catcole

My 98 LX470 just hit 101k miles and is doing great. I too just did the 90k mile service 5k miles ago and I did the 90k service plus timing belt, throttle body service, thermostat, water pump, flushed and replaced all fluids. Even for transmission and coolant, suspension and such. If there was a fluid, it was changed. Paid 3k for the service but I want the truck to last in this Texas heat. Have had the truck since new. Only part replaced was starter at 70k miles, and a friend of mine did it for 50 bucks. Another issue that was a problem only if noises annoy you are the heat shields protecting the exhaust tend to crack and break apart internally causing a rattle. There are a few of them which are about $100 dollars each to replace. But the truck will still run fine but the noise I did not like to hear so the money spent was worth it to me. And last but not least is the hydraulic suspension. When the accumulators go out they are supposedly extremely expensive to fix and they estimate the life of the accumulators to be 10 years or 100k miles. But I'm over that mileage and years and mine is still smooth as butter. But when it does start to fail. I hear we are looking at big bucks. There are 4 accumulators; 1 at each wheel and supposedly cost $800 each excluding labor. But otherwise I think the engine and tranny are bulletproof. It's been a great truck and has never left me stranded. So an 11 year old truck and the only engine part replaced was the starter I’d say it's rock solid!! It's still a head turner......

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=53607

Thanks for the heads up on the hydraulic suspension/accumulators. So far, all is well there. Sounds like your LX is still going strong and that is great. Appreciate your input.

100,000 miles isn't all that much for a modern vehicle. You can probably keep your LX in good running order for about as long as you want if you don't skimp on maintenance and repairs.

Last time I checked, my first Lexus - a 1990 LS400 - is still being driven daily by its current owner and has over 275,000 miles on it. It was in like new condition when I sold it after 13 1/2 years and 183,000 miles -- and I live in the "rust belt" -- not in San Diego.

My 2000 LS400 is at nearly 113,000 miles and is aging even better than my 1990 LS400 did -- much better, in fact. I could see it lasting substantially longer than the 90 LS if it doesn't get crashed.

There is no reason to ditch your LX if you like it. As my CPA wife says, the longer you keep an asset past its depreciable life, the greater the financial payback.

275k! Impressive mileage on the LS400's you have had. Very encouraging and I like what your CPA wife had to say. Thanks for your thoughts.

We were thinking about selling our LX470 to buy something newer but used. When push came to shove, we really enjoy this car and want to keep it going strong for many, many more miles. Any thoughts on maintenance/problems for this aging LX470?

BTW, I will be taking my 2000 LX470 into the Toyota dealer to have the timing belt and water pump replaced in a couple days. I just passed the 100k mark a few months ago. The truck is still driving well but I'd hate to chance anything with the timing belt happening. The Toyota service dept. was about $300 less in the repair estimate than Lexus service. Total estimate with Toyota was $780. Other than this costly service, our LX has been pretty good over the years with regular maintenance, one ignition switch problem, and an O2 sensor replacement.

Thanks to this forum, I just had my 2000 LX470's rear seatbelts replaced at no charge. My vehicle is well past the warranty and mileage for free replacement. I was quoted $645 to replace at the dealership and because of this forum, I called the customer service number and they replaced them at no charge. I didn't mention the forum of course! Just that I had a "friend" who's belts were replaced and why the discrepancy? They were so nice and wanted to make sure my family was safe as they put it. Thank you to awesome customer service from Lexus and to this forum!

Just an update. I read a forum on here that talked about replacing seatbelts and it recommended calling Lexus Customer Service to see if they could help. The dealerships tend to be black and white on warranties and the LX470's belts are warrantied for 7 years or 70k miles. Mine is well past that. So I called customer service and, yes, they took care of it. They paid for the replacement of both rear passenger belts and mechanisms of which the dealer was asking $645 to do. I couldn't be more pleased with the service from Lexus! I am sure it was because it was a safety issue as well. Either way, I just picked up my car and the belts work great now.

HI,

I took my car in for servicing and to check the rear seatbelts as they were not winding back up. I have two kids in carseats and need them to be tight! The car has 92,000 miles on it and we bought it used a few years back. The service people said that the fabric the seatbelts are made of have lost their tensile strength and therefore need total replacement. It is not the tension winder. Soooo, they want to charge $645 to replace and install them. This seems sooooo expensive to me, but as it is a safety issue, I need it done. My car is still at the Lexus dealership waiting for parts.

Is this something that is really difficult to do? I am not opposed to ordering them and having them installed by someone else.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Cat