Looked at a '99 LX470 yesterday.....

[MontLX470]

I posted on here a couple days ago about going to look at a '99 lx470.

The family and I took the hour and half ride to look at it. We arrived and the seller was very excited to get me into the truck and go for a ride.

The current owner was convinced that this truck was a real cream puff and seemed like someone who knew cars and what he had. I was wrong. He said he had a lot of service records, he didn't. I really wanted to look over the undercarriage and after telling him I work with vehicles for a living, I could see the wind fall out his sails. He was pretty pushy, getting me into the driver's seat, starting the truck, anything to get me away from my assessment. I did a good 80% of the checks I wanted to do. Either way there were lots of red flags.

Bad
I found a good amount of rust, the center cross beams brackets (not sure what they are called) were delaminating were it connected to the vehicle, there were holes in the drivers side rear frame (might not be part of the frame, couldn't tell), the AHC system didn't work and the shocks were rotted and ready to fail at any point and there was a lot of rust, including a fist sized hole in the passenger side undercarriage, by the pinch welds, which were also really rusty on that side. There was also a slight leak at the exhaust manifold.


All things considered it was in decent shape, and would be good for someone who wants to deal with rust? It'd be too much for us to deal with. The seller spent $1000 replacing the ignition system, which I was surprised by that cost.

The biggest thing was the guy was really pushy and didn't really have patience for me to get a good full assessment of the truck. Needless to say we left there with $7500 on the table, but decided quickly it wasn't the vehicle for us.

Lexus LX 470 SUV Clean

Thoughts? Are these vehicle really expense to fix? What's the story with GX470?

Pictures....
1st (124342) - Rear of truck rust holes, you can see the new trailer hitch bolt in the lower left.
2nd - (124410) - Delaminating metal. Front of truck to the right, note transfer case for location of picture
3rd - (124425) - Rust hole on passenger side undercarriage. About fist size.

 

[gpxl]

You made the right call. Keep looking and be patient. The GX470 is an excellent vehicle but noticeably narrower than the LC/LX and the rear is a swing out instead of a tailgate.

 

[KC100series]

Is the 2nd picture the arm and adjusting nut for the torsion bars with no torsion bar? Hard to tell with the rust, but sure looks like it to me. Maybe that could be why AHC wasn't working

 

[fjfj60]

The gx is a very nice vehicle. It's a little easier to find a nice one than hunting for a nice lx/land cruiser. Find a soccer mom driven gx and go drive it- see what you think.

 

[DirtDawg]

Is the 2nd picture the arm and adjusting nut for the torsion bars with no torsion bar? Hard to tell with the rust, but sure looks like it to me. Maybe that could be why AHC wasn't working

TBs are there, its the bar in the up right corner of the photo.

OP, run, run very far away. The GX is a great vehicle, but is more of a plush 4Runner. I would go test drive one to see what you think.

 

[Lowbudgetlc100]

wow, would not touch that one with your 10 ft pole.

 

[KC100series]

TBs are there, its the bar in the up right corner of the photo.

Good call. Totally missed that.

Also, I second everyone else that you should run away from that 100 as fast as you can

 

[mkivtdi]

I know you're in MASS, but might be worth a drive?

2000 Lexus LX470

 

[MontLX470]

That might be worth taking a look. Glad to hear I had the right decision on that one. That under vehicle rust is bad, bordering on out of control. Plus the AHC and the shocks were a bad omen.

 

[DirtDawg]

Id almost call that vehicle unsafe... Especially if the frame is rusting out around the body mounts.

 

[MontLX470]

Yes. I wouldn't disagree. Sucks for the seller. I think he's going to have to eat that loss. I don't know how you could sell a truck that ruff without letting people know and not mentioning that to a potential buyer when they ask you about rust. I have had great experiences buying and selling on craigslist, this is one of my first bad experiences.

 

[bctlex]

This is prove how well LC/LC are built. I have seen some rust pictures here with large holes in the frame, and I am amazed that the vehicle is still standing and can be driven instead of just crumpled into pile of mess.

