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As a former LS460 owner, I finally took the time to drive the new LS. My reaction was much different than I expected. My first thought after a bit of aggressive driving was "this is great, just what the GS should have always been." Lexus has built a better CLS! This was a moderately optioned car listing at about $85,000. It, does not, feel like a replacement for my LS460. Maybe those days are gone at Lexus, but when I drove a Genesis G90, the feeling was "someone designed a car for me". Although I have bought/leased 7 new Lexuses over the past 15 years, I'm done. I guess I'm too old to be a Lexus customer.
As a former LS460 owner, I finally took the time to drive the new LS. My reaction was much different than I expected. My first thought after a bit of aggressive driving was "this is great, just what the GS should have always been." Lexus has built a better CLS! This was a moderately optioned car listing at about $85,000. It, does not, feel like a replacement for my LS460. Maybe those days are gone at Lexus, but when I drove a Genesis G90, the feeling was "someone designed a car for me". Although I have bought/leased 7 new Lexuses over the past 15 years, I'm done. I guess I'm too old to be a Lexus customer.
This was my feeling as well and I'm only 36 lol. Its just a very different car and I agree, I don't get that "flagship" feel from it.
Well, I just made my decision, and I traded my LS460 for the Mercedes S450. The biggest issues with the LS500 were the infotainment system and roominess. It will likely be years before they do anything about the touchpad, and I just can't wait that long. I'm not sure they can do anything about the roominess.
Unfortunately, my Plan-B was to pick up a cheap 2016/2017 LS460 that someone traded in on a LS500. But that doesn't seem to be happening.
As a former LS460 owner, I finally took the time to drive the new LS. My reaction was much different than I expected. My first thought after a bit of aggressive driving was "this is great, just what the GS should have always been." Lexus has built a better CLS! This was a moderately optioned car listing at about $85,000. It, does not, feel like a replacement for my LS460. Maybe those days are gone at Lexus, but when I drove a Genesis G90, the feeling was "someone designed a car for me". Although I have bought/leased 7 new Lexuses over the past 15 years, I'm done. I guess I'm too old to be a Lexus customer.
I love that you had a honest conversation with yourself and decided that just maybe Lexus is abandoning its older customer base with the hopes of pulling in younger hip buyers that are in their 40’s to mid 50’s. I still find the LS just a lil” too big for my personal taste. But then again I don’t really enjoy driving really big cars. I’m sure if the problem arises that the LS500 isn’t selling well enough after one full year of sales, they will hypothetically call the chief engineer into the corporate board room and ask him kindly to stretch the LS500 four more inches just like they modified the current 4th gen Lexus RX-L to appeal to buyers seeking 3rd row seat shoppers.
Lexus is not marketing this car to millenials. Millenials are having a hard time buying homes due to student loan debt, slow wage growth, and high home costs in areas where there are jobs. Lexus knows that this is a demographic that is not buying 100k luxury sedans, but leasing Corollas. Please stop with this.
Not sure who your comment was pointed at, but I haven’t seen where anybody on this thread has mentioned that Lexus is trying to market the LS500 to the millennial demographic. I also find your comment a bit offensive, not all millennials are in debt and leasing Corollas. There are plenty of people in their 50-60’s who can’t afford to buy or lease a Lexus because their company has shut down, downsized or laid them off after working there for 20 years.
Finally got to test drive the LS500. This car needs to be driven to be really appreciated. Seeing it at auto shows, sitting in it in the show-room, I wasn't at all impressed. Now having driven it this past Saturday, my mind has changed. The car is a proper flagship. It's quiet as a tomb, and it performs as expected. I was most impressed with how the car transforms switching from Comfort to Sport or Sport + mode. It's like an entirely different engine was transplanted into the car with the turn of the dashboard-mounted dial. The car went from a serene luxo-barge to an aggressive, throaty, and sharp sports sedan. The engine sound must be amplified by the speakers, as it was as if the hood came right off the car that's how greatly the sound of the engine improved. Further, the interior design is quite breathtaking. The textures of the open-pore wood, the supple massaging leather seats, the split-sunroof, the brilliant heads-up-display -- all of these came together near flawlessly.
