I own a 1999 Lexus LX 470 that came from Arizona. I'm in Indiana. It looks great underneath and I have had almost no issues with it since my purchase in May, 2020. It has 220k miles on it and in December, 2022 I began a personal project of getting it serviced and ready for a long road trip during the summer of 2024. I had a new timing belt, radiator, rebuilt ABS/Master unit from Andy Le, plus fluid replacements, etc. The final piece was to service the AHC...
After servicing the AHC, it would not return to normal ride height. I posted about this earlier in the week. The consensus was that there was air in the lines. I went through the process again, with no change. A third attempt resulted in the rear of the vehicle showing some upward movement. This is as far as I could get after getting showered by suspension fluid twice from the driver's side rear globe. I caved and took the LX to the local Lexus dealer and the result I have received is a $15,073.21 repair estimate to replace all things AHC related. Apparently this includes 4 hours of labor to bleed the existing system. I am being told the pump has failed and with that failure, everthing else must be replaced. I knew it wouldn't be cheap, this is more like double the "not cheap" that I expected.
Do you take the $15k estimate as legitimate? My LX was referred to a couple of times in the check-in process at the dealership as "vintage", as if to imply I was in the wrong spot. I know the dealership is going to be way more expensive. I just don't know of anyone else who can take a look and offer an opinion. I know it can be converted. In Indiana, I'll have to do some research on who might be able to do that if I go that route.
I'm not necessarily giving up on it, but at 23+ years old, I could be convinced to move on. If I were to move on, is it more attractive to someone who would want to do their own thing with a replacement suspension or would I be better to have that done first? It seems like the replacement equipment choice could be a bit personal and I hate to waste the money on the parts if someone wants it another way.
I guess I'm looking for thoughts and/or opinions to help make a decision. Thanks for your time.
After servicing the AHC, it would not return to normal ride height. I posted about this earlier in the week. The consensus was that there was air in the lines. I went through the process again, with no change. A third attempt resulted in the rear of the vehicle showing some upward movement. This is as far as I could get after getting showered by suspension fluid twice from the driver's side rear globe. I caved and took the LX to the local Lexus dealer and the result I have received is a $15,073.21 repair estimate to replace all things AHC related. Apparently this includes 4 hours of labor to bleed the existing system. I am being told the pump has failed and with that failure, everthing else must be replaced. I knew it wouldn't be cheap, this is more like double the "not cheap" that I expected.
Do you take the $15k estimate as legitimate? My LX was referred to a couple of times in the check-in process at the dealership as "vintage", as if to imply I was in the wrong spot. I know the dealership is going to be way more expensive. I just don't know of anyone else who can take a look and offer an opinion. I know it can be converted. In Indiana, I'll have to do some research on who might be able to do that if I go that route.
I'm not necessarily giving up on it, but at 23+ years old, I could be convinced to move on. If I were to move on, is it more attractive to someone who would want to do their own thing with a replacement suspension or would I be better to have that done first? It seems like the replacement equipment choice could be a bit personal and I hate to waste the money on the parts if someone wants it another way.
I guess I'm looking for thoughts and/or opinions to help make a decision. Thanks for your time.