Two years ago my CarMax car buddy Mustafa alerted me to how few Lexus GS460’s were sold in the US – just 23 units in 2011. In fact, other than the 1,600 sold in 2008, each year after saw only a few dozen leaving dealer lots. Makes it a fairly rare unicorn. I was pleased to see this 2011 model in tan over champagne – a color combo I’ve always associated with luxury. It’s in CarMax’s Coming Soon section so very much available.
Low production isn’t the only reason to like this vehicle I dig 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 342 hp, good for a mediocre 0-60 mph in 5.4 seconds. Slightly better than the comparable Infiniti M45 but 40 ponies less than the same year Mercedes E550, and 58 hp short of the 2011 BMW 550.
But it is a high-quality highway cruiser with an eight-speed automatic transmission, auto cruise control. 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. (However, CarMax actually offers MaxCare for five years and up to 150,000 miles!) Probably sold for $55-60,000 new back in 2011 and selling for $22,998 now – $1,000 more than the same model I reviewed two years ago! Not as much depreciation as I’d like. Here’s a review of the GS460 from Left Lane News when the car was new in 2011. This 2011 Lexus will be available soon here in Irving, Texas. Also full disclosure – the above two paragraphs I totally plagiarized from my 2019 review – curious if anyone actually makes it this deep in the blog! 🙂
