What Floats Your Boat About The Lex?

[landar]

Ok, a short time ago, Sapper Dadddy asked you what really grinds your gears about the LS.

That was an interesting thread, however........

I would like to turn that around and ask: What do you really love about your Lex? What makes it

unique and better than any other car out there in the price range?

I have stated in other posts that I dont know when the "honeymoon" is going to end with my 98 LS

but so far, it hasn't. From the moment I press the unlock button, open those incredibly well-fitting doors,

smell the fine leather, to turning the ignition and seeing that instrument panel light up....its magic for me!

Did Lexus put a spell on this car to cause owners to go head-over-heels?

This isnt a thread to complain. And I know this forum is all about problems but could we pause for a moment to

collectively sing the virtues of your Lexus? What do you LOVE about her?!!

[OmarG]

i love that i can go 104mph and not know it. I love that it has 231k miles on it and only needs bushings and a tune up. I love that ive put 21k miles on it in 13 months and not a single mechanical failure on it. or electrical. its 14 years old!

i'm a lexus fan for life. at least the early lexus.

[dcfish]

i love that i can go 104mph and not know it. I love that it has 231k miles on it and only needs bushings and a tune up. I love that ive put 21k miles on it in 13 months and not a single mechanical failure on it. or electrical. its 14 years old!

i'm a lexus fan for life. at least the early lexus.

[landar]

Yeah, I love how after 9 years, the paint/clearcoat still shines like brand new.

[dcfish]

Yeah, I love how after 9 years, the paint/clearcoat still shines like brand new.

If a Lex would float, I would sail the seven seas...

[GKLCPA]

The LS is simply like no other car I've had. Comfortable. smooth, reliable. I don't see myself driving anything else. It's been nearly a year since I bought the car and I'm still finding excuses to drive it.

[ono8ono]

I feel like I'm driving a Tank and I feel safe in this car; this car was solidly built and still drive like new after 13 years. And I like the thickness of the paint. How many coats of paint they applied? :)

[GKLCPA]

I also like the fact that my LS has a powerful V-8 engine yet gets me routinely 20+ mpg in city/highway driving. I had a Maxima before getting this car and those mpg are comparable with my Max. I agree that the car is built like a tank which makes the mpg all the more amazing.

[landar]

albeit, a beautifully designed tank. Although I hope to never test this out, I feel like I could get

hit by the biggest SUV out there and still come thru unscratch (though my Lex may be toast...she gave her

life) :cries: .

[Lash]

Ok, a short time ago, Sapper Dadddy asked you what really grinds your gears about the LS.

That was an interesting thread, however........

I would like to turn that around and ask: What do you really love about your Lex? What makes it

unique and better than any other car out there in the price range?

I have stated in other posts that I dont know when the "honeymoon" is going to end with my 98 LS

but so far, it hasn't. From the moment I press the unlock button, open those incredibly well-fitting doors,

smell the fine leather, to turning the ignition and seeing that instrument panel light up....its magic for me!

Did Lexus put a spell on this car to cause owners to go head-over-heels?

This isnt a thread to complain. And I know this forum is all about problems but could we pause for a moment to

collectively sing the virtues of your Lexus? What do you LOVE about her?!!

I love that after living with really noisy tires (they had cupped and are really noisy anyway) since I got the car a couple months ago,,,,when I put on great new tires today, I finally feel like I HAVE a Lexus. Whisper quiet and smoooooooth! Now for that alignment.....

[blake918]

I would like to turn that around and ask: What do you really love about your Lex? What makes it unique and better than any other car out there in the price range?

The two things that really stand out in my mind are the car's style (especially the rear...love the hidden dual exhausts.) and of course the quality (Lexus doesn't build them like this any more!). I have almost 300,000 miles on mine with no serious failures. The original 4.0 and tranny are still in great condition even with all the miles on the car. Hwy fuel economy is excellent too, I get 26-27mpg.