Unfortunately, not everyone on CL is honest. My worse experience was when I went to see a Miata a few years ago. The seller only show picture of the car from one side. I asked before I go there if the car has been in accident. I got there, and the other side was crushed. He slid and hit a pole.

 

[Snowrydr01]

Ive been aggressively looking for LXs all over the tristate area for the last 3 weeks. Like you almost all of them are an hour and a half drive. On no less then 50% of the time i have dealers refuse to take pictures of the undercarriage and instead tell me to drive up and look at it. Most reference that "any used truck is going to have rust, you look for yourself" or straight out refusal since "I already took pictures, you look at those then drive up and look under it". If ANY dealer cant take 30 seconds to lean over and snap a few pictures to get my $11k, there is a very high likelihood that they know that 30 seconds is wasted time since i wouldn't want to see whats under there.

On to the GX, I can find lower mileage, new, clean framed GXs almost any day and they can be found roughly $3k cheaper. Like the 100 AHC, the 120s rear air springs are to be expected to be near their end of life but spring conversions are relatively cheap and easy. Its just a numbers game and there were a lot more of them. They are very stout and i wish my wife liked the size better but our Acura TSX wagon almost at much room inside so its starts to become redundant for us.

 

[MontLX470]

So much great information, this forum has been such a great resource! I was really impressed by the strength of that 100 I drove. It still handled and drove really smooth. By driving alone you'd never know the horrors going on underneath! I think I might bail on the idea of finding one that isn't ready to crack in half up here in the rust belt.

It might be worth while to hire a 3rd party inspection company and pick one out down south and deal with the added costs/time of shipping one up here and and make sure to undercoat the underbody every fall. I'm not worried about the potential repairs, knowing the body is going to last.

We have an '02 Rav4 that I undercoat and there are only a couple spots of rust on the underside, nothing notable or even close to a hole. I use fluid film. Works great.

Does anyone tow the full 6500lbs with there trucks? I'd be pulling a 5000-6000lb trailer with a tractor setup a couple times a year. Maybe an aluminum dump trailer (1900lbs). Thoughts?

 

[Devils Paw 80]

Clean it is not! Wow.

$1000 for fixing the ignition is a clear indication that these vehicles are not inexpensive to repair. Granted, the owner was probably gouged big time by the dealer in this case, but still. Good vehicle, and owner, to walk away from.

 

[flintknapper]

So much great information, this forum has been such a great resource! I was really impressed by the strength of that 100 I drove. It still handled and drove really smooth. By driving alone you'd never know the horrors going on underneath! I think I might bail on the idea of finding one that isn't ready to crack in half up here in the rust belt.

It might be worth while to hire a 3rd party inspection company and pick one out down south and deal with the added costs/time of shipping one up here and and make sure to undercoat the underbody every fall. I'm not worried about the potential repairs, knowing the body is going to last.

We have an '02 Rav4 that I undercoat and there are only a couple spots of rust on the underside, nothing notable or even close to a hole. I use fluid film. Works great.

Does anyone tow the full 6500lbs with there trucks? I'd be pulling a 5000-6000lb trailer with a tractor setup a couple times a year. Maybe an aluminum dump trailer (1900lbs). Thoughts?

^^^^^^^^^^ There's your answer! START with one that is sound,clean and rust free. You'll never regret it if your purpose is to keep it and drive it.

 

[DirtDawg]

Buy a rust free truck and fluid film the heck out of the undercarriage.

 

[Riviera]

I was curious how it would all turn out for you, thanks for updating us.

Wow, seeing all that rust makes me feel a million times better about mine. I'm in central Illinois and I'd been looking for a LC or LX for almost a year when I pulled the trigger. Not all northern vehicles are rusty. My LX has spent it's entire life in Illinois, starting in Chicagoland for 16 years, and it's in pretty good shape underneath. I bought it (1998 LX470 with 172k on the odo) a year ago for $7700 from a used car lot, so deals are out there, don't give up!

You absolutely did the right thing by passing, it's YOUR money and YOUR consequences.