The two things I'd like to see changed in the car: 1) The touchpad controller really is difficult and distracting to use. I'd only be inclined to fiddle with it if I were parked or stopped in traffic. It's quite hard to navigate, and the touchpad actually requires that you physically push the entire touchpad down so it clicks to select an option. It could be improved and it really should be. 2) I'd like to have a pass-through trunk. It's not a big deal, but it would be a simple addition that would add a lot of versatility.
In closing, the biggest question is: am I going to buy this car? Not yet. I'd like to see what Lexus does this year with other model updates, hybridization, etc. and see how they respond to the feedback they're getting on the LS. The segment is very competitive, and a company can't afford a flop, so I think Lexus is going to put a lot of resources into fine-tuning their line-up. After all, wasn't their motto at one point "the pursuit of perfection?"
Last edited by aliasjav; Apr 23, 2018 at 10:09 AM.
In closing, the biggest question is: am I going to buy this car? Not yet. I'd like to see what Lexus does this year with other model updates, hybridization, etc. and see how they respond to the feedback they're getting on the LS. The segment is very competitive, and a company can't afford a flop, so I think Lexus is going to put a lot of resources into find-tuning their line-up. After all, isn't their motto "the pursuit of perfection?"
Thanks for the great review! And no, their motto has changed to "Experience Amazing".
I agree with you, all in all the drive is excellent. Just wish it had a V8.
Sat in one again today at the dealer when I dropped my 460 off for the 5k service, my issue is just entirely with interior size. The car is beautiful inside and out IMHO, but just sitting in the drivers seat, it feels so confining compared to my 460L.
My friend and I went to a dealer to drive the LS and LC500's today. He's been talking about the LC for months. Well after 20 minutes of getting our drivers licenses and insurance cards entered into their system we went out in a LS500. We could only go on a short ride with the salesgirl, dealership policy. Imagine buying a 100k car with just a short test drive. My friend who was way more serious about buying a LC500 than I was about the LS didn't even get to drive one. It was on the showroom floor.
The LS500 was nice but it really needs a V8. It felt like it had turbo lag to me. Dead spot taking off from a stop till the turbos spooled up. Driving home in my V8 felt so much better. I didn't care for the electronic shifter and the shift **** was too far forward also to comfortably rest my hand on. Going into the screen to turn on the heated steering wheel and seats is a minus to me. Nice car though. I wouldn't kick it out of my garage.
My friend and I went to a dealer to drive the LS and LC500's today. He's been talking about the LC for months. Well after 20 minutes of getting our drivers licenses and insurance cards entered into their system we went out in a LS500. We could only go on a short ride with the salesgirl, dealership policy. Imagine buying a 100k car with just a short test drive. My friend who was way more serious about buying a LC500 than I was about the LS didn't even get to drive one. It was on the showroom floor.
The LS500 was nice but it really needs a V8. It felt like it had turbo lag to me. Dead spot taking off from a stop till the turbos spooled up. Driving home in my V8 felt so much better. I didn't care for the electronic shifter and the shift **** was too far forward also to comfortably rest my hand on. Going into the screen to turn on the heated steering wheel and seats is a minus to me. Nice car though. I wouldn't kick it out of my garage.
Crappy dealer. There should of been a demonstration model that could be test driven for as long as needed or required.
Its hard to get test drives in the LC still. The dealership I bought my LS at only has one demo, and they aren't allowed to test drive LCs on the lot. The demo is driven by the dealership GM and he needs to happen to be there in order for customers to drive it.
So they spent so much time before and after the test drive trying to schmooze and keep me there, bouncing me to a manager on my way out and telling me about how customer service and satisfaction is their top priority. Just let me drive and get to try and enjoy the car and it will sell itself. I'm not there to make friends or get hard sold on what great people you are. I was in the car such a short period of time the whole experience was meaningless. Almost every other time I have test driven new cars they try to keep me driving the car to get used to it so I will want to buy it. The customer goes out of his way to come to your lot, pulls in in his LS460 which they all saw and they offer you a 5 minute test drive after 20 minutes of booking your information. Really!
