Lexus Quality - Now I Realise How Good It Is

[maneesh]

Wanted some solid and safe wheels to get me around after the demise of my LS400 last year. After 6 years with the Lex, thought I would try something different.

Didn't have much to spend, maybe around 9 grand. Test drove a couple of S8s, even a 750iL.

Both cars were amazing to drive, yet you could feel the vibration of the V12 engine when you put your arm on the centre arm rest. It was way noiser than the LS400 with so much tyre noise from those 255 wide pieces of rubber. Incredible thrust though. A zillion buttons all over the dashboard, which were confusing. I wanted to turn the AC off, and no recognisable "off" button as in the LS, but you have to turn it off by reducing the fan speed down to zero.

S8s were stone chipped all over the front bumper and bonnet (paint seems soft). Drove like a 4 door Porsche. Extremely quiet too. Again, buttons everywhere and buttons so small for radio and heating that they didn't fall to hand very easily. Quality of interior trim seemed poorer than the Lexus. Just didn't feel special on the inside.

In the end, I got tired to looking at old luxury cars with dodgy histories, and a zillion owners.

Off I went to the car supermarket, bought a Volvo S80 2.4 SE Auto 2002 model with 80k, 1 lease owner, full history for 6.5k.

Drives ok for the money, but made me realise how well designed the LS400 was.

Volvo wood trim on door has small dents in it, lumbar area of leather drivers seat is worn, and front cupholders are flimsy as hell. Picked the 2.4 as I figured it might be economical. Yeah, right! 19mpg in town, when the 170k LS400 was doing 16mpg in town, and the engine was nearly double the size!!!

I remember reading once how the ergonomics of the LS400 were supposed to be up there with the best. I totally agree, the cabin is an amazing place to be in. I'm envious of those of you riding around in one of the world's best cars.

Next bonus is going towards a quality LS.

[Chris Skelton]

Wanted some solid and safe wheels to get me around after the demise of my LS400 last year. After 6 years with the Lex, thought I would try something different.

Didn't have much to spend, maybe around 9 grand. Test drove a couple of S8s, even a 750iL.

Both cars were amazing to drive, yet you could feel the vibration of the V12 engine when you put your arm on the centre arm rest. It was way noiser than the LS400 with so much tyre noise from those 255 wide pieces of rubber. Incredible thrust though. A zillion buttons all over the dashboard, which were confusing. I wanted to turn the AC off, and no recognisable "off" button as in the LS, but you have to turn it off by reducing the fan speed down to zero.

S8s were stone chipped all over the front bumper and bonnet (paint seems soft). Drove like a 4 door Porsche. Extremely quiet too. Again, buttons everywhere and buttons so small for radio and heating that they didn't fall to hand very easily. Quality of interior trim seemed poorer than the Lexus. Just didn't feel special on the inside.

In the end, I got tired to looking at old luxury cars with dodgy histories, and a zillion owners.

Off I went to the car supermarket, bought a Volvo S80 2.4 SE Auto 2002 model with 80k, 1 lease owner, full history for 6.5k.

Drives ok for the money, but made me realise how well designed the LS400 was.

Volvo wood trim on door has small dents in it, lumbar area of leather drivers seat is worn, and front cupholders are flimsy as hell. Picked the 2.4 as I figured it might be economical. Yeah, right! 19mpg in town, when the 170k LS400 was doing 16mpg in town, and the engine was nearly double the size!!!

I remember reading once how the ergonomics of the LS400 were supposed to be up there with the best. I totally agree, the cabin is an amazing place to be in. I'm envious of those of you riding around in one of the world's best cars.

Next bonus is going towards a quality LS.

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:P " Didn't have much to spend"??!!

£9K will get you a pretty good Ser 4. Traction/ upgraded power/even a screen with directions home.....AND best stereo...You just got USED to it, now didn't you!?

The grass ISN'T greener on the other side you know!

Get a 50K miles Ser 4,.....and STICK WITH IT!!

:winky: :zee:

[simontaylor]

" Didn't have much to spend"??!! £9K .

