Lexus LS 460 Owner Experiences

nvbanker

When the engine is idleing or in 1st/2nd gear I can hear an engine ping; kind of like a sewing machine. I heard others complain of this but I don't remember what was said about it or if anything can be done.

It's normal, in that they all do it. Nothing can be done about it.

jbianco12

Thanks, I thought so. Anything else I should be on the lookout for?

nvbanker

Can't think of anything, the car is a perfect 10 as far as I'm concerned. I've never been happier with a new car. Hope you find yours as satisfying. :blush:

jbianco12

Thanks...so far so good. But only have 460 miles on it. I had an 02 LS and didn't have many issues with it, so I don't expect many on the 460. This car is definately a big step up from the 02. All the gadgets are amazing!

nvbanker

I had an 02 and an 05 LS430. The gagetry of the 460 is indeed amazing, but more important to me is how much better the car drives. Much more Mercedes like, sportier, more solid, more power, better steering and handling. An actual joy to drive as opposed to the "warm wallpaper paste" feel of the 430. My 430s were excellent cars, which is why I went for the 460, but the difference between them is huge. IMO.

jbianco12

Yeah, I agree 100%. The car definately feels more stable going into turns; it hugs the road better with far less roll. I wasn't sure if that was because of the air suspension or if they tweeked the suspension on all the 460's. When you step on the gas, I can definately feel a difference in the "get up and go". This baby moves, which is nice on the freeways...plenty of power.

atom3

I have a 2008 with the same problem. Forget the battery excuse.

atom3

I have a 2008 460L. Has anyone experienced issues with their audio? My radio is turned on, but when I press the audio button on the navigation screen to view my channels, it says audio off. I have to manually find other channels. After a couple of days, the problem goes away.

dcwalker

Ping is high pressure injectors. Does not do it all the time, which is a problem in my book, but not in Toyota's. It does not matter what problem I experience with my LS460, unless a light comes on telling them there is a problem, they have no clue. The most unpredictably running auto I have ever driven, with some sweetness in between. Just enough sweetness to drive me crazy.

dcwalker

Have also done the Lemon Law things and got the same results. Once you get the review, you are at their mercy. Good luck.

dcwalker

Have had my 2007 LS in many times for this problem. They always give me the same answer. No service bulletins and nothing shows on their computer. Cannot duplicate the problem. Evidently, they have known it was a problem for a long time.

Foreign material? Who are they trying to kid. These are valve springs, not fuel injectors. Isn't it interesting that they will not recall 2009/10 LS models. When exactly did they learn it was a problem?

Lexus Announces Intention to Recall Certain
U.S. Market Vehicles to Replace Engine Valve Springs.
TORRANCE, Calif. (July 2, 2010) -- Lexus, a division of Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc., today announced that it has informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of its intention to file a Defect Information Report (DIR) regarding approximately 138,000 Lexus vehicles, powered by 4.6 and 5.0 liter V8 and 3.5 liter V6 engines in certain 2006, 2007 and 2008 GS, IS and LS models in the U.S. The formal report will be filed the week of July 5.
In the covered vehicles, due to slight variations during the manufacturing process, some foreign material may have contaminated a small number of the valve springs. If a vehicle is affected, there is a remote possibility that abnormal engine noise or idling may occur. In extremely rare instances, the engine may stop while the vehicle is in operation.
Lexus estimates that the likelihood of a customer vehicle experiencing this condition is two-tenths of one percent (0.2 %). Lexus has received no reports of accidents or injuries related to this condition. No vehicles from the current 2010 model year nor 2009 are affected.
Lexus will send owners of the involved vehicles a recall notification via first class mail. Owners are requested to contact their local Lexus dealer for diagnosis and repair after receiving their notification. The repair will involve replacement of the engine’s valve springs at no charge.
Owners can continue to drive their vehicles. If symptoms are noticed, such as vibration, rough idling, unusual engine sounds or poor performance, the vehicle should be brought to a Lexus dealer for service.
-more-
Certain Lexus vehicles produced among the following models and years are covered:
Model
Model Year
2007
GS 350
2008
2007
GS 450h
2008
GS 460
2008
2006
2007
IS 350
2008
2007
LS 460
2008
2007
LS 460 L
2008
LS 600h L
2008
Customers with questions or concerns should contact the Customer Experience Center at 1-800-255-3987.

aboutthetruth

I'm looking for a class-action law suit for the 2008 Lexus LS460. Please reply if you have seen this information on many website. Thanking you in advance for your kindness and cooperation concerning this matter.

aboutthetruth

On any website. Thanks!!!!!!!

smithg

Sorry this took so long. The solution was a partially severed receiver. The roof had been replaced because of hail damage. Apparently the receiver was damaged then. It is much better now, but nowhere in the range of other vehicles I see.

georget3

dcwalker:

Have you received your recall notice? Mine is a 2008 LS460 and I have not received any.

