Captainbly100

Good luck with the car. What's the info on the extended warranty guy? Is it a Lexus extended warranty so that when you bring the car in they have the information and they just submit the bill to them or do you first pay the bill and then submit it? How does it work with this guy? I have a Lexus extended warranty on my SC 430 and Lexus takes care of it directly. I've only used it twice for small stuff and it worked very well.

I don't know. I'm on my fourth Lexus. I had an ES 300, a GS 300, still have an SC 430 and recently bought a GS 460. When I traded in the first two they had over ninety thousand miles on them and a lot of that was in NY and NYC and if you come from there you know what those roads are like as far as potholes. My SC 430 has over sixty thousand on it and none of them had any unusual rattles or squeaks. Neither does my new GS 460 and I hear things as those of you who have read my brake issues on the GS 460 (which Lexus has resolved) know.

Thanks for your reply. The dealer told me about the TSB for older GS's and in fact I was aware of that because I found it on line. He was certainly aware of the one for the older car. According to the diagnostic specialist and the service manager, the TSB for the 2008 GS 460 was just issued at the end of September. Of course I don't know it that is correct. All I know is the noise is gone. I do feel a slight difference in the brakes but it's not a problem at all and no noise either.

I drove my SC 430 on Long Island for several winters through all kinds of weather including snow. Obviously it's a rear wheel drive car but with the tranmission set on snow and most importantly with the right tires I never had a problem. Certainly you need to drive differently on snow but it's doable (but not with the standard tires) At the time I had continental extreme contacts on the car and while there were issues with those tires they were OK in the snow. I always got where I was going.

Finally sucess! The service diagnostic specialist at my dealership called and he put on the front pads that produce less brake dust. He said the original equipment pads have a very hight Mu (coefficient of friction) factor and are very grabby and in fact, are harder than the rotors. He said that there is a TSB dated 9/24/08 (I can't find it anywhere on the net) that extends the updated reduced dust producing pads to the 2008 GS 460. He said I will lose some stopping power but I don't race this car and I just wanted it to stop normally. I just came home from having them put on and the car is perfect! It now stops like a Lexus should. If anyone is having the same problem contact your dealer.

I just came back from the Lexus dealer. Service manager took a ride with me and heard the noise. We also drove another brand new GS 460 and it made almost the same brake noise as mine. Maybe a little less. The manager had a technician clean out the calipers and cut the rotors (I really didn't want that but anything to try to end the noise). It seems a little better but not gone. He said that there is a regional meeting tomorrow and he would bring up the problem. I said that I had investigated it and didn't find any TSBs on this car but did find one on the 2007 GS 350 brakes. He was aware of that and seems to think that eventually there will be one for the GS 460 too. If you're having this problem also you should contact Lexus to give them a push towards a fix.

I just wanted to know if you've had any unusual brake noise just before coming to a complete stop and if so what has your dealer done about it. I'm bringing it in again tomorrow. If I can't get rid of this noise I will own this car for a very short period of time. Anyone else?

You need to take off the panels on each side of the center console. First you need to remove the top. Pop out the plastic piece in front of the ashtray and then start at the back of the top piece near the console armrest, open the arm rest and work forward. Also screw off the shift handle. The top will pop off but be careful. Once you have the top off there are two small screws near the front. The rest of the side panels just clip in. Once the side panels are off you should be able to get to the bolts.

I also tried something different today. I found that if I put the tranny in neutral just before stopping I don't get the brake noise. Also, if I take my foot off the brake and then put it back into drive I don't get the noise when I start moving. It's almost like the idle is too high but I don't think that can be changed because it's computer set. The car creaps a bit but not that much. Any ideas?

Thanks for the replies. I don't think it's because they're semi-metalic. I think I have semi-metalic pads on my 2002 SC 430 and they don't make the same noice. It is like what you get after a car has been sitting in wet weather for a while but it is not only when I first start up. It happens just about every time I come to a full stop and then again when I release the pedal. It's like the calipers are binding on stopping and then not releasing quickly enough when you take your foot off the pedal. I know that this car has a brake by wire system and maybe there is or will be a TSB down the road to reprogram the computer.

Has anyone else had a problem with brake noise. I get a noise just an instant before the car comes to a complete stop and then again when I take my foot off the brake pedal before touching the gas pedal. I had it in to the dealer and was told that because the car has large calipers they make noise. That sounds bogus to me. The noise is like what you get if your foot is not pressing hard enough on the pedal and the rotor slips a little in the caliper. Just a slight grind. Anyone else and if so did you get rid of it and how?

Has anyone else had the tire allignment problem mentioned above? Can the 2007 and 2008 GS be alligned?

Anyone know how many GS 460's are made a year in comparison to GS 350's?

I installed the kit mentioned above and it works perfectly. I had a little problem installing it and called Mark and sent him an email photo and he worked me through the issue. He even called me later that night to make sure that all was good.

it's not automatic on my 2008 GS 460. There is a switch on the driver's side under the dash. Hard to find but it's there. Read how to reset it in the owner's manual.

Please ignore my request about information on reinitializing windows after detaching battery on 2008 GS 460. It's not required. You only need to reinitialize the tire pressure sensors and the park assist and directions are in the owner's manual.

I just finished installing the plug in (no cut wires at all) kit from Prestigious Society. It works perfectly and so does everything else. It was a bit of a job but I worked very carefully so as not to mark up anything. I had one problem and I called them and sent them an email photo and he worked me through the problem. It was put on a 2008 GS 460.

Does anyone know how to reinitialize the switch settings for windows, sunroof, etc. after disconnecting the battery to do this. I bought a kit from Prestigious Society to do this and they recommend disconnecting the battery first because you need to get to the electronic box behind the glove compartment and in order to remove the glove compartment you need to loosen an air bag on the passenger side.

You might want to contact Mark at info@prestigioussociety.com. I have one on order so I can't comment on whether it works or not yet but I expect it to work and Mark was very responsive to my several questions. Go to their website and look around and then contact him if you have questions.

I ran a 2001 GS300 on regular gas from the day I bought it. I ran it over 90,000 miles without a single problem. Probably the best car I ever owned. Maybe some loss in performance but it never bothered me and I never heard a knock. A relative who is a Toyota master mechanic told me that today all cars have knock sensors and unless you're pounding on the gas you can run them on regular. On my SC 430 I have usually run it on middle grade without any problem. On rare occasions I have run it on regular and saw no difference in average fuel economy. If I was racing it I wouldn't do this but for ordinary round town and highway driving I don't think Premium is required.

Forget about the dealer. Write directly to Lexus corporate customer service and tell them the whole story. Several years ago when I purchased a SC 430 with runcrap tires on it I wrote a letter to them and they gave me a five hundred dollar credit toward replacement tires. Give it a try. You can also have the wheels reconditioned at a wheel reconditioning company. There used to be one on LI NY that I think was called American wheel or something like that. I've heard there is another one in S. Florida so they're probably available in many places. It's about a buck and a half per wheel. They'll come back looking like new.

The 2008 GS 460 has a button to retract the side view mirrors for parking in tight places. Has anyone found a way to have them work automatically off the ignition switch so that they fold in when shutting down the car and open when starting up?