Salvage vehicle purchase 2005 Lexus GX 470

I want to know about the reaction of the wife when you pulled in at home with another vehicle
If he’s done this 10-20 times, she might not notice. My wife doesn’t notice when i drag junk home anymore…
 
Tore the front end apart a bit last night. Regrettably, the "engine cradle" is twisted up, and that is spot welded in place, not bolted. Not a deal killer, but I am not going to get SUV ready to pass an inspection in 24 hours.

No leaks from the coolant reservoir or the washer fluid reservoir, I filled them north last night. The power steering is not working, but steering appears to be straight and tight. Maybe the rack is bad, I am not seeing a loss of PS fluid in the reservoir.

Starting to look for painted hood and bumper. Only can use 2003-2005 model year for exact paint match.

The headlights have some aftermarket something- see below pic, I have to google what it is, but I never like anything aftermarket on a vehicle as a general rule.
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Does this have air suspension?
RH,

I believe so, but am not so fluent. I looked at the front shocks last night, and saw a coil, and no airbag. But I also saw a bunch of electric connectors on the top of the shock. More research needed on my [art.
 
That honestly doesn't look bad and difficult to repair. I wonder why it was totaled out.

Maybe its the camera angle but the drivers side quarter panel and door panel look a little tighter than the passenger side. Maybe it's the angle but compare the panel gaps on both sides.
Quarter panels, doors, even front fender are fine. A craftsman with super special skills might be able to save the hood- I don't have those skills.

The front took a decent hit. I am hoping there is not frame damage, without measuring I am not seeing any signs of frame damage. But the engine cradle sure looks bad.
 
Do you suspect that this Lexus might have hit a utility pole or something like that? Looking at the pictures that was a thought that crossed my mind
 
Do you suspect that this Lexus might have hit a utility pole or something like that? Looking at the pictures that was a thought that crossed my mind
PT,

Yes, I was thinking it struck something that was not another vehicle. Your thought seems very feasible.
 
The J120
-If it has rear air springs, then it has rear height control for towing
-If it has the wires on the struts.then it has AVS, should be a suspension knob inside comfort, normal, sport. Its electronically adjusted dampers simply.
-If it had rubber boots on the sway bar then it has hyduralically KDSS . Hydraulic sway bar system,

The headlight wires seem like some modded HID lense retrofit, but the bulbs are regular incandescent?
 
Interesting video from the link that @softcars posted about Toyota's frame rail design to absorb impact. The technician is using a Toyota forerunner as the demonstrator:
 
I discovered that if the air bag went off, then insurances companies will usually total a vehicle that is even in the financial vicinity of totaled. Be wear of frame or sub frame damage in these cases. From my personal experience.
From my personal experience if a vehicle is close to being totaled most owners ( we are NOT talking about the little world on here) want it totaled.
 
From my personal experience if a vehicle is close to being totaled most owners ( we are NOT talking about the little world on here) want it totaled.

The dealers around here love to try and sell you some GPS tracking anti-theft crap, I told the F&I guy absolutely not, if it gets stolen I don't want it back.
 
These picks show how well the crumple design for the front bumper might work. There two pieces should be the same length. Also shown are some pictures of the frame, measurements not taking yet, but no visual sign of frame damage (which doesn't mean there isn't any, just can't visually see breaks in the paint, metal, etc).

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A little update. I picked up a used bumper, bumper cover (white- so will need to be painted if I want to use it), five OEM rims, lug nuts, three good defender tires, and the radiator cover in Portland, OR yesterday. The Seller of these parts pimped out his GX 470 to be some Mad Maxx looking ride, and replaced these parts with aftermarket parts. He had to take the tires off the wheels to transport them home, if the tires were mounted his vehicle could not handle five tire mounted wheels.

The SUV had no power steering, yet I saw no damage to the rack, or anything else. The power steering reservoir looked at the proper level, yet when I took the cap off the reservoir was empty. I am a huge proponent of non-discolored fluid reservoirs, and this is the reason why. After putting fluid in the reservoir, I started the engine and turned the wheel left and right, but no power steering. But found a huge mess of power steering on the floor, at the opposite end from the fluid reservoir.


An inspection identified one of the hoses to the power steering pump came off (see picture - circled in white). I have no idea how the power steering line came off, yet the spring tensioner clamp was still on the end of the hose. Placed the hose and spring tensioner clamp back on the power steering pump, added trans fluid, started up the engine- no leak and power steering is working. Either this was removed during an inspection, or a freak occurrence. I will say it was brutal getting the spring tensioner clamp back on. The space was super tiny and very hard to reach. I have a spring tensioner clamp tool that allows remote access, without that I would likely have had to take a lot of extra things off the car.

On a side note, the pads on the floor are pads for little dogs to go the bathroom in the house. They are my new favorite "shop supply". I had no idea I had a leak, and where would one put a drain pan without knowing the location of the leak, I love these pads.


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What ever happened to the motorcycle??
I couldn't bring it home....... I placed it on Craigslist for free, and someone got a free bike (with clear title) in the Reno area. Other things I can't bring home include a puppy, a dog, a bird, and many, many other things.......

Marriage is a tradeoff......... My Wife (psychotherapist), lets me know this almost every day. She says if I want to act like a single guy and whatever I want whenever I want, I shouldn't have gotten married. Wait till she finds out I found another vehicle and am flying out Wednesday night to go get it, assuming my high bid holds.
 
I couldn't bring it home....... I placed it on Craigslist for free, and someone got a free bike (with clear title) in the Reno area. Other things I can't bring home include a puppy, a dog, a bird, and many, many other things.......

Marriage is a tradeoff......... My Wife (psychotherapist), lets me know this almost every day. She says if I want to act like a single guy and whatever I want whenever I want, I shouldn't have gotten married. Wait till she finds out I found another vehicle and am flying out Wednesday night to go get it, assuming my high bid holds.
Maybe you should remind her that she knew who she was marrying……….on the way out the door. Lol
 
  • Haha
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I couldn't bring it home....... I placed it on Craigslist for free, and someone got a free bike (with clear title) in the Reno area. Other things I can't bring home include a puppy, a dog, a bird, and many, many other things.......

Marriage is a tradeoff......... My Wife (psychotherapist), lets me know this almost every day. She says if I want to act like a single guy and whatever I want whenever I want, I shouldn't have gotten married. Wait till she finds out I found another vehicle and am flying out Wednesday night to go get it, assuming my high bid holds.
I think you may have a problem sir 😁 but I love your builds and threads!

Is this replacing the Lincoln?
 
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