flipflower

Good Morning members,

I am an active participant on other forums, mostly motorcycles. I am now shopping for an LX570 for my wife. I have been looking at 08 & 09 models. In one of the sites I follow they recommend buying cars from Carmax because of the extended warranty they sell.

How much emphasis should I place on having an extended warranty? (I have a good friend who is a Toyota Master Mechanic who will be servicing this vehicle)

I found an 08 LX in the West Coast with 55K miles, clean history, CA vehicle with no warranty
or
Carmax 08 LX from Nebraska available with 89K mile warranty- I was hoping to get a vehicle from a state with no salt, so I don't have to worry about rust.

I would appreciate all of your input.

Thanks in advance

Max707

LX570 known for reliablity and dependablity. Extended warranty waste of money. Rust free is a huge plus as is service history. Based on your post I would be all over the California LX, only known issues for that year is the water pump leaking. That's easy to check for leaks plus you have a Toyota Master mechanic.

xfea

Extend warranty is a waste of money...
Having said that.... Look to buy a CPO LX.... Well worth it... You'll be treated like a real Lexus buyer at the dealership...

ggebhardt

The LX is the only vehicle I would consider without a warranty. Pretty much bullet proof from what I have read. But there is always an exception so care is still advised.

Hawk4Life

Maybe check out www.vroom.com as they are located here in Dallas (Grand Prairie) and offer free nationwide delivery on purchases. If looking to trade their purchase offers are similar to those at Carmax and they'll pick up your vehicle anywhere in the country. FWIW, I'm in no way affiliated with Vroom but considered them for a purchase before buying a new LX locally. Best of luck with your quest.

H4L

CBRDude

DO NOT buy the CARMAX warranty! They refuse just about every claim. Even if used at CARMAX service! CARMAX will not stand behind any of them! You pay more if taken to another place and you are required to pay the tear down fee too. Then told they won't pay the claim. CARMAX uses several companies. All of them are awful. Listed on the bottom of the warranty page I think!

These cars a almost bullet proof unless someone ragged it to death and never serviced it. I've bought many cars from CARMAX. They use there own 125 point process and it's not done very well either. They rush the cars too fast through the process to get a fair shot at the problems seen. A lot of stuff gets past them. I will tell you use that 5 days to your advantage and have it inspected for any all prior work and work that it needs. they will give you your money back less per diem after the 3 days. Even paying the per diem is not bad if you are past the 3 days. I've done it many times. Before the 3 days. Honest all money back.

You can also go to the Lexus owners site and input the vin and pull any of the work that Lexus did. Also pull a CARFAX report. The Autocheck that CARMAX supplies only sites the accidents and owners no service done.

People that buy these rolling yachts should not be cheap on the servicing. You just spent 90K. Anything that's not been serviced on a regular basis skip it. It's not a good deal then.

The only problem we have had is the chrome finish on the wheels. The original owner opted for the finish, through the aftermarket process, thus Lexus won't stand behind them. The last two winters have taken a toll on the chrome and it's peeling. The truck was from NC. So they don't use the salt and brine like we pour on the roads here in Virginia.

Good luck!

normantatt

Hi from Australia. Apologies in advance for any errors, this is my first post to a forum.

Forget extended warranty on an LX. I'm onto my third with both of the previous LX470's clocking up near 200,000 miles (360, 000km) each. No major component failure. The key/ignition switch on the steering column had a problem on the first (1999 LX470) with a $250 fix, and the second (2004 LX470) had a major leak from the transmission (although it was 2 weeks after a service and they low loaded it back and fixed the problem for free, so I think it may have been a failure on the part of the dealership!) Great cars if you can keep the gas/petrol up to them, almost bullet proof.

Good luck

flipflower

Thanks for all of the responses.

CBRDude

Seriously, this is the best vehicle that we have owned! I'd love to buy another one, but it does not get used that much as my wife is driving a fleet vehicle. My youngest daughter does enjoy driving it.

We currently have 96K and it's been bullet proof. We change the oil every 10K using mobil 1 oil. I check the oil in between to make sure I'm not running on empty.

My only pev is it's lack of Bluetooth music and no USB outlet. Other than that It's the cats meow.

