mikesrx350

Hi all, i have been a long time lover of the ls had three of them over the years. Figured i would start a thread as we all see it and feel it for the first time.

Some random thoughts in no particular order

1) The fit and finish on the paint was exemplary.. Even a step up from the ls460 they have taken the hand polishing to a whole new level amazing

2) The exterior was interesting. i thought the car was sexy and thoughtful with detail. I think the execution for a sporty large car will be ok with people looking for that sort of bmw combo of sport/ luxury.. I did leave the showroom un inspired with the look , partly because of the time and effort that has gone into the design in and out for 10 years. To me it should have been a paradigm shift to a step above the s class instead its a good looking car that looks designed with all the other desgins in 2015, nothing ground breaking. also from an exterior perspective i get that lexus and toyota are going after a younger buyer with the spindle grill. this version is detailed and pretty but does nothing for me but look loud and not classy on a car of this level.. dont understand what they are doing or what feeling there going after does nothing but turn me off.

3) The real interesting was the interior. my expectations were off the chart saying in my head they will blow away the world with the time and effort.
again a let down

4) The seats were very comfortable, amazing amount of adjustment and i couldn't test the massage part because no key fob, its obvious they spent a lot of time with the comfort of the seat and also looks like they slimmed them down to take some weight out of them a common thing going on in industry to save weight in car

5) The front doors were really interesting with the multi layers by the door handles.. i think they really did an amazing job and the detail is beautiful . the design on the door with stitching is like the lc and really beautifully executed.

6) Armrests: really interesting i saw photos of the living room chair as a design for them.. the seats are more sport/luxury than that but the armrest was literally designed with the thought i have been yearning for for many moons .. its two inches from the door and you can put your arm on it comfortably in many positions.. the middle arm rest was also great flatter and smoother than the 460 with longer feel.. think they spent a lot of time and it shows how detail is in the arm comfort

7) materials fit and finish; heres another interesting one. the materials on most of the interior are top notch. but as a lunatic with details from my add and ocd i spent 40 minutes in interior and there are misses.. a Blue start stop button ridiculous.. starting feeling around the storage areas on the front doors cheap plastic.. they eye glass holder cheap plastic on top, then you feel the steering wheel great, you feel the top grade materials on the top of the dash and the curved design all top notch.
then i start touching the a/c buttons and scroll wheels and they feel cheaper than the ls460.. all makes no sense unless your pinching pennies in this class of car..
for compare and contrast purposes i think the s550 is the best interior on market today but i also feel some of the touch points with ***** and plastics are off.

8) visibility : a real issue .. they curved the glass on windshield for drag coefficient and went backwards with visibility from the open feeling of the ls460.. more sporty if thats your cup of tea. so its interesting if you get the words i wrote its a resonating theme ; more sport/ good luxury , very good performance good job toyota not great job thats the real issue for me

overall grade of the new ls500 inside and out is a 8 from 1-10
beautiful car
will drive amazing with powertrains,/ comfort and the new suspension architecture shared with the lc
but for 10 years of development and preparing for the future 10 a huge miss in my opinion.
but this is only one mans opinion. its only 80 k so alot of value here

mikesrx350

Forgot to mention the buttons on the steering wheel and the round ones to go from normal to sport

haven't driven the car so final opinion will be then

but ergonomically we all know the challenges with the touch interface no need to talk about it here
but there are literally 40 buttons on the steering wheel. they feel good to the touch, but you would figure again after 10 years of development a newer simpler design
there have been write ups of the touch points to change a/c setting or settings taking 4 screens to navigate to

also the turn **** to go to sport or sport plus.. its ten inches away above steering wheel and seems like to turn it and be far away in a instant need i can't grasp the thought.. i did see there is a plastic ev button below the transmission i hope you can change the mode there as well. i won't know till car is driven..

yardie876

Nice preliminary write up. I'm eager to sit in the car and feel all the surfaces myself.

