gleeson

in another thread, Wilson2000 had requested pics of old timing belts with years & miles stats. my mechanic always saves my old parts for me so i have them (except for my starter which he had to trade-in). here’s my old TB at age 9 years and 8 months and after 85,788 miles.






it still looks good to me but i’m no mechanic.
this was the car’s second TB and i had it replaced 01/29/21 when the odo was just over 269k. i’m fast approaching 280k so i’ve put over 10k on the third TB. i’m gonna try to upload some vids which hopefully show the condition more clearly.

gleeson

hope these links to the vids work…



… and the underside of the belt

gleeson

hello,

it's been just over three years since i bought my SC with just under 268K. yesterday i hit 280k. thought i'd share the additional repairs & maintenance needed these last three years above and beyond what i shared in my earlier posts above. maybe it'll help others who are considering higher mileage. i'd also love to hear from other owners with high mileage SCs about their experiences.

at 275K, a knock sensor went bad (P0325 code). since replacement requires removing the manifold atop the engine, i had both knock sensors changed. at the same time, i had the original starter replaced since it was now accessible. it seemed prudent given my high mileage.

at 276K, i had the front shocks/struts replaced. they had never been changed. i didn't realize how bad they were. the ride is noticeably smoother and quieter. i wish i had done them sooner. the rear shocks were previously changed by owner one at 240K.

here's the minor stuff i was able to fix myself with help from this forum:
- replaced thermistor i broke while attempting to clean it
- replaced a side marker bulb
- replaced a parking light bulb (inside the headlight)
- cleaned the passenger side a/c blending servo which was sounding like an air compressor
- unplugged my antenna motor so it stays down; not needed and i like cleaner look

i also replaced my oem alloy wheels with g spiders and have finally gotten used to the new look. despite what i've had to put into it, i still feel this was a good purchase given the price i paid ($6,800), it's condition, available past history and, of course, the lexus reliability. i'll probably never sell because to replace it would cost at least 2 times what i paid for it and it still might need more work e.g., timing belt/WP.

this car is like a mini-vacation everytime i get in it. actually, it's better because vacations eventually end!

OBP

Wow I want my SC430 to make it to 280k miles. This thread makes me think I can get it there from my 104 k miles now. Well done Gleeson !

gleeson

thanks for your comments OBP.

based on your signature, i’m gonna guess you will not get to 280k with your SC, not because it can’t but because you have too many other choices to drive! 😬

i’m only driving about 4k miles per year, so she’s now a garage queen.

SGB4570

Nice write up and thread, just found it this morning and read it all. Sorry, a lot of this doesn't pertain to me as I just recently purchased a 2004 with only 57k miles! Nice to hear I should be driving this car for a long time, which is good cause I really like it! Amazing how nice the interiors on these things hold up, your looks great with so many miles on it, while I wouldn't want a black interior due to the summer heat here yours sure looks good.

GmanSC

With proper care your SC will easily made to 300K miles. My 91 LS400 made to 343 K, my 07 Corolla made to 299999 miles (max odometer display), my wife 07 Prius made to 278K miles.
Amazing products.

SGB4570

Well I'm sure hoping, we tend to keep pretty good care of our vehicles, hence the 340,000 miles on the wife's Charger!

gleeson

thanks for your comments. i've read your threads too. congrats on your purchase!

we all have our own preferences and i'm glad we each got what we wanted. my preferred colors were silver or white, then black or blue. i guess i don't want to draw more attention to myself more than i have to. the car does that on it's own especially with the top down.

i found my SC only by chance when my wife and i took a different route to go shopping in downtown monterey. the car was a mile from our house with a for sale sign taped to the window. she saw it before me and said, "isn't that what you've been looking for? you should stop and check it out. this is fate."

the seller did no other advertising so if we hadn't driven that way, we would never have seen it. the seller was the nicest guy and let me test drive alone for over an hour. i thought "what a trusting guy!" turns out he is a pastor at a local church. amazingly, there was still paperwork in the car that identified original owner. i told the seller i needed a day to think about it and we were only a mile away.

that night, i did a little research online and came to the conclusion that owner one was commuting between california and texas, hence the annual average mileage of over 16k for nearly 16 years.
i'm thinking to myself if i'm taking a chance buying a high mileage car, at least they're mostly freeway miles.
the car's service history from the lexus driver's website showed routine regular maintenance (33 oil changes, TBs at 93K and 183K), as well as special repairs/replacements as necessary. it was pretty clear that owner one was maintaining the car. they had to given how much they were driving it.

with proof of regular maintenance and lexus reliability, the high miles seemed less a gamble. the surprisingly good condition of the interior and exterior (for the mileage) made me feel this was the one.
the next day, the pastor and i went to the bank and i bought it. i've never had a car with this many miles. the most has been 135k on a mazda 626, and 117k on a honda accord.

so far, so good.

SGB4570

It is interesting about people's preferences on things, you wanted silver or white and we would not even look at those! We preferred Red or Blue, and a black one only if everything was perfect including the price. You had a great (sounds like) service record, and the car we bought had kind of a spotty record. Our car only had 57k so didn't require the extensive record you had, I crawled around this car quite a bit and it all looked very good, the engine compartment was spotless top and bottom, so we took a leap of faith and bought it, then drove it home 500 miles. Once we got there without incident I figured we did ok. And its been a while since we had a car with this few miles!! AND its 19 years old, definitely our oldest car!
So to each their own as they say, and I think we both did good on the car we got. I only wish I paid closer to what you did!!! :-)

gleeson

no regrets! you did good. 👍

SGB4570

No regrets at all, and we both did good.