Wanted Another Rust Question (1 Viewer)

Year

2002

Vehicle Model

1. LX470

Location

New York, New York United States

Mileage

150000

Going to look at a 2002 LX tomorrow. The pics look a little too good to be true for a 20+ year old LX that's spent it's entire life in the Northeast. It doesn't look painted to me, so only possible scenario it was garage kept. I'm wondering if anyone can see anything suspicious about it and/or offer suggestions on what to look for when I go take a look at it in person.

Also a seperate question, for the prepurchase inspection the seller is suggesting Lemon Squad. Has anyone used them or familar with the quality of the inspection? My instinct is to insist on taking it to a Lexus dealership, but it is more of a hassle for everyone involved.

Appreciate any/all feedback.

 

[abbenbrooke]

additional pics

 

[abbenbrooke]

last ones

 

[psmbfuer]

I'm not familiar with the 470, but I have a 450 and have otherwise been fighting rust for a long time. The pics are decent, but still difficult to see exactly what is going on. That said, and as you said, this looks clean for a northeast truck. I can't be certain, but it almost looks like some of the frame has a film on it with dirt and bugs sticking to it. This would be a good thing and might be the result of one of the lanolin-based sprays like fluid film. I say this cautiously in that some of the frame looks dry. The 6th through 9th pics are the ones that seem / might have some extra film with dirt and bugs sticking to it.

Regardless, from what I can tell from the pics, I'm more optimistic than not, and if I were in the market, I would be on the way to check this out.

I always take a small and rather light, blunt metal working hammer when looking at a frames. I show the seller and ask for their approval to tap here and there. A small flashlight would be useful and less scary for the same. And do check out the area in front of the muffler on the first pic on post #3 to be certain that is is surface and not cancer.

Good luck.

 

[abbenbrooke]

@psmbfuer Thanks for all the insight and info! That's super helpful- will be sure to take some type of hammering tool and a flashlight to have a close look/feel. Interesting take on the fluid film/coating. Will try to see if I can tell if that's been done. From my untrained eye it doesn't appear to be painted as you can still see some rust and it's not all black also where it is black doesn't appear to have rust texture underneath.

The dealership does have a fair amount of negative reviews, so I'm going to be extra cautious and get a pre-purchase inspection done. I'm hoping the car has just been well taken care of and garaged as it is pretty low miles, 1 owner and fairly consistent maintenance. There was one last multi point inspection done at the Toyota dealership and then was sold to a different dealership shortly after and then it went to auction. I'm not sure if some big ticket items came up and owner decided to sell, who knows. I would hope if so that would come up on a pre-purchase inspection.

thanks again for your help- much appreciated.

 

[psmbfuer]

Sure thing and good luck @abbenbrooke. I'd be interested to hear what you find out. And regarding something like a hammer, even keys can be useful - anything than can help you identify cancer vs surface - I like the hammer because you will hear an audible soft thud if there is cancer, or something like body filler, below the surface, whereas if you are taping on good steel, you will have a nice solid tap sound. I also don't see evidence of paint, but again, hard to be certain. Paint on a frame of a vehicle being sold is a red flag for me. Good luck with your inspection. A friend of my son got taken by a seller that actually covered holes in the frame with duct tape and then painted it black. It was very sad, the kid looked at the truck on his own, didn't have the experience, and bought into a real mess (I see no evidence of anything like that in your pics).

 

[abbenbrooke]

@psmbfuer I'll keep an eye out for duct tape! That is pretty sad and shady. It seems the used car market brings out the worst in people. The condition seems a little too good to be true for a Northeast car, so we'll see. Will follow up on what I find tomorrow.
Thanks again for all the advice, it's a big help.

 

[abbenbrooke]

@psmbfuer
Just wanted to follow up after taking a look at the truck.....Pictures were accurate. Rust was fairly minimal and not an issue, no paint job, which is the first I've seen up this way. I'm not sure if they did fluid films or probably just garage kept and not driven a whole lot given the low mileage.

I ended up passing on it as price seemed on the high side and dealer would barely budge. The inspection report showed it needed a new steering rack, rear main seal leaking oil, rear and upper control arms had damaged bushings (or something like that), exhaust manifold was leaking. What they didn't catch was steering wheel was stuck in a high position and the climate control system would only blow hot air and wouldn't stop (not an issue in the 30 degree temps today). The truck was fairly solid, but it felt like and drove like a 20+ year old truck that needed some TLC, so kind of hard to justify the price with the known repairs and probably more unknowns.

 

[Gartenmeister]

Maybe I missed it, what was the asking price?

 

[abbenbrooke]

Maybe I missed it, what was the asking price?

@Gartenmeister sorry, didn't give it, but was $15k, 135K miles, 1 owner. A lot going for it, but my guess is it probably needs another $2-3k for steering rack, climate control issue and other small ticket items.

 

[psmbfuer]

@psmbfuer
Just wanted to follow up after taking a look at the truck.....Pictures were accurate. Rust was fairly minimal and not an issue, no paint job, which is the first I've seen up this way. I'm not sure if they did fluid films or probably just garage kept and not driven a whole lot given the low mileage.

I ended up passing on it as price seemed on the high side and dealer would barely budge. The inspection report showed it needed a new steering rack, rear main seal leaking oil, rear and upper control arms had damaged bushings (or something like that), exhaust manifold was leaking. What they didn't catch was steering wheel was stuck in a high position and the climate control system would only blow hot air and wouldn't stop (not an issue in the 30 degree temps today). The truck was fairly solid, but it felt like and drove like a 20+ year old truck that needed some TLC, swith all of the additional worko kind of hard to justify the price with the known repairs and probably more unknowns.

Thanks for the update abbenbrooke. It sounds like you did quite a thorough job vetting this - well done. 135k miles is nice, but as you said, for the asking price plus the additional work needed, it sounds like passing was a good thing (I'm no expert on pricing for these, but ...).

 

[Sanney22]

@Gartenmeister sorry, didn't give it, but was $15k, 135K miles, 1 owner. A lot going for it, but my guess is it probably needs another $2-3k for steering rack, climate control issue and other small ticket items.

To be honest the landcruiser and vintage 4x4 market is usually insane over priced as much as I like the old stuff it makes more sense to put the money on a newer 4 runner or Lexus GX or I know you will laugh but a Subaru wilderness all are probably a better spend of you 15k much newer less bs and possibly a warranty

 

[abbenbrooke]

@psmbfuer thanks, I think so too.

@Sanney22 Yeah, I think in ok+ condition these get into "collector" prices and car sellers know there's an appetite for them. The service guy at the dealership was pretty surprised at the asking price especially after he looked up the Kelly Blue book, which was about a 1/3rd of asking. I offered the seller $12k cash, but it but was a hard no, "bye, bye".

I think you're right about looking at the GX, I love the way they look, but a little narrow. I'm also a fan of the Sequoia for the extra room and price point. I also think if I spent another $5-$8k I could get into a 2010s 200 series, probably LC, 570 for some reason seems bling to me. I don't love the look as much as 100, but usually much better condition and upgraded features.

I can't laugh at the Subaru Forester- I have a Rav4...haha. TBH should probably just keep driving that for another 5-10years. It's nice, but don't really love it, so we'll see.

 

[Sanney22]

If you don't mind rhd check out Japanese classics usually has so show room condition landcruiser for cheaper than anyone else

 

[abbenbrooke]

If you don't mind rhd check out Japanese classics usually has so show room condition landcruiser for cheaper than anyone else

I'm not sure I'm ready for rhd, but will have a look- thanks for all the suggestions!