Ive been guided a few times in various directions and manners in this thread and as its OP, let me paraphrase my current position.
1) There is nothing on the market quiet like an overbuilt, nearly $100k, conservative engineering platform, outdated to the point of true time tested dependability as the Toyota LC or Lexus LX. In my mind, the LC never made sense to begin with, but the LX kind of did? We see what happened to LC in the US now that its gone, being a victim of its price point mainly and the LX now clawing further upmarket. Its a true unicorn in its own accord, and king of its domain, and that takes us two point 2.
2) The hype is extra fing real. The amount of times ive read on this forum and elsewhere the fanfare surrounding the platform, to me, means i should have zero quality issues, design oversights, or even known failure points. But even here, where LC love is unrivaled, myself being guilty as well, we have repeated examples disproving the rhetoric. I still say “its a tank” when people ask me about my LX with the frequent “thats a lexus!!?!!”, but its really not. Tanks dont have plastic oil housings that crack for example (dont nitpick if they actyally do please), despite the LCs popularity in Ukraine currently lol. We even had a thread a while back where one of the production savvy insider mods dispelled the myth that we have our own special fairy dust assembly lines. That shocked everyone reading including me who had believed it for years.
3) The truck is plentiful in its features, and robust, but need’s maintenance like everything else. For example if you miss the driveline grease, it’ll start thunking pretty quick. Theres a lot more to manage down there in a true 4x4 so keep that in mind. Its not high maintenance, but its def not low maintenance either. Now if it were a POS rav4, id never do anything but oil, so we tend as a community to do things early and often to milk out or money/miles worth. And honestly also just out of love, like in my case, however belabored the relationship, I’m actually hyper concerned ill never be able to replace it. Where will i get a new NA port injected V8 body on frame SUV with this level of kit outside a G which i wont drop the coin on after two LXs? But, being a japan made T / L, parts aren’t cheap either. Specially if you have an actually rare failure like electronics/AHC. Or common incidental like windshield. Keep that in mind when buying a really old example. The badge may lead you to believe every bit is economically oriented underneath the skin, but its really not, due to its position regarding point 1.
4) Even if we accept the reality, faults, and upkeep, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend anyone to jump in. Even given the dog brakes, and dog transmission map. That can all be addressed and you are in the right place. Now at what point of the lifespan you decide to go is really a matter of what you want to do with the truck. A certified sequioa / 4R or something will probably be more bang for the buck if you are driving family to school and commuting to work. But an LC they are not and tbh 4R is so played out i could barf. So if not actually using the truck in its element, which I have yet to do myself, you may find yourself wondering why you are not in something cheaper, more practical and more efficient and more fun (my bad). To buy an old one and build it and beat it up? Nothing better. The resale value being what it is though, against a high starting price point new will mean that the later you buy in, the more that value proposition is potentially diminished. The earlier the better IMO, so you can enjoy the younger years and miraculously have equity in your vehicle, something i didnt even know was possible until i “discovered” the platform. But the double edge here is you wont want to beat on your nice and new 200! I also wouldnt put all my eggs in a any 3rd or 4th owner LC or LX going 500k without issue necessarily, but if there is one truck that bet is the safest in, its the LC. Plus, you have all these forum losers to rely on should anything go wrong. Lol.
I would say to anyone go for it, but proceed without the rose glasses, or at least understand youre at the 200 series purchase because there literally is no comparison shop for it. And being that you will probably be dedicated to its success, do not settle until you find the right grandma specimen in the color you want. I personally don’t think a 150k miles is a lot, but don’t expect perfection is all im saying. If you are really sweating it, ask yourself if an engine or transmission replacement would be a complete deal breaker for you worst case. In those cases, i assure you the body and frame wont be keeping you from the 500k target once critical drivetrain piece is replaced. It can still make sense. But if you are like me, and hate a thousand little details that are not show stoppers, id buy a newer one, like i did. Still a hell of deal. And if you are rich like 4UZJ or Tex68, buy 4 new and laugh for the rest of your life at the turbo s***boxes and evs in production.
Also, I realize every single sentence was a run-on, but i kinda like it that way. Sorry! And sorry for typos, hastily written on iphone with autocorrect disabled…
