New to the forum -- in the market for an LX570 in the next 12-18 months

[Mike153D]

Hi all, first post! My wife and I are expecting our third kid in a couple months and want a larger SUV. My wife's car is currently a 2019 Ram 1500, and I have a 2016 4 door Wrangler JKU. Plan is for me to take the truck, and we keep the jeep as a 3rd car. We originally were on the LX train until I got worried it would be to small. Long story short, we visited friends with a 200 series LC and borrowed the car for a couple days, and our kids along with their kid fit fine, and my wife preferred it over things like the Expedition or Tahoe.

All this is to say, we are back on the LX570 train.

I am looking to purchase the car next winter, so we can feel out how our current cars are working with 3 kids over the next year. We also have some house work we are doing this year, and want to allow for some funds recovery before buying a new car.

Here is what I think I want, and feel free to tell me I'm wrong:
2019-2021 White exterior, black interior, luxury package with under 50K miles. I don't want to mess with a sensor lift or anything, but we do have a drive-on beach we go to multiple times a week during the summer. So I want to go with a 17 or 18 inch wheel and AT3Ws or KO3s right off the bat. I'll also be doing the carplay upgrade. Other than that, plan is to leave the vehicle stock and hopefully drive it until it is dead. I'd prefer no rear entertainment if given the option, as it seems antiquated in the age of iPads. Our kids are currently 6 and 4, and can get in and out of carseats on their own. So booster in the 3rd row will work fine. We don't spend a ton of time in the car. We go an hour to my parents house somewhat regularly, but other than that we go on the occasional road trip. The ram gets similar mileage to the LX, and it doesn't really bother us.

I've been cruising auto-tempest and it seems I should be in the 52-65 range for what I want. I live in New England. so I'd like a rust free car, so I've been looking down south, out west, etc. Tell me what I should know as I start looking over the next year or so. Service records, years to look at, things to look for, etc.

Thanks all!

 

[Heckraiser]

My advice, forget the 50k mileage requirement and focus mainly on service history and condition. Mileage is largely irrelevant in these vehicles (a bit different than your current Stellantis vehicles). I'd also go all the way back to 2016 since the 2016 model year is nearly identical to 2019+. Just trying to save you some money. Get a rust-free one (southern preferred if you're able to get it properly inspected), and then give it a fluid film treatment every year. Rust will kill the AHC system long before mileage does. The rest of the vehicle is no more susceptible to rust than anything else on the road.

 

[gasman4u]

Regardless of what you get, treat the undercarriage with a NON permanent barrier treatment to prevent the frame from getting rust cancer the best you can. As @Heckraiser said, the rust will kill this thing before mileage given good service history.

Your wife has good taste and chose well. You'll find a great specimen to buy if you're patient.

 

[slipkid13]

As a current LX owner and previous Sienna owner and father of now teenage kids; get a Sienna. It's a 100% better vehicle for 3 small kids. Dump the Ram or Jeep and replace with an LX

 

[mdrei]

As a current LX owner and previous Sienna owner and father of now teenage kids; get a Sienna. It's a 100% better vehicle for 3 small kids. Dump the Ram or Jeep and replace with an LX

Agree 100% with this advice.

 

[manofthewoods]

As a current LX owner and previous Sienna owner and father of now teenage kids; get a Sienna. It's a 100% better vehicle for 3 small kids. Dump the Ram or Jeep and replace with an LX

Interesting curveball advice. My wife loved our Sienna when our kids were small.

Agree on the mileage comment, and about rust. Also, a LX here in CA is almost guaranteed to be a rust free babied deal (compared to a LC). Definitely worth a trip.

 

[krice118]

Tailgate diaper changes spoil you.

 

[Sandroad]

I agree with the Sienna advice, especially since you are keeping the Ram and Jeep. Get a new Sienna (white on black) with AWD. Fit all weather tires like the Michelin Cross Climate 2 or Pirelli WeatherActive and you’ll be very happy and safe all year with that as a family hauler. Use the Jeep for your beach forays and Ram for project hauling. Great combo for your use case.

 

[Mike153D]

I won’t debate the practicality of a minivan. Neither of us want one. Wouldn’t be here if I did.

We did fine with 2 babies in diapers in the ram and wrangler. Never once thought we’d prefer a minivan. School bus comes to the end of our driveway, so kids aren’t even in the car everyday.

