Streamliner

I have LS460 with about 2300 miles and a very rough ride. Include me in your "class action";

maybe there will be a fix for my car as well. If any resolution is achieved with your car,

please pass it on.

thanks,

richard hirsch

tampa

On March 15th, I posted that I had just taken delivery of a new, 2008 LS460L with air suspension and that it was the smoothest, quietest of all my six, previous LS's, all of which had air suspension.

I now have almost 6,000 miles on the car and I must agree that there is a problem.

On the highway, the cabin is silent and the ride so very smooth. However, around town, where there are bumps, small pot holes, etc., there is a distinct "THUMP" when the car hits anything. This thump is sent into the cabin as both a noise and a vibration and it is quite annoying.

When I took the car in for it's 5,000 mile service, I complained about this to the dealer, but I got the old "unable to duplicate" note on the repair order.

To anyone who is not familar with the ride of a Lexus LS, they might not even notice this problem. That said, it would appear that the suspension does not adequately buffer the bumps and road imperfections, as did my '97 LS400, with 16" wheels, which was "THE," all time, best riding car I have

ever owned. As the wheel size increased and the aspect ratio declined, so has the ride. However,

my '05 LS430, which had 18" wheels, had a harsher ride, but DID NOT have this thumping noise or vibration.

I would be most interested to hear from anyone as to what we might all do about this problem.

One last thing: The Mercedes S550 does not have this problem. In a brief bit of insanity, I considered another Benz. Thank goodness I didn't go down that road. My LS460L may thump, but EVERYTHING else about it, not the least of which is the dealer network, is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much bettet than anything that comes from the 3 pointed star.

I have heard stories of dealers leaving shims installed in the springs during shipping in and it causing a rough ride situation once the car is delivered. I'd say that no, this is not safe since the car is not designed to be driven with those shims in place. My guess is "removing the tires" is dealer code for "we removed the shims that we should have removed prior to delivery"

Latest news - the factory is sending in a rep to examine the car. The dealer's service folks are not exactly proud of that, particularly after they're top suspension man and best trained tech sayt he car rides rougher than it should. "Definitely not the Lexus luxury we'd expect."

The dealer now has 3 460L's exhibiting the same issue to some degree, one worse than ours, one slightly better. They're hunting for Michelin tires to retrofit but there is a shortage in this area. They've done one of the 3, not ours, but have no owner feedback as oif yet. It is beginning to feel like they (Lexus) have a real issue here and that our car is on the tip of the spear.

The dealer still contends the issue is only with people that have a lot of Lexus experience and are familiar with how they are supposed to ride - that makes me feel good all over and sounds pretty ironic.

Anyone else out there with a "rough rider"?

Just got a new LS460L and do not yet have a Bluetooth phone. I really don't want a PDA, just a simple phone, but I've heard that some phones work better with the Lexus interface than others. Any suggestions as to which phone to get would be most appreciate. I am currently with Verizon, but would switch if it would help. Thanks.

Two days ago, I took delivery of my seventh, new LS. My first was a '93 LS400. I have since had a '96, '97, '00, '03 & '05. All of my cars have had the air suspension, including this new LS460L. This is, BY FAR, the smoothest, quietest, most magnificent car I have ever driven or ridden in. My '97 was my previous favorite, as it had 16" wheels, which I happen to feel is the size that should still be used. My '05 LS430 Ultra had 18" wheels and I was quite unhappy with the way it rode over bumps. On smooth roads, it was wonderful, but the low profile tires just don't offer enough sidewall cushion for me. To my surprise, this '08, with 18" wheels, soaks up the bumps SOOOOO much better than my '05. Still, I wish the car had 16" or even 17" wheels, as I feel it would ride that much better.