Buying a used 2003 Landcruiser, Need some advise

[rahee006]

is it possible to swap Land Cruiser Body parts on an LX?

 

[2003lx470]

I can say people who drive LXs are really cool !!!!!!!!!

I understand you want to drive a Blue Land Cruiser. Take a moment to think, do you want to buy a car that has no history or little history, if that? Driving these trucks are NOT cheap. If you have to take it to a mechanic, its going to cost a lot.

My advice: get a low mileage, well maintained, well documented rig that you are going to enjoy driving for many yrs. If you don't have the funds, wait. Don't be in a rush because you found a blue land cruiser on a stealership. I bought mine when I lived in Boston. Now it has rust at the bottom. I bought my 1 owner at a dealership with the Lexus warranty for 5yrs. During those 5 yrs, I had many issues and all covered under the warranty. I paid $2700.00 and it was well worth it.

 

[rahee006]

i decided im not going to get the blue landcruiser, the carfax only tells me the inspection/emissions, nothing about a service. I am looking into 2 LX470's one with 118k miles and another with 130k miles, both 2004 ( that has the reverse camera )

 

[RND1]

The LX470 is very nice - all of the interior trim and dash lighting is a nice upgrade over the LC, but I agree with you that the LC looks better from the outside. If you're buying local to you (NY) then do your homework on the AHC system. Most on here say it works quite well, but when it doesn't, it's a costly fix. The underside of any local truck to you or me will have rust on the underside and all of the AHC components. This was the main reason I stayed away from the LX. I've seen people driving them around my area with the front dropped and rear high - full stink bug mode lol. Didn't want to deal with that so LC it was. '03 - '05 is the sweetspot unless you can find an '06-'07 LC without AHC.

 

[rahee006]

I own a Buckingham blue 2009 range rover, it has no benefit over my bmw e39 m5, sits 5 ppl, thats about it.

 

[re_guderian]

i decided im not going to get the blue landcruiser, the carfax only tells me the inspection/emissions, nothing about a service. I am looking into 2 LX470's one with 118k miles and another with 130k miles, both 2004 ( that has the reverse camera )

If they'll go 9k on the blue one, let me know...

 

[06 flstfise]

When I was looking I ran a bunch of VINs through the Toyota and Lexus owners website to see what kind of maintenance was done. Easier to find more detailed and better info there than either carfax or autocheck can provide. Just register as you own it and then remove once you are done looking at history. The 05 I found had a great online record and paper receipt record to confirm it all and account for a few missing items from the online due to non dealer work. Good luck

 

[rahee006]

can anyone help me generate a service history for this car? JTJHT00W233535149 its a lexus lx470
i cant access my lexus service account. thanks in advance!

 

[rahee006]

found it, doesnt look too good. no wonder why its so cheap

 

[bctlex]

@rahee006 Not sure how long you been searching, but when I was looking for my LC, the good ones are sold almost immediately. There are not many LC/LX for sale and everyone seems to wants one. A very cheap vehicle or a vehicle that has been on sale for a while may have some problems. Dont get discouraged if this process takes a longer than searching to buy other vehicle.

I bought mine with the understanding that it will need tires, WP, TB and few minor things, but the purchase price is low enough that I am fine with that. I also like it because I can spread the cost a bit, and from reading here at Mud, I actually save some $ because I can do some of these stuffs. My point is that you may find one that may need a few things. Just add the cost of the vehicle, and the cost of repair, and see if the final cost make sense. Finding a car that does not need anything from the get go is going to be harder.

 

[rahee006]

i have noticed, majority of used car dealers don't have any records of the cars they buy, there is one car being sold for 15k has 10 pages of service records from the same dealership. I will check that car out today. and see what it looks like.

the carfax says " Vehicle Serviced " i checked the Lexus service history, it says, Customer Declined Service. Lol

 

[06 flstfise]

Carfax, Autocheck etc are different than the Toyota/Lexus records. Carfax and Autocheck look for anytime vin was entered into a data base. Whereas the Toyota/Lexus record will be an actual entry as to what was done or not done from a dealer or service center. I like to use them both and cross reference them. Vehicle could have a really good maintenance record from Toyota and been in a wreck that wouldn't show up because owner could have taken it to independent body shop who doesn't enter into Toyota records. I agree with bctlex you need to know what your willing to get done and what the price you want to pay is. I ran a tons of vehicles through carfax and Toyota and eliminated them due to a number of reasons. I ended up traveling to buy mine after a long search in my area only turned up either over priced in my opinion or to rusty. There were two locally that were in contention but one ended up having more rust than i expected and the second needed TB and WP done and they would not come off sticker. They were both at lexus dealers and sold shortly after so the dealer knew what the market would pay (just not me) and was right. I was fortunate that i did not need to buy and took my time. Keep reading up on this site and you will learn enough that hopefully when you see a good price you can jump on it.

 

[RND1]

Get rid of the RR and get this:

2006 Toyota Land Cruiser

 

[rahee006]

I went ahead and test drove the 120k mile 2004 LX470, the car had minor scuffs and scratches, very good service history upto 118k miles. It felt very stiff. Could be the sport button turned on, but the AHC worked fine, leather has some wear, not worth the 16k asking price.

 

[RND1]

^^ Has wrong wheels and spoiler for an '04.

 

[PADDO]

I went ahead and test drove the 120k mile 2004 LX470, the car had minor scuffs and scratches, very good service history upto 118k miles. It felt very stiff. Could be the sport button turned on, but the AHC worked fine, leather has some wear, not worth the 16k asking price.

When you're inspecting AHC vehicles I'd recommend not only checking that it raises to H and drops to L and returns to N without any issues but also that the comfort mode switch has a distinct influence on the damping; in a properly maintained system with good damper accumulator globes you'll definitely feel the differences between Comfort and Sport2. Always do the L to H reservoir graduation check too. It's likely not to be spot on accurate due to neutral pressure probably being on the high side but if you only get 6 grads of fluid then most, or all four, damper globes are probably past their useable life. Original globes in a 2004 most likely don't have very much charge remaining and won't provide "like new" damping but at 7+ graduations (at correct neutral pressures) their damping performance is OK, just. Also I read in a post recently that a seller said the AHC is fine because they "didn't use it". To funny. Height Control and Adaptive Variable Suspension go hand in hand. Every time the vehicle is started and driven it self levels and controls pitch (AHC) and tunes damping, limits body roll etc (AVS) so it's always being used, maybe not raised or lowered via the button but it's always adjusting level and damping (assuming it's turned on and you drive above 50MPH). HTH

 

[rahee006]

i see, the car had the spoiler installed from the dealer ^ i didnt get a chance to look over everything, but ride was stiff, stiffer then my BMW M5. Maybe the suspension was on Sport Setting The car had aftermarket wood trim, I have a question, What happens if timing belt service is overdue? at 140k. is it too far gone ? without inspecting.

 

[PADDO]

I have a question, What happens if timing belt service is overdue? at 140k. is it too far gone ? without inspecting.

Timing belts and the other associated stuff are only "too far gone" when they fail - unfortunately you don't get to chose where or when it may decide to let go and leave you stranded. Changing out the belt, water pump, tensioner, serpentine belt and idler renews them so you're good to go for the next 90k or 72/108 months (depending on which Toyota or personal maintenance schedule you want to follow).

 

[PabloCruise]

Get rid of the RR and get this:

2006 Toyota Land Cruiser

Jinkees! I am not crazy about the color, but that looks like a pretty good deal!

 

[SmoothLC]

Thought the same thing.