2011 L.C purchase inspection areas (1 Viewer)

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jbyrd78

jbyrd78

Joined
Oct 9, 2019
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Location
Indiana
Fellas could you help me out please?
I'm finally in a position to jump out of my 2016 4Runner and into a 200 series L.C. I've been watching this one about 3hrs north of me for the past 2 months, and they finally dropped the price by $4k. It's a 2011 with 118k on the odometer, $39k out the door.
The sales manager sent me a couple of videos of the frame and a shoddy video of the engine bay. I posted the vids on the Ih8mud Facebook page. Alot of surface rust, and questions on why it was up forsale, then all the sudden it was auctioned. I will definitely be taking it to either Toyota or Lexus for a PPI before I pass them over the check. What are some other important areas I should ask the mechanic to look at during the inspection?
 
jbyrd78 said:
Fellas could you help me out please?
I'm finally in a position to jump out of my 2016 4Runner and into a 200 series L.C. I've been watching this one about 3hrs north of me for the past 2 months, and they finally dropped the price by $4k. It's a 2011 with 118k on the odometer, $39k out the door.
The sales manager sent me a couple of videos of the frame and a shoddy video of the engine bay. I posted the vids on the Ih8mud Facebook page. Alot of surface rust, and questions on why it was up forsale, then all the sudden it was auctioned. I will definitely be taking it to either Toyota or Lexus for a PPI before I pass them over the check. What are some other important areas I should ask the mechanic to look at during the inspection?
Click to expand...
I was on the hunt for a used one early this year and was told on a couple of occasions to make sure the hvac flap in the glove compartment for cabin air filter wasn’t broke. You can read more here: Cabin Filter Change and the Recirculation Flap Issues FIXED - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/cabin-filter-change-and-the-recirculation-flap-issues-fixed.1018604/
 
Given that it’s 10 years old and lived in the NE and it’s a Toyota, the big consideration will be rust. It’s possible to care for a vehicle and minimize rust over those years, but only if the former owner did that.

The KDSS valve screws will be frozen in rust, so take that into account if you plan suspension mods.

Check the top of the radiator for cracks.
 
Sandroad said:
Given that it’s 10 years old and lived in the NE and it’s a Toyota, the big consideration will be rust. It’s possible to care for a vehicle and minimize rust over those years, but only if the former owner did that.

The KDSS valve screws will be frozen in rust, so take that into account if you plan suspension mods.

Check the top of the radiator for cracks.
Click to expand...
For sure the rust on the frame is going to be a big factor that I want Toyota to give me the thumbs up on. They sent me some videos showing the frame. It has alot of surface rust, but if it can be sandblasted and recoated I'm fine with that.

Thank's for mentioning KDSS, I'll put that on my list to have them inspect.

As far as the radiator, that, the starter, and water pump are also what I'm going to have them inspects as well. Along with hoses etc. One thing I did notice in the engine bay video they sent me. The battery is a Die Hard battery, and there was alot of corrosion around the terminals and connections. So that is something else I'm going to see if they can throughly inspect.
 
Something else I forgot to mention. I commute 150 miles in one day for work 3 times a week. This L.C. will be my daily. Will the 200 stand up to the commute like a hundy, or should I look at something else. Gas will not be an issue.
 
A couple semi-common and expensive repairs are the coolant valley leak and cam tower leak. Have these two areas looked at as well. Id also be curious as to why it has sat at the dealership unsold for so long that the price was dropped 4 grand. It does take a certain person who is willing to drop $40k on a ten year old car with over 100k miles. Even so land cruisers do typically get scooped up quickly so this would be a red flag. If you are open to the LX570 they can be found for a few grand cheaper then the LC and there are many more to choose from on the used market.

The 200 will be fine commuting just expect to be filling up the tank on the regular. 2013 and newer brought on a few more creature comforts (entertainment system, adaptive cruise control, better headlights) to the LC. The lx570 would make for a more comfortable and luxurious commuter/ride.
 
These trucks are selling at stupid prices. $39k for a crusty 11 year old truck sure seems like a lot of coin.
That said, if gas isn’t a problem, the lc would be a pretty good commuter. Only issue is you will live at the gas pump. My range os 220 miles until the gas light comes on. I’d seriously consider a long range tank for fuel.
 