I have been driving with jerking at low speed (not bad and consistent enough to fight for it). And, yes, the engine idles with pretty loud noise. That is one of the reasons why I complained on this board that many LS fans simply exaggerated the quietness of this car.

dcwalker

No. Have not received yet. It is supposed to be mailed this month. I suspect that you can take it in anyway, or at least call and inquire. I believe the recall covers your year. I was going to call on it myself tomorrow.

The issue with harsh low speed shifting has always been a problem with my car, although Lexus does not seem to recognize it as one. The noisy injectors are normal according to them. It is the same issue that causes knocking in a diesel motor. High pressure injectors. Cannot figure out why they don't make the noise all the time. Sometimes it is absolutely quiet. One of the many things that drive me nuts about this car.

georget3

My car is scheduled for 15,000 miles service on Thursday. I certainly will make the inquiry. Thanks.

dav2149

I've had my 2010 460 for 4 weeks. When I come to a stop at a traffic light and my foot remains on the brake, sometimes the car starts to roll forward. I press harder on the
brake to stop the car(and it stops), but once in while it will start to move slowly again. I took it to the dealer, and the chief technician drove the car with me and didn't notice a problem(he drove, I sat in passenger seat).. I've been driving for 45 years, and I would think I know how to apply even pressure on the brakes to keep the car stopped. Any ideas(other than a heavier foot on the brake)?

dcwalker

Well, I have not experienced this. However, I suspect that you are perfectly capable of knowing when your breaks are not operating properly after 45 years of driving. The LS has electronically operated breaks, not the hydrolic type you may be used to. Your problem is that you are dealing with technicians who do not know what to do unless they plug in your car to a computer and the computer tells them what the problem is. It is increasingly an issue with all cars and not just Lexus that the dealer won't fix something you regard as a problem until is actually shows up on their computer screen or the factory sends them out a TSB(technical service bulletin) regarding the issue. Having experienced this kind of incompetence in spades myself, I can only say that you should take it back to tell them this is a safety issue. That will sometimes get more attention from them.

I took my 2007 LS in twice because of a clicking sound when I applied the breaks. They did everything to the breaks except fix the problem. Finally, a TSB came out from the manufacturer and voila, the cliking disappear the next time I took it in for a lube. If enough people complain about what you are experiencing, sooner or later a TSB will be issued and suddenly the person they used to call a mechanic will know what to do. Good Luck!

aklein2

I have driven the new 2010 AWD version of the LS 460. Have not yet driven the new LS 460 "Sport' and do know what to expect of it (though I see that Lexus has yet to offer AWD on this). My hopes for a new Lexus may depend on what it has to show me. I also wonder, and would appreciate comment on, whether there are suspension, handling, drivability differences between all versions of the LS 460 and the LS 460L. My LS 430, Euro tuned, seems to me superior in every way to the AWD LS 460 except gadgetry (nav, which I do not have), including such tiny but important details as the little sun-blocking piece over the rear-view mirror, dropped in the new LS and replaced by a bunch of ugly black mesh on the windshield, which cannot and does not work as well. Why Lexus gave up on the Euro-tuned suspension I'll never understand. My car, once belabored by critics as not sufficiently athletic, though they cannot have been driving the Euro suspension version, easily out-handles the new AWD version, despite its variable suspension (which does not do much on the AWD -- though it may be different, and l hope it will be, on the new Sport version) on the firmest setting. Power is not delivered immediately when one tromps on the accelerator: there is a disturbing hesitation and lag. I have trouble imagining what this must be like in those invevitable, unexpected traffic situations where immediacy of response to avoid danger is called for. Pushing the ETC button doesn't do anything to improve this. Is this a function of the new eight gear transmission? Whatever. It is disorienting to me and very unwelcome. The whole car feels enormously heavier now -- it is, of course -- and cumbersome compared to what I have now (doors like those on bank vaults). The AWD version also exhibits a much larger and therefore clumsier turning radius -- another negative feature. So, looking to replace a car with 86,000 miles on it, I am, so far, pretty disappointed with where Lexus has taken this once wonderful automobile and am thinking of keeping what I have for another big chunk of miles instead of getting the LS 460. Will anything offered by Lexus in 2011 or 2012 get to these issues? It has made me start to think of other marks (and my wife and I have been with Lexus since it got here a fair number of years ago), something I could not imagine doing before. I doubt that those German cars have anything to offer in terms of reliability (quite the contrary), are ridiculously more expensive up front, depreciate like mad, and do not seem to offer the level of service I have grown used to at Lexus. What a puzzle! Anybody out there have any hope to offer?

jimbres

Have you looked at the new Infiniti M series cars?

