LS 460 - common problems

[lookcho]

Being the happy owner of a, now crashed (not by me), GS 430 2005, for 3.5 years.

I am looking for the next car and considering my previous experience (and I have seen some cars), I would like it to be a Lexus.
Ideally the car will be a V8 hybrid, 4x4 with 7-8 seats, ACC, a massive trunk, will be comfortable and ... probably will fly and be suitable for deep dive ...
However, the very few that match that for cheap are Audi, Mercedess or Volvo. One thing I missed there - I want it to also be reliable, so no luck.

So I had to strip the seats and will live just fine without the 4x4 .. and that leaves me with LS460 as the only reasonable option.

What should I look for and be careful with, when I am viewing them, and how to diagnose it in place?

Also, I have a viewing either tomorrow or the day after and the only thing the owner mentioned was:  A rattle in the front left when accelerating uphill. - does anyone know what that means?

Thanks everyone!

[Happy Jim]

LS460 Is V8 Petrol, LS600 is the V8 Hybrid.

 

 

[Tulpen]

There aren't an awful lot of 460s in the UK. To get an idea of possible problems, you might like to have a look at the US forum. Common things are: wind noise at front doors (there is a fix) and, in common with the 430 and 600, an oil cooler/water radiator glitch. The oil cooler is in the water radiator and there can be leaks from one to the other. I had mine changed at 12 years/100,000 miles.

Obviously, a good service history is a must and check the MOT history - any advisories might give you a clue to the rattle when accelerating. 

The LS is a magnificent beast - but can be very expensive to fix. Most of us don't have any problems...…..providing you get a good one to start with.

[Malc]

16 hours ago, Tulpen said:

Most of us don't have any problems...…..providing you get a good one to start with.

and continue with sensible and proper maintenance too 

Malc

[lookcho]

I bought one with the wind noise issue, which I will resolve this weekend - basically a bump down of the window does the job and there is a gap on the inside, that I will remove tomorrow. Will also fix the plastic triangle just in case, though that was not the problem in this case ...

Hope there are no other issues, but from what I have seen and felt for the 1K miles I made this week, there is nothing fishy.

Thanks and mods, you can close the topic ... will ask my other questions in another one.

[S1MNN]

The ABS control units can fail which is expensive.