We don't use Lexus to service it. We have a small mom and pop shop that does all of our work on all our vehicles. I refuse to pay 210 bucks for an oil change! We have been very pleased with the work. I only take it to Lexus for the state and emissions inspections as they are open til 11 PM. I take my grandson as they have ice cream bars and his enjoys spending time with his papa as he calls it.

We wife is currently driving a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited for her fleet car, that's optioned out to the Summit line. I can tell you without a doubt that this vehicle is a complete POS! A lot of recycled Mercedes parts from the Daimler Chrysler adventure. Although the styling is nice and it's infotainment center is a crack addicts dream come true. The quality and the fit and finish is gosh awful. CHEAP EVERYTHING! And just think Jeep is talking about getting into the lux car car market! OK stop laughing, but it's true! I'm guessing for the buyer that wants to buy American?

My only suggestion would be to buy the 2011 if you can afford it. It's had the next generation of infotainment center and it has the Bluetooth for music and usb outlet. The 08/09 and 10 used the same system.

flipflower

I have been doing more reading and I'm now looking at a 2010 model. The only big difference that I read was that the 2011 have heated steering wheels. Is there anything else that I should be aware?

I'm under the impression that the 2010 has Bluetooth & USB port.

Thanks,

F.

CBRDude

I think the 2011 was the first USB outlet and the music Bluetooth. Version 6 of the infotainment for Lexus. I'm pretty sure the Land Cruiser is the same animal.

Bluetooth has two sides of it. The actual phone (talking portion) and the music portion. Both run independent of each other. I'm not sure of the technical name. Our 2009 works great for the phone, but there is no music portion. Also we have no USB. We use a mini cord and pipe the music into the head that's on the shift console.

I'm not aware of any kit or aftermarket.

I do use Viseeo on my Benz. Which also does not support USB or audio Bluetooth at all until 2013. We won't go into too much detail as I'm pissed off with it right now. The Viseeo voice and music fight. Works great if your not listening to music and trying to talk. The voice portion does mute the music, but when you have a lapse in talk the music tries to take over and it acts like it's cutting out and is a real PITA!

My only other gripe is the first owner had the wheels chromed them and the last two winters the slury mix has really taken a toll on the wheels. Since it was done aftermarket Lexus won't warranty the wheels. I'll look for some take offs when the tires need replacing.

Other than that we are very pleased with it. Like I said, my daughter loves driving it. Except filling the tank and then she comes running for the fuel card.

In 2011 the heated steering wheel is part of the convenience package. Center Cooler console, heated steering wheel and the wallet card entry in addition to the 2 fobs. Also remote start was an option. The remote start stops when you open the door then you have to restart again. Fail to see how that works to ones benefit.

You may want to look at the Toyota Land Cruiser. Although not the Lexus and not the Lexus status, it's the same vehicle.

REDHORSE

I have 90,000 miles on my '11 and other than routine maintenance and having the "seat controller" for the driver's seat ventilation system there have been no problems at all.

Remember, insurance companies are in the business of making money, not helping you.

flipflower

After all of the feedback here I have been taking my time looking for the right fit. We decided on a 2011 and are taking our time looking for the right one.

Someone mentioned that I can also look at Land Cruisers but I am not sure if you have seen that there are very few Land Cruisers available. I found it perplexing that the Land Cruisers are less expensive new compared to the LX570 but they hold their used value much better and there are less available.

SeaHawg

Never understood that either. I held out for a 2011 LX as well, and the 2010/11 TLC were only a couple grand less than their Lexus counterpart, and most available appeared to be ragged out/interior scuffed up badly when I was shopping. NO WAY would I downgrade to lesser quality interior/fake wood, less options, and less of an ownership experience to save a couple grand.

Though some argue the LC as being the prestigious/more reliable one, I wholeheartedly disagree.

The LX is just as bulletproof according to LTQI (200-series was tops in long-term reliability), and I actually feel like the value is there buying used.

If I were buying new, I would go TLC, but used- no way...

SeaHawg

As far as the tightness in the used car market, the 200 series platform is highly-sought-after as an export to other countries...