tibug

I figured that the front leaked sooner because the engine is tilted backwards and heat from the front exhaust manifold has a greater effect. Maybe not. All I know is that the front valve cover on my car was leaking profusely and the rear was barely weeping. Further, the front valve cover gasket was so brittle it fell into two pieces when I lifted off the valve cover.... so perhaps my motor is the exception. The gaskets have never been replaced as long as my uncle has owned it...since 2007 or so.

gngai

Ok. I've prescreened and looking at a 2002 ES300 tomorrow. It has traction control. I dont have any experience with this feature. It is problematic "steer clear" or a great feature worthwhile? Any way to assess this on the test drive sensibly??!!

speedkar9

Traction control is no problem. It helps reduce wheel spin if your giving it too much throttle on a slippery surface. All V6 cars need this feature. My ES330 doesn't have traction control, and I constantly find myself doing burnouts lol

The feature you might want to avoid is adjustable suspension (AVS). Once the struts wear out they can be expensive to replace, or you'd just have to replace them with regular non adjustable struts.

gngai

Thanks Speedkar9!

nuvoturbo

The main concern you should have in looking at a 2000-2003 is sludge buildup in the motor. They were prone to this problem if regular maintenance wasn't performed. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to determine if any particular motor has sludge. I speak from experience as my 2000 ES300 I purchased for my son in June, 2015 had the engine fail last month due to sludge.

gngai

Interesting. Anybody else heard of "sludge" issues with these motors? Also, anyone know if Haynes and or Chilton Manuals (or something similar) are useful for maintenance where internet DIYs or other fixes cant be found on the forums? Thanks in advance.

808mcv20l

Everyone who's been reading these forums knows about about these "sludge" problems. As you know, the 1MZ-FE/3MZ-FE are shared with Camrys, Siennas, Solaras, Lexus RXs.

There's no way of knowing without removing the valve cover.

Ask for Maintenance records, if the car had regular oil changes it should be fine.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to run a can of Engine flush through it before your oil change.

Marvel Mystery oil and synthetic oil with a quality oil filter will also help.

nuvoturbo

Even looking under the valve cover is no guarantee that the motor won't have problems. The head looked relatively clean in my deceased motor. What killed it was a clogged screen on the oil sump intake in the oil pan. No way to check that without removing the oil pan. Interestingly enough, on the replacement motor the screen was partially clogged with pieces of the PCV grommet. Apparently those are a real challenge to get out in one piece. If I had it to do over again, I would look for a low mileage car that has documented maintenance records.

Oro

The sludge issues are primarily abused motors 2001 and down; there were changes to keep owners from neglecting oil changes and causing damage as easily 2002 and up. But ANY engine sludges if abused with long OCIs. Some engines are more prone than others, there are GM and VW motors with the same tendencies. There was a real fad starting in the late 80s of people boasting how long they could go without maintenance on their Toytotas. I am pretty sure that had a lot to do with it. Thank god it finally ended.

The Haynes and Chilton manuals are not that great IMO. You can get better info on forums these days, especially as to mechanical technique which is glossed over in those, presuming you already have it. There are also frequently errors and omissions.

Stereorob

drivetrains are rock solid but these don't hold up as well cosmetically. that's about the only negative on the ES that ive found.

OceanView

These cars are reliable and rather easy to maintain and getting 300K miles should not be a problem.

Just keep up with the routine maintenance and you should be fine.
Picking a used car with a good maintenance history is more important than mileage as these cars can last a long time.