One thing to note, given the presence of a blue start button as well as an EV button, you were sitting in the 500h. The blue start button has always distinguished hybrids from their gas counterparts.

mikesrx350

good point i did see when i went to back of car it was hybrid
curious to see your post

tfischer

MIKE says: ". . . there are literally 40 buttons on the steering wheel."
40? Really?
I think Mike is using the word "literally" as a metaphor to mean "more buttons than on an Amish Prom dress."

scubadvr1

Just visited my dealer in south Florida and was able to sit in, but not drive, the LS500. I agree with everything said so far; it is a beautiful car inside and out. However, it does seem a little less spacious inside than my LS460 but it's not a big drawback. More importantly though, the trunk seems smaller, and, THERE IS NO SPARE TIRE. The car only runs on Run Flat tires. I've always heard that run flats are not nearly as comfortable and quiet as ordinary tires which is a BIG concern for me. Also, while sitting in the car with the windows up and the doors closed I could hear a LOT of noise chatter coming from the other people standing around and talking. So I'm also concerned the car might not have as quiet an interior as previous versions of the LS. Once the test drives are available I plan to measure the interior noise of the 500 vs. my 460 and also the Genesis G90. There are plenty of free decibel meter apps available for your smartphone. While they might not be all that accurate, they should be RELATIVELY accurate; that is, if one car registers a lower noise level than another I assume that means that car is in fact quieter, even if the decibel reading might be a few decibels off. I plan on measuring and comparing the three cars via road tests as well as when sitting in the cabins with the engine off and engine idling. We'll see if the new LS is as quiet as it could be. The car is also well priced; with options similar to my current LS460 the sticker is only a few thousand more.

PCW

Got to test drive the new LS500 today at my No Virginia dealer. I thought it was totally luxurious inside and I didn't think it appeared too long. The 28 way front seats were very supportive and felt great. The pickup with the engine was much better than I expected and the ride quality was unlike any LS before: much sportier. I did not like the touchpad interface as many have commented.

Update (2/18): got to see and drive the LS F-Sport today. Caviar with black interior. I liked the wheels and grill of the F-Sport better but I don't know what Lexus was thinking with the pattern in the middle of the F-Sport seats. It's very busy and not luxurious for an $87K car.

gs400jon

Test drove the LS500 yesterday. MSRP $101,000. It already had 1200 miles on the odometer because the owner of the dealership has been driving it for a while. So, I felt comfortable stomping on the accelerator after the engine warmed. Certainly not like stomping on the RC F but it does pull fairly well, good enough for a 4800 pound give or take sedan. The touchpad is similar to the RC F but not near as easy to manipulate as the pad on a recently leased 2018 ES350. There's a LS500 F Sport that was just loaded onto a ship in Japan today and my sales person estimates that the monthly lease cost will be almost identical to that of my RC F whose third year is up in May. The car should be at the dealership by early next month. MSRP is $87,500, doesn't have the Performance Pkg or Luxury Pkgs. I have the Performance Pkg on the RC F but never really had occasion to make use of the TVD. If I ordered a F Sport, it would be without the Performance Pkg.

mikesrx350

question is???

how do you go 7-10 years in product development with Bmw I drive being best in class for last 5

and majorlly fall short

inexcusable.
this is why lexus is not lexus of the mid 90's

MJA1951

I went to a launch event this week at Woodfield Lexus in the Chicago area. I have a 2004 LS 430 and my wife has a 2013 GS

I thought the interior of the car is great looking in person and for me was the highlight of the car, although I had to bend my head to get in.

Very disappointed in the head room in every area. I am 5'10" and sitting in the drivers seat there seemed like only about 2 inches from my head to the headliner. In the back it seems like the seat is stadium style where the seat base is higher then the front. They had one car with the panoramic roof and one with the regular sunroof. In the panoramic roof car, my head was brushing against the headliner and in the car with the regular sunroof, I seemed to have a few inches to spare. So unless the people who you expect to ride in the car are shorter than me, I can't see how the panoramic roof is a viable option

One of the things I like about my LS 430 is there is plenty of head room and even in my wife's GS, there seems to be at least 1-2 inches of additional headroom in the driver's seat over the LS500.

I know they are moving to a more sporty car but at a range of $80,000 to $100,000+, I would think you could expect to have ample room for people over 6 feet to sit without scrunching down. If my thoughts on the stadium rear seats are correct, making a lower roof line then raising the seat bottom seems like a bad design.

I was really looking forward to the LS 500 but not sure how buying this car at this price point with the above issues makes sense.

UZ214

I felt the car to be sort of smaller inside, i am with you - have a ls460 and it just seemed lesser room inside. I also dont like the guitar strings theme going on. but it was pretty sharp looking