I've been thinking about getting a used 5th gen Land Cruiser / LX470 for a while now and finally pulled the trigger this past weekend on a '98 LX470 w/ 47k miles on it - so far it drives like a dream Here are some pics:



Its still got the original Michelin LTX M/S tires on it, same as our CR-V but without the white letters and in size 275/70-16 instead of 225/70-15



It's gonna take a massive cleanup effort in the garage to squeeze it in



The nice thing about the '98 LX is that on the outside it looks identical (except for a change in roof rack design) to the '99-'02s . It's lacking many of the interior / engineering improvements that have been steadily added over the years but it's still a super plush ride. Mine came with Lexus' "certified pre-owned" warranty for an additional 3 years / 100K miles total, which leaves me with about 53K miles of bumper to bumper coverage

 

Sharp truck! My wife has been seriously eyeing one of those. Our QX-4 will be paid off in a couple months- hopefully she doesn't go BONKERS!

 

GatorGreg, hmmm, name sounds familiar. Are you a member of AcuraMDX.org?? I used to visit that site every once in a while.

I'm pleased to see you are enjoying your LX, it's quite and SUV. Nice color too, looks like cashmere beige. Welcome to ClubLexus.

 

Thanks for the welcome guys - yep I'm also a member of acuramdx.org. I'm not sure the color would have been my first choice if I had others to choose from. However I'm really starting to appreciate the color now, especially after giving it a nice wash yesterday. It looks very classy IMO and even though it's "cashmere beige" just as LexRX guessed, it has a nice golden glimmer to it

 

Your LX looks great. We are paying down a few bills and will pick up our LX after tax season next year. How's the stereo system in the LX. I know in '98 the Nakamichi audio was not offered. Does it still sound great? You'll have your LX for a long time, with only 47k miles it's barely broken in!!!

 

Well, judging stereo systems is highly subjective of course, but I'd say the '98 LX system is adequate for most purposes. At low to moderate volumes it sounds good IMO, especially classical / accoustic type stuff. Most of my passengers have been impressed with it as well. Its got seven speakers including the two tweeters in the doors and a sub in the left cargo area. The head unit controls are also pretty good. However when I don't have any passengers I like to crank up my car stereo to higher volumes, especially for drum intensive rock which I enjoy - and when I do this in the LX it sounds awful IMO. Just doesn't have enough "oomph" if you know what I mean.

I'm planning to have the system which is currently in our CR-V removed and reinstalled in the LX. It's an Alpine 45 w x 4 headunit w/ indash monitor, 6 disc DVD / CD changer, Xtant 250 w x 1 sub amp and a 12" Xtant sub. With a total of 430 w, this should add the power that I think the system currently lacks.

 

Yo, I thought I recognized that name. Congrats on your purchase!

 

The stereo install is now completed, I just had the Alpine "mobile multimedia station" taken out of my '02 CR-V and had it reinstalled in my '98 LX, see pic below. Total system power = 430 watts: 45w x 4 Alpine headunit (model CVA-1003), 250w x 1 Xtant sub amp (model m121 under passenger seat). Total speakers still = 7 (but with 12" Xtant sub in custom box replacing OEM sub). Total discs still = 6 (but with Alpine DVD/Video CD/CD changer model DHA-S680 under right dash).

The system has a seperate control for adjusting the subwoofer and also came with a wireless remote. The installer did a very nice job and now my LX audio system sounds (and feels ) awesome even with the factory speakers in place. With the added power and improved subwoofer I no longer feel it necessary to replace them



In case anyone is interested, here are some links to Alpine's specs for both the dvd changer and multimedia head unit.

Head Unit:
http://ecominet2.alpine-usa.com:7777...in=30&p_more=y

Disk changer:
http://ecominet2.alpine-usa.com:7777...in=30&p_more=y

 

Excellent work GatorGreg, the wireless remote sounds handy You have any daylight pics of the setup?

 

Sorry no daylight pics yet - they just finished the install earlier this evening. I'll try to get some soon though. I just noticed that if you look way down in the bottom right corner of the pic I posted you can see a blue light from the DVD changer under the dash. The Xtant amp can't really be seen, the installer put it in the same spot where the OEM amp used to sit under the passenger seat.

 

Here are some more pics

I didn't want the usual black plastic / pocket thing surrounding the aftermarket headunit so they used some (fake) carbon fiber stuff. The tricky thing about the headunit install is there is a gentle curve to the top of the area so they needed to put the headunit towards the bottom side of it so it would face out properly. Also, the screen on this particular unit can pop out two different distances. When popped out in short mode, it just barely clears the top lip of the dash when angled perpendicularly. When popped out in far mode, it has enough clearance that you can angle the screen back a little if desired.



radio:



dvd:



dvd changer:



You can see the amp under the seat when it's moved all the way forward:

 

Looks good, I'm sure it'll make your truck more enjoyable Now, maybe time for an offroad trail test

 

By the way, how much did you buy your LX for? I've seen some used LX470s at my Lexus dealer that are 2000 models that are running for about $45,000. So please let me know for I am kind of interested in getting myself a used one some day too.

 

I paid approx $30K for mine. They had an identical Cashmere '98 that I was looking at for a few grand less which sold the weekend before I got mine, however it had over 62K miles and was not certified. It also had several minor cosmetic issues and had been registered in South Florida where the sun takes a toll on paint and interiors. The one I got was a one owner vehicle bought and traded in at the same dealership I bought it at. It was in pristine condition as far as I could tell, not a singe ding! The fact that it was certified was worth a couple grand to me as I don't want to incur any major repair expenses for the next 3 years. According to carfax, mine was registered by the prior owner in a sleepy little retirement village in central Florida about 50 miles north of Orlando. I'm hoping it was owned by some old fogey who used it just for transporting himself in style to the golf course Which reminds me, I was at a stop light over the weekend and a nice old man in a white Cadillac next to me started honking at me to roll down my window - he wanted to compliment me on the color and ask me what kind of vehicle it was. Normally I'd be pretty happy to get compliments on my vehicle, but I kinda wish it was from someone a little younger

 

wow ur lex is hot, especially the interior stuff you did to it.. keep up the good work and enjoy the ride!

~ Stella