Bought a 2005 LX site unseen and it has arrived!

[LXneewb]

So I have been on the hunt for about 6 months now. I finally found a clean one 1500 miles away and pulled the trigger. Impulse buy vs. this forum got me thinking it was the best thing on Earth and I couldnt let this one get away?... I dunno.

It was being sold by an indy shop that had been servicing it for years. I did not get a PPI based on the service records provided. Mistake...I know I know. I facetimed the seller once and looked it over in poor quality video. It was a no rust southern car, Timing belt and all fluids (except AHC) changed at 90K. Exterior looked great and carpets were spotless. I pulled the carfax and it was clean...Done deal.

It arrived last night. My first order of business was to check and see if all the major electronics worked and they do other than a blown speaker. Subwoofer is OK. AHC works. Goes from Lo to Hi in about 22 seconds.

Will check for the dreaded AHC graduations this weekend in the light. The AHC fluid level is very low. It is halfway between empty and the Min line in N position. How could an Indy shop let the liquid gold run so low? I had already run it Lo to Hi and vice versa a few times in the excitement of its arrival not realizing the fluid levels were so low I have called every Toyota dealer in a 100 mile radius and no one carries the AHC fluid in stock... I put in an order for some.

Based on this forum's suggestions I have also ordered the OEM heater T's and will begin a slow but painful interior cleaning this long weekend.
Anything else I should be checking for? I do plan on taking it to a Lexus dealer out of state for the next oil change just to have them look it over.
I want to think I got a decent deal. Has 134K on it. Will post some pics once I clean it up. My first 100 series!

 

[Kabanstva]

post pics

 

[sammybones]

Pics or it didn’t happen.

 

[fro20fow]

Anything else I should be checking for?

Yeah. Check the service manual and you will find all recommended maintenance.

 

[LXneewb]

Here it is...

 

[brownfox]

Looks like you did ok. Underneath?

 

[FxFormat]

Good looking ride, i don't see rust on the tailgate, which is a good sign.

 

[nothappening]

It might be an optical illusion, but it looks like you've got more rake than you should. My truck looked like that when one of the rear sensors went bad.

 

[LXneewb]

It might be an optical illusion, but it looks like you've got more rake than you should. My truck looked like that when one of the rear sensors went bad.

Definitely an illusion. Its parked downhill. Otherwise it sits level.

 

[Phat1842Many]

Looks clean. Congratulations and welcome

 

[krispykritter]

That thing does look very very clean. I bought mine with 135k on it and it looked very similar to yours, but not quite as nice! Mine was pretty well taken care of but not perfect. Here's what I did immediately:

Muffler replacement - had a rust hole. That V8 rumble isn't normal on these cars.
Drive flanges and CV axles - they wear against each other if they aren't greased regularly, eventually allowing play in the driveline. It's one of the (many) sources of driveline clunk on these things. Did the wheel bearings and seals while I was in there.
Tires - I had three different types of tire on the thing when I bought it. 5 new 33" all-terrains fixed that, at the low low cost of 1500$.

As you mentioned, AHC maintenance is a good idea. I had one leaky shock that turned out to just be the seal between the high pressure line and the shock body. Top off fluid, maybe do a bleed and replacement.

Check your ball joint boots - I had one torn upper and one torn lower. The lowers are a total pain, but the uppers aren't bad. You can buy replacement boots for something else (Tacoma maybe?) that fit the 100. If you do the CV axles, definitely consider doing the lower ball joints at the same time - you can't get to the lowers with the CV axles in there, and it's quite a process to get the CV axles out.

My only unexpected piece of maintenance in the last year was my alternator dying on my drive to work. I checked my heater Tees but they (and all the radiator hoses for that matter) look new, so I assume they were replaced when the timing belt was done at 105k.

Blown speaker is annoying since these things use some weird impedance - like 14 ohms or something. Easiest fix there is to repair the busted speaker or source another OEM one.

