Looking at a Land Cruiser - too many miles?

who knows, may be a salvage title, have the infamous frame rust if it came from the northeast, etc. Ad doesn't have much information, but Pennington is a repair shop in a low-income area, not a dealer, so could just be one with unpaid repair bill or something so they're trying to get rid of it. Or could be stolen, who knows.

That said, I just put the specs of mine (except with 200k miles not 110k) into Edmunds, which I've found to be way more accurate in this area than KBB, and here's what it spit out for an 05 Sequoia 4WD...

So if they're going for $10k in your area, I'm thinking I should tow a couple down there from here and make some cash, lol....

EDIT: Forgot the sunroof and roof rack, so add $500 to the prices below (trade-in, private party, dealer)

I bought a Lexus GX470 recently. I was looking for a V8 4Runner, but they are hard to find in decent condition and without a steep fanboi tax. Used GX's cost about the same and were a favorite of soccer moms, so can be found with lower mileage and in good condition. You can get one with half the mileage of that LX at that price. Same motor and tow capacity, full time 4WD with 4L - 2L selector and transfer case lockup, descent control and a lot of luxury bells and whistles. Same bulletproof reliability, sold as the Land Cruiser Prado in other markets. I love mine so far. For me it is the ultimate Swiss Army knife vehicle. It can haul, tow, off-road, and is a snow tank in the winter. It's also a comfortable DD and is easy to maneuver and park. There's a whole subculture of people that mod these as expedition vehicles and off road beasts.

I thought briefly about the Sequoia, but they aren't body-on-frame and have less towing capacity (5000 vs 6500), which was important to me. A little tough to find 4WD versions in this market, too.

SEADave wrote: I have only looked at the Lexus versions, but I thought these took pricey air shocks. So definitely look into the cost to replace those even if the dealer will meet you at $10k.

Worse. The Lexus LX uses hydraulic rams in place of the shock. There are nitrogen filled balls along the sides of the frame, just behind the rockers. right where all the salty road crap gets flung up from the front tire. One accumulator ball for each corner, these are responsible for actual dampening. They serve as your shock, the internal rubber diaphram fails, filling both sides of the accumulator with fluid, which results in a incredibly stiff ride. When one fails, the other side of the same axle is usually killed as as result of the overload. If I remember right, they are about 1k each. Add in the height and ride control wiring and rust prone plumbing to connect these infernal contraptions, as well as the ever present threat of the huge money height sensor failures (about 750$.... up to X4) , the suspension alone on the LX scares me away....and should you too, if this thing has ever been in the north. Toyota version has none of this nonsense installed and is better off for it. On the plus side, when it works, the ride is great. Sounds like the one we are talking about here, has some high dollar issues.

Also the rear A/C lines are prone to failure at each mounting point. They snake above the frame. Not miserable to replace, but time consuming and frustrating, like running brake lines on a chevy....but with bigger, more expensive aluminum tubes.

Are all LX's fitted with hydraulic suspension?

I thought that was available in the '05 or '06+ only.

All LX 470's had it. Standard. In the US at least. Unsure other markets.

But the later GXs missed all that wackiness, right?

The LX hydraulic suspension isn't that scary or really that expensive either. There are aftermarket accumulators available. A full set is not that much more than a set of premium shocks, and not 1K ea, more like $400 ea. If there is a problem, fixing it right is about the same cost as converting it to springs and regular shocks with aftermarket stuff. And some of the Land Cruisers had the same suspension.

ultraclyde wrote: But the later GXs missed all that wackiness, right?

Yeah, parts prices I mention above were dealer retail, from what I remember working at a dealer years ago. Aftermarket parts im sure are, as Dr.Hess mentioned, much cheaper.

Make no mistake though,the suspension components under the LX, if driven in the salt for years and years turn into a rusted, expensive POS. I advise potential buyers to crawl under and inspect the accumulators/lines/ controls before purchase.

As for the GX, it had rear air suspension only. They had problematic height sensors, that corroded internally, and usually ended up with a abnormally high back end. Looks like a rabbit waiting to get berkly'd. If driven in that condition long enough (over-inflated bags) it will blow a hole in the bag and mandate replacement. Less prevalent were air compressor exhaust valve issues, but still something to keep in mind. Much simpler system than the LX, and easy to convert to normal shocks and springs. No where near as much potential money, but still not cheap. GX also had a thump, when coming to a complete stop that annoyed some, and others ignored. Those it annoyed got new driveshafts and control arms for the rear axle. The thump resulted from the driveshaft length changing as the axle settled from the stop, or under initial acceleration. I replaced tons of those under warranty. Theres a service bulletin on it.

Later 1st gen GX470's had the active swaybars that linked front and rear/ side to side sway bars together with hydraulics. It allowed greater articulation off road by essentially disconnecting, while offering improved on road handling. It worked well. I was only in the dealership for a short while when these were around, and still newish so I didn't see many problems. Service tool to pressurize the system is pricey though. This system was a option, and not that popular. I'd personally avoid it, but that's just my opinion, not based on failure rate.

Basil Exposition wrote: I thought briefly about the Sequoia, but they aren't body-on-frame and have less towing capacity (5000 vs 6500), which was important to me. A little tough to find 4WD versions in this market, too.

You must be thinking of the Highlander. The Sequoia is most certainly body-on-frame (basically the Tundra frame), and has a 6500+ tow rating, and very few were made in 2WD.

"and very few were made in 2WD."

Unless all the 2wd ones were sold in TX, I disagree. I've been searching Austin CL(I have a friend local), and they all seem to be 2wd.

Mazdax605 wrote: "and very few were made in 2WD." Unless all the 2wd ones were sold in TX, I disagree. I've been searching Austin CL(I have a friend local), and they all seem to be 2wd.

Tough to say, that was just my perception living up here where it snows where all the ones I see are 4WD, but it looks like "very few" is incorrect and that the correct proportion is "somewhat less 2WD than 4WD". Probably is the case that the 2WDs were disproportionately sold down south. I stand corrected.

Out of curiosity and for the sake of pointless argument, I just did a national search for 01-07 Sequioas for sale on the major auto sale sites, and here are the results:

Cars.com

4WD: 386

2WD: 11

AWD: 3

FWD: 2 (must be a special edition lol)

Not specified: 314 (likely mostly RWD, I'd guess)

Autotrader

4WD: 420

2WD: 395

I was going to compare some CL's in the North and South, but people are idiots and half the time don't list drive type and/or put FWD for their Sequioas, so I gave up on that comparison lol. I currently have 14 4WD Sequoias 01-07 listed "by owner" in my local CL, and 2 RWD, hence my impression of things. Same kind of imbalance holds for 4Runners around here, though I know a lot of them were made 2WD overall.

I must say after looking at some of them, the Sequoia has peaked my interest. Seems like mist of them here in georgia are 2wd as well though.

Found a new used car search engine that hits a bunch of sites, too. You should check out autotempest.com Covers cars.com,autotrader, Craigslist and others at the same time or with one extra click.

ultraclyde wrote: I must say after looking at some of them, the Sequoia has peaked my interest. Seems like mist of them here in georgia are 2wd as well though. Found a new used car search engine that hits a bunch of sites, too. You should check out autotempest.com Covers cars.com,autotrader, Craigslist and others at the same time or with one extra click.

yeah, if you want 4WD, probably a good bet to look up into the Carolinas or something. I wouldn't go TOO far north or you start getting frame rust issues in the rust belt and northeast, but mid-atlantic ones shouldn't have too much, if any. Mine came from the New Jersey shore/beach areas and has some rust in some places, but still nothing too bad.

Keep in mind that many SR5 (base) models were optioned up new. Ours is an SR5 and has every single Limited option except the air suspension (I added Air-Lift bags for $100 and they work great in the rear for heavier towing).

Like I said earlier....they're not sexy, but they're great trucks and rock-solid. If you want some proof that they're just as tough off-road as any other thing (including the LC), in 2009 National Geographic drove a mostly-stock 2004 Sequoia and a 2007 Tundra AROUND THE WORLD, much of it off-road.

http://theworldbyroad.com/drive-around-the-world-expedition/

irish44j wrote:

Basil Exposition wrote: I thought briefly about the Sequoia, but they aren't body-on-frame and have less towing capacity (5000 vs 6500), which was important to me. A little tough to find 4WD versions in this market, too.

You must be thinking of the Highlander. The Sequoia is most certainly body-on-frame (basically the Tundra frame), and has a 6500+ tow rating, and very few were made in 2WD.

Oops. I stand corrected, thanks.

When I bought the ZAV, my criteria was: Toyota (of course), V8, 4WD, <7K, within about 150 miles. Wasn't easy. A lot of those Sequoias came up, but were RWD. A 4WD one was actually the exception. Now, maybe only the RWD Sequoias were being sold and people were hanging on to the 4WD ones, I dunno, but that was my observation. Oh, and good luck finding anything that met the criteria from November to March. Finally, one Saturday there were 2 in Tulsa, the LX470 and a Sequoia, for the same price at different used car lots. The Sequoia was a year or two newer and had less miles. I went to the LX guy first and bought that one.

Didn't you hear about the 1 million mile Tundra with the 4.7 V8?

http://www.tfltruck.com/2016/07/toyota-tundra-1000000-miles-look-like-video/

Here's the tear down: http://www.trucktrend.com/how-to/project-trucks/1705-million-mile-tundra-the-tear-down/

I've been going around in circles wanting to buy a 4th gen 4runner, but the used prices are sooooo high even with high miles. Actually, I'm going to stop on the way home to look at a 2007 4Runner Sport with 96k for 16K.

ultraclyde wrote: I must say after looking at some of them, the Sequoia has peaked my interest. Seems like mist of them here in georgia are 2wd as well though. Found a new used car search engine that hits a bunch of sites, too. You should check out autotempest.com Covers cars.com,autotrader, Craigslist and others at the same time or with one extra click.

I will add something that struck me about this conversation as I had to pick up a couple 10' 2x4s today:

Sequioa tailgate window rolls down, so you can stick long stuff in there. Land Cruiser doesn't :)

The only thing id worry about on one of these in the goofy air pump under the intake on the 4.7 that dies and takes out all the valves with it.

Generally between 2 and 3 grand to pay someone to do it. Ive seen tons of failures, but apparently some people have been able to just plug a resistor into the connector and prevent the MIL from coming on.

Didnt some of these also have some goofy ball joint that failed often.

Havent seen that, just read about it.

Yes, for Sequoia there was a recall for the lower front balljoints (also on Tundras). I would imagine that after a decade any of these still on the road have had it replaced. They are bolt-on assemblies, so it's a pretty easy job.

That said, I replaced mine when I got it, just to be safe.

The air pump as far as I know is only on the 2007-2008 Sequoia/Tundra (and Toyota did a recall on those around 2010, I believe). Pre-2007 models didn't have the air pump.

I actually stopped and looked at an 07 Sequoia that was sitting on a local lot. Seemed nice enough although i didn't drive it. But the interior dash layout and general design looked a LOT like the '96 Corolla my mom had. Which is kind of sad but functional.

ultraclyde wrote: I actually stopped and looked at an 07 Sequoia that was sitting on a local lot. Seemed nice enough although i didn't drive it. But the interior dash layout and general design looked a LOT like the '96 Corolla my mom had. Which is kind of sad but functional.

Yeah, the interior/dash is about as boring 90s Toyota as it comes, no question. Mine has the lovely brown-colored dash with tan everywhere else. You can see some of the "add ons" over the years like the seat heater buttons, that are just stuck next to the cupholders like an afterthought.....it's kind of funny. That said, yeah everything else in there is soooo functional. Driving my wife's CX-9 with its very nice shift selector I was thinking "man, I like having a column-mounted shifter" since it gives more room between the seats for cupholders, place to put cell phone, bigger junk storage box, etc.

I am not in the market for any of these types of vehicles but found the general knowledge and courtesy quite refreshing and interesting. That's why I like coming to GRM.

General knowledge and courtesy – yup, that's us. Also Sawzalls.