Jim I would go for the 2004 for less money, it was a "bought" versus "leased" vehicle, owners normally take better care of their vehicles then people that lease (example the OCI on the 2003 keeps getting longer) But as we all know the 4.7 V8 can go 8K miles on a good dino with no ill effect. I have seen "certified" Lexus that had a history of 10K oil changes, I think they will certify anything so don't put much weigh into the whole certified BS. The alignment is because of the non oem wheels that were installed when new. It looks like all of the oil changes were made under 5K miles and I would not worry about the rat, they fixed it so it should not be a problem. Get the extended warranty and enjoy. The 2003's had the type IV transmission fluid with the dipstick. The 2004 has the WS trans fluid with no dipstick. What type of wheels and tires does the 2004 have now???
starting to shop for a LX/LC...
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SWUtah said:
Not sure about the wheels/tires on the '04, 'cause I can't even get those guys to email me a digital photo after telling them it would be an out-of-state purchase, and they have no photo in their autotrader ad. They didn't even answer my question whether it had the levinson audio. Service at my local dealer has been much better. They decided to drop their price (maybe after seeing that the 04 was $6K less), so we might just get the local one. Local one has chromed OEM wheels w/ matching spare, not that I really care. Only pain of anything '03+ is they run 18" wheels, meaning you have to get the BFG AT if one wants a slightly larger than OEM tire size with some offroad ability that's not too wide. 17" wheels would have many more choices like the Nitto Terragrapplers, Bridgestone revo's, etc. I guess it's just a matter of time until more 18" tires are available.
As far as owning vs. leasing, a buddy of mine owns a '01 LC w/ 60K mi and has done zero maintenance on it since new other changing the oil every 7K mi (dino/rotella T syn mix), new non-OEM rear brake pads at 52K mi since they were down to the squeal warning, and the air filter at 30K mi...no driveshaft lubing, no ATF flush or drain&fill, no diff/xfer case fluid changes, nothing. He plans to keep the car for the long term and has the attitude that 'these cars are tough. They can take tons of abuse with practically zero maintenance.' They are tough, but everything has a mechanical limit.
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Jim - Nitto makes a 285/60/18 in the Terra Grappler. So there is a Nitto alternative.
Jim_Chow said:
Jim good point. My LC was a lease from southern AZ, and my local mechanic that checked it out for me said it looked like it had been well maintained (only had 58K miles). A lot of time on a Company lease the company pays for all of the upkeep so they get maintained better then individuals would care for them. I guess like most things you can't generalize, its an individual thing. Good luck the 03 sounds like a nice one.
A LC w/50k miles maint history consists of 7-8 lube/oil/filter, coolant/brake fluid/diff oil changes, air filter, and some "inspections" right? As long as it isn't abused, any LC w/50k and the oil changed should be fine, I mean you can always change the diff oil and coolant, etc. The only thing I would really be concerned about are warranty issues and whether they have been completely resolved.
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firetruck41 said:
The vehicle was a local LX maintained at that dealer. They did a complete ATF flush every 30K mi and drain & fill every 15K mi. Diffs/t-case were drained & filled every 15K mi, engine air filter and AC cabin filter changed at 15K intervals.
Anyways, I pulled the trigger and bought the '03 sand dollar LX today. Got a good deal since it coincidentally was the last weekend of the month, and they wanted to move it. Thanks for your advice/help, guys.
Sounds like it was "over" maintained, great for you. Sounds like you got a good deal you were happy with, it doesn't get better than that!Jim_Chow said:
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I'm taking delivery in 2 wks. I was saving my pennies desperately over the 2+ yrs I've been following this forum. Glad I didn't get an 80 series. The LC80 is nice, but the LX470 is far nicer. Next step will be to order the '03 FSM (3 volumes)...couldn't find them anywhere on the web, only the '02 and '04 FSM at lexus-parts.com and books4cars, and I want bound volumes, not pdf downloads. Guess I'll have to order from the dealer's parts dept. If worse comes to worse, I could use the '04 manuals. Only thing that's changed is the tranny fluid type and the dvd navigation has the rear camera. Can't think of anything else offhand.
BTW, I tried to get the 60K mi service and/or 3 yr/100K warranty extended to 5 yr/100K tied in w/ the deal. They claimed they couldn't tie service through their deals, so I got the extra 2 yr warranty extension (will probably only drive it 7K mi/yr since it's primarily a road-trip vehicle).
Now that I've bought a 100, I guess I'm a legit forum member.
BTW, I tried to get the 60K mi service and/or 3 yr/100K warranty extended to 5 yr/100K tied in w/ the deal. They claimed they couldn't tie service through their deals, so I got the extra 2 yr warranty extension (will probably only drive it 7K mi/yr since it's primarily a road-trip vehicle).
Now that I've bought a 100, I guess I'm a legit forum member.
Jim_Chow said:Now that I've bought a 100, I guess I'm a legit forum member.
As you may know this thread is worthless without pics
