I just picked up my first 100 series after ~2 years of off and on searching and lurking on various forums. Its an unmodified 2007 LX470 with 268,000 miles. I am located in Knoxville, TN. Hope to meet some members in the area!
Some of the good: All miles were in the south and has absolutely zero rust. Exterior and interior are also in good shape considering its age/miles. I also have extensive service history on this vehicle - religious 5k oil changes, multiple front/rear diff fluid changes, multiple transfer case fluid changes, lots of complete brake services (amazed at how these trucks can eat through brakes), multiple power steering fluid flushes, multiple intake cleanings performed, PCV valve replaced at 140k, timing belt/water pump/tensioner replaced twice now (once at 90k and once at 185k), radiator replaced at 152k, catalytic converters replaced at 154k, heater Ts replaced at 200k (still plan to do these during my baseline), transmission replaced at 211k (not sure on exact failure, no record of fluid service since replacement), secondary air injection system completely replaced after pump failure at 190k, valve cover gaskets and half moon reseal completed at 222k, AHC system components replaced at 222k (all accumulators including height control accumulator and all shocks, still original pump as far as I can tell, more on the AHC system below), both front CV axles replaced at 222k, alternator replaced at 222k, etc. All of this work was completed at either lexus or toyota dealers. The previous owners must have spent a fortune not doing any of the work themselves. Worked out great for me due to the extensive and documented service history. I think I have just over 90 completely documented service visits and a handful more that are referenced on the Carfax that I don’t have complete records for.
And the not so good: The brakes have a slight pulse, suspect pad deposits/grabby spots on the rear rotors. They have been turned quite a few times without being replaced.The fronts have also been turned a number of times. I think at this point I am just going to replace front/rear pads and rotors to freshen everything up. Will also inspect the calipers while everything is apart. Brakes work flawlessly right now aside from the slight pulse sensation. The steering has some play, it's especially noticeable at highway speeds and on side to side undulations in the road. I have not done a thorough inspection yet. I hope that the majority of the play is just shot original steering rack bushings and potentially tie rod ends. The alignment feels great, tracks straight until an outside force acts on the steering and gets the vehicle started off to one side. Will report back on this after a detailed look. The front bearings have not been serviced in some time and do make a bit of noise. Plan to replace front bearings when I do the brakes. The antenna mast will not raise manually or with the radio turning on. No immediate plan to fix this. The AHC system is slow to raise and lower sometimes, it never fails to make it to the commanded position. Ride quality seems good and changes with the comfort/sport selector. I did try to look at the reservoir graduation level change and make sure it was 7 or greater. The fluid seems to be overfull and is making it hard to get a good count with the molded seam halfway up the reservoir. I have read through almost ever major AHC thread here and plan to go through the ABCs of AHC completely when my VCI J2534 cable gets in and I can get techstream setup. Going to attempt setup on my MacBook air. If that doesn't work I will just buy a cheap windows laptop to run TS. The power folding mirrors always fold in when the button is pressed; however, it takes multiple button presses to get them to fold out again. No immediate plan to fix this. The headlight, foglight, and side marker housings need a good sand/polish/clear coat. The paint needs touchup in various areas, nothing major. The front tires need to be replaced. It currently has Michelin LTX M/S all around. Rears are three years old with plenty of tread. Will likely just do a full set of the same tires and TPMS sensors so that all are replaced at the same time. No plans for any serious off-roading, plan to keep this unit stock and try to clean it up as much as possible. It feels like there is a slight driveline vibration on deceleration between ~80-60 mph. Need to crawl under and see if anything is noticeable loose. The drivers front windows only goes up/down automatically regardless of how the switch is used. It won’t go up or down manually where it will stop when the switch is released. No immediate plan to fix this. Missing passenger rear wheel center cap. And lastly it is just dirty inside and out, will be very satisfying to give everything a very thorough cleaning.
Overall I think my initial priority list of things to complete is as follows:
Some of the good: All miles were in the south and has absolutely zero rust. Exterior and interior are also in good shape considering its age/miles. I also have extensive service history on this vehicle - religious 5k oil changes, multiple front/rear diff fluid changes, multiple transfer case fluid changes, lots of complete brake services (amazed at how these trucks can eat through brakes), multiple power steering fluid flushes, multiple intake cleanings performed, PCV valve replaced at 140k, timing belt/water pump/tensioner replaced twice now (once at 90k and once at 185k), radiator replaced at 152k, catalytic converters replaced at 154k, heater Ts replaced at 200k (still plan to do these during my baseline), transmission replaced at 211k (not sure on exact failure, no record of fluid service since replacement), secondary air injection system completely replaced after pump failure at 190k, valve cover gaskets and half moon reseal completed at 222k, AHC system components replaced at 222k (all accumulators including height control accumulator and all shocks, still original pump as far as I can tell, more on the AHC system below), both front CV axles replaced at 222k, alternator replaced at 222k, etc. All of this work was completed at either lexus or toyota dealers. The previous owners must have spent a fortune not doing any of the work themselves. Worked out great for me due to the extensive and documented service history. I think I have just over 90 completely documented service visits and a handful more that are referenced on the Carfax that I don’t have complete records for.
