FYI, you can't tell anything about the condition of a 1MZ-FE by looking into the fill hole. There is a baffle in the way and the baffle is coated with a gritty black coating. You have to pull the valve cover off to see anything meaningful.
Originally Posted By: MysticGold04
Well I found out the info I needed. This particular vehicle was a 2000 Lexus ES300 (1MZFE @ 135k miles) at a local lot in town - a Cash only deal. I went by and kicked the tires, interior nice, no rips, etc. I drove it, drove well... then I looked under the hood... Wow. I'm sure this guy had been neglected, valve cover gaskets leaking,
and then I looked in the oil fill hole.. not good either. I have to assume it has a sludge issue.. really stinks though, because the rest of the car is in good shape. Well, now I know why its Cash only..
BTW, I looked at the service records from Lexus... all the way up to 2011, and there is an entry where the dealer mentioned the front and rear valve cover gaskets leaking... curious why it didn't get fixed.. I have to guess they wouldn't cover the repair under warranty.
Anyone know how much the cost in labor would be to clean this up? It might be worth it if I can talk them down a couple grand. They are asking $3900 with an OTD price of $4500... blah!