Yesterday I took a risk on a 2001 lx 470 with 155k that service wise was pretty good. Timing belt done at 110k per lexus records along with frequent service records over the period of the only owner who had it. Drove 2 hours to go see it and was pretty excited. Pretty dirty outside with a couple dings but nothing too bad. Looked under the truck and the frame is in really good shape so I was happy about that. Tires needed replacing but I had an extra set of 16's luckily. Inside was somewhat dirty but overlooking that aspect, leather seats in pretty good shape considering it's a 15 year old car. No tears, just very mild cracking. I thought once this gets detailed it'll be great!
So i get ready to test drive and immediately it wouldn't start, sounded like a dead battery. Not a good start....jumped it and started. Once I'm about to drive I notice the brake light on dashboard was on even when the embrace wasn't engaged. Couple minutes in I notice the VSC trac and VSC off lights were on but no check engine light. Driving it though, engine was smooth as well as transmission but in my mind I was worried about the lights hoping it wasnt something major. I parked it somewhere trying to play with the buttons to see if those would rectify the lights but no mas. Height control worked but light indicators weren't working so wasn't sure what was up with that. Speedometer also wasn't smooth, sorta like ticked instead of a smooth motion. The telescopic motor also didn't seem to work however the tilt did. So considering all these issues I was really on the fence. Negotiated price a little bit and expressed my concerns but they couldn't go too much further down as they were near there break even and I believe it as it'd had gone though a couple price drops and it'd been there for 2 months or so. Reluctantly I said what the heck, and purchased it for $8850 which would be a great price should no major repairs were needed. Nada guides had it around $12k.
Drove it home with all the lights on, but it drove exceptionally well. Speedometer seemed to be on and off with the ticking vs being somewhat smooth but overall the drive went well but still was worried about the lights and how much it would cost. Got home and went to the shop to mount my new tires and that in itself made it look better. Made an apt at the Lexus dealership later that night and lost a lil sleep thinking about the lights. Woke up this morning and went to the dealership expecting the worse. After the first hour of diagnostics, which they quoted $145, they said there could be pretty major problems since the center differential lock wasn't engaging. I was starting to get sick to my stomach but played it cool and they said they'd need another hour to keep diagnosing. After about 45 minutes they come get me and said everything is good! Turned out there was an open in the circuitry and once they connected it, bam all the lights turned off and all indicators started to work. To top if off they said they'd only charge me that one hour of diagnostics. They confirmed I got a gem and everything else looks pretty great mechanically and serviced well by the one and only owner besides me. I did forget to ask about the speedometer and there's a couple lights on dashboard that needs replacing but I'm super stoked about the news today. Now I could get to the fun stuff!
So i get ready to test drive and immediately it wouldn't start, sounded like a dead battery. Not a good start....jumped it and started. Once I'm about to drive I notice the brake light on dashboard was on even when the embrace wasn't engaged. Couple minutes in I notice the VSC trac and VSC off lights were on but no check engine light. Driving it though, engine was smooth as well as transmission but in my mind I was worried about the lights hoping it wasnt something major. I parked it somewhere trying to play with the buttons to see if those would rectify the lights but no mas. Height control worked but light indicators weren't working so wasn't sure what was up with that. Speedometer also wasn't smooth, sorta like ticked instead of a smooth motion. The telescopic motor also didn't seem to work however the tilt did. So considering all these issues I was really on the fence. Negotiated price a little bit and expressed my concerns but they couldn't go too much further down as they were near there break even and I believe it as it'd had gone though a couple price drops and it'd been there for 2 months or so. Reluctantly I said what the heck, and purchased it for $8850 which would be a great price should no major repairs were needed. Nada guides had it around $12k.
Drove it home with all the lights on, but it drove exceptionally well. Speedometer seemed to be on and off with the ticking vs being somewhat smooth but overall the drive went well but still was worried about the lights and how much it would cost. Got home and went to the shop to mount my new tires and that in itself made it look better. Made an apt at the Lexus dealership later that night and lost a lil sleep thinking about the lights. Woke up this morning and went to the dealership expecting the worse. After the first hour of diagnostics, which they quoted $145, they said there could be pretty major problems since the center differential lock wasn't engaging. I was starting to get sick to my stomach but played it cool and they said they'd need another hour to keep diagnosing. After about 45 minutes they come get me and said everything is good! Turned out there was an open in the circuitry and once they connected it, bam all the lights turned off and all indicators started to work. To top if off they said they'd only charge me that one hour of diagnostics. They confirmed I got a gem and everything else looks pretty great mechanically and serviced well by the one and only owner besides me. I did forget to ask about the speedometer and there's a couple lights on dashboard that needs replacing but I'm super stoked about the news today. Now I could get to the fun stuff!
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