TLC2013 said:
A couple semi-common and expensive repairs are the coolant valley leak and cam tower leak. Have these two areas looked at as well. Id also be curious as to why it has sat at the dealership unsold for so long that the price was dropped 4 grand. It does take a certain person who is willing to drop $40k on a ten year old car with over 100k miles. Even so land cruisers do typically get scooped up quickly so this would be a red flag. If you are open to the LX570 they can be found for a few grand cheaper then the LC and there are many more to choose from on the used market.

The 200 will be fine commuting just expect to be filling up the tank on the regular. 2013 and newer brought on a few more creature comforts (entertainment system, adaptive cruise control, better headlights) to the LC. The lx570 would make for a more comfortable and luxurious commuter/ride.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll put those two on my inspect list. Are the coolant valley leak, and Cam seals jobs that can be done in the garage at home? Or is it alot more complicated than that? Just asking b/c I've been wrenching pretty in depth on my LX470 & FZJ80 the past year and a half.

I'm also with you on why it has been sitting for so long, and if I'm going to have some red flags come up, that the dealership is crossing their fingers that I hopefully don't notice anything.

Gas wise, already live at the pump with my 5th gen 4Runner lol.

Inregards to the LX570, I originally looked at a 2013 model of one of those b/c that's what wanted. It had around 60k on the odo, and the dealer wanted $41k. I took it to Lexus for a PPI and the AHC blew out in the service garage. The service manager told me to get it out of there and don't buy b/c it's junk and not worth fixing. That incident, and the fact as of right now, nobody has been able to successfully get around the AHC system with an aftermarket suspension kit if the AHC goes bad, has made me leary of the 570's
 
tacoduck said:
These trucks are selling at stupid prices. $39k for a crusty 11 year old truck sure seems like a lot of coin.
That said, if gas isn’t a problem, the lc would be a pretty good commuter. Only issue is you will live at the gas pump. My range os 220 miles until the gas light comes on. I’d seriously consider a long range tank for fuel.
Click to expand...
I appreciate the input. My 4Runner pretty much lives at the pump right now, so I know the struggle.
 
jbyrd78 said:
Thanks, I'll put those two on my inspect list. Are the coolant valley leak, and Cam seals jobs that can be done in the garage at home? Or is it alot more complicated than that? Just asking b/c I've been wrenching pretty in depth on my LX470 & FZJ80 the past year and a half.

I'm also with you on why it has been sitting for so long, and if I'm going to have some red flags come up, that the dealership is crossing their fingers that I hopefully don't notice anything.

Gas wise, already live at the pump with my 5th gen 4Runner lol.

Inregards to the LX570, I originally looked at a 2013 model of one of those b/c that's what wanted. It had around 60k on the odo, and the dealer wanted $41k. I took it to Lexus for a PPI and the AHC blew out in the service garage. The service manager told me to get it out of there and don't buy b/c it's junk and not worth fixing. That incident, and the fact as of right now, nobody has been able to successfully get around the AHC system with an aftermarket suspension kit if the AHC goes bad, has made me leary of the 570's
Click to expand...
I love my lx570. Mine is a 2015. My 100 had ahc and had 310k trouble free ahc miles on it. All original. Right now, apples to apples, the lx is selling for 5k less than a lc. People love and value the lc name.
 
tacoduck said:
I love my lx570. Mine is a 2015. My 100 had ahc and had 310k trouble free ahc miles on it. All original. Right now, apples to apples, the lx is selling for 5k less than a lc. People love and value the lc name.
Click to expand...
Yeah unfortunately my AHC on the 470 only made it to 185,000 miles. Then it spewed fluid all over the alternator. Fried that, and had to have that replaced along with the timing belt. Good times lol
 
jbyrd78 said:
Thanks, I'll put those two on my inspect list. Are the coolant valley leak, and Cam seals jobs that can be done in the garage at home? Or is it alot more complicated than that? Just asking b/c I've been wrenching pretty in depth on my LX470 & FZJ80 the past year and a half.

I'm also with you on why it has been sitting for so long, and if I'm going to have some red flags come up, that the dealership is crossing their fingers that I hopefully don't notice anything.

Gas wise, already live at the pump with my 5th gen 4Runner lol.

