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Baffled: Worst Ride Quality of Any Car I have Owned
I am absolutely baffled by my 2014 GX460. It's a base model with just 30,000 miles and although it was certified when I got it at 22,000 miles, there are little clues that it was abused.
The ride quality is abysmal. You know when you are crossing a concrete segment in pavement in a parking lot and there is a seam between the pavement? I feel that big time. A speed bump? Forget it--the whole car thuds on it and then shakes side-to-side as I pass over it. I have another car...a LOWERED 2012 911 Carerra S that takes speed bumps better than my GX. And it isn't like the front is a problem and the rear is not or vice-versa, All the wheels are the same. On smooth road, it's great--but what isn't?
It's a Base model--is this just the way it's supposed to be? My last one was a 2004 GX470 and that had a way better ride, but it did have the adjustments. Any thoughts on this or similar experiences?
When you got the GX with 22K miles was the ride bad then, or has it deteriorated over the last 8K miles? If this is the case it could very well be the tires, especially if these are the original tires that came with the GX when it was delivered new. Even if there is plenty of tread left check them for dry rot / cracking..
In the past my middle son had an Accord that at the time that had a little over 26K miles on it and it was approx 4-1/2 years old.. The ride began to feel like we were riding on bricks and it only got worse. While the tread depth was good, the rubber in the tires had begun to dry out which caused the harsh ride. Replaced the tires and within 2 mins of driving you could tell the difference in ride quality.
Not sure if this is your issue, but doesn't hurt to check..
Going from a GX470 to a GX460, the older model definitely had a smoother ride. I noticed it immediately when I test drove it.
I wouldn't call the new model though a rough riding vehicle, but it is biased a bit more towards firmness, which is silly as it's never going to be a sports sedan. But car magazine writers are always complaining about "soft" riding vehicles, even though that's exactly what most people want when they buy a luxury SUV. It's not a Miata.
I'm guessing the upgraded air suspension GX460 has a smoother ride, but I didn't want the extra cost or the service headaches.
Also, I don't like the way the new GX is geared, it always feels like it's in too high a gear. The older GX, despite having less power, felt way peppier. It's been a huge complaint from my wife as well, you feel like you have to really floor the car to get it moving.
I was on fence myself getting the adjustable suspension but it seems like it quite reliable in the 470 so decided to risk it. That being said I usually find myself in either the sport or comfort mode most of the time and less so in the middle mode which I assume is close to stock without adjustable suspension.
One option for performance outside of warranty might be Pedal Commander.... they don't explicitly have one for GX but 4.6L in Tundra is listed
Pedal Commander is a throttle response controller thatremoves response delays on your electronic accelerator pedal. Effectively, it allows your engine to respond faster so your car can accelerate faster! You paid lots of money for a serious vehicle; when you press your gas pedal, it shouldn’t feel like you are pressing a sponge. Haven’t you ever noticed that older cars tend to be more responsive, before digital pedals? We’re giving you that response back!
Pedal Commander has 4 different control modes: Eco, City, Sport, and Sport+ .Each control mode has 8 adjustable levels to work with. These different settings are what provide drivers with unique acceleration control in their vehicles.
Easy Installation (Plug & Play)
OEM Factory Plugs
Individual Programming
User-Friendly and Adjustable
Eco,City,Sport & Sport + Modes
Removes All Disadvantages of Electronic Gas Pedals
CE and TUV Certified
Never Voids Your Factory Warranty
Excellent Customer Service
100% Satisfaction Guaranteed or 14 Days of Money Back. No Questions Asked!
I was on fence myself getting the adjustable suspension but it seems like it quite reliable in the 470 so decided to risk it.
Coming from a GX470 with the air suspension, I can assure you it's NOT reliable long term. The GX470 forum is full of anecdotes of people that had to replace and many convert it to a coil suspension. It's not really a question of "if", but "when" as far as the air suspension going out.
I also had to replace as well, and it happened on a road trip and it almost left me stranded. It was my biggest out of pocket repair and I owned it since new for 10+ years.
If you keep your car 4-5 years than sell, it will be a problem for the next owner, not you. For a lot of people, that's all they care about. But longer term, it's almost a sure bet they will need to be replaced and it's not cheap. It's not like coil springs that basically last forever unless you have something like severe rust happens.
You have the sensors, compressor, electronic ride struts/shocks and the airbags themselves. If you're lucky, it's just the bags that develop holes and no longer hold air.
A manufacturer can easily make a vehicle have a comfortable ride without air suspension, I've had two Lexus sedans and they both ride fantastic on traditional coil springs. But for whatever reason, they decided to stiffen up the GX460 ride.
I assumed it was known that an air bag suspension would fail in the long term if one looked into it. Not Lexus specific, but with all manufacturers. Sure, I would expect the the best from Lexus, but this system is known to eventually fail with all makes agree with BradTank...
It's not really a question of "if", but "when" as far as the air suspension going out
I assumed it was known that an air bag suspension would fail in the long term if one looked into it. Not Lexus specific, but with all manufacturers. Sure, I would expect the the best from Lexus, but this system is known to eventually fail with all makes agree with BradTank... .
Yea, it's just the nature of the beast, not Lexus specific.
