For Sale Austin, TX: 1997 Lexus LX450 w/ blown engine (1 Viewer)

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Location
United States
No F/R lockers; silver; currently in Liberty Hill.

Truck is in average condition for having 230k miles. I purchased in the middle of last year. On the way from Dallas to Fort Worth after buying it, it overheated due to a radiator leak. Trailered it back to Austin and replaced just about the entire cooling system, including the radiator, radiator hoses, and water pump. I did not do the PHH because I only have so much patience, but there’s no indication of any current issues with it (and hey, you’re gonna pull at least the heads so perfect time to do it).

After Thanksgiving I was headed back to Austin from Fort Worth and the engine started to overheat again, vibrate, and lose power. Pulled off into a parking lot and let it cool down. Started it again and got tons of smoke out of the exhaust (light gray, so maybe a mix of coolant and oil). Trailered it back to Austin and the engine wouldn’t start, just made a loud clunking sound. At some later point it started up and ran enough to move it a few hundred feet. Initially hoped it was the head gasket but once we got it back to Austin started working off the assumption it’s probably a bottom end issue.

BUT THEN it started up and, after moving it around a few times, started running a lot better. Idle is really rough, but once the RPMs get over ~2k or so, the engine runs smoothly (...ignoring the large amounts of grey smoke it produces). So, we're back to thinking it's a top end issue (e.g., head and valve stem seals).


Prior to its near death, it was burning oil fairly rapidly.

Things that have been done since I got it: Replaced the shocks with KYB Gas-a-Just shocks and the steering dampener with the Old Man Emu dampener. Replaced front and rear door speakers. Replaced a bunch of other small stuff, including a new Optima yellow top battery. Sunroof leaked so I had standard maintenance done to it by Texas Auto Tops of Austin which solved the problem, which was caused by the drains being clogged. Had Land Cruiser Specialists do about $2500 worth of work, including: new axle seals, brake pads, repacked birfields, wheel bearings, hub seals, cleaned throttle body, replaced EGR vsv, and fixed some vacuum leaks.

I replaced the PS pump, still squealed, so I had Land Cruiser Specialists replace the new one. Still squeals. Replaced the tires with BFG AT T/A KO2 tires, which now only have 5-10k miles. Transmission is a little clunky shifting into drive sometimes but otherwise shifts well. A/C/heater works well.

Discovered the fuel tank has a leak on the top where the fuel filler connects. This has apparently become a common issue and necessitates a tank replacement unless you want to weld on a fuel tank (not viewed as a particularly good idea). Paint clear coat is spotty.

When we got it back to Austin after I first bought it, we discovered that the rear driver side quarter panel had been repainted and the color didn’t completely match (not particularly noticeable depending on the light). The fender flare paint on that quarter panel started coming off/bubbling soon thereafter.

I have a removable roof rack for it.

Other issues:

1. Pinstripes were kinda removed (probably so they didn’t have to replaced after the quarter panel repaid)
2. Minor oil leaks, including the distributor (not surprising on a truck of this age)
3. Lowest part of the side cladding on one side is missing (an inch or two tall piece that runs just below the doors)
4. At least two window seals need to be replaced (it’s safe to assume they’ll all need to be replaced). No issues in rain but result in a lot of wind noise and high pressure water (e.g., from a power washer) will get through.
5. Some of the door seals are starting to lose small chunks. Does not appear to have any impact on the actual seal.
6. Front bumper corner is not entirely flush with the truck (off about a half inch).
7. Rear bumper has a dent/missing paint (sharp linear indentation like you would get from a door edge)
8. Cruise control doesn’t engage; haven’t pulled the code.
9. Triangle trim pieces in the corner of the front doors broke while trying to replace the speakers and will need to be replaced.
10. Some of the dash lights probably need to be replaced.
11. Front driver’s seat is starting to wear and get stiff but doesn’t have any major cracks yet (maybe still savable with some proper conditioning).
12. Front seat won’t move forward or back.
13. Carpet stain in the second row next to the center console.
14. Rear speaker covers were broken before replacing the rear door speakers; probably some modification required to get them to fit over the new speakers even for non-broken ones.
16. Three of the locks don't work (motors, most likely; driver's front and both rear doors)
17. Front driver side window has a broken track
18. Probably some additional minor issues I’m not remembering.

All total I probably put $3500 - 4500 into it before the engine issues. With the exception of the engine and rear quarter panel, most of the stuff is fairly minor/easy to fix (and the quarter panel is purely cosmetic).

Clean title. I have ~200 detailed pictures for potential buyers.

$5000 very negotiable

(super excited to see how many people still talk s*** about the price)

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you do realize that the first link u posted is a running driving white one with the headgasket already done "asking" $5500 ??? And you do realize it may likely end up going for closer to $4500??

so why on earth would you be starting in the $5k range with your broke one?
 
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you do realize that the first link u posted is a running driving white one with the headgasket already done "asking" $5500 ??? And you do realize it may likely end up going for closer to $4500??

so why on earth would you be starting in the $5k range with your broke one?

IT HAS 365K MILES
 
(that's ignoring the multitude of other things, like mine having $4k of additional maintenance the white one doesn't have.)
 
