Buying my first 100 series, how many miles is too many to start? (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

I agree with everything in @kgrove's post, but having recently shopped and replaced my globes, would add this:

Dealer list price, four globes
$3,884.04​
ToyotaPartsDeal.com, four globes
$2,685.32​
LexusPartsNow.com, four globes
$2,872.12​
Same parts, same back-end company as ToyotapartsDeal.com.
Impex, Japan
$596.32​
NOT A TYPO. (And price dropped since I bought them a month ago.)

I paid $90 for shipping from Japan; ToyotaPartsDeal just told me it was about $19 to ship four globes.

It's a pretty easy job to swap them out, depending on rust. Empty the AHC fluid, unscrew the globes, screw the new ones in, refill the AHC fluid.



I'd echo this. I think a lot of LX owners bought a pre-paid maintenance plan/warranty as well. The LX I purchased was religiously taken to the dealer at every service interval, and all the scheduled items were performed.
49042-60020 is $349 did you have a special promo code or something?
 
49042-60020 is $349 did you have a special promo code or something?

That's the part the globe screws into:

4904260020-2.jpg





Posted the links to the globes in another thread:

 
Anecdotally - have an '04 that is at 250k. My second LC. Bought it in May, 2017 when it was at 190k. Absolutely love it. Took it this past summer from Nashville to Sedona to the Grand Canyon to Bryce and Arches, then back through CO, over Independence Pass, and back to Nashville with my son. We changed the oil prior to going (that's all) and did over 100 miles on unpaved, dusty NFS roads while on the trip - no rain on the trip. Got the oil changed upon return and thought the air filter would be cooked. Guy doing the oil change asked me why I thought I needed a new one. Have a timing belt coming up at 270k that I will do in about 5k. Been an amazing vehicle. My son is turning 16 in a few months, and he thinks he is getting it. He is only getting it (and working for it at that) if I can find another 100 for me. I have a saved search on Cars-dot-com for 03-04-05 LCs and monitor it constantly. Would love to have two in the driveway.

I was skeptical to begin with - had an 80-series ('97) that I bought in 2004 with 100k, kept it for 10 years, and then at about also 190k, that one was essentially done. The engine was A-1 fine, but the rest of the vehicle could not keep up (or I couldn't afford to keep it up). Overall, it was a great 100k miles on the vehicle.

With both vehicles, my wife discovered them while driving past used car lots. Seriously. Both of them. And both rides have been/were fantastic. If I can get into two LCs by what at first appears to be dumb luck, on second consideration I have to believe that these things are basically workhorses across the board.

(That post above about all of the things that can go wrong around 200,000 miles has me slightly freaked out, but I haven't had any of that stuff appear yet, and I think I am going to roll the dice again this summer and head out to AZ on the current set-up, with maybe some new tires.)

I might have too cavalier an opinion, but I am 50 years old and currently plan to drive used LCs until they take my license away.
We should hang out. My son is getting my 95 LC but I replaced it with a 2000 LX BEFORE I SAID YES TO THAT! 😂
nashville needs a 100-owners hang!

And to the OP, +1 for the LX comments. When I started looking, I read Slee’s newbie guide to zone in on the year I wanted to look for, as each year of the LC, they added features. Then at the end it said, all features were included on the LX from 98 on. Sold it for me, cuz I wanted the AHC and other features. Then it was just a matter of finding one I could afford without rust. Landed on the 2000 in my sig, and it already had 315k on it. But also seconding the above post, records for DAYS. Most of the work done at one dealer. And I’m loving the ride upgrade from my 80 series.
 
Last edited:
Just some information from the western half of the country as I just upgraded my Tacoma to an LX. Maybe the market is worse here but here are some Mountain West stats from someone who spent a year and a half watching the market before being able to make a move.

I just bought a 2001 LX out of Montana. It lived in Texas from new until 2014 when sold into Montana. 130k miles. Yearly dealer maintenance until 75k/2011. CarFax shows regular non-dealer maintenance since then. Timing belt done at 120k. Vehicle had an interesting AHC “conversion” done at some point.

I paid 18,500.

A 2006 LX needing major VGRS work, timing belt, etc. with 120k sold at a dealer here in Salt Lake for 20k. A 2006 LX with 100k sold at a different dealer in Montana for 26k. Both dealers received multiple calls per day from all around the country on both vehicles.

Since buying mine three weeks ago it has gotten the following:

OME 2.5” medium w/Slee diff drop
Slee stainless brake lines
285 Yokohama Geolandars

The next items were all the issues when I bought it. It had a PPI at a Toyota dealer and they missed everything listed below. Cost at a local LC specialty shop was about 2500 total.
NEW STEERING RACK
HEATER T’s
RADIATOR AND ASSOCIATED HOSES
SERP BELT
 
Last edited:
The next items were all the issues when I bought it. It had a PPI at a Toyota dealer and they missed everything listed below. Cost at a local LC specialty shop was about 2500 total.
NEW STEERING RACK
HEATER T’s
RADIATOR AND ASSOCIATED HOSES
SERP BELT
This is exactly why I will walk each and every serious buyer through every inch of my rig - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I've done this before on cars I've owned and sold, and because of this, I always manage to get the seemingly higher sales price that I ask. Folks end up knowing EXACTLY what they are buying.

The buyer can also get a PPI done, but I'll bet dollars to donuts I'll help them develop a "needs to improve" list that is longer than any PPI can generate.
 
Bought mine with more than a quarter million, and it feels like I'm still on my honeymoon almost 6 months later.
 
