460LEX

Do most of you here own LS460 or LS460L? I currently owned an 2008 RX400h, my father-in-law is approaching retirement and wants to get an LS. I will have the honor to go shopping with him B) . Just want to know your take between the 460 or 460L. I understand the L is a bit longer and smoother ride? but does the extra 10K justifed? Also, would you recommend buying an 07 or 08 used one, or buy brand new 09? What options you must have on LS?

Thanks.

The L is all about the rear seat, so if you need the rear to shuffle someone around great,I had a L and a regular the ride seemed the same to me.

You must be Leasing the car, sounds like your out to beat the hell out of it. I am curious when did you get the first oil change?

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I have a 2008 LS460L that was built on Feb. 19, 2008. The engine is so quiet that stopping at red light feels like the engine is completely off. But I have heard that the long version is better quality checked than the SWB. I don't know if this is true but I have experience with both SWB and LWB.

LWB or SWB same drive train....

The truth about clear bras is that after you have them on your car, they are a pain. Don't get me wrong, they do the job, but when it comes to cleaning the car, the clear bras take extra care. For example, my installer told me. No soap, no wax. So when I wash the car I have to exclude the clear bra and then just use plain water on it, Afterwards, I have to wax (spray) around it. Then I have Plexxus plastic spray to clean the clear bra. It really is a pain, and the more clear material you have, the bigger the pain. I don't think a full hood is worth it. First 18 inches is OK. (Also, the clear bra, no matter what salesmen will tell you, takes away from the pure sheen of the paint. A full hood would look dull compared to the rest of the car.

This is a quote from another site. FYI

The big one in the middle snaps down in front then is keyed in the back the other fasteners you have to push down in the middle to release them. Then you have to reset them when you put them back in.

They should be using Toyota synthetic in the Red bottle. But who knows what happens when you drop your car off. Maybe the oil change tech uses it in his car. LOL :P

I think many of you are missing the point of this discussion. You are saying that Lexus HAD to change the suspension to better compete with certain high-end European brands. Actually, Lexus Japan offers the same great ride in the 460 as in the LS 430 but Lexus USA does not offer it in the LS 460 SWB in the United States. The option I am talking about is Adaptive Variable Air Suspension (AVS). In the US it is only available as an option on the LS 460L and as standard equipment on the LS 600. Lexus describes it as “enhanced driving comfort.”

Several months ago, I drove a 2007 LS 460L with AVS. There is a rocker switch with three settings: Comfort, Normal and Sport. In the Comfort position the ride was very similar to the 430 if not better.

Many of you blame the rough ride on the tires or tire pressure but you’re wrong. Just adding AVS to the car results in a great, comfortable ride. BTW, AVS is standard equipment on the LS460 SWB in Great Britain!

Hi TSB

I believe that your stating that the LS 430 has a better ride is subjective. If you did a pole with the owners of the LS you might find not all think the softer ride of the 430 is necessary better. Some may want a stiffer ride. In fact if you have read the reviews on the 460 they still talk about the floaty wallowing in corners handling. AVS is nothing new to cars. You can buy a similar system for the older LS's they sell the shocks with a control box to adjust the damping. while not active you could adjust for a softer ride ie less damping in the shocks and you would have more control and mimic your 430 ride. Also these shocks bought with out the control box can be manually adjusted. In time they will be available to outfit the LS 460 if you like. The air ride is deceptive. Air springs were originally put in to keep cars level when the trunks were loaded or a full gas tank. The air bladders take the place of springs, they allow raising and lowering of the car which is more important to some than there actual function. They have a optimal range to give a designed ride. The problem with air bladders is that when used within the designed range they are quite linear in their operation. with a spring you can design them to compress within a certain range and then increase at another point, in a non linear manner. This gives the designer a wider design parameters with which to design the automobile's ride. If you are willing to wait there will be more options in the way of springs and shocks as time goes on. You can pretty much design you cars ride for what suits you. This is more than most want to deal with, but asking Lexus to design or add options for your tastes might be asking for to much. Test driving other cars or keeping your old one might be a better option for you. Also tire pressure has a lot to do with ride. Simply airing up your own tires to 40lbs and dropping to 32lbs you will note a big difference. I have a few engineering books on suspension design but the upload limit is to low to give to you. You may want to search one of the torrent sites if you wish to learn more details. The Automotive Chassis: Engineering Principles is a very good read.