 

[Mike153D]

My advice, forget the 50k mileage requirement and focus mainly on service history and condition. Mileage is largely irrelevant in these vehicles (a bit different than your current Stellantis vehicles). I'd also go all the way back to 2016 since the 2016 model year is nearly identical to 2019+. Just trying to save you some money. Get a rust-free one (southern preferred if you're able to get it properly inspected), and then give it a fluid film treatment every year. Rust will kill the AHC system long before mileage does. The rest of the vehicle is no more susceptible to rust than anything else on the road.

I figured going lower mileage I'll have a more clear idea of service history. It also gives me a chance to make sure the fluids all get changed earlier on in the engine/drivetrain life. Spending this much money on a 5 year old car with close 50K miles is daunting. We bought the Ram with 15K miles and a year old for 40K.

I hear you on the stellantis front. Granted, my Jeep and the Ram are both around 100K and have been mostly reliable. Ram had exhaust manifold leaks and the 12" Uconnect radio replaced under warranty... and that really has been it. I'd buy another -- and probably will when it comes time to replace the truck. The Jeep power steering pump stopped working below 2500RPM at 100K miles, and I've had a couple calipers seize along the way. Other than that, also no complaints, and it has been lifted half its life.

Regardless of what you get, treat the undercarriage with a NON permanent barrier treatment to prevent the frame from getting rust cancer the best you can. As @Heckraiser said, the rust will kill this thing before mileage given good service history.

Your wife has good taste and chose well. You'll find a great specimen to buy if you're patient.

There is a NHOUC shop down the street that I'll be taking the truck to this year. I know they now offer different products like hardened wax, etc. The plan will be annual rust treatment and then we have an unlimited use car wash we usually get to at least once a week. I know its not the best for the paint, but that's one of our motivators for looking for a light colored vehicle.

My wife still slightly prefers the LC over the LX, but I want the AHC and I like that I can save 10-15K in the process.

 

[gasman4u]

I figured going lower mileage I'll have a more clear idea of service history. It also gives me a chance to make sure the fluids all get changed earlier on in the engine/drivetrain life. Spending this much money on a 5 year old car with close 50K miles is daunting. We bought the Ram with 15K miles and a year old for 40K.

I hear you on the stellantis front. Granted, my Jeep and the Ram are both around 100K and have been mostly reliable. Ram had exhaust manifold leaks and the 12" Uconnect radio replaced under warranty... and that really has been it. I'd buy another -- and probably will when it comes time to replace the truck. The Jeep power steering pump stopped working below 2500RPM at 100K miles, and I've had a couple calipers seize along the way. Other than that, also no complaints, and it has been lifted half its life.


There is a NHOUC shop down the street that I'll be taking the truck to this year. I know they now offer different products like hardened wax, etc. The plan will be annual rust treatment and then we have an unlimited use car wash we usually get to at least once a week. I know its not the best for the paint, but that's one of our motivators for looking for a light colored vehicle.

My wife still slightly prefers the LC over the LX, but I want the AHC and I like that I can save 10-15K in the process.

My suggestion would be to stay away from anything that creates a barrier to water egress (getting out) of sealed/treated areas which sounds like this wax. The hardened wax sounds amazing at first glance, but if salt water can get between that and your frame, etc it will fester and corrode your metal. My $0.02. I could be wrong, but the semi-permanent (woolwax, lanolin, etc) spray treatments have a proven record on delaying the inevitable of any rust belt car eating cancer.

EDIT: With this said, I'm going off what others who live in the north say. I have NO first hand evidence of what's better, etc just passing along what I have read/seen from those with said first hand experience.

 

[jetlagged]

I would still keep low mileage in mind if looking for an lx and it is within budget. A lot of the preventative maintenance you will need to do at 100k+ miles will add a significant time and effort to get things up to par (provided you can do the work yourself). If you need brakes / fluids / radiator / coolant leak etc addressed and dont have the time to do it yourself think about 3-5k in parts and labor from an independent mechanic (brake parts alone will cost you ~500 for oem).

In addition at 100-150k you will probably want to change ahc globes and fluid (globes can be had for 5-700 if you look around). If you can’t do this yourself, it can be painful even finding a dealer that knows what they are doing with ahc outside of a major market. (Las Vegas, where there is really only one dealer and a pretty sizable market, tried to tell me ahc fluid wasnt part of the routine 60k service and they “don’t see a lot of lxes”. Well regarded independent mechanic says he doesn’t think ahc fluid change is necessary at all…). Currently value a day of my time in labor at more than even extravagant lexus service prices, but Im planning to do the next round of maintenance myself just because it is hard to find someone who knows what they are doing.

