Ls460 - Good Buy Or Money Pit?

[LexasPete]

Lexus are obviously struggling in the UK, at least with the LS, so is it a good used buy?? I'm looking around 25k which should buy a lowish mileage 07 or 57 plate SE-L with a bit of warranty left. Should I be put off by road testers' criticisms of the gearbox's behaviour, my 6-speed LS430 was poor in that regard too. Being down in darkest Cornwall means test drives aren't easily arranged, Lexus Plymouth said they didn't know when they could find me a car to drive. Any thoughts from LS460, or 600 owners?

[jsj24uk]

I've had a go in three LS460's now and the eight speed gearbox, in my opinion, is no more confused than the six speed in my LS430. Just have a test drive in one and see how you get on. The LS600 has a CVT gearbox so it's gearbox would be less confused but your not going to get one with a £25,000 budget at present. Saying that I am expecting prices to plumet as the LS,RX and GS hybrids will no longer be congestion charge exempt.

[SteveLS400]

I would hope this comment is not relevant to any Lexus, however;

I was a huge fan of Shoguns and bought various new ones (all V6's) and they were all superb. This was during the 90's. I am reliably imformed that the new models are nothing like as reliable, substantial or well built.

[adi2tai]

Had my 460 for a year, now, was £31k with a year's warranty, SE-L, 17k miles. Couldn't be happier. The gear change can be felt if you concentrate on it, but you really don't notice it under normal conditions, and the "hunt" if you put your foot down isn't too drawn out. Only time I really noticed it was getting back into mine after having a 600h for a week - that one's got the electric hybrid, so you don't feel any gear change at all, no matter how hard (or gently) you put your foot down.

[scythe]

The gearbox is electronically controlled on an LS 460. There are three settings for the gearbox - snow, normal, and sport. Added to this, the gearbox adapts to your driving style.

If you get into a LS 460 that you've not driven before, it's easy enough to confuse the gearbox. The best way to do this is to put it into normal, cruise around gently for a bit, find a motorway to join, gently drive down the slip road til you see a gap, then push the accelerator down three quarters of the way.

If you're used to big engines you expect the car to instantly shift, but the gearbox in this situation sadly doesn't believe you. It accelerates, but without dropping down any gears. Maybe a second later it drops down a gear, then maybe a second later it realises what is happening, and drops down several more. Those two seconds are enough to give you a bit of a scare!

Instead, if you keep the selector in sport, the gearbox performs perfectly. It instantly responds to the throttle, and in that situation would instantly drops several gears and the car would just go. The gearbox adapts, and you'll feel that its performance is quickly improving.

Don't let the rubbish about the gearbox from reviewers who've not driven the car for very long put you off it.

Sadly, Lexus does seem to have deserted us as far as the LS goes in this country. It's stopped bringing in the LS 460, and only sells the LS 600 at such an inflated price that virtually no one is buying one (only 62 were sold by Lexus last year).

However, the 460 SE-L is a brilliant car. I'd recommend that you buy one (especially at that price!) and enjoy it while you can, because I don't know if there will ever be a comparable car available in this country again.

[graham8370]

Agree with the above.

Bought mine last year on the basis of seeing 2 photos and had never been in a 460 before. Completely different to my 06 plate 430 and for the 1st. month I thought I had made one hell of a mistake. As Scythe says, after a while the car adapts to your driving style and you adapt to the car. My 4th Lexus and definately the best one yet.

Lexus warranty lasts 3 years or 60k miles so you're bordering on the limit. Pre owned approved from a Main dealer and you should be OK.

Go for it!