jspringato

Found an 04 with 170,000 miles. Exterior paint is faded, but this is a second car for me so if the price is right, that is OK. I'm sure the timing belt will need to be replaced right away.

I would like to get 100,000 miles out of it over 10 years. How many miles is too many miles?

chiph9

If it has the maintenance records, and you plan on doing a "Maintenance Plus" service schedule, the drivetrain will almost certainly last that long.

Will there be body & trim things that break on a 20+ year old vehicle? Absolutely. Will there be trim pieces available? Probably not (the small interior parts are already starting to get scarce).

Chip H.

BradTank

It all depends on how much savings you're talking about going with the higher mileage on whether it's worth it. If the suspension has not been rebuilt yet, that would be the first thing that probably will need to be addressed soon.

Personally, I'm of the mind that I would rather slightly "overpay" for a nice, well taken care of used car. When I was younger, I was more open to the "beater". Just not as interested in spending my weekends under a car.

If you're not doing maintenance and repairs on it yourself, a single extra service visit can wipe out the cost savings versus paying a bit more for a nicer model with lower miles.
The drivetrain itself though is solid.

rstl99

Yeah there are also hard miles (stop and go traffic on busy freeways and city streets, snow-salt winters, aggressive driving style, lackadaisical maintenance) and easy miles (long highway runs at reasonable speed, excellent preventative maintenance, etc.)

RushNatU

I have an 05 with 190k and it looks and drives better than low mileage examples I have driven costing several thousand more. Its all about condition and maintenance.

mstrsltr

How do you guys feel about GX's being serviced at Toyota's as opposed to Lexus Dealers?

I've been searching rigorously for the right used GX470 and I often see on Carfax's that people will have them serviced at Toyota dealers instead. Since I've seen it so often, I have to assume it's for the sake of saving some money.

As Lexus are essentially very fancy Toyota's, do you think this is an acceptable form of maintenance?

Obviously, there will be certain bits of tech that Toyota mechanics may not be able to service, but the nuts and bolts of the thing are essentially identical to a Toyota.

Thoughts?

EddieK05

I'd have no problems buying one that was serviced and serviced well by a Toyota dealership rather than by Lexus. Same thing, and I'd actually give the previous owner points for being smart about it.