A friend of mine just bought a low mileage ‘02 LX470 and brought it by last night to show it to me. When he got ready to leave and turned the key to start up the truck, the ignition switch broke. He had to leave the truck in my driveway overnight and bought a new switch today. He and I spent two hours tonight disassembling the lower dash, fishing the broken part out of the column and replacing it with a new upgraded part.
Shame on you Mr T for crippling what is arguably the most reliable vehicle in the world with a crappy prone-to-fail pot metal ignition switch and for requiring the owner to purchase an entire $220 switch assembly for which only one small piece is actually needed to make the proper repair. Toyota knew of the problem too because the new switch looks much stronger and beefier than the original. 100 series /LX470 drivers beware! This is a PITA part to replace and it could strand you in the worst of places. If your truck has over 150k on it and the switch hasn’t broken yet, it is on borrowed time. Replace your switch. It’s waaaaaayy easier to replace it before it breaks than after. Trust me on that. Digging out the broken section of the switch is like building a ship in a bottle.