Still searching, looked at a beautiful 04 LX and...rust!

[Pucker5]

This isn't a 250GTO. Toyota made lots of them. There are 5 LX470s and 2 LC100s on my regional Craigslist. I bet none of them have rust. Even discounting those hoping for an FJ40 gold mine, there are still plenty left to pick from. Phoenix example & Another one 10 mins from home.

Be as picky as you need to be to find something you are going to be happy with, but I see no need to spend extra months/years looking for unobtanium at fire sale prices. If it costs a little extra to love what you bought, go for it and keep it a long time. 100s are great value, but that doesn't make them cheap. They were never designed to be - love them for what they are.

Find an honest seller with a nice truck, make an honest offer and move on with life. IMO, no rust is worth the premium and hassle.

That lx in Phoenix is dope

 

[Whewdoggie]

I am actually not super picky. My only criteria is no rot, (rust is ok), good mechanical history and no white, also my wife dosen't really like the green color. I don't mind if it needs some mechanical repairs as I will do them myself, don't mind some body work as I am also experienced. I will take an LC or 470 of any year and be just as happy, though I have been searching for 2000 and up. Don't care to much about options. I can redo interiors myself though I would rather find one that's decent.
I don't really have the time to travel but I guess I may have to start planning. I don't mind traveling, I've driven over 40 states and once drove cross country almost 12k miles in a month. Thanks for all the input!

 

[Skidaho]

Just travel to get one. Waiting to find “the right one” in your town may take awhile. Several months ago I was looking at a ‘17 Subaru (not for me) that had a clean carfax but noticed it was from NY. When I crawled under it was the poster child of a rotting rust bucket. I couldn’t believe how bad they salt the roads back there.

3 minute search south of NY on CL (Sorry 2 are “pearl white”)

03 Toyota land cruiser - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle...

*** Nice SUV land cruiser inside and out,all original,deep blue color,loaded,strong engine...

smd.craigslist.org

Immaculate 2004 Toyota Land Cruiser - cars & trucks - by owner -...

Immaculate 2004 Toyota Land Cruiser. Only two owners!! 200k miles. Driven only 12,500 miles per...

hickory.craigslist.org

2005 LX470 - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive sale

Lexus LX470 in very good condition. The same as the Land Cruiser with a bit more luxury. Local 2...

raleigh.craigslist.org

1999 Lexus LX470 / Land Cruiser - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle...

Asking $7200. Drives like new. 238k miles, well-maintained, heating and air work great, factory...

charleston.craigslist.org

 

[Pucker5]

Just travel to get one. Waiting to find “the right one” in your town may take awhile. Several months ago I was looking at a ‘17 Subaru (not for me) that had a clean carfax but noticed it was from NY. When I crawled under it was the poster child of a rotting rust bucket. I couldn’t believe how bad they salt the roads back there.

3 minute search south of NY on CL (Sorry 2 are “pearl white”)

03 Toyota land cruiser - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle...

*** Nice SUV land cruiser inside and out,all original,deep blue color,loaded,strong engine...

smd.craigslist.org

Immaculate 2004 Toyota Land Cruiser - cars & trucks - by owner -...

Immaculate 2004 Toyota Land Cruiser. Only two owners!! 200k miles. Driven only 12,500 miles per...

hickory.craigslist.org

2005 LX470 - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive sale

Lexus LX470 in very good condition. The same as the Land Cruiser with a bit more luxury. Local 2...

raleigh.craigslist.org

1999 Lexus LX470 / Land Cruiser - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle...

Asking $7200. Drives like new. 238k miles, well-maintained, heating and air work great, factory...

charleston.craigslist.org

That pearl white 2005 looks like a mad decent buy factoring the amount of things it’s had done. The brakes the cv’s,etc

 

[Pucker5]

Since you got skills, from a dry no rot likelihood:

2000 Toyota Landcruiser - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle...

Used as family wagon for the last 18 years, around town & freeways, never used for...

phoenix.craigslist.org

 

[Matt Hamilton]

The 100's aren't known for above average rust problems. NY is insane when it comes to rust, but you probably already knew that.

If you want to start with something rust free, you're going to have to travel, probably 1000+ miles.

As a car person I'm not sure what I'd do if I lived in NY. Buy a new car and know that in a short period of time, it's probably (but not certainly) going to be worthless in ~10 years. OR buy a used car that someone else took good care of only for me to buy it and ruin it in 3-5 years.

I'd just move to a climate that doesn't hate steel.

I’m selling my beloved 2006 LC. Just need a truck I can tow a car trailer. 234,000 miles and always serviced at the dealership if interested. I’m in Nashville. $16k obo

 

[Pucker5]

I’m selling my beloved 2006 LC. Just need a truck I can tow a car trailer. 234,000 miles and always serviced at the dealership if interested. I’m in Nashville. $16k obo

View attachment 2338511

View attachment 2338512

View attachment 2338513

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View attachment 2338515

0	I don't know. He put so much... goddam lacquer on that thing.

 

[98LXgold]

Just picked up my 98 LX a few months ago. 22+ years old and >200K, not one speck of rust anywhere. When I’m up in PA I’m amazed at the rust on cars, even the newer ones! I’d definitely recommend looking in the southern US and bringing one back. It’s most certainly worthy the extra effort.

 

[hoser]

I hear good things about Fluid Film rust preventative... add to annual cost of ownership.

Fluid Film locator....

 

[gatormark91]

Started out great, ran excellent, no codes, super clean, original owner, complete Lexus service records. Started inspecting the undercarriage, looked great, some typical surface rust, lots of area with absolutely no rust and then I got to the rear and wow. Rear body mounts terrible. Is this normal? I know I am in the salt belt but it's long island, not exactly a snowy place and other trucks similar years aren't this bad.View attachment 2337910

Typical of a truck that has been used for towing and putting a boat in salt water, and owner didn't bother to clean it off afterwards.

 

[VirginiaSlim]

I bought my 04 LX a couple years ago, had been looking for a while. It had years of dealer maintenance logs. In the Northern Virginia area so not exactly the rust belt. It had more rust than perhaps I'd like, in hindsight. Some areas not bad at all but a few spots ended up really bad (spare tire carrier, under rear bottom tailgate, rear latch handle and the top clamshell generally, gas tank skid plate, bolts for o2 sensor deteriorated when I replaced, etc). It seems that rust is the one true enemy of the cars and it's just tougher for east coasters to have easy access to them. A lot of it is mainly surface rust except the spare tire carrier, rear tailgate, and gas tank skid plate. Oh and the side body cladding clips definitely rusting and fall on the running board when I close the door LOL. s***, I guess I do have a lot of rust. Still really like the 100--I'm a first time buyer and will probably buy a cleaner one if I ever feel this one has too much rust. The rust, the dumb nav system/screen, gas mileage, and the pain in the ass placement of the starter and alternator are really not the strong points of a 100. But you know this going in and there's a reason we are posting here and not the Honda Accord Owners forum LOL.