Lexus wheels have great quality, it can be a problem balancing other wheels, if you notice the lug nuts on a Lexus are larger, because Lexus wheels are hub centric, which makes it more important to have a perfect centered hub to rotate around. This is one reason why you can have vibration problems with aftermarket wheels.

If you call a 100 service shops they will all say the same thing 99% of the time it is Wheels or Tires. I hope yours is not the 1%.

I have had my LS460 to the dealer 3 times because of wind noise. It still isn't fixed and they say there isn't anything else they can do. Has anyone had a successful repair for this problem?

Had the TSB and yes now very quiet, less noise of all kind compared to My Ls 430 and previous LS 400's. I think the problem might be that some of the dealer techs are skipping steps or training on your car. I had the Lexus tech who was coming to the dealerships to train the techs do it and all is OK. Not completely wind noise free but I have not driven a car that is.

Just a couple things to keep in mind, one the wider the wheel the harder to balance, Two the installer will keep from putting weight's on the outside which also compromises the balancing. A good tire shop will balance the outside and the inside of the wheel. Three You will ride harsher, I have had 18"19" 20" on you can feel the difference with each tire size increase. Obviously ppl put wheels on for looks so most of this will be rebutted by those who say they feel no difference and do it for looks. It makes no difference if you have air springs or not. this is true for all cars. I personally like others to buy big wheels and keep the ride on my car, to each his own.

I decided to go with 20" tires. I think 22" would be too harsh. Are you in Milwaukee? I liked Foresthome tires. The owner seems to be a very decent guy with good knowledge. He helped me with the selection.

If you want to go where the high end dealers go try Big Bear tire in Oconomowoc, even the Safros go there. I have a few Doc buddy's the go there for their track cars and buy there Hoosier tires from them. They are the only ones I trust. All the sales guys at International know about the place. Marty or John are great the place knows how to balance tires I think I almost tried them all. A friend of mine went to Forest home I guess they did OK I really cannot speak about them. I sold my 20" wheels and tires Lexus consigned them for me. only lost $2300.00.. Here is a pix of those wheels

Good Luck

"When did they stop putting the leather protection on the new 460?"

Hi Kenneth they put a thin urethane coating on the leather and as long as you don't use a product that that takes it off, using soap and water on a cloth should be enough for most stains. Having a silver car is easy, having a black LS means no car washes no out in the winter, only micro fiber cloths Wizards Mist and Shine to clean it. Still looks like new but just in case I have a Makita polisher and a Porter Cable orbital, Black,green and orange foam pads. 3m Perfect II polish. If I have to wash it with water I ran a line from the water softener to outside and bought a DI tank to clean the water up to keep it from spotting, I also bought a foam gun and a high pressure washer. Two bucket system with the dirt traps in the bottom seems to work best. Tried the leave blower to dry wasn't my cup of tea, I really like the Micro fiber cloths for everything. Many forums on detailing many hours of reading have fun with it keeping a car clean can be a hobby and good exercise.

I will put my 2 cents in I have had the 1st Gen 1990 the 2.5 Gen 1999 LS400, now own a LS430 and a LS460. The LS 400 's were the softest riders, the 430 was stiffened up a bit but depending what sizes tires still is soft. The 460 is the stiffest off them all. Why some of you say would Lexus do this. Well if you have been keeping up with the trends in Luxury automobiles the europeans have gotten all the great press on handling and Lexus is always said to be floaty and dives in the corners. this always right or wrong gave the edge to BWM and second Merc. So if after year after year of the Rags spuming out the same rap what would you do? Knowing that handling and ride have a correlation. Lexus did what I would do to keep from becoming a 70 year old mans car they setup the suspension very close to the 7 series BMW. Don't belive me go test drive, the LS 460 is still more refined than the BWM 7 and even more so than the Merc S550. It compromises ride with handling and I think they did a great job. A automobiles ride is largely depended on the shocks and springs. these can also soften some with age so some of you that are critical might do good to put some miles on before you jump all over Lexus. While I enjoy my 430 and use it as my Daily driver I love my 460 and will be keeping both because they are different cars and you can never get too much LS in your life.

Just a couple things to keep in mind, one the wider the wheel the harder to balance, Two the installer will keep from putting weight's on the outside which also compromises the balancing. A good tire shop will balance the outside and the inside of the wheel. Three You will ride harsher, I have had 18"19" 20" on you can feel the difference with each tire size increase. Obviously ppl put wheels on for looks so most of this will be rebutted by those who say they feel no difference and do it for looks. It makes no difference if you have air springs or not. this is true for all cars. I personally like others to buy big wheels and keep the ride on my car, to each his own.