2011 LR4 - potential purchase / newb question

[Mpl1978]

Long term lurker, first post. I am looking for a weekend overland vehicle that I can use this winter in Florida and this summer take my wife and two boys and explore out west or up the east coast. This would be my first overland build, so I trying to do as much research as possible. There is a one owner 2011 LR4 with no modifications, fully stock, that has 134k miles he is asking 11,500.00

He said he has all the service records etc....he is supposed to be emailing me them.

I don't plan on getting crazy with the build, as mostly want to set it up with a roof rack, RTT, and front runner drawers etc in the back. Perhaps change out to some better tires - although I hear finding a tire may be tough.

I have read that this model is pretty reliable and there is a local, non-dealer, European vehicle repair shop that has great reviews that I called and he said positive things about them.

My questions are -
1. What should i look for?
2. What major expenses do i have on the horizon at 134k?
3. Would this suitable for a month road trip with a couple kids.......
4. Am i crazy for not buying a toyota as my first build?

It seems that you get a lot of truck for the money, compared to others on the list of "best used overlanding vehicles" - at least in Florida......

TIA..

 

[gbarba]

It's a ton of truck for the money! You're in the right place to have your choice confirmed as we're all crazy enough to have embarked on this adventure ourselves. Long story short: find a well-cared for example, take care of it, enjoy it, and it will love you back. (Although your mileage may vary...)

As you've no doubt read, the early (2010-mid '12) LR4s had timing chain issues that popped up especially on models that hadn't had frequent enough oil changes, so keeping an eye on oil change intervals is especially important in these ones. The factory oil change interval of 15k was absurd and lead to problems down the road. Upgrading the timing chain tensioners and other parts is doable, but big $$$ in parts/labor. I believe there are warning signs before it goes, but this has lead to catastrophic failures.

At 134k, you'll likely want to change all the fluids (especially transmission if it hasn't been done before, which is quite an undertaking in these) and it will probably need some new front lower control arms/bushings or other suspension bits. Air struts or compressor may also be reaching the end of their lives, but that's speculative. There are various options for 18" wheels if you're interested in mounting bigger AT tires - Compmotive comes to mind, Lucky8 offers an option, but there are others. I believe LR3 18s fit with spacers and should be easy to find for less.

Good luck!

 

[OregonGX]

Get a pre-purchase inspection. Best $200 you will ever spend. I just bought an LR3 and the PPI caught a few things that were little now but could have been a big headache down the road and were very specific to the platform not visible to the naked eye, and not something I would have caught being to new the trucks. (Coolant bleed valve, sunroof drains, LCAs.)

Plus it gave me a) leverage on the purchase (I got over half of my maintenance, wheels, and tires paid for with what I was able to negotiate), 2) a good idea of how to budget to catch up on deferred maintenance.

Here is the issue I see with this vintage of trucks - and it's a Lexus problem, a BMW problem, and a Mercedes problem too - the first owner has it under warranty or on a lease, returns it, enter the second owner that buys it under CPO. That takes care of things for a while but then smash cut to 134K and they come to something big-ish - LCAs, a compressor, wheel bearings, get scared or cheap and offload it.

So going in you have to account for catching up on that, but it is also the reason we can all get these so cheap, own them outright and take pleasure in putting in the work for trouble-free miles down the line.