New to MUD and I need Opinions on 100-series (1 Viewer)

[RAMf1]

Hi all, my name is Russ and I'm a long time lurker on MUD and this is my first post. First a little background... I originally owned a '74 FJ55 back in early '80s but after realizing the rust was beyond what I could fix, I traded it in on a new 1986 Isuzu Trooper II. That got sold 7 years later when I bought a new 1993 Trooper that I owned up until a few years ago. I drove these vehicles on many trips to the Desert and the High Sierra... The last few years I couldn't drive the '93 as much as I wanted to as my nearly 60 year old knees couldn't handle the clutch pedal anymore. Hours of off road driving would make my knee hurt for a week... So I bought a new Subaru Forester and have been enjoying driving that. I drove the long, rocky road out to the Racetrack in Death Valley and the Subaru did great. But I think that is pushing the Forester farther than it is intended to go and my mind wandered back to Land Cruisers. I really like the 100 Series and this is where I need your expert opinions...

I have two long time friends who happen to be selling their amazing Cruisers! The dilemma I have is which one to buy...

The first is a One Owner 1998 Land Cruiser that has never been off-road! It has been meticulously maintained by the Toyota dealer that the owner bought the vehicle from. It has been used its entire life driving from his home in Silicon Valley up to his home in Lake Tahoe. It has 230k miles and has had Mobil 1 since day one for every oil change. I'm not sure if it is locked (sorry!) as the owner told me he couldn't remember as he's never used it off-road. The owner believes in preventive maintenance so had things changed out before they went bad... Like Shocks and Brakes. California car so very light rust and the paint looks all its 21 years... Asking price... around $7k.

The second Cruiser is a 2 owner 2003 LX470 with 113k miles and looks, drives and feels new. It is a beautiful Vapor Blue color that my wife adores. Hardly driven by my friend who bought it to tow his boat and then went and sold his boat... Now it gets used a couple of time a year to go camping and that's about it. Asking price... around $14k.

Now the LC leaves me some extra cash to start adding some aftermarket items like bumpers and sliders and the other items that we all "need". The LX leaves no extra money for extra items but... it is perfect as is... I'm 60 years old now and the extra comfort of the LX has me leaning... What say you?

I'll attach a couple of photos...

 

[neoworm]

Get the Lexus and just run it stock. The 2003 is a great model year and you'll really enjoy the extra creature comforts of the Lexus. It'll be more than capable enough in it's stock form. And at 113k miles it is just broken in.

 

[ryanCA]

Lexus, because your wife likes that one

 

[fjcruising]

They both sound solid to me. A few things you want to watch out for:

The 2003 is going to have a 5 speed gearbox and ATRAC vs. a rear diff locker that the 98’ will have. The simplicity of the 98’ is attractive to me but you may want the comforts that come with the Lexus (especially if the wife is happy - actually that applies to me to but she has a Gx460 to leave my LC alone).

The other two things that are worth considering is the hydraulic suspension on the LX - to some this is a feature, to others a nuisance - there are a lot of threads surrounding AHC that are worth the read.

Lastly, the saying around here goes to buy the best LC/LX you can afford (comfortable spending) If they have both been maintained equally, the lower mileage one will give you longer life - think about it this way: $7k for an extra 120k miles...

Good luck!

 

[erse]

Well they both sound like good deals but the 03 with significantly lower Miles would be hard to pass up if I were in your shoes. Five speed transmission would be better than a bunch of aftermarket add ons you may or may not need. You can always add those later as finances allow. Navigation in the 03 would make me nervous but not enough to sink the deal. If your wife likes the 03 better get that one then everyone is happy.
Good luck

 

[RAMf1]

Thanks to everyone for their input. I contacted the owner of the LX and let him know I was definitely interested. He's going to figure out a price and get back to me. He's not in a huge hurry to sell... He sent me a couple of interior pics... It looks really clean but that is what I expected from this owner.

 

[flintknapper]

LX for sure. Has 5 speed tranny, ATRAC, 4 pinion front diff, better sound deadening, lower miles, your WIFE likes it.

I happen to like the AHC on the LX.

The 98 L/C 'might' have a rear locker (it was an option for that model year but NOT standard), so you might check on that. But it for certain has a 2 pinion front diff (not as strong as the LX).

