Hey y'all!
I recently acquired a super-clean '99 LX470, and I could not be happier. I had previously owned a 1st-gen Tacoma, which I bought new back in 2004 with only 17 miles on the odometer. I loved that little truck, and it served me well for over 22 years and 217,000 miles. We crossed the country 3 times together and made several trips up and down the West Coast. It wasn't until a trip out to Joshua Tree back in February that I realized I had finally outgrown the mighty 3RZ-FE that powered my Xtra Cab. I definitely maxed out its 3500 lbs hauling capacity, towing a camper, although she proved to be the little Taco that could. At the same time, I was also beginning to take my BRZ to the track quite often, to the point I would be better served towing my car to the track instead of prematurely wearing down my 200 treadwear tires driving back and forth to the track. So I set out on my search for another Toyota, but this time V8-powered.
I originally contemplated 1st-gen Tundras and briefly looked at some Sequoias, but I soon realized that it was a 100-Series that truly fit my wants and needs. Having made up my mind, I began my search in earnest, scouring Marketplace and the usual used car listing aggregators. It didn't take long to find a minty LX470 locally that checked all the boxes.
The Good: 1-Owner, California car with zero rust. A clean Carfax, backed up by matching VIN stickers on all the body panels. and only 200,600 miles on the clock. The AHC was fully functional and had recently performed services for a new Aisin water pump and timing belt, thermostat, a new rack and pinion with fresh alignment, and a front main seal. On top of that, it was a non-navigation model, which really sealed the deal for me.
The Bad: A limited service history beyond the recent work performed, the paint had been re-sprayed, as evidenced by overspray found on the spare tire, and masking tape still attached to one of the headlight lenses (not to mention the orange peel upon closer inspection), the sunroof didn't work, and the rear wiper arm needed to be replaced, and it didn't have the towing package.
I debated for a couple of weeks because I wanted to see if anything else might appear in the market that met my criteria and might have been less expensive, but I wasn't really able to find another that was exactly what I wanted for less than $20K. So I quickly sold Tacoma and pulled the trigger on the LX, and I am so happy that I did.
I am currently really enjoying it in stock form. If anything, I do very light off-roading in the Arizona desert, so I don't see the need for a major build-out. I may pull the running boards off and remove the roof rack since it's pretty worn. But currently, my only plans are to throw some proper A/T tires on it.
I do want to give a big thanks to and for this community. I have found Mud to already be an invaluable resource, and I'm happy to be a part of it. So far, I have been able to fix one of the third row seats, which wasn't folding up. I found the part number to replace the screw for the rearview mirror, which had stripped on mine. And I'm very confident I can build a plug-n-play wiring harness when the time comes to replace the Nakamichi headunit. All thanks to the info found here.
I'm very much looking forward to learning more about the 100 Series. Thanks, everyone!
I recently acquired a super-clean '99 LX470, and I could not be happier. I had previously owned a 1st-gen Tacoma, which I bought new back in 2004 with only 17 miles on the odometer. I loved that little truck, and it served me well for over 22 years and 217,000 miles. We crossed the country 3 times together and made several trips up and down the West Coast. It wasn't until a trip out to Joshua Tree back in February that I realized I had finally outgrown the mighty 3RZ-FE that powered my Xtra Cab. I definitely maxed out its 3500 lbs hauling capacity, towing a camper, although she proved to be the little Taco that could. At the same time, I was also beginning to take my BRZ to the track quite often, to the point I would be better served towing my car to the track instead of prematurely wearing down my 200 treadwear tires driving back and forth to the track. So I set out on my search for another Toyota, but this time V8-powered.
I originally contemplated 1st-gen Tundras and briefly looked at some Sequoias, but I soon realized that it was a 100-Series that truly fit my wants and needs. Having made up my mind, I began my search in earnest, scouring Marketplace and the usual used car listing aggregators. It didn't take long to find a minty LX470 locally that checked all the boxes.
The Good: 1-Owner, California car with zero rust. A clean Carfax, backed up by matching VIN stickers on all the body panels. and only 200,600 miles on the clock. The AHC was fully functional and had recently performed services for a new Aisin water pump and timing belt, thermostat, a new rack and pinion with fresh alignment, and a front main seal. On top of that, it was a non-navigation model, which really sealed the deal for me.
The Bad: A limited service history beyond the recent work performed, the paint had been re-sprayed, as evidenced by overspray found on the spare tire, and masking tape still attached to one of the headlight lenses (not to mention the orange peel upon closer inspection), the sunroof didn't work, and the rear wiper arm needed to be replaced, and it didn't have the towing package.
I debated for a couple of weeks because I wanted to see if anything else might appear in the market that met my criteria and might have been less expensive, but I wasn't really able to find another that was exactly what I wanted for less than $20K. So I quickly sold Tacoma and pulled the trigger on the LX, and I am so happy that I did.
I am currently really enjoying it in stock form. If anything, I do very light off-roading in the Arizona desert, so I don't see the need for a major build-out. I may pull the running boards off and remove the roof rack since it's pretty worn. But currently, my only plans are to throw some proper A/T tires on it.
I do want to give a big thanks to and for this community. I have found Mud to already be an invaluable resource, and I'm happy to be a part of it. So far, I have been able to fix one of the third row seats, which wasn't folding up. I found the part number to replace the screw for the rearview mirror, which had stripped on mine. And I'm very confident I can build a plug-n-play wiring harness when the time comes to replace the Nakamichi headunit. All thanks to the info found here.
I'm very much looking forward to learning more about the 100 Series. Thanks, everyone!
.