[nc211]

I completely agree with Blake. I think the style of this series of LS is timeless, and will be dearly missed in the market place. What floats my boat about the LS mechanically is that I know it's going to get me home in comfort. I love the ease of the engine to get you moving, the smoothness of the tranny, and the ultimate in highway cruising. For a 180lb 5'10 sized dude like me, the LS just fits me perfectly. I love all of these things about it, which is why I couldn't replace it with anything but another Toyota V8...the 4runner. Nothing on the market that I can afford or feel comfortable with turning my wife loose in for a road trip comes close to the LS's 4.0V8. You can toss a hand gernade in the engine bay, and probably still make it home. But the style, it's just beautiful all around. Not slicked back screamin' demon fast looking, but still has a prowlness to it that lets you know it does have some teeth if needed. More so than it lends to believe, until you've blasted blast 110mph, still stuck to your seat, and drinking your expresso.

[LexusLooker]

It's the way the LS does so many things so well. It's quiet, comfortable, powerful, discreet (not flashy), reliable, refined, good on gas, yet will get up and goooo. Just little stuff like fit and finish, or drivetrain refinement or the feel of the controls that you don't really notice until you drive something else. I mentioned in an earlier post that I've forgotten how quirky German cars can be and am drooling for another German car. But after test driving a couple and getting back in the Lex, I'm impressed at how good the old beast is. I agree that the 400 is classic looking. And after putting almost 100K on it, it needs one old-age fix (A/C is a little week), but otherwise it's been really good.

BLAKE, dangit, when are you going to get to 300K so we can all celebrate!??!?! Do we need to descend on you and make you drive around the block until it rolls over?

Um, Robert, 180#?? When I joined this site 2 years ago, we were both scrawny-assed 150 pounders. Married life must be good!! LOL

[nc211]

Um, Robert, 180#?? When I joined this site 2 years ago, we were both scrawny-assed 150 pounders. Married life must be good!! LOL

HAHAHA!!!!

Yep, married life has been real good to the ole' belly! I've put on AT LEAST 30lb's in the past 18 months, no joke. I feel sluggish a bit, but quite content. The 42 plasma, Tivo and new sofa hasn't helped much either, especially with the home improvements... Finally saw the final Supranos last night..ticked me off too.....I blame it on the heat...that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it, like flap-jacks on a fork! :D

"(A/C is a little week)"....really? Mine is still ice ice cold. Infact, so much so that even in this heat, I can't run it at max for too long with out needing gloves on my hands. I must admit, I really miss that air vent under the steering column in the new 4Runner. With the right aim, on a hot day, sure is a nice feature blowing up the ole' shorts! hahaaa..

[Paul Sherman]

What I like about the Lexus

Apart from a few things, it's been darn reliable.

Generally, I can hop in and go without a worry.

And oh so comfy..............

A luxury car that looks good (great now that I replace some cheesy

component wheels with refurbed originals). I actually like the slight

anonymity that the discrete body provides. I can be keeping up with

the fastest of them and I won't be pulled over.

When I buy a vehicle, I generally keep them forever.

(I've had one 20 years and the third 34 years)

Looks like another long ownership for me.

[LexusLooker]

Dang, I can't spell...the A/C is a little WEAK, not week. It has a leak apparently. They charged it and it was pretty cold...now it's getting warm again. But I do love how you can sit in 100 degree traffic and the A/C doesn't lose its punch as much as others do. It seems very well designed. The lower vent is indeed cool (ha). Reminds me of old GM cars from the 60s.

42" plasma, tivo and a new sofa? WOW. What are you doing, eating bon-bons and tivoing Celine Dion concerts???? LOLOL I'm so mean.

James

[Bthiel]

And I know this forum is all about problems but could we pause for a moment to

collectively sing the virtues of your Lexus? What do you LOVE about her?!!

LS400, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I feel like such a copycat, but it's true: I drove from coastal SC to central MS all at once. I stopped for gasoline and "necessaries." When I calculated my average speed by my odometer / my watch, it was 79.5 mph. . . with three stops. . .

At one point I honestly did look down at my speedometer and find I was traveling 110mph without a clue. Mind you, this was after four new tires, four new sets of springs, and four new struts, oh, and new brake-pads all around! But there was *no* sensation of moving that fast. It was boring at 110mph. I may as well have been in my comfy chair at home. No wind noise. No tire roar. No engine noise. No buffeting. No hint of speed, just center stripe after center stripe disappearing in the rear view mirror.