I didn’t want to deal with non stock scrub radius or heavy / loud tires as mine sees maybe 5% of its time on desert off road (no rock crawling), so went with 18” Land Cruiser take offs and oem Land Cruiser size defender ltx, which I am very happy with. The stock 21” wheels provided a terrible ride.

 

[Mike153D]

I would still keep low mileage in mind if looking for an lx and it is within budget. A lot of the preventative maintenance you will need to do at 100k+ miles will add a significant time and effort to get things up to par (provided you can do the work yourself). If you need brakes / fluids / radiator / coolant leak etc addressed and dont have the time to do it yourself think about 3-5k in parts and labor from an independent mechanic (brake parts alone will cost you ~500 for oem).

In addition at 100-150k you will probably want to change ahc globes and fluid (globes can be had for 5-700 if you look around). If you can’t do this yourself, it can be painful even finding a dealer that knows what they are doing with ahc outside of a major market. (Las Vegas, where there is really only one dealer and a pretty sizable market, tried to tell me ahc fluid wasnt part of the routine 60k service and they “don’t see a lot of lxes”. Well regarded independent mechanic says he doesn’t think ahc fluid change is necessary at all…). Currently value a day of my time in labor at more than even extravagant lexus service prices, but Im planning to do the next round of maintenance myself just because it is hard to find someone who knows what they are doing.

I didn’t want to deal with non stock scrub radius or heavy / loud tires as mine sees maybe 5% of its time on desert off road (no rock crawling), so went with 18” Land Cruiser take offs and oem Land Cruiser size defender ltx, which I am very happy with. The stock 21” wheels provided a terrible ride.

I’m comfortable doing pretty much any MX, but between the Jeep, S197, Ram, tractor, property, kids, etc, I’d like to keep the maintenance to a minimum lol.

I was looking at 18” wheel options. I’ve got no issues with road noise on the AT3Ws on the ram which is very quiet, or KO2s for that matter, granted the jeep makes all sorts of other noise. Wasn’t a fan of the duratracs on the truck before. They howled after 20k miles.

 

[bubbaZR2]

Wrong thread sorry.

 

[coleAK]

I agree with the Sienna advice, especially since you are keeping the Ram and Jeep. Get a new Sienna (white on black) with AWD. Fit all weather tires like the Michelin Cross Climate 2 or Pirelli WeatherActive and you’ll be very happy and safe all year with that as a family hauler. Use the Jeep for your beach forays and Ram for project hauling. Great combo for your use case.

Yep also the sienna AWD will be much better in the winter and 12mpg gets real old real quick….

 

[Mike153D]

Yep also the sienna AWD will be much better in the winter and 12mpg gets real old real quick….

Once again, I don’t want a sienna. For 99% of people who buy these things there are more “practical” options. She currently dailies a full size truck. I don’t expect to see a change in fuel economy.

 

[slipkid13]

Test drive a pre 2016 and 2016+ The 2016 and later have the infuriating mouse pad/track pad thing to control the screen with no touch screen. It is terrible. Pre 2016 have a touch screen and while it looks more dated the tech on both suck, but a Hamilton unit can fix that.

ALso the 2016+ models put the rear seat AC controls in the center armrest so with 3 people back there they can no longer control rear HVAC. Maybe not an issue with small kids but as they get older could be a hassle. I wouldn't focus too much on mileage (like others have said) maintenance is important. As for AHC, replacing the globes and fluid is an easy job, I am not really a DIY car person but I was able to that with a buddy in under 4 hours.

I have a 2013 and ditched the 20s the first week, found a good set of 18" Land Cruiser rims here on mud, ride is much better, better and less expensive tire options as well. Also, I didn't see it mentioned but don't seek out the ML sound system, if it has it cool but it is the single most overrated option and it sounds mediocre on a good day.

 

[Mike153D]

Test drive a pre 2016 and 2016+ The 2016 and later have the infuriating mouse pad/track pad thing to control the screen with no touch screen. It is terrible. Pre 2016 have a touch screen and while it looks more dated the tech on both suck, but a Hamilton unit can fix that.

ALso the 2016+ models put the rear seat AC controls in the center armrest so with 3 people back there they can no longer control rear HVAC. Maybe not an issue with small kids but as they get older could be a hassle. I wouldn't focus too much on mileage (like others have said) maintenance is important. As for AHC, replacing the globes and fluid is an easy job, I am not really a DIY car person but I was able to that with a buddy in under 4 hours.

