tex2670

Honda did a lot of warranty extensions for transmissions in the early to mid 2000's. My TL was affected, but I never had a problem.

dseag2

Bingo! Highway miles over city miles any day.

tex2670

Ok--but when a car has 177,000 miles, taking the seller's word that they are "all highway miles" is asking for trouble. There's just no way to verify what "type" of miles a used car has.

girlwstyle

After reading this I get the impression that most wouldn't recommend what I'm setting out to do but never the less here is my situation: Looking to buy a 2003-2008 Lexus GX470 for under $15k. This is putting me in the 100-150k mile range in Southern California.

I only drive an average of 7thou a year since I work from home, but of course this could change at any point and I'd be a commuter again driving 10-12k a year. I'd like to own it for the next 5 years at least so am of course looking for the needle in the haystack listing & it's a waiting game at this point after looking at a lot of hopeful duds.

In my case what would your MAX mileage & requirements for purchase be (full service history, timing belt/water pump 90k completed, etc)?

carguy75

First I would check the GX470 forum an see if the car has any particular issues that happens at high mileage.

Usually, high-end models like the GX470 all have air-ride suspension issues around 100k miles.

If the car had the major engine components like the water-pump changed then I would go up to 150K miles since you plan to own it for about 5 years with up to 60k miles total, so the car should give you reliable operation until 210K miles or so hopefully.

If the car has not had any major engine components replaced then I would make my cut-off at 100k miles, unless you have a large enough budget to cover any high dollar surprises that may occur unexpectedly.

To be honest, buying a used car is always hit or miss.

No matter what the records/owners say about the car, only time will tell if the deal was a good one or not.

There is no safe formula that will predict if the used car will be a money pit or not.

Brand reputation is a good start as well as service records, however there is never a guarantee that the work was properly done or the information is 100% accurate.

girlwstyle

Yep kinda what I was thinking...although I've been a bit conservative and trying to stay around the 120k mark.

This is sad but true- however I'd love to find the right one through private party because I feel you can tell a lot about how the car was cared for by the pride they have taken in keeping it clean/or not, recommended maintains completed at correct time intervals, and sometimes even the owner themselves as well as the story of why they are selling (sometimes truthful sometimes not). With a dealer you never know if they got it at auction, or possibly even a trade in because the list of issues to repair was too long to pay for and the dealer covers them up (one I almost went through with but during the checkout and Lexus drive site found there were a stream of problems)

mmartin061

Actually I'd like to comment on this as being a former Acura 2.3 CL owner. Soon after buying the car the transmission went. $2,300 worth of repairs. Hondas and Acuras of the late to early 2000's were for sure on the radar for having transmission issues. But then again there was nothing ever like the '91 Acura I had. If not for the tranny losing a gear with 199,000 miles on it it may still be rolling. Best built car I ever owned hands down. Second is the IS300 but even that car had it's issues

mmartin061

Very informative. I never looked at it NMthis way. The one thing I can't say I agree fully on is the old grandma/grandpa Sunday church car. Cars that are not driven much will not heat up their catalytic converters enough to burn off hydrocarbons to make carbon dioxide. Catalytic converts will get clogged if the cars are driven at lower speeds and never "opened" up on the highway to essentially blow out the settled crap. This isn't God speak for every car but it is very relevant as this happened to me on my GS400. A very knowledgeable person told me that Toyota was far more stringent with their emissions controls with their cars than other manufacturers so when a CEL light comes on, you have to rememeber that light comes on because of what the "computer" is reading. If Toyota has a threshold for %98 efficiency and Ford for "95" which I think is what OBD2 designates but not for sure anymore.... And it drops below those thresholds...Then your CEL light comes on and you fail emissions. No way around it. I have also heard that Subies, Nissan, Toyota and I can't remember the other manufacturer are more prone to CEL's because they put "cheaper" parts in their converters. Ehh I hope to believe the earlier than the later. I have only had CEL come on in the GS400 I've owned out of the 11 cars I've owned. Remember when OBD2 came about around 96' they became far more stringent on cars. I believe OBD1 without looking was around %87. Gone were the 7 gas analyzers that were hooked up to your exhaust to measure your emissions. Now it all computer based. More money for the car manufacture and garages and may have worked against the government in being more money for them with less cars on the road more of the time. But I'm sure they are getting kickbacks. Everyone but the consumer makes out on this deal. Just because a CEL light come on doesn't mean your catalytic converters don't work right. When I had to get my car emissioned I challenged the CEL light by calling up garages and asking them if they had gas analyzers. Many didn't know what I was talking about. They simply don't have them anymore because there is no use for them. If I were to take my car and had a gas analyzer say that "legally" my car meets emissions controls standards and took it to get the registration renewed. It wouldn't matter, my CEL light is on and you will fail regardless. You're transmission could be losing a gear and the CEL light comes on because yep you guessed it your transmission has something to do with your emissions but very little to nothing. You're computer might be acting up CEL light is on "FAIL". There is no standard anymore that counts other than that damned OBD2 computer and what it says. So it is a scam. Sorry to get off post a bit but it does have everything to do with buying an older car.

Aron9000

^ Yeah I agree it is a scam. Although I know that you can sometimes dissconnect the battery, clear the engine codes, then go pass an emissions test. Main thing is that you have to drive around a bit after you disconnect the batttery and hope the ecu doesn't trip the light again before you go test.

mmartin061

You are on the right track. It has been a while since I got into diagnostic codes and such. But what happens is you can hook up a code reader and clear you CEL but when you hook it up to diagnostics it will come back up. The other way is that when you clear he codes there are certain run cycles your car needs to perform and they are all time and mileage dependant. It's something like if you have 5 out of the 7 run cycles complete when you do your emissions.... You pass. And one of the later ones is for your cats. If I remember right a P0420 and P0421 that have to do with the banks. The catalytic run cycles I believe are the last ones to cycle. You can you tube it and there are threads about how people chest this system.

Wandl

Just to relive an old thread, check this out and the Carfax report.

https://www.autonation.com/dallas-ft...BE46K17U658807

57 carfax maintenance records; this thing has been dealer serviced since purchased new! I am not considering this vehicle, merely curious if any of you would consider buying it, with an impeccable service history on a model that is arguably reliable, with over 200k miles?

Diesel350

Carfax is only one component when buying a car with this many miles. I think it is a must to have a certified ASE certified MASTER Mechanic do an inspection prior to purchase.

tex2670

I guess it would all depend on what else I could get for the $5000 asking price.

Aron9000

You can get something else that's much lower miles for that price IMO. Might be older though, which can be a problem up north with the way cars rust. Something that has only seen 7-8 winters with 200k might be a better buy than something with 100k on it that's seen 15-20 winters. Generally though I don't look at age of the car as being a big factor on cheap cars where I live(southern cars don't rust and last a lot longer IMO)

LexusBC

I bought my 2000 Camry LE 2.2L 3 years ago, with 214k miles on it. It now has 224k on it, and has been a solid car. I put $3k in it for suspension, timing kit, all new fluids, tires, brakes, bushings, and new engine mounts. Otherwise, the car will probably last forever. I plan to buy a new Lexus, I just will keep the Camry as my bad weather beater car. Toyota doesn't scare me at all with high mileage. But for me looking at CPO cars, Lexus wise, I would want one with less than 20k miles.