Deciding on age and condition of truck to buy

[Diny]

Hello everyone

I've been lurking on this forum for the past couple of weeks as I decided that my next vehicle will be a Land Cruiser or an LX470. I'll save the detailed introduction once I purchase said car, but right now I would like a bit of guidance in narrowing down my search.

I do have a slight preference for the LX470. Availability, luxury, and price (considering mileage) seem to be better around here in New York. I can spend up to $15k, which would put me right in the zone of 2004+ trucks with between 100k and 150k miles around here. However, there are a few vehicles for much less, but also older. For example, there's a 1999 lx470 with 140k around here for just over $8k that looks relatively clean with very little surface rust underneath.

I will not be towing, the car will not be garaged, and I'll put less than 7k miles on it per year, and I will try to protect its underside. I will not be doing major wrenching on it myself. What do you think? Get the newest possible in the best possible condition or are older ones just fine? I would like to try to keep this vehicle as long as possible.

Thank you for your advice!

 

[Placemotorsports]

If the more efficient trans and upgraded interior bits are worth the extra $7k to you then get the newer one. Basically though in the NY area, I would get the cleanest model, least amount of rust more so than worry about the year.

 

[fsung]

In our neck of woods (tri-state), a non-rusty truck is hard to come by. If you're lucky enough to found 2 of those, I will take 03+ since it came with a 5spd instead of 4. Also, 2000+ has a stronger front diff than 98/99.

 

[bamabrock]

I'd search Florida vehicles on ebay for tradeins from dealerships, have it inspected, fly out and roadtrip it back. Start with something rust free. LXs are a dime a dozen in south florida from all the retirees.

 

[geanes]

I hadn't considered Florida previously. Now that you mention retirees, it makes sense. Every couple of weeks I see an LX pop in South Texas (retiree area) with low miles, rust free and relatively cheap. Heck, just last week, a dealer in McAllen had a '00 LX white, 88k for $15k. Thing looked perfect. My friend down there saw it when they were pulling it out of the service prep bay. It was already spoken for less than 24 hours after it was traded in. Dealer said they see these pretty frequently and they are usually traded in for an Avalon