my ‘20 AWD LS500? I’m 100 miles from the nearest Lexus dealer and 50 miles from the nearest Toyota dealer.

 

Why wouldn't any reputable 3rd party alignment shop work? As best I understand from videos the AWD suspension looks just like the 460's AWD suspension and that's been out for many years. Last time I priced an alignment from Lexus they quoted me ~$240 for 4-wheel alignment. Just went to a local alignment shop I trust that got it in spec just that same for ~$180.

 

You should be fine, as long as it's a 4-wheel alignment. I have gotten mine done at dealership as well as a friends shop who does 4 wheel alignments.

 

Just got to any local shop. Make sure you get a printout with before and after specs. Should be no more than $60.

More importantly, why do you need an alignment?

 

I have a new set of 245/45/20 Bridgestone QuietTracks that replaced a set of runflats that were worn on inner edges after 15,000 miles. Car drives fine. Dealer tells me that wear on edges is normal for an AWD LS500.
Last alignment was at 27,000 miles. Car now has 52,000 miles on odo. Car was LCertified at 36,000 miles, but I have found nothing that indicates an alignment was done.
Dealer quoted me $180 for 4 wheel alignment. Seems logical to me to start out with a fresh set of tires and a good, correct alignment.
I was told that factory alignment settings on the LS500 have negative camber to enhance handling. It would be nice to talk to an experienced Lexus tech about this. I will be very unhappy if my new tires wear as fast as the runflats. UTQG wear rating on these tires is 800, so I realistically expect to get at least 40,000 miles out of them. I realize that I should get a lot more miles out of them.

 

For $60 you answered the question. The answer is if the negative camber enhanced handling if you eliminate that what is the net effect?
I always get alignment with new tires. Sometimes it does not need it.

If the Lexus tech provides value then you are getting something in return.
I was told Same think about wear on my tires. Since I too will be replacing them I just figured I would not get it realigned.
How long did the runflats last you?
I got mine with 28k on odd but cannot say if they were brand spanking new at the time. I think not, but they were in very good shape.
You loving the Quiettracks?

 

Technically, my runflats were worn out at 15,000 miles. I could have run them longer, but they were getting noisy.
The QuietTracks are great, smooth and quiet.
Wife really likes them.
I owned Miatas for about 20 years, experimented with suspension settings. Lots of negative camber gave me an excuse for taking curves fast as if it would make the tires wear evenly. Miata tires were cheap.
I have appt. with dealer tomorrow for alignment.

 

I went through this on my prior 2018 LS 2 wheel drive. @15k miles had to replace all 4. Had 27k when the lease was over and they needed to be replaced again (at this point they had tread but not adequate for lease return, as I recall.) I spoke to two folks at the dealer. While one was likely anon-technical manager, my sales guy got me with their top mechanic. Said the same…alignment was spec’d that way. The first guy referred to the LS as a sports sedan…not in my book.

We’ve got about 27K on an AWD version. Lease ends fairly soon. When I rotated the tires a couple of months ago, I noticed that they were shot on the inside again. With no changes for 2025 that matter, I’m thinking of just buying it off the lease BUT getting someone to run the alignment all the way to the edge of the spec (reduce camber?). Has anyone done this?

FWIW, this AWD version is on its first set of tires. Were it not for the inner wear, they would be good for maybe another 8K miles. We live in the mountains so tires tread matters.

 

Lexus has 5,000 mile service intervals that includes tire rotation. It seems they know tire wear is an issue.
Whatever happened to the day when you could buy a big sedan and get 50,000 miles out of a set of tires?
The LS500 handles a little better than previous models, but I wouldn’t describe it as sporty.
Just visually walking around the car checking tread depth you don’t see the wear on the inner edge of the tires. Check tread depth on inner edge often.
$1,200 for tires every 2 years seems a little too much.

 

Can you find an indy nearby that specializes in Lexus/Toyota AND who has invested in modern alignment equipment? I'd try that.