Purchase Feedback (and how much rust is too much?)

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CakeMountain

CakeMountain

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I'm looking at this LX470 at a dealer a few states away (Just lost on Cars & Bids yesterday, sigh...) (16990 + 499 dealer fee + 400 shipping)

31 Pre-Owned Cars, Trucks, SUVs in Stock in Raleigh | RDU Auto Sales

RDU Auto Sales has 31 pre-owned cars, trucks and SUVs in stock and waiting for you now! Let our team help you find what you're searching for.
www.rduauto.com www.rduauto.com

Only 126k miles, but no indication of timing belt work. I would definitely have a pre-purchase inspection done.

Here's some undercarriage pics provided by the dealer. Some surface rust on frame and probably a few stuck bolts, but drive train parts and exhaust seem good.
lx470-1.png
lx470-2.jpeg
 
If you have to ask, it's too much.

Overall the truck looks great. But $18k for that much rust AND due a TB / WP job is too much IMO. To much to the point of me selling mine (05 w/ 174k, up to date on all maintenance, and 98% rust free) if someone offered me $18k. Be patient and wait for something with less rust or much cheaper.

*** It does have night view though....***
 
Why settle for any rust when you can have a rust free vehicle? Keep looking...be patient...there are better ones out there.
 
97 AZ LC said:
As ALMOST everyone knows, night view is a deduction.
Click to expand...

I recently got an 04 LX with night view, it works oddly enough. It’s rather hilarious and you would 100% crash the truck if you try to drive off of it. Nonetheless I still have to turn it on when I drive at night because why not! I had an 03 LC that was very rusted. Not this bad but it was a CT vehicle and really showed. I sold it because doing anything was such a headache. The areas to look for are body rot behind the rear wheels up behind the bumper and the rear rockers in front of the tires. Those area are really susceptible and are a headache. Also top of the hatch. They just rot from the inside. It’s a toss up to how they are as the gas skid pan has some rot through it so the body may have some decent rust if salt collects up there and was never washed. I wouldn’t pay $18k for that personally.
 
I just bought a virtually rust free 2001 LX. 130k miles. $18,500. Then spent 3k on necessary repairs.

I searched a lot and frankly got lucky on a local only site, on a truck that was over 8 hours away, being sold in a small town, and not listed on any other sites. Otherwise, based in my very recent buying experience, it would have been hard to be the buyer. I got lucky.

The point: the market today isn’t what it was two years ago when I started toying with swapping my Tacoma out. Not even the same as a year ago. Or 6 months ago when I missed on my first true attempt at buying a 100 series.

Am I saying settle for a rusty one? Not at all. But if people haven’t bought recently, the market is incredibly different than even 6 months ago. “Clean” examples exist but are increasingly unicorns.
 
I would be comfortable with that amount of rust, but not at that price. Mine looked bad at first glance, but a closer inspection showed that the really bad rust was on the tank plate, skid plate, protective pieces. Frame cleaned up fine, but it took a lot of scraping and grinding and POR15. Lots of work For 16k you should get a west coast vehicle with little to no rust and hopefully new enough to have the 5 speed. For 2500 you get my 99 rusty midwest car with 161k.
 
Pucker5 said:
orangecounty.craigslist.org

Toyota Landcruiser 2006 Land Cruiser - cars & trucks - by owner -...

Toyota Land cruiser white Beige leather interior In excellent condition inside and out. 275hp vvt ATRAC system Timimg belt and WP service done. 160k miles is low for these SUVs built in Japan that...
orangecounty.craigslist.org
Click to expand...
My point of posting the random link was that you can find a 06-07 on Craigslist and negotiate with the seller vs a dealer who is going to cite any rust on the car as the result of the region it’s for sale in. when I got my truck off the trailer that my dumb ass bought site unseen and I saw the rust, I emailed the salesman only to the response of “the lx I drive has way more rust than that”. And yes he did sound like the sam Adams commercial guy.
 
@CakeMountain how patient are you? Impending need to buy sooner than later?

I'm wondering if the market is getting to the point where lower mileage, rust-free examples won't see high-daily-mileage use. IMHO, prices are getting to the point where the value proposition is starting to get a bit suspect, at least for me.
 
I'm hoping to pick something up in the next 3-4 months. I need something with four doors now that I have two kids, and I thought it would be fun to have a 4x4 to have family trail adventures.
 
The rust visible is minor in my opinion however I'd be way more worried about other structures not seen particularly those mentioned by others and the rear crossmember on the driver side. I'd be surprised if you don't have rust from the inside out there just waiting to turn into a hole. For the price though I'd pass. For that money I would not settle for anything but rust free.
 
CakeMountain said:
I'm hoping to pick something up in the next 3-4 months. I need something with four doors now that I have two kids, and I thought it would be fun to have a 4x4 to have family trail adventures.
Click to expand...
Will you be working on the rig yourself, or paying for others to do it?

Seems to me the happiest LC/LX owners (when it comes to ownership costs) are the ones who do the work themselves, both for the satisfaction of knowing it is done right and cost savings.
 
ramangain said:
Will you be working on the rig yourself, or paying for others to do it?

Seems to me the happiest LC/LX owners (when it comes to ownership costs) are the ones who do the work themselves, both for the satisfaction of knowing it is done right and cost savings.
Click to expand...
I'm hoping to do much of it myself. That would certainly bring me the most joy. It will just depend on how time I can find. It's the thing I have the least of.
 
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CakeMountain said:
This one has much less rust and is much closer (and the rest of the pics look clean as well)

View attachment 2561224
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Click to expand...
Looks great, a little high in price for the millage in my opinion but not outrageous. Mine looks about the same underneath. Be sure to thouroghly inspect the rear crossmember on the driver side. Mine has minor rust as pictured but there was rust coming from the inside out in that crossmember.
 
CakeMountain said:
This one has much less rust and is much closer (and the rest of the pics look clean as well)

View attachment 2561224
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View attachment 2561226
Click to expand...
That underbelly looks really good. You can tell it didn't experience any scrape 'n' spray due to the discoloration and surface finishes. That exhaust also looks very new.
 
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