But it wasn't just the lack of noise. The car didn't "feel" like it was "on the edge." There was accelerator left. There was no "brittleness" in the steering. The brakes just slowed it down when someone made me slow down - without nose dive or any hint of the rear-end trying to come around me. As far as my "inputs" told me, I could have been driving 70-75mph in my other vehicles (including the 2002 ES300).

I'm too old and have too many mouths to slap. . uh, I mean, feed, yeah, feed . . . (teenagers make you wanna - - - do things ----- nasty things ---- Edgar Alan Poe things, sometimes) and I feel my mortality creeping up on me for the first time in my life - so to drive 110mph is nonsense; or even 90mph. In fact I get better gas mileage at 65mph (GAD, did I just say that? ? ? I'm turning into my father; somebody shoot me, quick <flashback> "Well, son, the trip may take an extra four hours, but we'll squeeze an additional 3mpg out of our fuel economy, and I wouldn't want to waste that money - especially considering I spent seven hours changing the spark plugs and analyzing the proper gap with a scanning electron microscope to be certain we were getting optimum spark. If we continue to be careful like this, I can pay for my fuel-saving customizations in only 17.484 years at an average of 14,230 miles/year at the mathematical mean of the price of gasoline from 1956 to present, inflation adjusted for a 2004 dollar constant. Well, don't just sit there staring at me blankly my boy; hoist the mainsail!")

Anyway, what I was trying to say was that every time I see a speedometer register over 80mph my sphincters all tighten-up like they were when I was 25 and I realize that even 70 will probably leave you squished. A wreck at 110mph and I think you might end-up looking like a smear of something unidentifiable. Why I care I haven't a clue.

Truly, this was kind of cool (again, showing my age with 60s lingo): On this trip (I kid you not one bit) as I was leaving Charleston, SC I was blown off the road by a black LS4x0H - brand new, shiny black, and oozing the new look. Well, my old girl wasn't having it, so I pulled in behind this new LS and hit the gas. I kept a distance - short distance - between us. The two of us were moving through traffic at 80+mph, not a care in the world, and we both blew past a pearl white LS400 ('94 or later) who decided this looked like too much fun and it pulled-in behind me. The three of us passed another LS, this time a relatively new 430 and *it* pulled in behind the car behind me!

I slowed-down on purpose and let the later models pass me. I suppose the 430 driver didn't "get it" because when the lead 400 slowed, he didn't go around. The new car paid no attention at all, but for a while I thought we were going to get a 4x0H followed by a 430 followed by a badged 400 followed by me (unbadged) and all of us going like a bat-out-of-hell. The 430 pulled out of line and disappeared. The lady / girl in the 400 slowed down and I passed her, then she sped up and kept pace. But the biggest surprise of all was when the new model slowed to make an exit. As I passed, this was the first opportunity I had to see the driver.

I was imagining some General Dynamics guy, mid-forties, $5,000 suit, Rolex. What I saw was a little-old skinny lady who looked like she may have witnessed the signing of the Declaration of Independence first-hand. The hair on her head was that awful grey-blonde, and it was stacked high, but I'll bet it wasn't her's. There was a male corpse sitting in the passenger seat. He might have weighed all of 80 pounds and his back was so bent that I could just see his head hanging there off the misshapen stalk of a neck - so far forward that his nose was closer to the dash than the headrest. He wasn't grey. He was bald. The only color he had were his blue veins at his temple.

I was keeping-up with THAT for fun? As I said, I'm getting older. Fun gets harder and harder to have without pain. I suppose this was all the excitement I could take - but it would have been great to run-up beside that car and found Ronnie James Dio driving. . . come to think of it, the guy did look just a little like Keith Richards.

The girl in the pearlized white 400 ran up beside me and with a smile to match her beautifully kept Lexus' paint, she looked over and enthusiastically waved at me before dropping back, exiting, and leaving me there all alone again. . . naturally. We'd had our affair at 80mph. Well, o.k., not really an affair, but at least we were sharing a love.

B

1992 LS400

86,511 original miles

a one family car, just Dad and me

[LexusLooker]

Wow! What a great post. You're as dorked out on these cars as the rest of us. Welcome!! You had me rolling on the floor a few times too. It's reallllly scary when you say/do stuff and then catch yourself and say "yikes, that was my dad saying/doing that!!" You'll enjoy this forum - lots of fun.

