Amphicar

Hi All,

Come Thursday, if all goes as planned, I will be the owner of a 2002 LX470. It is a CPO vehicle with about 40k miles and a fairly good price. Anything I should be aware of up front or before completing the deal?

I had originally been looking at a 2004 Touareg V-8. Nice vehicle but then I started reading the VW forums and got the sense that the Touareg would make my old '86 Jag look like the pinnacle of reliability.

This will be the most expensive used car I have ever purchased but, other than the mpg, I have heard nothing but good things about these vehicles.

Regards.

SWUtah

You will get tired of driving it before you wear it out. You will find that the materials that are used in its manufacture are of such high quality that when your LX is 10 years old it will still look new. The 4.7 V8 is one of the lowest wear engines made and people marvel at the used oil analysis (www.bobistheoilguy.com). You can go 10K miles on a oil/filter change and have the same results that you would get on a normal engine, with a 3K mile oil change. The engine and drivetrain should be trouble free for 500K miles with just normal maintance. You have made a wise choice. Congrats and enjoy.

murray32

Welcome to the wonderful world of Japanese engineering. The LX470/Land Cruiser are the best engineered SUV's ever produced IMHO. Over time you will appreciate it more and more and will probably never buy anything other than a Toyota SUV ever again. Just do the maintenance and enjoy...

AyM

If u are planning 2002 LX then u will miss : 1. rear view camera, 2. bluetooth mobile telephone ( very convenient thing) , 3. navigation if u need, 4. parking alarm , 5. not sure - touch screen control , 6 keyless door opening ( not so much useful).

So I recommend to buy 2004.

V8_Fan

One advantage of the '03+ LX's is the 5spd transmission (to better take advantage of the engine's low-end torque=better acceleration from a stop) & gate shifter. Some other subtle changes (besides the dash being redesigned) is the driveshafts are larger, slightly more hp. The advantage of the '03- LX's is they use type IV transmission fluid instead of the special world standard. This only matters if you plan to change the ATF yourself or want to run synthetic like Amsoil. '03- also have a ATF dipstick...much easier to check your ATF. OTOH, the '04+ has the rear camera.

Enigma869

First and foremost, welcome to the wonderful world of Lexus ownership. I own a 2004 LX, so can't really intelligently comment on the 02 model. That said, the one thing I can tell you is nobody comes close to Toyota when it comes to reliability of their vehicles. Their track record is remarkable and Honda built an entire company copying Toyota's business model! I am actually more of a fan of Mercedes Benz in terms of styling but Mercedes track record is horrendous. I owned a 2003 ML500 and actually had to sell it back to Mercedes because of so many, endless problems. Like most automobiles, I think the LX is WAY overpriced, but, that doesn't change the fact that it's the nicest vehicle I've ever driven. For the record, 04 was the first year with the backup camera (which should be mandatory on every SUV!) and the bluetooth (a fantastic feature!). I still think buying an 02 with so few miles is probably a better bargain, because after 5 years, most of the depreciation is already gone! Good luck with your new LX.

John from Boston

batmbl

Very encouraging words as I am in the market for an '03 model.

valgs350

iTrader: (1)

I have done the worst things you can do with a LX. It just keeps running fine. Maybe your cupholder will break but the tranny and engine, WOW!

2006lx470

Welcome to the LX470 Family!!!!

ubetifly

I own an 02 LX470 and you have touch screen DVD nav, alarm, and remote keyless entry. You don't get the Bluetooth, back up camera, and it's a 3 speed with overdrive, but mileage is about the same as the 04...