Congrats on the new car.

 

[CLEcruiser]

Buying site unseen is a boss move, don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise

 

[AllLC]

if you replace the cv's only use oem. they're stupid expensive. Mcgeorge sells them for around 350 a piece. that's the best deal i could find. Certified Toyota Dealership Richmond - Toyota Cars For Sale. I know a lot of people are going to disagree with me on the lower ball joints but if you find they need to be replaced just replace the entire assembly. there's a reason Toyota doesn't sell just the ball.

Congratulations! shes a beaut, im jealous of everything but the AHC . But even that will be real sweet when you get it squared away. Welcome to your new addiction.

 

[krispykritter]

Lower ball joints are an utter pain in the ass. Depending on new lower control arm prices, I might do that in the future as opposed to replacing the ball joints themselves.

I replaced my CVs with A1 Cardone new units and had no complaints - they were beefier than the toyota units that came out of the truck. Only 10k miles on them so far, so YMMV.

 

[LXneewb]

Thanks everyone. Yes the truck does looks really clean now that it is washed. The pictures dont do it justice.

I have done the following so far:

Cleaned and conditioned the leather seats

Drained the low AHC fluid reservoir with a turkey baster- 1L came out and it was all black. Put in a quart of fresh AHC fluid in and I have 2 more quarts with which I will drain the accumulators later.

Got the cabin air filters replaced. Made a mistake and got them from Bell Lexus-$38 I will never see again. Im sure a cheaper brand from ebay would work just as well

Got the air filter (Denso) from Amazon for $15 and replaced it

Ordered OEM wiper refills for the front and the actual wiper blade for the rear

Still waiting on the Heater T's ($18) to arrive- I think this will be pain job to do

Evaporator box drips a little water in the passenger footwell after running the AC. Ordered the seal and will replace it to stop the leak

The FM reception on the radio is horrendous. Took apart the front trim and checked the antenna cables in the back of the head unit and they are plugged in. Ordered the antenna mast OEM ($55) and will change it out to see if it helps. FM signal gets distorted on full extension of current antenna.

Ordered USA Spec Bluetooth ($140). When I had the head unit out, noticed enough space near the driver vent to have that thing put in and get some spotify streaming going

Took some Lysol disinfectant spray and sprayed the air intake near the wipers to get rid of that god awful wet carpet mixed with urine smell that blows when I would turn on the air. Fixed beautifully thanks to scotty kilmer (aka rev up your engines)

Will attack the seatbelts this weekend. Want them looking brand new!

 

[Ozymandias]

It looks like we're right in the same boat with really similar LX's. Your seats look really nice!

 

[l3n0x]

The problem with replacing the whole LCA for the ball joint is that you then have to replace the bushing in the frame (what a silly design) as well (that’s reasonable while at it) - which is not an easy task without the SST.

 

[MN CZ]

Very nice find, and great job doing a lot of forum reading on all the maintenance and clean-up tricks. I have the same year and color, but of course a lot of bubbling rust issues with the tailgate. So good work finding a clean one!

Edit- I don't think the FM reception is much to begin with; replacing the antenna mast find net zero reward. If reception was better on half-extension, maybe it might help. For $55 bucks, it don't hurt to try, at least.

 

[cwmoser]

I too put my you know what out on the chopping block and like you purchased my LX470 sight unseen.
Ebay purchase, beautiful pictures, seller had great reviews, talked to him on the phone and decided to press the Buy-It-Now button.
Wired the full amount, waited with great expectations 2 weeks before it was delivered.
Sometimes you have to venture out of the traditional path to get a special vehicle.
Mine turned out to be great vehicle.

 

[RyanStl]

Congrat's on finding a nice Hundy.

Soooooo....what's an '05 Hundy with 135K miles going for these day? Since I bought mine ('02) with same miles there have been very few for sale on Craigslist. Just wondering what the going rate these days is.