Nitti3

I'm looking to get opinions on the leaks that are happening at the gaskets, but they all seem minor. And just general opinions would be nice. There should be a leak that you guys can spot in every picture, some pictures I took multiple times with different exposure settings to try and capture pictures of darker areas.

Candidate 1: 2001 ES300 159k miles, looks well maintained, clean car. Two owners, a business man and an elder man who put 2500 miles on the car.
Lots of pictures here on imgur, click on the pictures to zoom in.

Candidate 2: 1997 ES300 134k miles, looks roughed up, codes for O2 sensor, DTCs not completed, claims he does not drive this car. 4 owners, all cousins of cousins, shady history and shady current owner.
Pictures of candidate 2 here, click on the pictures to zoom in.

More to come possibly

Norbecke

I do not like what's under the oil cap on the 01, and it is just generally dirty. Maybe I am really spoiled out here but personally I don't like how dirty and how much corrosion is on either. But the 97 does look like the better of the two.

Oro

I think the 97 looks much worse.

It has more signs of various oil leaks, and a amateurish-looking re-seal to the rear of the Valve-cover on bank 2.

The oil cap on the '01 is not a deal-breaker. That is the splash baffle and oil always pools there and cooks. Even the cap on our 2002 which runs on Mobil 1, driven easy, and changed like clockwork has some of that. But, I would take a flashlight and peer past it and make sure there's no sludge in there. Even then, I might be tempted to simply use that as a negotiating point if it was not fatal looking and then flush the motor a few times and deal with it if I otherwise really liked the car and it was sharp and clean.

The history on the '97 should simply preclude it. Too many dis-interested owners and clear problems simply ignored. If it has O2 codes and others, it may also have a bad cat and that gets to be a real hassle. No telling what else you are going to find. Don't waste any more time on that one unless they are virtually giving it away and you really like to wrench on cars and have a good garage and excellent set of tools, etc.

The 2001 is also going to be VVT-i and the '97 is not. That is worth something to me; there's a real difference in the power and power band on VVT-i vs. non VVT engine. The 2001s were slightly sharper looking IMO, too after the mild re-styling. And much better looking than the next-gen 4ES.

Yeah, you (and I) are spoiled. I am around Seattle and I see you are in CA. That is just not bad for a car back East.

Nitti3

I personally like the 01 as well, the 97 seemed uncared for. The 97 also had this weird rattling/knocking sound around 2300 RPM but it was very faint and I have pretty good ears for these kinds of things. However the 97s transmission felt smoother under load, I'm not sure why that was, @Oro could it be because of the increased power of the VVT-i engine? Or maybe it's just something simple as a different transmission or more worn out fluid, 159k vs 134k.

There should be a leak that you guys can spot in every picture, some pictures I took multiple times with different exposure settings to try and capture pictures of darker areas.Which one has leaks that are more compromising and more expensive to fix? Do they even need fixing?

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

Get the 2001. Mine had 240k when I sold it and i know the oil was changed every 3k as my father was the first owner, and it looked exactly the same. One owner for that long also means that they probably took better care of it. it'll also be newer, slightly quicker, and just in general looks nicer with more wood trim and clear lights. That being said with Lexus, i tend to look less at year, and more at condition.