Advice on warranty or not? Reliability of an '05 LX470 w/90K miles

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farmerjoe

farmerjoe

10 Year
Joined
Sep 12, 2012
Threads
22
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112
Location
Toronto, ON
Hi All,

Have been a cruiser guy a long time (have had a '78 FJ40 and a '65 FJ40, both gone now). I'm in the market for a dd and can't resist the call of a cruiser. After a search I am having Carmax ship an '05 LX470 to Austin. At worst I eat the cost of shipping, at best I will have a 90K mile LX470 in great condition with a new timing belt (and the rest of the 90K service) and the opportunity to buy a 60,000 mile / 5 year warranty for ~$3k (which by the way is the same price as most sellers around here want for 120K+ mile LXs).

So... to warranty or not to warranty? My primary concern is the AHC suspension which I believe would be covered (much like Doug DeMuro's fabled Range Rover http://dougdemuro.kinja.com/why-your-next-unreliable-luxury-car-should-come-from-ca-814250605). Assuming nothing else catastrophic in that time, the counterpoint is that if the AHC did fail I could put that money into replacing the suspension. However, for a 60,000 mile warranty (with a good reputation) on an 11 year old car, it's hard to resist.

Thoughts? Predictions? Any experience with Carmax warranties while we're at it?

J
 
Cool another Austinite getting a 100!

Hands down, pass on the warranty and save yourself 3K, it's definitely not needed. I would also take it immediately to Bearden Automotive off McNeil and have them do a PPI on it. Tell them I sent you. IIRC, Carmax has a 5 day 100% return policy, so if something major comes up, you can return it. And I am guessing Carmax does not do the work should something come up, they probably have a contract with a 3rd party that has a list of providers you can choose from. Less than ideal IMO as most shops are not qualified to work on LCs.
 
My default response is no to the warranty, but your pricing has me intrigued.

I'd still say no, carmax stopped offering the warranty on rover's because they were losing. The fact they're offering it for the cruiser means they're data says they'll win.
 
Yeah, I plan to learn more but I am usually a staunchly no warranty guy. I am an economist by training after all. That said, 60K miles of insurance against catastrophic failure is hard to resist with such an electronically intense vehicle.

I guess the crux will be their fine print.
 
skip the warranty and put that $3k toward gas ;-) i just bought a 2005 LX with 92k miles and short of a long punch list of fluid changes, it drives like a top and will for some time to come.
 
My colleague bought a 2014 Accord last year from Carmax. He had it inspected by a honda tech, there was so much rust underneath it as it came from the NE. He took it back and got a rust free one, had that inspected and passed with flying colors. So check that too.

NP. I send my wife's Lexus LS to them and cruiser-related things that I don't feel like doing. I had them do my head, TB, WP and starter on my 100 last fall. His knowledge saved me from doing an engine swap or at least getting head #2 rebuilt. As I have said before, Jeff is the mechanic's mechanic and has Lexus of Austin and other mechanics call him about how to fix things. I don't work for him or get paid to say this, just my personal experience with them. I've gone there before and have seen 5 100 series in there at a time. Pretty neat actually.
 
Rust is my main concern. It's been a California car all its life (according to Carfax) so I'm crossing fingers.

There's a single owner '06 LX470 with 108K here in Austin at Terry Davidson but it's a NE car - the underside rust isn't egregious but made me nervous. It's also in dire need of tires and is missing the 3rd row.

J
 
Ah, someone who has done their homework. It sounds like it could be a good one then! Yea, pass on the NE one, IH8RUST. I looked at it online, notice they showed the undercarriage for the FZJ80 but not the LX? Red flag there.
 
I had an extended warranty on my LX, but it was Toyota 8yrs/125k miles, purchased at 60k. I understand Carmax is not as complete.
Mine paid for new CV boots, bad seal that took out the waterpump, steering rack that wasn't too bad, but we got it replaced before warranty expired. They also pulled all my AHC globes and pressure tested them right before warranty expired. All this by my Lexus guys.