And the not so good: The brakes have a slight pulse, suspect pad deposits/grabby spots on the rear rotors. They have been turned quite a few times without being replaced.The fronts have also been turned a number of times. I think at this point I am just going to replace front/rear pads and rotors to freshen everything up. Will also inspect the calipers while everything is apart. Brakes work flawlessly right now aside from the slight pulse sensation. The steering has some play, it's especially noticeable at highway speeds and on side to side undulations in the road. I have not done a thorough inspection yet. I hope that the majority of the play is just shot original steering rack bushings and potentially tie rod ends. The alignment feels great, tracks straight until an outside force acts on the steering and gets the vehicle started off to one side. Will report back on this after a detailed look. The front bearings have not been serviced in some time and do make a bit of noise. Plan to replace front bearings when I do the brakes. The antenna mast will not raise manually or with the radio turning on. No immediate plan to fix this. The AHC system is slow to raise and lower sometimes, it never fails to make it to the commanded position. Ride quality seems good and changes with the comfort/sport selector. I did try to look at the reservoir graduation level change and make sure it was 7 or greater. The fluid seems to be overfull and is making it hard to get a good count with the molded seam halfway up the reservoir. I have read through almost ever major AHC thread here and plan to go through the ABCs of AHC completely when my VCI J2534 cable gets in and I can get techstream setup. Going to attempt setup on my MacBook air. If that doesn't work I will just buy a cheap windows laptop to run TS. The power folding mirrors always fold in when the button is pressed; however, it takes multiple button presses to get them to fold out again. No immediate plan to fix this. The headlight, foglight, and side marker housings need a good sand/polish/clear coat. The paint needs touchup in various areas, nothing major. The front tires need to be replaced. It currently has Michelin LTX M/S all around. Rears are three years old with plenty of tread. Will likely just do a full set of the same tires and TPMS sensors so that all are replaced at the same time. No plans for any serious off-roading, plan to keep this unit stock and try to clean it up as much as possible. It feels like there is a slight driveline vibration on deceleration between ~80-60 mph. Need to crawl under and see if anything is noticeable loose. The drivers front windows only goes up/down automatically regardless of how the switch is used. It won’t go up or down manually where it will stop when the switch is released. No immediate plan to fix this. Missing passenger rear wheel center cap. And lastly it is just dirty inside and out, will be very satisfying to give everything a very thorough cleaning.
Overall I think my initial priority list of things to complete is as follows:
- Give the truck a thorough interior/exterior cleaning when the weather cooperates, it is very cold right now.
- Order and replace missing center cap on passenger rear wheel.
- Complete front steering/suspension inspection and come up with repair parts list. Hopefully the majority of the play I feel is just the steering rack bushings and not the rack itself. Will also look at all other major components that could make the front steering/suspension feel off.
- Inspect/grease all serviceable points on front and rear driveshafts. Try to track down potential source of driveline vibration on decel discussed above.
- Replace tires and have alignment performed at reputable shop. There is a good privately owned shop near me that specializes in Lexus and Toyota vehicles. May get tires replaced before completing all identified repairs above completed, just don’t want to go too long on new tires with worn steering/suspension components that could contribute to poor/uneven tire wear.
- Go through AHC ABC procedure and come up with plan for repairs, if any are needed.
- Very quickly after tires I plan to replace the front wheel bearings and front brakes. Plan to do rear brakes at the same time. Looks like there are lots of opinions on brakes on the forum, still have some digging to narrow down brands.
- Start baselining all fluids even though I have good records of everything being replaced/flushed multiple times - engine oil, transmission, diffs, transfer case, brake fluid(flush during brake replacement), power steering fluid, coolant (may hold off until I do next TB & WP, plan to do those around 275-285k), AHC fluid (flush during ABC procedure).
- Clean/lubricate sunroof mechanism and check/clean out sunroof drains. Everything works perfect right now, just want to keep it that way.
- Replace timing belt, tensioner, water pump, all idler pulleys, drive belt, fan clutch, and heater Ts around 275 - 285k. Are the heater Ts worth bumping up the priority list, they are not the original units?
- Replace spark plugs, have record of them being replaced at the 120k service. Don’t appear to have been replaced since then.
- Recondition all front headlight, foglight, and side-marker lenses.
- Touch up paint in various locations. Not so much worried about cosmetics as I am rust prevention.
- Open for suggestions here on other necessary maintenance/repair items. I plan to complete tall of the work needed myself with the exception of tires and driveshaft rebuild if necessary. I have a good local small business driveline company that does excellent work with rebuilding shafts. Much more affordable than a new shaft. I am sure I will have a lot of questions regarding preferred parts, best places to source them, etc. I tend to be a fan of OEM parts unless there are known issues with OE parts that aftermarket companies have addressed.
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. The Techstream in 5 Minutes thread is way too long for my attention span. 