 

[Jigsaw100]

AHC might need new globes (1k eBay) if it rides rough but it’ll be worth it.

 

[FJ404345]

If you buy them both you would never have to buy a car anymore in your life

 

[krispykritter]

My 2 cents:

Read up on Slee's newbie's guide to a 100 series here. I bought an 06 LX a while back with slightly higher miles for 16k.

Quick Highlights:

03 has bigger prop shafts
5-speed auto
Drive by wire (which makes cruise control all electronic and normally more robust)
Rear cross member can take bolt-on hitch
Auto crank hold (turn and release key, will start on it's own)
18 inch wheels

Opinions:

The biggest differences between the 98 and the 03 is the five speed transmission. I've heard the four speed has a much taller first gear and much smaller steps between them, and the transmission really affects how a car drives and feels much more then the engine does. I've heard the 5-speed also gives you 1-2 mpg better efficiency, but my 12 city / 16 highway doesn't really argue either way. But for the 5-speed, much more modern transmission, I'd heavily lean towards the 03.

I have and quite like the AHC, but the only repair I've had to do so far was replace a hydraulic line seal. If it ever has a major failure, I'll have to decide whether to keep running it or replace it with conventional suspension. Most advice is run it til it dies - it's a nice feature.

Other differences - the 03 has a much nicer/more premium feeling gauge cluster, the gated style shifter (vs old school slider), and 18 inch wheels.

Assuming they both have recent timing belt changes? Believe those are due at each 100k interval. 7k is a lot of cost difference, but easily worth it with the LX in my opinion, especially considering the mileage difference. I'd buy it, throw 33" tires on it and a speedo correction, and drive it everywhere. Unless you're doing some pretty wild off-roading, ATRAC works great, and the 100 series is just a stunningly capable off-road vehicle even in stock form.

 

[namsag]

LXLXLX

 

[RAMf1]

So... at the end of October this year I finally was able to purchase my LX 470. The ‘98 Land Cruiser ended up being sold to a member of the owners family and the ‘03 LX was put back into towing duty because the owner bought a new boat! So the search was on... I ended up buying a 2006 with too many miles (228k) for too much money... $18k... But it was a one owner car that had extensive service history from two different Lexus Dealerships. It had some rear damage as the rear bumper cover was replaced and the AHC globes were recently replaced by the dealer 20,000 miles ago.

 

[FxFormat]

View attachment 2507514View attachment 2507515View attachment 2507517So... at the end of October this year I finally was able to purchase my LX 470. The ‘98 Land Cruiser ended up being sold to a member of the owners family and the ‘03 LX was put back into towing duty because the owner bought a new boat! So the search was on... I ended up buying a 2006 with too many miles (228k) for too much money... $18k... But it was a one owner car that had extensive service history from two different Lexus Dealerships. It had some rear damage as the rear bumper cover was replaced and the AHC globes were recently replaced by the dealer 20,000 miles ago.

228K for $18,000 is high, but not outrageous if it's clean, from the pics, it looks very clean, engine bay has no rust. Having those globes replaced saved you $2000 in parts and labor as well, make sure you go over all the baseline stuff and take care of the heater tees. Congrats on the beautiful ride

 

[LRscorned]

Congrats! ‘06 has more benefits over an ‘03, too! Great to have the AHC recently serviced. 228k shouldn’t scare you, especially if the maintenance was kept up.

 

[flintknapper]

If the interior is anything like the exterior (and engine bay) then I'd say you scored a nice one (regardless the price).

Congratulations.

 

[suprarx7nut]

Score on the new globes. Nice work. $18k is fine if it's in good shape.

 

[LongHaulCruiser]

Either one looks good, or buy both. His and Hers. Yours is the 98.

 

[RAMf1]

The interior looks brand new! Well, except for the passenger side door pocket... That looks like someone grabbed onto it to close the door and broke it. I’m not sure what I’m going to do about that. Oh... it is also missing a knob for the back seat radio controls and the speaker cover is missing on the driver’s door. I’m notorious for kick that anyway so maybe I’ll just leave it gray or paint it It has the DVD screen mounted on the ceiling. I’m thinking about pulling that and mounting radio communications there.

 

[hhmebos]

18K doesn't seem bad to me. I wish I would have found an 06-07 instead of the 04 I have, the extra 40 HP would be nice.