Jump LinksIf you took a trip to your local country club in the late 2000s, the chances are you'd see at least one Lexus LS460 in the parking lot. This quiet and bland sedan looked perfectly at home in that environment, and many owners preferred to carry a set of golf clubs in the trunk rather than take to any back road for some exciting adventure. But what you see on the outside is not always what you get, and here you have a case of an "old man's car" that could indeed embarrass some younger and noisier machinery.Beneath the hood, you'd find a 4.6-liter V8, which was enough to make this car seriously quick, and far more than its calm luxury sedan interior might suggest. And this is why this Lexus still has an audience today. It's perfectly capable of being your calm commuter while still able to destroy a modern hot hatch if the road opens up. Quiet Car, But Not Quiet Power LexusThe Lexus LS460 is a full-size luxury sedan with a lengthy wheelbase and predictable shape. It looks perfectly in its element when gliding through airport traffic rather than fighting for priority in the left lane, even though the car's hefty V8 is certainly capable of living in that latter environment. In rear-drive form, the LS460 produced 380 horsepower and 367 pound-feet of torque. Lexus paired the powerplant with a very capable eight-speed automatic. With that setup, the car didn't really have to work hard to be fast and could stretch its legs without any noise or drama.In your LS 460, you’d simply put your foot down and get a clean, smooth push in return rather than any frantic scramble, so you could build speed effortlessly in a way that might surprise drivers all around you. Launch information from that time suggests that the LS460 could get to 60 mph at just under 5.5 seconds, which is a lot of pace for a big sedan. That's the kind of performance that translates into plenty of confidence for the driver on any real road, and the type of acceleration that could make passing on a two-lane far less stressful. How The LS460 Feels In Everyday Driving Lexus If you simply bought your LS460 to serve an ordinary or unspectacular life, you'd probably have made a good choice. After all, it felt calm and unhurried around town, with a suspension system that was better off dealing with a variety of pavement surfaces than chasing lap times. The car felt very composed and would float over the roughest of streets with their patches of asphalt, and cope perfectly with everyday American suburbs.Even though the vehicle was confident in many situations, it still wasn't vague or sloppy. Through almost any situation, the engine would never sound or feel stressed, and the cabin would stay quiet enough to ensure that everyday journeys felt more serene than serious. The car was also relatively easy to park despite its size, and its shape made most obstacles easy to judge. The LS didn't feel big and bulky like a high-riding SUV, but smooth, imposing, and civilized – just like a luxury Japanese sedan should be. Highway Miles Suited Its Demeanor Lexus The Lexus LS460 may have felt polished downtown, but when it got onto the highway, the sedan came into its element. The car loved to settle into a cruise, making any long interstate drive feel far shorter than it actually was. The long wheelbase coped particularly well with those annoying expansion joints and rough highway patches, and Lexus did a good job of insulating the cabin, keeping much of the wind and tire noise in the background. This meant that for any cross-country run, the LS460 was the perfect grand tourer. It didn't demand constant attention and ate up the miles, with a perfectly smooth ride and plenty of V8 power in reserve.The fuel economy was just okay, but to be expected in a car like this, with the rear-drive LS460 returning an EPA-rated 16 miles per gallon city, 24 mpg highway, and 19 mpg combined. The 22.2-gallon fuel tank gave it 422 miles of range, which was plenty for longer road trips without needing to stop for gas along the way. Interior Comfort And Space LexusThe LS460 was the flagship of the Lexus range when it launched, and when you opened its door, you could see why. Everything about the cabin was calming and quiet, with a relaxed seating position for the driver, and an entire layout meant to reduce friction from the journey. You'd get genuine full-size sedan room with the expected comfort for front passengers and enough rear seat space so that your additional visitors would feel welcome rather than tolerated. If you bought the long-wheelbase LS460 L, you'd get even more space in the back, which transformed the car from being simply comfortable into properly indulgent.The LS460 wasn't a sleek four-door fastback with a compromised cargo bay either, but a real family-duty sedan with a usable trunk. The storage space rounded out the entire package to give you an impressive and traditional old-schooler, which was broad, practical, and built to handle everyday life without too much fuss. Tech, Safety, And The Realities Of Ownership Lexus Lexus decked out the LS460 with a lot of equipment, and some of its technologies still feel quite useful today. For example, you'd get adaptive cruise control that maintained a safe gap from the car ahead by automatically adjusting speed, and an advanced pre-collision safety system that could ready the brakesfor action if a crash seemed imminent. Features like that were definitely ahead of the curve when the car first debuted, and they might still help make your longer journeys easier or less tiring today.The 2011 LS460 also earned a Good rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in terms of frontal crash testing. The result is also reassuring if you're thinking about getting a used example for your family sedan.Before buying, remember that you'd be living with an older luxury car, which requires an element of realism. After all, complexity is baked into this premium sedan, which means maintenance history matters. You can quickly rack up some bills if you buy a cheap LS460 without a proper inspection. Take a closer look at tires, brakes, fluids, suspension components, and electronics. However, if you do find a properly maintained LS, you could be on to a winner, as Lexus engineered the entire car with refinement and durability in mind. Who Should Buy One LexusIf you're looking for a quiet, powerful, and comfortable sedan and would rather buy a car that makes you feel good without announcing its presence, then the LS460 may be for you. If you do a lot of commuting or highway travel, have a large family, or spend a lot of your time in downtown traffic, it might also be a good fit for your life. And if you like to cheekily surprise others with a powerful car that doesn't look like one, then it may also be a very strong choice.However, you might want to look the other way if fuel economy is a big deal, you're looking for the latest driver-assistance tech, or some sports sedan sharpness. And you will need to be prepared for some due diligence, too, as this is not the type of car to buy casually.Having said that, a good LS460 example could be a remarkable full-size luxury sedan that delivers a very smooth ride, a comfy back seat, and lots of V8 muscle in reserve. The CarBuzz marketplace suggests that 2011 cars are trading for around $11,703 today. The price isn't bad for an "old man's" car with plenty of bite. It’s well-rounded, with the right kind of power versus the right kind of calm to make your everyday driving feel a little more special than it is right now. And that's not bad in a market that seems to be overly full of loud, busy, and overly styled alternatives.