I am new here as far as registered but I have been reading.

I have a 2006 I have found that looks about perfect. Interior and paint are great and Carfax is clean. It has about 80,000 miles. I cannot see anything wrong and everything works. It runs and drives great.

The ARK in my name stands for Arkansas. We are rural and do not have a close dealer. We have looked at a lot of convertibles and have decided the SC is for us. We are older and it is comfortable to enter and exit. It drives nice and we love the wood.

Now my question. I cannot find where the timing belt has been done. With this mileage, do you think I would be ok to budget and wait to do it in a year or two. It will be our date night car and Sunday drive car. It will probably get only about 5000 miles a year.

My husband can crawl under it and look around and we are good at telling if a car sounds right and is tight. He is mechanically minded. If we do not buy it, it will be gone. There are others interested I know for a fact. They are getting out of state callers. We will get it for around 18-19 I think.

Any advice from experts is appreciated.

 

Look under the hood, if the TB was done, you should find the sticker affixed somewhere. It probably not done in my opinion. As the recommendation, TB and WP should be replaced every 90k miles or 9 years, which ever comes first. You can push for another year or two but no one can know what could happen.

Keep in mind, if the TB fails, you will have to replace the engine.

I replaced my TB and WP for my SC at 60k miles (11 years) just for peace of mind. I don’t know how to advise you. It’s your choice.

 

Mine is an 02 with 135,000 on it.it is a work in progress as it was a daily driver then in an accident which got the hood, one fender and grill, so insurance totaled car. I bought it after the work was completed. No structural damage. But I am having some electrical problems which I will address in warmer weather.

 

ArkCyndi

Have you gone into Lexus Drivers and checked the service History. to see if the TB & WP have been changed? I live in Bella Vista, AR. I bought my 2006 in Dec of 2018 with 59K on the clock and now have 67K. For us the closest Lexus dealer is either Springfield, MO or Tulsa, OK. If it is a warranty issue like the air bag replacement I take it to Tulsa. For normal oil change and tire rotation I take it to the local Toyota dealer. For other thinks like rear struts that I have replaced I order the parts from Megizip in Japan and take the parts to a local shop which does great work and allows me to bring my own parts. If you are in NWA let me know if you need any assistance. I have techstream on an old laptop.

Dennis

 

Hi there,

If you can't find any documentation of TB change, my recommendation is to budget for having it done. There is both a mileage and age limit on the TB usage, and your car is well past the age limit, even though it's not past the mileage limit.

The parts are about $300 if you include the water pump, and it's typically recommended to do so while the car is apart. Labor is going to be $500-$1000 depending on location, etc.

Consider it part of the cost of the purchase.

If you plan on infrequent usage, be aware these cars have a lot of parasitic current flow while not running. So much so, that it's not uncommon for the battery to be discharged after only a couple of weeks of disuse. If your usage is very infrequent, it's probably wise to get a battery minder to avoid discharged batteries. There are a plethora of CPU's and peripherals that have to be reset if the battery goes completely dead. Not difficult, but definitely a PITA. It's all documented in this forum, thank goodness.

My wife and I are in our mid 60's and we love this car. Absolutely love it.

Have fun and enjoy your SC430 experience.

 

Chris

Are you close to Richmond?

Dennis

 

Currently, I live in Fairfax City. LOML and I are looking for a place to retire and while Williamsburg is at the top of the list, we are looking at Richmond.

Cheers.

 

Chris

My son and his 2005 SC live in Richmond.

Dennis