[Bthiel]

Welcome!!

Thank you. I hope to hang-out a while.

Since I've already taxed everyone's patience with that last reply I won't tell the story of how I ended-up an LS owner (my pocketbook is definitely ES, or even Corolla). Weeell. . . I won't tell it right now.

I have some good news: I think I've saved a bunch of money on my car repairs by switching to the Lexus Owner's Club.

I'm still learning my way around, but I plan to report on everything. My current "issue" pretends to be one thing, but is actually, I think, another. When I know the results of my efforts (a week from today) I will describe the process. In detail. At length. Redundantly. Nobody has ever accused me of being brief.

B

[Thermactor]

bthiel, what led you to buy new springs for your car? how did you know your old ones were shot?

[raymsixsix]

Hey guys, same things all of you have mentioned before. High level of craftsmanship, reliability, refinement, quietness, solidity, effortlessness, feeling of permanence. I love the way the car sets the tone for the experience. From the minute you grab the door handle, and open the door, you notice the substance and heft of it. Then when you close the door behind you and hear the resonnating "thunk." Key in ignition, steering wheel slides in to place and you turn the key. The needles light up first and then a second or two later the numbers are lit. The engine starts and is barely a purr. Put her in drive and you glide away. Well you guys get the idea LOL. My family has had many Toyota products and they performed greatly for us. This is my second Lexus, first LS. I couldn't choose a favorite between them. Since I don't have any kids, I suppose its like how every pet holds a special place in one's heart. You love them all, and they all have their characters and personalities.

[Bthiel]

bthiel, what led you to buy new springs for your car? how did you know your old ones were shot?

The car was leaning when sitting on a level surface.

B

[CharlieM]

Ok, a short time ago, Sapper Dadddy asked you what really grinds your gears about the LS.

That was an interesting thread, however........

I would like to turn that around and ask: What do you really love about your Lex? What makes it

unique and better than any other car out there in the price range?

I have stated in other posts that I dont know when the "honeymoon" is going to end with my 98 LS

but so far, it hasn't. From the moment I press the unlock button, open those incredibly well-fitting doors,

smell the fine leather, to turning the ignition and seeing that instrument panel light up....its magic for me!

Did Lexus put a spell on this car to cause owners to go head-over-heels?

This isnt a thread to complain. And I know this forum is all about problems but could we pause for a moment to

collectively sing the virtues of your Lexus? What do you LOVE about her?!!

I have a 92 LS400 and it's one of the sweetest cars i've ever driven, definitely the best i've ever owned. i've had for a couple of months and haven't had a problem, except i just noticed the drain plug in the oil pan has a slow leak, but i'm not overreacting as it seems like a simple fix (suggestions welcome). Besides little things like the lcd clock cluster, and common stuff, everything works. I love how everything is so solid and feels like it will be there forever. I love how it feels so strong and sturdy, put together so much better. I have sirius radio, and i had a 99 civic that i could just pull the molding down and run antenna wire wherever i wanted. with the lex, i had to have it professionally done just because it was so solid, not a loose panel or stitch, and i didn't wanna mess it up. i love how it rides wicked smooth, excellent cruising car, but when it needs to get up and go, it'll blow away most cars on the road. i love how brand new cars on the road have very little if anything on the lex as far as options and performance. i love the body style and look, and i love knowing that if i take care of her, she'll take care of me. that's just a little of what i love about my lexus

[GKLCPA]

I have a question, which may have been asked somewhere before. Does everyone feel that the LS has continued in the vein of being a high quality car with the lastest generation? Do you think the quality of the 430 and the 460 exceeds both generations of the LS400?

[blake918]

BLAKE, dangit, when are you going to get to 300K so we can all celebrate!??!?! Do we need to descend on you and make you drive around the block until it rolls over?

James, I'm getting there, slowly. I wish that I was the mileage king that you are! ;) I haven't been driving as much as I usually do, but I did roll past 299k this weekend (just over 3 years ago it only had 224,000 miles.):

Do you think the quality of the 430 and the 460 exceeds both generations of the LS400?

Not a chance. The 430 and 460 interiors are more glamorous, but not higher quality. Your thoughts GKL??