I have a 2013 and ditched the 20s the first week, found a good set of 18" Land Cruiser rims here on mud, ride is much better, better and less expensive tire options as well. Also, I didn't see it mentioned but don't seek out the ML sound system, if it has it cool but it is the single most overrated option and it sounds mediocre on a good day.

Hamilton unit will be going in immediately. If it were me I wouldn’t care — but it’s my wife. I would like the HUD, not sure if everything with a HUD also has ML.

 

[DesertRider]

Hi all, first post! My wife and I are expecting our third kid in a couple months and want a larger SUV. My wife's car is currently a 2019 Ram 1500, and I have a 2016 4 door Wrangler JKU. Plan is for me to take the truck, and we keep the jeep as a 3rd car. We originally were on the LX train until I got worried it would be to small. Long story short, we visited friends with a 200 series LC and borrowed the car for a couple days, and our kids along with their kid fit fine, and my wife preferred it over things like the Expedition or Tahoe.

All this is to say, we are back on the LX570 train.

I am looking to purchase the car next winter, so we can feel out how our current cars are working with 3 kids over the next year. We also have some house work we are doing this year, and want to allow for some funds recovery before buying a new car.

Here is what I think I want, and feel free to tell me I'm wrong:
2019-2021 White exterior, black interior, luxury package with under 50K miles. I don't want to mess with a sensor lift or anything, but we do have a drive-on beach we go to multiple times a week during the summer. So I want to go with a 17 or 18 inch wheel and AT3Ws or KO3s right off the bat. I'll also be doing the carplay upgrade. Other than that, plan is to leave the vehicle stock and hopefully drive it until it is dead. I'd prefer no rear entertainment if given the option, as it seems antiquated in the age of iPads. Our kids are currently 6 and 4, and can get in and out of carseats on their own. So booster in the 3rd row will work fine. We don't spend a ton of time in the car. We go an hour to my parents house somewhat regularly, but other than that we go on the occasional road trip. The ram gets similar mileage to the LX, and it doesn't really bother us.

I've been cruising auto-tempest and it seems I should be in the 52-65 range for what I want. I live in New England. so I'd like a rust free car, so I've been looking down south, out west, etc. Tell me what I should know as I start looking over the next year or so. Service records, years to look at, things to look for, etc.

Thanks all!

Sounds like a good plan! We had three kids and no minivan, a 94 xtra cab toy truck, rav4, then a Ram 2500 xtra cab were the family cars. We have winter driving conditions 1/2 the year, so for me 4wd or awd in a truck or suv is the way to go. Kids are all out of the house, but still need a good SUV and this will hopefully be a drive it until one of us gives up the ghost. Every vehicle I've owned has needed a cash infusion for some repair around 100-120k on the odo, and I firgure with the low miles LX I can put that off for 10 years vs. a 100k+ vehicle likely needing something within 5 years. I will be flushing the fluid in the suspension this summer a bit before the 60k recommended change.

I think you are spot on for pricing, I just got a 2018 with 53k on the odo and paid 53k in December. I'd been looking off and on since summer. Low mileage vehicles are hard to find so I would put yourself in the position to get what you want when you find it as it could be months before you find another one. I got this out of Houston. I did pay for the 5 year platnum warranty which I'm glad as I discovered the rear window hatch lift doesn't work. I could live without it, but makes me glad I can get it repaired and recoup some of the $ I paid for the warranty.

Good luck with your search! I would have preferred white, but can live with the Nebula Gray Pearl.

 

[Mike153D]

After my wife has been looking and test driving stuff the last few months, I think we’re pivoting towards an Armada pro-4x. We’ll grab a 2025 if we get a killer deal, but I’m hoping to drag it out until the 2027s come along so we can snag a 2026 in the fall/winter.

A dealer near us has 2 2025 pro-4x premiums on the lot stickering at 81. Their final offer 3 weeks ago to us was 70k. I called back Monday and asked if they’d take 70 including all their fees (close to an grand) and an extended warranty. If I don’t hear back Friday, I’ll chirp at them again. My guess is they are going to be more and more desperate to dump the 2025s, with the 2026s already discounted to the mid-low 70s.

Big perks we saw with this is we aren’t at a much higher price point than a low mileage LX, and with an extended warranty we don’t have to worry about anything for 8 years. The interior is also a good bit larger with the car-seat tilting seats.

Just couldn’t like the new sequoia no matter how much we tried.