My 2000 has 407,233 on the clock. Regular maint. is the key to this Daily Driver.
have you ever replaced the fuse box? congrats. hope you are still running it. would love a list of what you've done.
 
I have a 2002 LX470 that I purchased with 24K miles, now has 68K miles.
I bought my son a 2004 LC with 180K miles, now has 240K miles.
Truthfully, I kinda like my the way my son's LC drives better.
From my experience, just find a well maintained LC or LX with 240K miles would be fine.
Going forward I suspicion even 300K or more on a well maintained rust free example is A OK.
 
I bought a well maintained, zero/next to zero rust 2001 LX470 last week with 240k. Drives better than any 22 year old vehicle has a right to. I figured for the price I got it, if the transmission and engine both exploded in the next 2 years (pretty unlikely given the maintenance history), I'd still be less than a quarter of the way to a new vehicle with the same pedigree after replacing them both. Plus there's just something about a 20 year old vehicle that seems to fit me better than a new one.
 
Bought mine from a Mud member that I had sold an FJ60 to back in 2010. Has 287K on the clock with a timing belt/waterpump service 17K prior to that (It's 4th including original) purrs like a kitten and doesn't smoke. It's all about the maintenance. But as these get older, non-mechanical stuff will start to wear out, door lock actuators, seatbelt return units. Just little stuff that's easy to knock out at a leisurely pace. Only real issue of consequence is exhaust manifolds cracking and causing an exhaust leak but that isn't anything that stops it from being driven.
 
What Trapper50Cal said...so true!

I bought mine 6 years ago with 243K, Texas truck with no rust and it came with a book of maintenance history. I've since done the "little stuff", some bigger than others...steering rack, brake module (most $$$), alternator, etc.

I've spent some money on it, they aren't cheap to maintain and I recommend only OEM parts. Knowing what I know and have spent, I'd do it again in a heartbeat! I love my 24 year old LC more than any vehicle I've owned.
 
I bought a 2007 LC with 230k miles for around $17,000. Sounds a bit high typing that out but I don't regret it one bit, it's been such a joy to have. This one in particular was 1 owner and all service was done at Toyota so I can view the records online and the previous owner went in every 5,000 miles; I don't think I would have pulled the trigger without that, hell I even spent a lot at Toyota baselining it when I first got it just so the records showed new owner cared.

I've since done about 30,000 miles and no issues, I fully intend to get the 25 year service life out of it.
 
I bought a well maintained, zero/next to zero rust 2001 LX470 last week with 240k. Drives better than any 22 year old vehicle has a right to. I figured for the price I got it, if the transmission and engine both exploded in the next 2 years (pretty unlikely given the maintenance history), I'd still be less than a quarter of the way to a new vehicle with the same pedigree after replacing them both. Plus there's just something about a 20 year old vehicle that seems to fit me better than a new one.
do you mind sharing what you paid? I bought an '01 LC in 2019, with 270K for $9K. current odo is 335K and some but not a lot of $$ in prevent maint...been great.
 
I would suspect a big difference between 2019 pricing and 2023 pricing ... a bit jump up in pricing.
I bet you're wondering what your '01 LC is worth 2ith 335K miles.
I would suspect its worth more than the original $9K price you paid for it.
 
do you mind sharing what you paid? I bought an '01 LC in 2019, with 270K for $9K. current odo is 335K and some but not a lot of $$ in prevent maint...been great.
I bought a two owner 2001 LX with 240k for $9k from a private seller. From what I saw, a similar year/mileage LC would have been closer to $12k unless I had just been fortunate to find a steal, which I missed on by about 20 minutes on a 2004 stock one-owner with 212k in Arizona for $10k, she said her phone blew up after listing and was sold sight unseen in about 7 hours. The LC tends to carry a bit of a premium.
 
While 'condition' trumps 'miles', what you get in a 300K+ mile truck are things like: many dash light bulbs are burned out, the HVAC buttons need cleaning or replacement, the door lock actuators don't always work on hot days, the cladding clips (Lexus) rust away, leaving your cladding flapping. My brake accumulator/booster/master died, my alternator died, and I just replaced the fuel pump, all since I bought it. The radiator was replaced right before I got it, at 308K miles. All of these parts were original.

I'm not complaining, as own lots of high-miles trucks, but you should NOT buy one unless you do all the work yourself. I want my truck to be 100% (meaning stuff like all the dash lights), and it's been a long, fun journey, but not one that I'd like to pay someone else to do. I paid $8K and the truck is in m sig line.
 
While 'condition' trumps 'miles', what you get in a 300K+ mile truck are things like: many dash light bulbs are burned out, the HVAC buttons need cleaning or replacement, the door lock actuators don't always work on hot days, the cladding clips (Lexus) rust away, leaving your cladding flapping. My brake accumulator/booster/master died, my alternator died, and I just replaced the fuel pump, all since I bought it. The radiator was replaced right before I got it, at 308K miles. All of these parts were original.

I'm not complaining, as own lots of high-miles trucks, but you should NOT buy one unless you do all the work yourself. I want my truck to be 100% (meaning stuff like all the dash lights), and it's been a long, fun journey, but not one that I'd like to pay someone else to do. I paid $8K and the truck is in m sig line.
Yep. I'd say - read first 20 pages of this forum, put all issues/problems mentioned twice and count on dealing with those if over 200k and wasn't done before. I had one truck which I baselined completely and now I just bought another (2000). Plan on 5k in parts. And lot's of labor.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom