2000 LX that my wife drives with 41,335 miles. Have had the accumulators replaced, a $4000. job that my Lexus dealer charged me $400. for because the mileage was under warranty but the time certainly wasn't. I have had a lot of problems with this car, all but a little covered under warranty thank goodness. Bought it new, but from a reliability standpoint nothing like my '98 LS 400, which required 4 tires and a battery in 95,000 miles that I just traded in on a 2005 LS 430 with 5000 miles on it.

 

I think you are better off driving any vehicle 20K miles a year versus 5-6K miles a year. I don't think the miles hurt these vehicles but I think setting unused is hard on them and will cause more problems then driving them. JMHO and observations over the past 40 years.

 

I agree with you. It's my wife's car and she just doesn't drive it that much, with a one mile commute to work each day and infrequent use on the weekends. It's not my favorite car to drive, too truck like for me, and my LS is much more comfortable. Still it does have a Lexus badge on it and I wouldn't have expected so many problems. Some of the major problems we've had cannot be attributed to lack of mileage, like a leaking water pump at 28,000 miles, steering wheel tilt motor being replaced, computer controlling the side view mirrors being replaced, Nakamichi stereo issues, etc. To me these are either design or engineering issues.

 

Well the steering wheel, mirrors and radio were all TSBs due to engineering faults, but the water pump at 28000 miles? wow.

 

It's the short trips that are bad on a car, not necessarily sitting unused if it's not too long (a few weeks, not a few months). Besides the water & byproducts from combustion causing sulfuric acid in your engine (oil additives supposed to neutralize it, assuming you change it often enough and/or use a oil with a high TBN), the cylinder head and block slide along the head gasket as it warms up due to the different expansion rates. I'm surprised you don't have a HG leak driving most 1 mile trips. It takes about 8 miles to warm up the engine, and by warm, I mean the water in the oil evaporates, cylinder head is the same temp as the block, etc., not the heater is blowing hot (LX heater will blow hot even before the thermostat into the radiator opens for the first time while driving!) If I have to go 1 mile, I just ride my road bike!

My LX sometimes sits for 2-3 weeks without use, but when it's used, it's usually 100-500 miles. In this country, there's too much emphasis put on "low miles" on an engine. In reality, low miles is kind of bad if you're buying a used vehicle. Better to buy a newer vehicle w/ high miles (say, 20-30K mi/yr or more) since most of those miles were likely to be on the interstate=very little engine/drivetrain stress. Sure, the bearings will have high miles, but the engine/drivetrain is the important part. OTOH, if most miles are short distance, the overall odometer reading will be low, but all those trips are stop & go on a cold engine, reving it from low rpms to high rpms, shifting the tranny constantly...bad.

 

Hi Jim,

I agree with everything you say, but the big problem with high mileage cars is not wear and tear on the mechanicals, but rather cosmetic damage due to rock chips on the paint, broken windshields, door dings from careless drivers, sun damage to interior and exterior, etc. The mechanicals are fine with 100,000 to 200,000 miles, and greater, but the car oftentimes requires lots of detailing or even a new paint job. The leathers become cracked, split, and faded and the car loses its attractiveness to me. The cosmetic issues are primarily the reason I trade a car in, not the mechanical wear and tear.

 

The 1998 LS is world famous for being zero maintenance.

 

True, but the vehicle will only be a few years old. Only so much can happen to the leather in that time. Now you will have more dings in the paint, but that's inevitable w/ driving. I just touch the dings up. A quality urethane paint & clear coat like on the LX will last 15-20 yrs, according to the guys at the body shop who painted my custom bumpers to match. I buy the CPO vehicles from the dealer, and the dealer tends to sell the better condition ones CPO (ie, full service records, well taken care of, garaged, etc.). At least the LX has UV-absorbing glass, so the leather is protected in that sense even if the PO never conditioned it. The other nice thing about a used rig (for me) is I don't feel bad if the windshield/paint gets dinged by road debris, or if I pound it offroad while on a road trip.

 

For the shaking. Mine at 70,000 miles needed new bearings... it solved the shaking problem from 70mph+. I currently have 117k miles on my 2001 Gold LX 470... thinking about trading it in for a newer one (2003 or 2004) this summer.

 

Were the wheel bearing ever repacked during the first 70K miles? If so at what intervals?

 

I really don't know. I had just gotten the car out of service and my dealer is right off the highway, so I took it out and about 70 mph the steering wheel was shaking. I made a U turn and brought it back. My dealer said it needed new bearings and it would be ready within 3 or 4 days. They were not repacked, just replaced, to my knowledge. It was under warrenty to 100k, so I really didn't pay that much or attention.

 

The reason I ask is that they are suppose to be repacked every 30K miles which costs about $650-$800. So if it was never done you saved about $1400 and then it cost you about $800 to $900???

 

I just dug through all my records. My dealer repacked my bearings at 70k miles. I do remember the service advisor saying that the should have been done earlier. This was a design flaw of the car. The bearings are way to small to handle the load of a 5,000 lbs truck. Essentially I saved money, but at the risk of my safety. I hate my dealer, they don't check anything unless I specifically tell them to check something. I do not advise driving on bad bearings. I would repack my bearings. I remember that after they were done, they were fine and the steering wheel stopped shaking. I have to have it done again soon.

 

Not a design flaw, and the bearing on these vehicles are really strong. I think what happen is that your dealer repacked them and did not reinstall them correctly and screwed them up. They then had to replace them. JMHO. I think they recommend repacks every 30K miles based on what the LC/LX is designed to handle (off road and bad back country roads) If its a mall queen and never sees this abuse I bet you could run it 150K miles without a repack.

 

102,765 current mileage. Putting on new tires and r/f cv axle tomorrow. Other rhan that no problems. Mech says bearngs are fine. May do them anyway since we are going to look at the brakes when the wheels are off.