Why are you so hard on this guy? He can ask $5 or $5000. If you don't like the asking price make an offer or move on. Ragging his ass does not benefit the site.
Have a look at bugsnbikes other posts it is just his thing , guess he is an old VW guy and it is just how they roll
 
- So given the last 80 i purchased for $600.... running with bent axle. (Replacement axle $180@ pic n pull) 160k miles on engine. (Link in sig -plasma cutter and ducktape)

- i keep passign up on running driving ones for $3k as i really just need a chassis drivetrain for my next project. Most of those disappear from craigs on the first day, Last one was in Napa. A few weeks earlier one with 185k miles in SF. Went for 3500 in sub 2hrs.

- im stalking another 160k miler via a friends father in law- hes @$4k now- but it may go to craigs if i dont end up making a reasonable offer in the $3500 area......which im contemplating but i really am looking for one alot cheaper with a worse body so i can deconstruct it. Its temtping tho with that low of mileage/running fine/good maintenance and current smog.....but i will wait it out and see if i end up getting it for $3k.

- i passed on another local one in my town and let a local mudder/ buddy grab it. It was a few blocks from his house and i had stalked it for a year. It only had 180k ish and just needed some cleanup - he got it for $2200- runs and drives fine. And he just took it on a big trip after fixing a few things and getting it smogged.
That one never made it to craigs - local for sale sign on it that i was stalking.

california is a buyers market right now for 80s......mainly due to our $4.00+ per gallon gas prices. every time gas prices cross the magic $80+ a tank to fill..........60s/80s/100series all flood the market real cheap.
 
What does it matter the possible price if no engine issues? Probably in line with other vehicles listed here in same condition. He stated a price that was not set in stone. Work your way down from there.


It matters as I was trying to move him towards a price that I felt was more inline with the value of the truck so that I could justify the offer i was going to make. Instead of just saying your to high I has hoped to get him to come to an agreement that he was asking what a running one was worth. Unfortunately @aggiepaintrain beat me to the punch and then folks like you start chiming in. If I want to sell something then I try and justify the price and vise versa if Im trying to buy something I would try examples to get me to that end.

This is why I avoided posting it on here for a few months. I priced it at $5k everywhere else to scare off the low ballers. I post it here and can't put a different price, so I make it abundantly clear that the list price is not meant to reflect what I think the value is...specifically to try to avoid this stupid s***.

Unfortunately this seller seems to feel that any ideas on price other than his are "stupid s***" so I'll just move on and wait for the fire he has promised.
 
It matters as I was trying to move him towards a price that I felt was more inline with the value of the truck so that I could justify the offer i was going to make. Instead of just saying your to high I has hoped to get him to come to an agreement that he was asking what a running one was worth. Unfortunately @aggiepaintrain beat me to the punch and then folks like you start chiming in. If I want to sell something then I try and justify the price and vise versa if Im trying to buy something I would try examples to get me to that end.
Or you could have just made the offer...like a normal adult would have done when they saw someone going out of their way to highlight the negotiability of the price. You keep talking as if the price I listed actually reflects the price I'm willing to take.

No one has actually provided examples showing my valuation to be bad. I have provided examples showing my valuation to be accurate. This is pretty humorous given that you're now saying that's what you'd do...

I has hoped to get him to come to an agreement that he was asking what a running one was worth.

To "come to an agreement" there must first be a disagreement. Also mine *is* running. Regardless, you can't find them in this condition, running, for $5k. If you could, I wouldn't have spent nine months driving all over the state looking.

The best part about this is that not a single person has provided any objective evidence to show that their valuation is better than mine. I feel like if you're going to talk s*** about someone else's price, you should at least be prepared to come up with some examples...after all, that is how market pricing works.
 
good luck with your Landrover.....
So how do these reflect your assessment of value? My truck is in better condition or has lower miles than all of these in your area. My lowest price, plus the cost of a full engine rebuild, would still put you under these.

 
$1k for the front locked axle, $1k for the rear locked axle, $1k for the maintenance assuming receipts are provided.

$3,000 is a fair offer for both parties. But we dont live in a fair world, do we?
 
$1k for the front locked axle, $1k for the rear locked axle, $1k for the maintenance assuming receipts are provided.

$3,000 is a fair offer for both parties. But we dont live in a fair world, do we?
What front and rear locked axles are you referring to?
 
Whoops! thought this one had locked axles. Yeah... I think a guy made an $1800 offer in one of the first few posts.. You should take it!
How do you justify an $1800 valuation?

Also, as I think I noted...I've already turned down higher offers.
 
How much does everyone think the truck would be worth if I went ahead and got the head gasket done and it was running fine?
 
Not remotely. I already made it clear that the price I listed is not the lowest price, even going so far as to double emphasize the price negotiability. So I basically have three choices:

1. Decline to state any price.
2. Blatantly lie by just adding the cost of an engine replacement to my "list" price and state that I believe that's the value.
3. State a value that implicitly lowers the upper bound that was established by my "list" price.

The only logical choice is #1, because it doesn't actually provide any additional information to the other side that can be used to guess what the lower bound is. To put it another way, I made it clear that I don't believe that the listed price corresponds to the value of the truck; all my response does is reiterate that exact point without providing any additional usable information.
Dont use logic
 

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