Inregards to the LX570, I originally looked at a 2013 model of one of those b/c that's what wanted. It had around 60k on the odo, and the dealer wanted $41k. I took it to Lexus for a PPI and the AHC blew out in the service garage. The service manager told me to get it out of there and don't buy b/c it's junk and not worth fixing. That incident, and the fact as of right now, nobody has been able to successfully get around the AHC system with an aftermarket suspension kit if the AHC goes bad, has made me leary of the 570's
Click to expand...
AHC has been successfully replaced with no check lights. But also, it's a fairly robust system. There is one hydraulic line that fails from corrosion because it is wrapped in heat tape, other than that the system is pretty solid. I guess if it really did "blow", then maybe there were plenty of other maintenance issues at play. Hard to imagine too much going wrong in 60k miles though.
 
lx200inAR said:
AHC has been successfully replaced with no check lights. But also, it's a fairly robust system. There is one hydraulic line that fails from corrosion because it is wrapped in heat tape, other than that the system is pretty solid. I guess if it really did "blow", then maybe there were plenty of other maintenance issues at play. Hard to imagine too much going wrong in 60k miles though.
Click to expand...
Really? Do you have a link to the write up you can share? Because if that's the case, then I'll start looking for a 570. I love my 470, but like I said the whole issue with the AHC on that 2013, kinda steered me away.
 
forum.ih8mud.com

Disabling the AHC and AVS systems, no warning lights.

I have deleted the whole AHC, AVS, and AFS(disabled) systems and been driving around since January 2020 without problems. Today I attempted the first steps into getting rid of the AHC/AVS systems, I think I was successful. I still need to do some more testing to make sure warning lights don't...
forum.ih8mud.com forum.ih8mud.com
 
jbyrd78 said:
Thanks, I'll put those two on my inspect list. Are the coolant valley leak, and Cam seals jobs that can be done in the garage at home? Or is it alot more complicated than that? Just asking b/c I've been wrenching pretty in depth on my LX470 & FZJ80 the past year and a half.

I'm also with you on why it has been sitting for so long, and if I'm going to have some red flags come up, that the dealership is crossing their fingers that I hopefully don't notice anything.

Gas wise, already live at the pump with my 5th gen 4Runner lol.

Inregards to the LX570, I originally looked at a 2013 model of one of those b/c that's what wanted. It had around 60k on the odo, and the dealer wanted $41k. I took it to Lexus for a PPI and the AHC blew out in the service garage. The service manager told me to get it out of there and don't buy b/c it's junk and not worth fixing. That incident, and the fact as of right now, nobody has been able to successfully get around the AHC system with an aftermarket suspension kit if the AHC goes bad, has made me leary of the 570's
Click to expand...

The valley leak is very time consuming but not an overly complicated repair based on what I have read here. If I encounter this repair I am debating doing it myself. YouTube has some good stuff on this subject for the tundras and their 5.7s.
The cam tower repair is even more involved and time consuming. Parts are cheap the time/labor is what gets you on these two repairs. I haven’t seen a tutorial for the cam tower repair on mud, Maybe YouTube has something for the tundra as it is common on them as well
 
TLC2013 said:
The valley leak is very time consuming but not an overly complicated repair based on what I have read here. If I encounter this repair I am debating doing it myself. YouTube has some good stuff on this subject for the tundras and their 5.7s.
The cam tower repair is even more involved and time consuming. Parts are cheap the time/labor is what gets you on these two repairs. I haven’t seen a tutorial for the cam tower repair on mud, Maybe YouTube has something for the tundra as it is common on them as well
Click to expand...
I just watched a few videos on the coolant valley leak, and a quick video on the Tundra cam seals. I could see where those jobs would be time consuming. If it came down to it, I'd be up to the task. I'm getting ready to pull the 1FZ engine in my 80 and strip it to the block. I think if I can pull that off, then I can handle that valley leak, and cam seals.
 
Valley coolant leak, transfer case actuator, radiator cracks.. these are things I remember off the top of my head.

I got my 2008 with 122k miles in April for $27k. It had the valley plate leak ($690 at my local toyota tech's shop), and bad ac compressor (~$1000 and change). The previous owner had replaced the radiator, starter, tires, and spark plugs in the last year so you win some and you lose some :)
 
Ossy said:
Valley coolant leak, transfer case actuator, radiator cracks.. these are things I remember off the top of my head.

I got my 2008 with 122k miles in April for $27k. It had the valley plate leak ($690 at my local toyota tech's shop), and bad ac compressor (~$1000 and change). The previous owner had replaced the radiator, starter, tires, and spark plugs in the last year so you win some and you lose some :)
Click to expand...
Thanks for giving me more things to add to my inspection list to help give me a piece of mind if I purchase this L.C
 
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