Need Info On Lx 450

[Luck]

Hello,

This is my first post on this forum, I'm glad to see there is a Lexus (and more specially with a LX section) forum

I'm about to buy a 450 (probably a '97 with 96 K miles) and would appreciate any info about it.

Is there a 100K service ? Is it expensive (I could read in other threads that a typical 60K service is $1000 to $1300) ?

What do you think must be checked on a 450 before to buy it ? What are the clues for a well maintained and serviced one ?

Thank you for any help

Luck

[Rookie]

Hey Luck,

There are a couple of sites you might want to check out to get you up to speed on these vehicles. One is the newbie guide on Ih8mud.com and it probably references a site on sleeoffroad.com that has alot of info at well. As you are probably aware, an LX 450 is basically a rebadged Toyota Landcruiser. They have identical engines and chassis but the LX 450 comes with some extra creature comfort bells and wistles. These sites are geared towards folks that do a lot of their own vehicle maintenance and get into some pretty hardcore mods and also get into alot of info. on build-ups for off road use, but there's alot of info. and reading there that will get you up to speed about the particulars of these vehicles.

Hopefully you'll have access to the maintenance history on the rig you're looking at, and hopefully it's had the 90k service by now, but there's really nothing to major in that service... new spark plugs, fluids, air filter and the rest is basically inspections and replacing what's needed. The good news is these vehicles have a timing chain instead of a timing belt and that is not due for service until engine overhaul at hopefully 250 to 300k. But being a full time 4WD vehicle, many suggest and choose to do a front axle service at or before your mileage. This is a pretty hefty service, but if you're capable of doing your own maintenance, you can save a lot of dough by doing this one yourself. There is lot of information available on the sites given above about doing this service yourself, and I think someone has put together a DVD on it. They're very solid and reliable vehicles, but one achilles heel is the head gasket, which has been prone to premature failure on approximately 15% of the vehicles polled on the mud site.

A few things I would check for:

1) excessive rust typically prevelent in northern vehicles.

2) excessive oil seapage on the front steering knuckles is indicative on an inner axial seal failure, hence the reason many choose to PM the axle as previously mentioned.

3) other oil leaks underneath. Rear main or front crankshaft areas. A little seapage is nothing to get into a tiff over, but could give you some bartering power.

4) Brakes. These things go through them pretty fast, but the good news is they are easy to change so you may want to learn how to do that.

5) Check the top of the radiator and the overflow bottle for sludge... an indication of a pending head gasket failure. Another thing you can do is to open the cap on the overflow bottle, leaving the bottom of the hose submerged in coolant and then run the engine up to 3000 rpm and hold it there. If bubbles continually come out of the bottom of the hose... indicative of a failing head gasket.

That's about all I can come up with. Good luck on the search. This is a very good and versatile vehicle but it's good to do your homework to make sure you not getting a poorly maintained vehicle.

Rookie

[Luck]

Hello,

So you are not a rookie :P

Thank you for the advise !

I know Land Cruisers are very reliable, we don't have the Lexus in Europe but LC were very competitive off road, even if they are too heavy regarding some european or russian SUVs (we are from France). When we saw the LX 450 here we decided to own one.

Thank you again

Luck

[CELICA XX]

Hey Luck,

There are a couple of sites you might want to check out to get you up to speed on these vehicles. One is the newbie guide on Ih8mud.com and it probably references a site on sleeoffroad.com that has alot of info at well. As you are probably aware, an LX 450 is basically a rebadged Toyota Landcruiser.

Agreed.

The Ih8mud.com site is 1000 times better than this forum... much more information, from members who have owned these cars for years.

Every possible issue with these vehicles have been discussed and resolved. Check it out!!

Good Luck.

[Luck]

Hi,

The Ih8mud.com site is 1000 times better than this forum

So what are you doing here ?

I'm the new happy owner of a LX470. Specially happy since my wife loves it :)

Thank you for your advices.

Cheers

Luck

[denslexusgx470]

Hi,

The Ih8mud.com site is 1000 times better than this forum

So what are you doing here ?

I'm the new happy owner of a LX470. Specially happy since my wife loves it :)

Thank you for your advices.

Cheers

Luck

glad that you got yourself a LX470. Enjoy and welcome!

[Rookie]

Hi,

The Ih8mud.com site is 1000 times better than this forum

So what are you doing here ?

I pop in over here from time to time, because every once in a while you'll come across new owners that are like I was... have a maintenance item that they would like try and tackle themselves, and need some advice from someone that has done it. Kind of a "do in return, what was done for you" thing. The MUD site just has a ton more people in that mold so there's much more technical information that flows through over there. Most of the folks on this site have no interest in doing their own maintenance (which is fine too) so there's not much response to those type questions.

Congrats on the new ride.

Rookie.

[dougjohn2]

Rookie likes to slum it from time to time

:D

if it's tech info you want or need, follow Rookies suggestions. most of the tech info posted here in this section are from members of that forum.