Another buying advice thread... 2000 LX470

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J

Jackson Sanders

10 Year
Joined
Jan 26, 2015
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11
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138
Location
CA/TX
So I expanded my search for a new vehicle out to the 100 series recently, and today went to go look at a 2000 LX470 with 107K for $11.9 out the door. It is a one owner trade in, dealer maintained, clean carfax, looks like it has never been offroad, appears to be garage kept its whole life, etc., 90k service as scheduled. Interior and exterior would get a solid 8/10.

AHC raises and lowers properly, but at one point "OFF" began flashing and wouldn't adjust until the car was turned off and restarted, then it was fine for the rest of my test drive. Fluid appeared to be low, but after searching on the forum I will have to check again when I go back to be sure.

It seems like a solid deal to me, but what are your thoughts? Does this seem like a decent deal, assuming the AHC is just low on fluid?
 
Thats a very good price for having such low miles. The AHC acting the way it does on this particular isn't a deal-breaker for me in this case, but definitely investigate it further before funds are exchanged.

Also....in for pics! :D
 
Jackson Sanders said:
So I expanded my search for a new vehicle out to the 100 series recently, and today went to go look at a 2000 LX470 with 107K for $11.9 out the door. It is a one owner trade in, dealer maintained, clean carfax, looks like it has never been offroad, appears to be garage kept its whole life, etc., 90k service as scheduled. Interior and exterior would get a solid 8/10.

AHC raises and lowers properly, but at one point "OFF" began flashing and wouldn't adjust until the car was turned off and restarted, then it was fine for the rest of my test drive. Fluid appeared to be low,

It seems like a solid deal to me, but what are your thoughts? Does this seem like a decent deal, assuming the AHC is just low on fluid?
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The min fluid level is actually pretty low in the tank so the fluid level could well be ok. Regardless, a low fluid level won't cause the system to flash OFF and then reset after a shut down/restart. What you saw was the system going into fail safe, probably due to high neutral pressures due to inadequate torsion bar and coil support. It could have been an over temp warning too if you gave it a solid up down up down work out. If that's the case it is an easily correctable maintenance issue. If you haven't yet register the VIN with Lexus to see the dealer maintenance history, look for AHC fluid changes and any AHC or ride quality issues. Worth checking out, but if the ride quality was good and it responded as expected to ride comfort damper settings I wouldn't be overly concerned. If you have a PPI have them do an AHC functional test and check neutral pressures with TechStream.
 
Good to know about the AHC, I'll look into it more when I get back down there to check it out again. No rust, Texas car its entire life. The interior looks a little rough in the pics, but they went through zero effort to detail it before showing it to me. Most of what I saw will wipe or vacuum right up.

The service history reports that is was "inspected" during the 90k service at the dealer, but doesn't give much information on the AHC beyond that.

45296E81-3AF3-4DB3-A73C-A6952F3BBEC9_1.jpg
45296E81-3AF3-4DB3-A73C-A6952F3BBEC9_2.jpg
45296E81-3AF3-4DB3-A73C-A6952F3BBEC9_9.jpg
 
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What are you actually looking to use the vehicle for? Do you really need a lift, lockers, big tires, etc for doing what you want? Somehow I was able to drive my 100 all over North, Central, and South America without needing extensive modification. Lots of off-roading in there but zero rock crawling. Complexity for complexities sake, especially with kids needing money and time, seems like a bad idea to me. Figure out what you are going to use it for and change out the minimum required. Save the time and cash for taking lots of fun trips.

Just my opinion.
 
Just looking for a daily driver that I can also use to go camping around the state. I also need to haul a lot of gear for work from time to time. The example in question is completely stock, and I don't have any major modifications planned at this point.
 
I'd keep it real simple. Buy a good 100 in great shape with a solid service history. Baseline it. Then have fun!
 
Negotiate a little further around $11,000 to $11,500 on the price & raise concern about the AHC not operating as it should (as you explained earlier). I'm confident they'll go for it as dealers don't want a particular car to sit on the lot any more than it has to.
 
Jackson Sanders said:
So I expanded my search for a new vehicle out to the 100 series recently, and today went to go look at a 2000 LX470 with 107K for $11.9 out the door. It is a one owner trade in, dealer maintained, clean carfax, looks like it has never been offroad, appears to be garage kept its whole life, etc., 90k service as scheduled. Interior and exterior would get a solid 8/10.

