NICE CAR....I didnt try the self parking feature as I think its kinda gimmicky....The car I drove was stickered at $94K. $85K plus 9K for chrome 20" rims...lol...yeah right. It was smooth, pretty fast and the 8 speed transmission was wonderful. One thing that got me was a warning on the window that basically said....

"Do not put wheels larger than the 18"/19" OEM wheels as this will cause damage to the car."

Hmmm....this was funny...I asked the salesman and he said uhhh....never saw that...especially since the dealer put on 20" rims...lol....He then tells me a story that Lowenhart worked with Lexus to design a special wheel and was testing them in conjunction with Lexus. Anyone know why they would claim you can damage the car if you put larger wheels on it?

 

Easy way to get out of possible warranty work on that sure to be insanely expensive transmission?

I can see it now, you're heavier/larger wheels put additional stress on the driveline components which caused a premature failure, so now you can pay us $10grr cash to fix your tranny.

Just be sure to keep the stock wheels and swap them out if you need any major service done.

 

Lexus quality is not what it used to be. There is already a TSIB out about rattles in the LS460. Lots of ES350s are having problems with transmissions and wind noise. The situation is so bad they are replacing trannys and doing buybacks. My GS350 needed to go in 2x because of a dash rattle and the loaner IS they gave me had no less than 8-9 separate rattles. I just got it back today and it seems fine but quite a few guys on the Lexus forum are complaining about the same rattle and even with the TSIB, the rattle is not eliminated. Problems on the 1st year of a new design are to be expected. Lexus not being able to resolve those problems is not.

 

I've seem a few LS460 and they come across as a bigger ES to me in looks. I'm sure it's a very nice car though. All japanese cars are racing to have more gimmick every year. It's incredible what else they can come up with. Maybe 4 wheel steering that can move the car horizontally for those impossible parking spots? Or maybe karaoke in back seats complete with web access?