aklein2

No. What I've done now is drive and agree to buy the LS 460 Sport. They must have had me in mind when they put it out there. The Sport has a seriously different suspension, one that, driven in the "sport" suspension mode, did way more than correct the bad impression I had of the standard car's setup. (One can adjust it to a softer setting if road surface conditions are truly bad -- but I can't see doing that otherwise.) In the Sport I was much more certain that I would know what the car would do under stress -- it was steady as a rock in turns at speed and has huge, effective brakes. At the same time it made the car feel lighter on its feet. Acceleration lag remains to a degree, but seemed less so than in the standard versions. I continue to think that this is somehow connected to the new eight gear transmission and that, once I get more used to that and what can be done with it, this will improve. I am not mechanically knowledgeable, so I have no idea, really. Steering is still pretty numb, too, more so than in my LS 430, but that really doesn't affect driver confidence in his or her command of what is going on. Lastly, the car feels much faster than the Edmunds reviewer tells you it is. (Is it? Have no idea. But I think it is.) Last, had to make them give me all-weather tires since the summer tires it comes with are useless (and flat-out dangerous) in snow. What I mostly wanted was to escape the body roll and handling issues that, to me, afflict the standard version. I think I've succeeded with the Sport. Final remark: these cars certainly don't get any cheaper as time goes by. And I fear that the Sport will never be sold at much of a discount.

alex_888

Hello -- Can someone with Manheim access please post a list of recent 2007 LS 460 SWB sales? Manheim PA, if possible ?
Thank you in advance.

ccardan

BEWARE!!
One month ago I had the recall for my 08 LS 460 completed on this vehicle that I enjoyed as a lease for three years. A few days later I had to drive the vehicle 1500 miles each way with my three children to visit my ailing 90 year old Grandmother. Late the first day the vehicle started hesitating, couldn't accelerate past 60 mph or it would not go any faster. loud noise from engine, without panel notification. When I arrived at my destination I immediately brought it to a Lexus dealer and was told " the recall parts were defective and we have to replace the left lifter that's bleeding." They had the car for three days. When I returned to pick it up I was told " the previous Lexus dealership broke your radiator overflow tab and super glue it so we reinforced with superglue/epoxy but you will need a new radiator when you return home. In SHOCK I stated " A 72 K Lexus repaired with super glue?? That's unacceptable and I will complain with an investigation. Will my children and I be safe traveling back 1500 miles?" I was assured "Yes".

Needless to say the second day while I was driving on the highway where there was construction and no breakdown lane the engine overheated, panel warnings on, smoke. We jumped out of the vehicle called Lexus immediately and when we lifted the hood antifreeze was all over the engine and the hose was broken sticking up in the air. We were stranded for three hours and the vehicle was towed to the nearest dealership 50 miles where it still sits after 3 weeks and I'm still responsible for this lease that expired 2 weeks ago without any vehicle. I'm VERY thankful my children and I are safe from this ordeal. I wanted everyone to be aware of these very dangerous repairs, incompetence, negligence without compensation except for a $1500 credit for lease/purchase that was issued regarding the initial recall, NOT the ordeal my family went through, and continue to go through without resolve.

dcwalker

That does not make me feel warm and fuzzy. My car is currently at the dealer having the valve springs replaced, and I might ad, they did not send me a recall notice. I had to bug them until they ageed to do the replacement.

Your experience confirms what I have felt for several years about the competence of the Lexus dealership mechanics. As I have said on this sight before, if the problem does not show up on their computer screens, they all stand around and scratch their collective heads while thumbing through their service bulletins praying for some light to be shed on the subject. I wish I could say it was any different at the German dealerships, but not. Too much money to pay for an automobile for this kind of grief. I am still in shock that they are going to have to replace valve springs because of a supposed metal defect, not just in the LS but many other models. Please.

P.S.
Love my Cheverolet pickup. Would not trade it straight accross for another LS.

smithg

THIS IS NOT GOOD!!! I still have to take mine in for service. Ccardan, was this a small dealership or not. I have hesitation about having a dealership perform this service if they only do one or two. Am so sorry about what happened.

ccardan

All three Large dealerships. Thanks

moohead

Yes! Lexus better listen up. I have owned and driven 400, 430 and 460. I would say 430 is the best LS ever, I am displeased with 460 very much, I think my next car probably is going to be the Hyundai Equus.

rivergate

I have the 2007 LS 460L and have gone through four batteries. The dealer suggests I get a trickle cell charger for the car or drive it more. I cannot go on vacation and leave it at the ariport. The car has 26000+ miles and is a pleasure to drive (nicer than the 2003 LS 430). I never see posts on the problem and wonder if it is just my car. They claim the battery drain is normal due to all the electronics.

edarte

Well I have a 2009 LS460 SWB and I left it for almost five weeks recently and it started up right away when I returned. I am not aware of any common problems with the battery in the LS. Check out the "clubLexus" web site where you should find the info you are looking for.