I drive an 04 Honda S2000 (lots of mods, custom paint...it's my baby) and after this first snowfall I realized I needed a second vehicle. I found a 96 lexus lx450 for pretty cheap. It's not the best looking car, but the engine and trans seem strong. It's got the diff locks.

The bad:
Seats are worn, backrest driver side power seat doesn't work, rear blow motor rattles badly (either it needs a new motor, or a kid stuck a toy in there, I'll find out soon enough), brake pedal is a bit soft, probably needs a fluid change. It still brakes just fine. Needs a serpentine belt, when the wheel is turned to locks the car idles a bit rough. I'm guessing power steering pump or the fluid. Bumper has a few scrapes and driver rear door has a dent.

The good:
All of the options, strong engine, viper alarm, tinted windows, plenty of tread on tires, DVD player installed on ceiling. Best of all, it's a lexus!

I'm hoping I don't regret this buy, but I doubt I will. I got it for such a good price, even it something major goes wrong, a part out should still render a profit.

 

Welcome! Pics would be great.

 

"It's not the best looking car"

I personally have not seen one looking better yet. The LX470 is not looking better (perhaps a bit more modern and different, but not "better"), not many like the 570's looks to put it mildly. The things are not much different with the competition either. The TCL80 has already taken its place in the hall of fame as a clean and purposeful design. Pretty much a text-book example by now. All Toyota has to do is to offer a next evolutionary design that keeps all the good things that were present in the TCL80, and have a winner. Think Mercedes Geländewagen here.

 

Congratulations on getting a first generation LX. It's based off of the Toyota Landcruiser and you can't go wrong. Would love to see pictures if you get a chance to post. Happy driving...

 

Congrats,

no serpintine belt, IMHO get the OEM belts. Locked? I've been driving my lifted an armored 97 for the last 8 years. I just bought a IS300 and joined this forum.

 

congrats! i do like the body style of 96-97 than 98 to 06 imo...

 

Sorry guys I've been pretty busy. No pictures yet , but ill get them soon. I realized the belt mistake the next day but never got on here to correct myself. I need the v-belt on the alternator. Not sure how long I'm gonna keep this. I'm tempted to keep it through winter and by then it will be as close to excellent condition as I can get it, sell it, and use the money to buy yet another "fixer upper" and work my way up, getting a nicer vehicle. Maybe ill be able to get a newer lexus eventually I'm not sure if that will work out the way I want though

 

Oh, and when I said it isn't the prettiest, I mean its condition, but that is rapidly changing.

 

Um... You have a rear heater? Odd, I thought all LX450 had the 6 disc changer and I was under the impression that you couldn't have both the 6 disc and the rear heater. (Until I realized how insanely strong the 450's heater is, I was asking about this over on IH8MUD) On the other hand, nothing stopping an enterprising owner from removing the 6 disc and fitting the heater...

Sounds like someone was using it for its intended purpose!

 

Just don't catch the catalytic converters on a rock if you take it off-road, those little suckers are EXPENSIVE (especially the front one, since it's part of the down-pipe from the cylinder head). Just under $2K for the front one with pipe.

 

Almost forgot, search Google for "Pesky Heater Hose" and buy the silicone hose kit. There's a short section of rubber coolant hose on the back end of the engine, between the block and the firewall. It eventually fails on all 1FZ-FE engines, and is a freaking nightmare to replace.

So you want to change it NOW, in the comfort of your own driveway when you have plenty of time, so you don't have to deal with it during a family vacation to some faraway place. This engine doesn't have many weaknesses, but this hose is definitely one of them.

 

Thanks for the note about the heater hoses. I'll be ordering those once I'm done with everything else (since they haven't failed yet). Other things I found to be bad: Few bulbs (ordered), brake lights weren't working - FIXED, splice behind fuse block was broken, EGR Valve stuck partially open (ordered), Passenger seat goes forward at an angle (missing the white cap and the gear is stripped) - found the website to order those but gears are out of stock until 2-11)

 

And FINALLY, some pics




Interior pictures to come when I clean it up a bit!

Now, my baby

 

I have both the 6 disc changer and the rear blower (well at least the part of the changer is there that you insert the discs into. Perhaps the actual storage for the 6 discs was removed for the rear blower. But I do have the rear heat buttons HI and Lo and when I turn them on I can feel the heat coming out back there, with an added awful noise.

I have an aftermarket cd player up front so I have no use for the 6 disc changer anyway.

 

The S2000 - I love the car, love the colour! I always wanted one too, never got around to it