LOL, I thought you had a Mk I or II LS400 before, You know how much change you would have got from £9K for something similair, or even how much better and newer, and all that surplus cash to maintain it too.

A change is as good as anything. Thanks for warning us all, we are sticking to our LS400s.

[Rillo]

I have a very short attention span when it comes to cars so went through a phase of test driving a few others - Jag XJ, BMW X5 etc. Lovely cars but everytime I got back into the LS and wafted home silently I thought "what a bloody nice car this LS is" :)

My trouble is I really like haggling with car sales bods so the outcome - probably going to get another LS or maybe a GS 430 next year.

[Chris Skelton]

I have a very short attention span when it comes to cars so went through a phase of test driving a few others - Jag XJ, BMW X5 etc.  Lovely cars but everytime I got back into the LS and wafted home silently I thought "what a bloody nice car this LS is"  :)

My trouble is I really like haggling with car sales bods so the outcome - probably going to get another LS or maybe a GS 430 next year.

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Well, you've got to cheer yourself up somehow, what with the Toon doing so......now Shearer out with hernia, Owen back to his injured best, Luque out.....if it wasn't for those thicker-than-normal crossbars at St James, the Mackens might have done alright too!

[Steve]

can pick up a GS430 for 12K now

[Rillo]

I have a very short attention span when it comes to cars so went through a phase of test driving a few others - Jag XJ, BMW X5 etc.  Lovely cars but everytime I got back into the LS and wafted home silently I thought "what a bloody nice car this LS is"  :)

My trouble is I really like haggling with car sales bods so the outcome - probably going to get another LS or maybe a GS 430 next year.

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Well, you've got to cheer yourself up somehow, what with the Toon doing so......now Shearer out with hernia, Owen back to his injured best, Luque out.....if it wasn't for those thicker-than-normal crossbars at St James, the Mackens might have done alright too!

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after 3-2 win over the mackems I am already cheered up :D

[Lex Wannabe]

Hi Maneesh

I was considering the Volvo S80 2.4 SE auto and the LS400. I wanted the 2.4 coz it's supposed to be a bit softer/smoother than the 2.9 (which apparently has a firmer ride). I even found an LPG-converted one. However you know why I decided on the LS400? One of the main reason is carsurvey.org. I don't know if the reviews are all genuine and objective, or whether there is a tendency to just post reviews that correspond with the status quo. However, almost all the S80 reviews tell you to run away screaming from anyone who tries to sell you an S80 due to very poor reliability/durability. Also the LS400 reviews almost all talk of problem-free motoring in a very reliable and durable car. This makes me think that £9,000 would have been better spent on, say, a 1999 LS400 than £9,000 on a 2002 S80 (despite the LS being older and more miles).

You could always but a LS400 with years of life left in it and then have it converted to LPG to save on fuel expenses.

Do you find the S80 noticeably slower than the Lexus? Is it noiser etc? Apart from the apparent reliability issues (according to carsurvey) it's supposed to be a great car. How do you find it in other ways e.g. the ride, handling etc. compared with LS?

[JellyBean]

I looked into carsurvey.org and thought I would share with you all this gem, from someone writing about his LS430:

And of course, the engine is so quiet that you can't hear it from inside the car, even when it's running.

[maneesh]

Do you find the S80 noticeably slower than the Lexus?  Is it noiser etc?  Apart from the apparent reliability issues (according to carsurvey) it's supposed to be a great car.  How do you find it in other ways e.g. the ride, handling etc. compared with LS?

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Cheers for the advice. It would be wrong to compare a Volvo with a list price of 25 grand to a LS400 with a list price of 50 grand, but I will do so anyway, since I have driven both cars.

The 2.4 S80 is pretty underwhelming in terms of acceleration, even when compared to the oldest version of the LS400. Of course, you have to rev it more and the engine is quiet at cruise, but noisy when pressed. The ride is smooth, but again you tend to feel more of the bumps at lower speeds. As a package it's a very, quiet, comfortable car. Turning circle is way larger than the LS400. I didn't realise how manouverable the Lexus was until I began to drive front wheel drive cars. Having only driven the early LS400 and the 2004 model LS430, I suspect a 1999 LS400 would be less floaty than a S80. The Volvo did not feel particularly stable when pushed.