My parents S Class Mercedes has it, the car is like 7+ years old, cost around $5,000-$6,000 to replace just the front. Had to tow it in.
My GX lasted about 7 years as well before it went out, and then the back just collapsed. It wasn't as expensive, but there's a lot of components that can also fail, not just the bags. The electronic shocks on the back also were replaced, the dealer wanted like $2,500 for those shocks, but I found an alternative.
I purposely went out of my way to not get the air suspension as we tend to keep our cars for the long haul. Some people think it's worth the expense, some don't. Different strokes.
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Yea, it's just the nature of the beast, not Lexus specific.
My parents S Class Mercedes has it, the car is like 7+ years old, cost around $5,000-$6,000 to replace just the front. Had to tow it in.
My GX lasted about 7 years as well before it went out, and then the back just collapsed. It wasn't as expensive, but there's a lot of components that can also fail, not just the bags. The electronic shocks on the back also were replaced, the dealer wanted like $2,500 for those shocks, but I found an alternative.
I purposely went out of my way to not get the air suspension as we tend to keep our cars for the long haul. Some people think it's worth the expense, some don't. Different strokes.
You actually have to bargain very hard with these dealers. A few years after (2008-ish) I bought my 2000 LS 400 back in 2004, the front air shocks began leaking. I think the car had around 80,000 miles on it when that happened. The dealer wanted approx. $1100 per shock, but after a lot of back and forth with them, I managed to buy them from Longo Lexus (in So Cal) for $875/shock (so they do have a significant markup on some of these items).
The car is now almost 18 years old (originally sold in Nov '99) and has approx. 193,000 miles. The rear shocks are still original and are fine, and I've not had to replace any other air suspension component (*KNOCKS ON WOOD*). I virtually always have the car in "HIGH" mode. I've heard this puts a significantly less amount of wear on the suspension. Don't necessarily know if this is true, but it seems to have worked for me.
Hi there,
I'm curious about the comment above...
Does the LS400 stay in HIGH mode, even after hitting 18mph?
The GX460 doesn't - it reverts to 'Normal' ride height.
Hi there,
I'm curious about the comment above...
Does the LS400 stay in HIGH mode, even after hitting 18mph?
The GX460 doesn't - it reverts to 'Normal' ride height.
The manual is not very clear on how it exactly works. However, from what I recall it is supposed to lower the car about a half an inch "at high speed" (I think I recall seeing something like 60mph somewhere). I don't believe it reverts to "normal" height at very low speeds like 18mph. However, I'm not sure if it lowers the car from the HIGH position or from the NORMAL position. But I'm pretty sure it stays in the HIGH position at regular city driving speeds of 40 to 50 mph.
Also keep in mind I have a mechanical button in my LS (unlike the newer models) and a dash indicator light that tells me I'm in the high mode. The light never goes out or gives me any indication that the "high mode is being canceled", even when I'm driving 80mph on the freeway. So whatever happens (if it does), happens behind the scenes.
Yea, it's just the nature of the beast, not Lexus specific.
My parents S Class Mercedes has it, the car is like 7+ years old, cost around $5,000-$6,000 to replace just the front. Had to tow it in.
My GX lasted about 7 years as well before it went out, and then the back just collapsed. It wasn't as expensive, but there's a lot of components that can also fail, not just the bags. The electronic shocks on the back also were replaced, the dealer wanted like $2,500 for those shocks, but I found an alternative.
I purposely went out of my way to not get the air suspension as we tend to keep our cars for the long haul. Some people think it's worth the expense, some don't. Different strokes.
I was on fence myself getting the adjustable suspension but it seems like it quite reliable in the 470 so decided to risk it. That being said I usually find myself in either the sport or comfort mode most of the time and less so in the middle mode which I assume is close to stock without adjustable suspension.
One option for performance outside of warranty might be Pedal Commander.... they don't explicitly have one for GX but 4.6L in Tundra is listed
Pedal Commander is a throttle response controller thatremoves response delays on your electronic accelerator pedal. Effectively, it allows your engine to respond faster so your car can accelerate faster! You paid lots of money for a serious vehicle; when you press your gas pedal, it shouldn’t feel like you are pressing a sponge. Haven’t you ever noticed that older cars tend to be more responsive, before digital pedals? We’re giving you that response back!
Pedal Commander has 4 different control modes: Eco, City, Sport, and Sport+ .Each control mode has 8 adjustable levels to work with. These different settings are what provide drivers with unique acceleration control in their vehicles.
Easy Installation (Plug & Play)
OEM Factory Plugs
Individual Programming
User-Friendly and Adjustable
Eco,City,Sport & Sport + Modes
Removes All Disadvantages of Electronic Gas Pedals
CE and TUV Certified
Never Voids Your Factory Warranty
Excellent Customer Service
100% Satisfaction Guaranteed or 14 Days of Money Back. No Questions Asked!
They do have one specifically for the GX460. It's actually the same model # as the Toyota one.
Sorry for resurrecting an old thread here, but it looks like the discussion got pretty off topic. Thundercow, if tires check out, the next thing I would check is the the alignment. It is very possible that the previous owner could have hit something and thrown the caster way out, which could definitely impact the suspension geometry and make it ride like hell.
Baffled: Worst Ride Quality of Any Car I have Owned
agree with BradTank...
.