All that said, if your steering rack is good, timing belt and water pump have been done and neutral pressures on AHC are in spec, I'd put the money in a repair account. Worse/best case is if AHC does go soon, Christo can pull entire system and install OME for about that. Lots more knowledge about AHC on this board one than a few years ago, so not as much 'a have to replace' as the trend use be. (At least as long as PADDO is around. :-)

Just for grins have your Austin guy price steering rack and water pump repair. Might give you better feel. I was also worried about electronics and they've been great. Currently have 130k on truck and wondering why I need it and LX 570. Does drive differently and feels great.
 
hmm. Appreciate the feedback. One concern I have and won't know until I see the car is the water pump. I see consensus everywhere that this needs to be done with the timing belt but if it's not on the Lexus service list for the mileage they're selling it at, they won't do that activity. Looking at this site, there is no mention of water pump: Lexus Drivers My Lexus Maintenance Schedule

Does anyone know if this is on some official service interval list or just conventional wisdom?
 
arcteryx said:
Ah, someone who has done their homework. It sounds like it could be a good one then! Yea, pass on the NE one, IH8RUST. I looked at it online, notice they showed the undercarriage for the FZJ80 but not the LX? Red flag there.
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To be fair these guys were really nice, and completely transparent. They bought it site unseen from an auction and I think are having trouble moving it because of the rust. They were no-pressure, easy to talk to and get a price from. I wish their cruiser was lower mileage.
 
7 years or 90 k on TB and WP change. Factory intervals.
 
farmerjoe said:
To be fair these guys were really nice, and completely transparent. They bought it site unseen from an auction and I think are having trouble moving it because of the rust. They were no-pressure, easy to talk to and get a price from. I wish their cruiser was lower mileage.
Click to expand...

Gotcha, I understand that does happen from time to time. Good to know they are upright though
 
Jason; your service history post was the most useful ever. This car has been Lexus serviced, on schedule to 85K miles

Was happy to see this - maybe done early because of age?
11/29/13 @ 75,000 miles : PERFORM TIMING BELT REPLACMENT SERVICE PER LEXUS GUIDELINES. PERFORM COMPLIMENTARY 27 POINT INSPECTION - 74730 TECH REPLACED TIMING BELT, DRIVE BELT AND WATER PUMP. TECH REFILLED COOLING SYSTEM.

Was certainly a while ago, but glad to know the car was not neglected. Also, had complete front brake service, four wheel balance and alignment at 80,000 miles/ 1 year ago. Speedo cluster was replaced 2,000 miles ago.

Anything about this that should concern me? At 87K they noted "LEFT FRONT DRIVE SHAFT BOOT MAY NEED FUTURE ATTENTION"
 
Wow, it looks like that was done due to age, which I haven't seen much, normally it's miles. IIRC it's 7 years. This is looking better and better for you! Now, as long as they will sell it to you with the open SAB recall, which you can read about in the other thread.

As far as the speedo cluster, it's not ideal but if it was done at the dealer, they set the miles accurately. In general, I suspect this happens more often since they are digital vs the old skool mechanical ones.
 
Hopefully it's only an issue with dealers - I have seen the recall come up on searches the last few days. CarMax expressly states on their 'Quality Certified' page that "Carmax does not guarantee a recall-free vehicle". The implication being they'll sell me one with an open recall.
 
arcteryx said:
Cool another Austinite getting a 100!

Hands down, pass on the warranty and save yourself 3K, it's definitely not needed. I would also take it immediately to Bearden Automotive off McNeil and have them do a PPI on it. Tell them I sent you. IIRC, Carmax has a 5 day 100% return policy, so if something major comes up, you can return it. And I am guessing Carmax does not do the work should something come up, they probably have a contract with a 3rd party that has a list of providers you can choose from. Less than ideal IMO as most shops are not qualified to work on LCs.
Click to expand...

They do have the return policy - I've used it before. And @arcteryx is correct - Carmax farms out the work, and it's usually not the top of the line shops, at least in my experience. You might get them to agree to a certain shop beforehand, but I did not have much luck with that. If something pops up in the 5 days I would just return it. Carmax makes it pretty painless to do, though they aren't too happy when you do.
 
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