Where the Volvo matches the LS400 would be on ergonomics (everything is so easy to operate and clear to read), seats (amazingly supportive) and the stereo (Dolby Pro Logic with amazing clarity).

The Volvo is well built, but the doors feel much lighter than I expected. See how heavy the doors are in an early LS400, and you will see what I mean. Volvo even put the Battery in the boot for safety reasons.

To be honest, if I had never driven Lexi, and driven a S80, I would have thought they were really nice cruisers. However, once you've had the supreme comfort of a LS400, nothing else comes close.

In my search for a new car, I've driven so many new and used cars, prestige and ordinary cars, and I find that special Lexus quality is not there. I'm off to the GP to ask him how I can cope with addiction to Lexus cars ;-)

[Chris Skelton]

Do you find the S80 noticeably slower than the Lexus?  Is it noiser etc?  Apart from the apparent reliability issues (according to carsurvey) it's supposed to be a great car.  How do you find it in other ways e.g. the ride, handling etc. compared with LS?

←

Cheers for the advice. It would be wrong to compare a Volvo with a list price of 25 grand to a LS400 with a list price of 50 grand, but I will do so anyway, since I have driven both cars.

The 2.4 S80 is pretty underwhelming in terms of acceleration, even when compared to the oldest version of the LS400. Of course, you have to rev it more and the engine is quiet at cruise, but noisy when pressed. The ride is smooth, but again you tend to feel more of the bumps at lower speeds. As a package it's a very, quiet, comfortable car. Turning circle is way larger than the LS400. I didn't realise how manouverable the Lexus was until I began to drive front wheel drive cars. Having only driven the early LS400 and the 2004 model LS430, I suspect a 1999 LS400 would be less floaty than a S80. The Volvo did not feel particularly stable when pushed.

Where the Volvo matches the LS400 would be on ergonomics (everything is so easy to operate and clear to read), seats (amazingly supportive) and the stereo (Dolby Pro Logic with amazing clarity).

The Volvo is well built, but the doors feel much lighter than I expected. See how heavy the doors are in an early LS400, and you will see what I mean. Volvo even put the Battery in the boot for safety reasons.

To be honest, if I had never driven Lexi, and driven a S80, I would have thought they were really nice cruisers. However, once you've had the supreme comfort of a LS400, nothing else comes close.

In my search for a new car, I've driven so many new and used cars, prestige and ordinary cars, and I find that special Lexus quality is not there. I'm off to the GP to ask him how I can cope with addiction to Lexus cars ;-)

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Got a very nice Ser 3 LS400 at £7.5K (65K miles etc, brand new tyres/balljoints/cam belt, Grey) to soothe your addiction!

[Claire G]

Nah, think the harder ride of the GS300 Sport may be more Maneesh's thing :D

[maneesh]

Hmmm, tempting..GS300s do look good with big alloys and bodykits!

[Chris Skelton]

Nah, think the harder ride of the GS300 Sport may be more Maneesh's thing      :D

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Yeah, I guess you're right. Might shake some sense into him after the 'Volvo incident'...but he'd miss that lovely cruising effect.....just done a very enjoyable Bristol to Plymouth and back trip which reminded me JUST why I got it in the first place.

Silence...to hear the wonderful stereo;

acceleration to lose those stupid tailgaters....

and, of course, that wonderful smooooooth ride.

[maneesh]

Nah, think the harder ride of the GS300 Sport may be more Maneesh's thing      :D

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Yeah, I guess you're right. Might shake some sense into him after the 'Volvo incident'...but he'd miss that lovely cruising effect.....just done a very enjoyable Bristol to Plymouth and back trip which reminded me JUST why I got it in the first place.

Silence...to hear the wonderful stereo;

acceleration to lose those stupid tailgaters....

and, of course, that wonderful smooooooth ride.

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I miss being able to drive for 500 miles and feel as if I had just driven round the block. One of a few cars that can shrink continents!