Looking to Purchase a High Mileage 02 LX and Seeking Advice

Good Morning,

I have been lurking here for a while and now that I am down the road on a higher mileage rust free LX, I wanted to introduce myself and ask a quick question from the group's collective knowledge. The truck has ~290,000 and was used by a local shop as a long-term loaner, and the owner said it was always serviced after coming back. Unfortunately since they were a shop doing the work, the documentation is limited. I was told everything was in good working order and after a FaceTime walk through, I ordered a pre-buy inspection of the vehicle. Overall, most of the issues were surface (paint fading, a small fender dent, some interior wear, radio issues, etc.) all of which are expected based on age and mileage. However, there are a few items that came up -- that without a deeper inspection -- I am not sure if they are just normal wear or potential land mines to avoid.
- Oil smell after driving, but no leaks noted.
- Play in the steering wheel and likely needs ball joints/tie rods
- The HVAC blower motor wasn't working

At the price point ($5000-range) it seems that this is still a great deal, and I intend to get a full workover on the truck after purchasing. Appreciate everyone's help and look forward to being a member here. I have also included some snippets from the pre-buy inspection if that helps.

 

[EPTX]

There are a lot of others on here with a lot more experience than I, but I just went thru this and can give you my experience.

I bought a 2000 LX470 with 170k miles. Lexus serviced first 12 years. 2nd owner showed no records for 6 years. 3rd owner had it for 2 years and was building it for overlanding and was repairing things as they came up (TB, WP, Steering Rack, Ball Joints, etc), in total he dropped $7k in the past 2 years.

My plan is to build this as a daily driver and light overlanding and drive it to 500k miles. So baselining it is what I’m doing now. I also planned on doing all the repairs myself with a lot of knowledge from this group.

My experience, the PPI missed a lot of things.

1. AHC wasn’t inspected. It was way out of spec. Yes, it works, but ride was oddly stiff and soft periodically. I got lucky as the Graduation Test is fine so I don’t need to replace the globes. Yet. But I do need new rear springs or spacers in rear to get into spec.

2.Non-OEM parts were used for the steering. Rack appears to be good still but the tie rods and ball joints they used are shot, and that’s only after 2 years. So I need to replace all of them.

3.Diff fluids have not been changed in a long time.

4. lots of misc parts broken or missing in the interior. They all add up and take time to find the part numbers, order, then install them.

5. Power steering reservoir hoses have a very slow leak. I just replaced them. It was a pain.

6.Radiator is leaking. There are no fluids on the ground, but I’ve been replacing fluid weekly. Found the leak finally, under the insulating foam, top of radiator.

7. While there are no klunks, all the sway bar bushings are perished. I just replaced the fronts yesterday. While not hard to do, it did take a bunch of time.

8. PO put bigger mud tires on but didn’t change the spare. Spare was the original from 2000! Huge cracks in sidewall. I’m surprised it even held air.

9.Several vacuum hoses cracked. While I experienced no problems from them, they still need to be replaced.

10. Heater T’s have not been replaced. Next project when I do the new radiator.

11.PO only had 1 key. Make sure you’ll be getting a Master Key! And if they only have 1 key, get at least one more Master key made ASAP.

12. All 5 door lock actuators are weak. They need to be replaced. Made it hard to program a new key. Sometimes all doors lock, sometimes the Drivers door remains unlocked. Sometimes I can’t open the rear hatch and have to climb in the back seat to open it from inside.

and it goes on and on.

While the PPI I got missed a lot of things, they did find the basic stuff like brakes need front and rear, etc. What they missed were all the known things discussed in this group. The PO was driving the LX daily and never had any problems (several annoyances he said) other than repairs when needed and on a 20 yr old vehicle had a great experience.

if I could do it all over again, I would have had a PPI done with a shop familiar with old LC/LX with a recommendation on not just what needs repairing, but also what should be changed on a 20 yr old truck to make it reliable as a daily driver.

overall, I don’t regret anything. I just have a lot more stuff to fix than I expected but it has been fun. And this group and YouTube has made it all possible.

The best part is the LX is very accessible to work on. The Toyota FSM and parts guides are invaluable! I’m actually shocked how much


I fully believe once I get it baselined I’ll be driving it problem free for many years!

At the price you’re at, it may be good. I’d be prepared to spend several thousands if you plan to make it a daily driver. I’d definitely check the rust in the rear thoroughly, have the AHC inspected, check the sunroof, check for a Master Key, check the door actuators, and find from the shop when all the maintenance stuff was last done (fluids).

Hope that was helpful...

 

[deconomist]

Thank you for the great advice. I am looking to make this a daily driver that I can work on myself and go for another couple hundred thousand miles. I figured that if I bought a higher mileage truck, it will need to be baselined. At this price point, I have a few thousand budgeted for an initial inspection and repairs for items that I won't be able to immediately attend to myself. I will probably be in ~$6500 after purchase, shipping, escrow and PPI -- but living in North Jersey -- I doubt I will find a generally rust free truck at that price point.

Speaking of, I am not a rust expert but IMHO this looks pretty clean even though the report indicates some surface rust.

 

[EPTX]

I forgot 2 more big ones.
Rear view mirror: mine is super loose. The screw is completely stripped. Thanks to this group, I got the PN for that screw and got it on order. Also, the green light never comes on, I think that means the auto-dimming is inop.

Windshield rivets: like others, they did not use rivets. Left them completely open and drilled 3 new holes to put screws in. Need to repair all of that. Luckily, I see no damage, rust or electrical, from water leaks in the unused rivet holes.

 

[RPLX470]

Undercarriage looks in great shape, may have been an Arizona original . Either way,be ready to spend close to the asking price for repairs IMHO.

Got mine earier this year and it was in reasonably better shape than the one you are considering, but ended up repairing most of the suspension, tires, basing fluids, brakes, heater T’s, timing belt, water pump, tune up, etc.... $$$. Now its good for 10-15 years or until something else goes on it . Oh, ACH was in working condition, but had to replce shocks. That was a big one.

Remember the age takes it’s toll on rubber bushings, hoses, vacuum lines, etc.

Still way better than getting something else in the price range I have into it, so I’m content.

Good luck with this or any other one you look at.