Poor Ride And Braking Quality

[Dolo]

Hi All,

I'm new to Lexus ownership, having got a 2000/X GS300 as a replacement for my BMW 528 Sport which was stolen.

I got the car from an independent garage rather than a Lexus dealership (not worth the premium I thought, especially my vehicle has a full Lexus history). I didn't notice the following characteristics of the car at the time, but after 6 weeks, it's starting to get on my nerves:

- The car just doesn't feel anywhere near as stable on the road as the BMW. I didn't expect it to be as good around corners as the BMW, but even in a straight line on relatively good roads, it feels a bit twitchy.

- The twitchiness I can live with, but this is more annoying: When braking, the car has a subtle sensation of hesitating (sort of a jerkiness in the braking force) and the braking sensation does not feel linear. I don't think it's as noticeable if one is the passenger rather than the driver, but I definitely notice it.

I wonder whether seasoned Lexus owners out therre can tell me whether they think this is normal or if there may be a problem that needs looking at?

Apart from these two issues, I am fully enjoying Lexus ownership - Yes the BMW was a better handling car, but the GS is quieter, more comfortable and the stereo is just superb.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[jdmparts_guru]

The GS is tuned more for comfort than performance.

Did you bleed your brakes and replaced the brake oil? Did you check the condition of your pads and rotors?

Replacing your pads with new pads will improve the brake feeling a lot.

Also, lowering your car (using lowering springs or coilovers) will greatly improve the handling of your car.

If that is not enough, you can consider getting sway bars, front lower chassis brackets and rear chassis brackets. It will make the GS chassis much stiffer and even better than a Bimmer.

[Rob]

for the twitching - have you or do you know if the wheel alignment was done recently ie castor,camber etc??? if this is out then it will have a big effect on the car.

[ColinBarber]

Yes it is worth getting a full 4 wheel alignment done. However Lexus do seem miles behind BMW/MB in terms of ride quality for European tastes.

The braking issue doesn't sound right though. Worth getting the brake fluid changed (and bleed correctly using the correct procedure) and the brake discs checked.

[Dolo]

Yes it is worth getting a full 4 wheel alignment done. However Lexus do seem miles behind BMW/MB in terms of ride quality for European tastes.

The braking issue doesn't sound right though. Worth getting the brake fluid changed (and bleed correctly using the correct procedure) and the brake discs checked.

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Wow people - what a response in less than 24 hours! So you all know, I have not had the brakes, fluid or anything else checked by a professional (I just drove it around for a bit then bought it!). The car has just over 70k miles on the clock and was serviced less than 2k miles ago at Lexus Hull.

I might call Lexus Hull to see whether the last service found anything.

The advice looks to be to get it professionally checked - I will get in touch with my local Lexus dealership and see what they find out.

Thanks again for the quick responses - I'll post back soon to let you know.