AHC raises and lowers properly, but at one point "OFF" began flashing and wouldn't adjust until the car was turned off and restarted, then it was fine for the rest of my test drive. Fluid appeared to be low, but after searching on the forum I will have to check again when I go back to be sure.

It seems like a solid deal to me, but what are your thoughts? Does this seem like a decent deal, assuming the AHC is just low on fluid?
Click to expand...

$11,900 seems a bit pricey to me, I've been searching lately and see the 2000 LX470's in the $8500-$9500 range quite a bit. That difference leaves room for maintenance, upgrades, etc.

I'm kind of a cheapo though, I just picked up my 2000 LC for $6500 and am thinking that I should've waited around a bit longer for a better deal...
 
How many miles are the examples you are looking at? I see many around here in that price range, but they have at least 100k more miles than this one, as well as an unknown maintenance history.
 
46/71 Hybrid said:
$11,900 seems a bit pricey to me, I've been searching lately and see the 2000 LX470's in the $8500-$9500 range quite a bit. That difference leaves room for maintenance, upgrades, etc.

I'm kind of a cheapo though, I just picked up my 2000 LC for $6500 and am thinking that I should've waited around a bit longer for a better deal...
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Hey, where are you seeing these prices and for what kind of mileage? I've been scanning autotrader, cargurus, and craigs for two months and have never seen prices that low for the kind of truck he's looking at either. Would like to know as I have a teen getting ready to get his license and I'd love to get another one.

BTW, I just ran across one priced like yours for the very first time in two months. It's a 2000 LX with 190K for $6500.
http://fortmyers.craigslist.org/lee/cto/4915577209.html
 
Jackson Sanders said:
How many miles are the examples you are looking at? I see many around here in that price range, but they have at least 100k more miles than this one, as well as an unknown maintenance history.
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Just based on my 2 months of looking every single day, it sounds like a good deal. You might be able to get them down some more on price but ask yourself if you would walk away. As may have been mentioned, get a PPI done and/or at least get Lexus to look at the AHC and give their opinion/cost to fix. I've had my 2000 LX now for about a month and I love it. Literally. If I had to choose between the truck and my wife, I would probably have to think about it first. ;) Best riding, handling, performing, truck I have every owned. Happy to pay what I paid for it and it was a little more than what they want for that one.
 
Jackson Sanders said:
How many miles are the examples you are looking at? I see many around here in that price range, but they have at least 100k more miles than this one, as well as an unknown maintenance history.
Click to expand...

I pulled mine off of Ebay, it has 162K miles. On Autotrader, I saw a decent one in Colorado and there's an LX in Columbus on Craigslist (both below).

https://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/4882031709.html <-He'll take $7500 but I think he bought and is trying to flip.

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...mt=[TOYOTA[LC[]][]]&listingId=385970923&Log=0


That Ft. Myers truck looks good too...
 
46/71 Hybrid said:
I pulled mine off of Ebay, it has 162K miles. On Autotrader, I saw a decent one in Colorado and there's an LX in Columbus on Craigslist (both below).

https://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/4882031709.html <-He'll take $7500 but I think he bought and is trying to flip.

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=14226&endYear=2016&modelCode1=LC&showcaseOwnerId=75386&startYear=1998&makeCode1=TOYOTA&engineCodes=8CLDR&engineCode=8CLDR&searchRadius=0&maxPrice=8000&mmt=[TOYOTA[LC[]][]]&listingId=385970923&Log=0


That Ft. Myers truck looks good too...
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Seriously, you are the man. I have not seen much at this price point at all. I guess cause I had my filter at 175K miles. Did you go look at the OH one? I seriously want to find one for my son where miles are less of a factor but $$ is.
 
The extra money is worth it for the difference in miles and known service history. Also, I'm sure the price reflects the condition, as noted in one of the ads you've posted.

I've talked them down a bit lower on the example in question, and it seems we have struck a deal! :D
 
Wak said:
Seriously, you are the man. I have not seen much at this price point at all. I guess cause I had my filter at 175K miles. Did you go look at the OH one? I seriously want to find one for my son where miles are less of a factor but $$ is.
Click to expand...

I'm likely headed to Columbus this weekend, if the seller is a normal guy (i.e. not a pain in the butt to meet with) I'm happy to take a look at it for you.
 
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