Thanks again to eagle-eyed reader and fellow CarMax car nut Mustafa Gardezi for bringing this unicorn to my attention Had no idea the third generation Lexus GS460 was such a low production vehicle. Pointed me to the Club Lexus forum page and did some digging to find that only 23 2011 models were imported to the US. (Per the Lexus data on the club website there were also only 56 units in 2009, and 43 units in 2010. A good 1,616 were imported in 2008, and CarMax also has a high-mileage one of those for $14,998 here!)
Low production isn’t the only reason to like this vehicle I dug the Italian design by Giugiaro and once lusted for the second generation Lexus GS400 as a nice sleeper sedan. This 2011 GS460 has a 4.6 liter V-8 rated at 342hp, good for a mediocre 0-60mph in 5.4 seconds. Slightly better than the comparable Infiniti M45 but 40 ponies less than the same year Mercedes E550, and 58hp short of the 2011 BMW 550.
But it is a high-quality highway cruiser with an eight-speed automatic transmission, adaptive variable suspension, luxury package, cooling seats, and good old fashioned rear wheel drive. Not sure I’d even spring for MaxCare – not much going to go wrong here. Probably sold for $55-60,000 new back in 2011 and selling for $21,998 now – not as much depreciation as I’d like. Here’s a review from Left Lane News in 2011. Find this three-owner car here in Atlanta. (You’d think they’d properly close the hood before taking the photos, wouldn’t you?!)