What am I getting myself in to here?

[Heaterman]

Background...We had a 99 Land Cruiser which was purchased used at 130,000 miles in 2003. (Previous owner had a business in Northern Mich and Georgia) We traded it in 2008 for a Highlander (wife's car) and at that time it had 265,000 on it.
I really liked that vehicle so I've been kicking around the bushes looking for another one.

I've located a one owner 03 LX470 with 112,000 on it. Took it for a test drive the other day and noticed immediately the vehicle seemed to wallow around over small bumps and irregularities in the road.
After setting the suspension to sport, it seemed to stabilize and drive normally. The ride height adjustment seems to work, raising and lowering the vehicle with H/N/L button.
I did notice the rear of the vehicle would settle lower first and raise last when going from high to low and then back up.
Normal? I don't know....so that's why I'm here.

I've come across a few threads regarding the suspension on these vehicles and it seems they are problematic and heinously expensive to fix.
Love to get another 100 series but don't want to buy a headache. I have enough of them already.

Any advise on what to look for would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[camino70]

Fluid replacement and Adjusting the torsion bars for proper pressure would probably take care of that.

Look through paddo's posts for great ahc info.

 

[ap100]

The more experienced guys can advise on what's normal or not with the raising/lowering. But I'll just chime in with yes, if you wanted to keep the AHC going forever, it will get very expensive. I got into my '04 LX470 with the intention of swapping in a 'normal' suspension once faced with a major AHC repair.