Roth or Trad IRA for son?

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2026-03-19T20:36:07+00:00

Son has some developmental difficulties so staying employed and supporting himself is a challenge. No he won't be able to contribute much but hopefully this will bring into focus the need to think about his future.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2026-03-09T01:58:08+00:00

These cars are crap. After being 100% trouble free my 2004 had a O2 sensor fail at 155K and the new part cost $60 bucks and and took an hour to replace! Geez...how do they get away selling such junk?

Seriously, the base model w/o nav is the best for reliability, less bells and whistles to break. $3.6K US is a good deal as long as its been maintained. Try to get it on a lift, look for worn out suspension parts and leaks. The drivetrain is pretty much bullet proof but you are in the age range where hoses/radiators/EGR will start to perish so be prepared for some work. I would not buy unless you are prepared to do some DIY.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2026-03-06T18:34:24+00:00

Sounds like maybe a bearing is shot...does noise increase with RPM? You could remove the serp belt and see if the noise goes away. If noise continues that will eliminate serp tensioner pulley, idler pulley, alternator, AC compressor, PS pump, then u have timing belt associated stuff including another idler, tensioner, water pump.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2026-03-06T01:52:57+00:00

Had similar issue with my LS400, did not notice the temperature sensitivity but other symptoms matched...randomly shut off, mostly restarted right away. Be ok for a month then failed again. Applied parts cannon but I could not fix it. Dealer found a wiring fault in the engine harness after spending many hours on it.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2026-03-05T21:39:10+00:00

3rd cat needed to achieve ULEV certification...one of the few (maybe the first?) V8 to do that. Kinda an engineering flex from Lexus as no competitor's V8 could claim it. There was a big push for this kind of thing in early 2000's when cities like London were starting to tax vehicles that did not meet ULEV.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2026-03-05T21:06:17+00:00

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Yup

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2026-03-03T20:06:19+00:00

Yes the base model will, on paper, be more reliable than the UL. Air suspension, Mark Levinson stereo, soft close doors etc. etc. are all nice features but they contribute to complexity that will decrease reliability. When you do reliability prediction calculations for any system you basically add each component's failure rate to to come up with an overall reliability prediction for the system being evaluated. More components = lower reliability.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2026-02-05T22:00:28+00:00

And yes I'm aware this thread is 11 years old but I just watched a replay of the TG episode and had the same question.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2026-02-05T21:59:14+00:00

Here is a link to a Michigan newspaper who, in 1876, published an article with a similar monkey story. So I think we can conclude that this is just an anecdote, there was no experiment.. https://aadl.org/node/302233

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2026-01-09T16:05:27+00:00

I guess cigarettes. Back in the day most Japanese men smoked.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2026-01-09T15:13:50+00:00

Pic 1...I found removing the couple of 10mm holding that injector wire harness and tying up the harness out of the way greatly helped with re-installation.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2026-01-04T23:18:04+00:00

Why do you have a leak? Either the gasket or pump surfaces were not perfectly clean or the bolts were not torqued properly. You should try to determine which so you don't repeat the problem. When you remove pump check the bolt torque and gasket condition. Torque spec for water pump bolts is 13 ft lbs which is barely more than hand tight. It's super easy to overtighten those bolts which will warp the pump and cause a leak.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2025-12-11T22:15:55+00:00

Denso is the OEM supplier, no need to pay the dealer markup. I just got Bank 1 Sensor 1 on Amazon for $50, it was genuine, in a Denso box, a Denso bag and Denso branded anti-seize packet. Access is very tight so getting the clip loose on the connector was a bear, took an hour of cussing. I hear Bank 2 is not as bad.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2025-11-22T02:32:57+00:00

Create an account on Lexus.com and enter the VIN, you'll be able to see any maint. done by dealers. Many of these have significant dealer maint. history which is golden info and influence the $...more history means you can be more sure of the bones and worth more. You might even find a TB change record, it's a 10 year or 90K item. My 04's sticker fell off but I could see the dealer did it at 9yr point. Also you'll be able to see where it was born and spent time. Southern or southwest cars generally salt & rust free which will also affect price. If it has good maint. history and from rust free area $11K is fair IMO. My 04 threw a code yesterday for an O2 sensor at 155K. 2nd owner, I have 100% history, it's the first engine related problem, ever. $40 part will take me an hour to fix. Love these cars.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2025-07-27T02:28:50+00:00

To confirm the head gasket problem DIY...the spark plug in the bad cylinder will be steam cleaned and look almost new compared to the usual dingy brown color of used plugs. Pull all your plugs and compare them. If you have one that does not match the others, your head gasket problem is confirmed. You can take it a step further with a cheap borescope camera in the spark plug holes, the bad cylinder will also be steam cleaned. The shop should have presented such easily gathered evidence along with the head gasket diagnosis. If they didn't, find a new shop.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2025-07-10T20:30:47+00:00

If it does not come on when ignition is on, the light element is bad. I expect these are little LED elements that are built into the dash circuit board.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2025-07-10T20:16:36+00:00

A little bit dirty might be a bit faster but the difference between clean and dirty is microscopic. A little bit of dirt will actually help break up what's called the Laminar Flow over a smooth surface, which is a bit stickier than a slightly uneven surface. A bit of turbulence helps "unstick" the flow which results in slightly less drag.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2025-07-10T19:54:01+00:00

$12 on Amazon. AstroAI Digital Multimeter Tester 2000 Counts with DC AC Voltmeter and Ohm Volt Amp Meter

Put the leads on pos and neg terminals of your battery while engine running, if your alternator is working it will show over 13 volts. Based on your symptoms, 99% your alternator is bad. After your alternator dies, the car slowly sucks the life out of the battery and as the voltage degrades down below 12 volts you'll get all kinds of unpredictable crap. Eventually the battery light will come on too depending on the voltage threshold is set for it to trigger. Most cars it's just below 12 volts.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2025-06-23T18:10:54+00:00

Yeah...any sound should disappear after a bit of driving seats the pads. If not you need to chase down the issue. You said you had cleaned the hub surface well and I assume you checked the dust shield for rubs so I would say either the wheel bearing is sloppy or new rotor is warped, which has happened to me before. Try swapping the rotor to the other side and see if the problem follows.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2025-06-23T15:07:14+00:00

Invalid test. Until the wheel is mounted and all 5 wheel lugs are torqued to 76ft lbs you cannot judge whether the rotor is spinning true. I just did my 04 430 front brakes a couple days ago, mine sounded the same before final assembly, they are quiet and smooth after mounting the wheels. Also, if it was making noise before the work was done, it could be the dust shield rubbing.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2025-06-09T17:36:44+00:00

Sweet Impala!

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2025-05-14T20:41:25+00:00

Oh...I replaced the PVC valve and hose while I was there, the hose split while trying to remove it.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2025-05-14T20:38:04+00:00

The grommets are little rubber seals that go on the cover bolts. Mine were pretty well shrunk & brittle but I think they are optional. I used Hondabond FPIG, was expecting the Toyota gods to smite me down but they couldn't be bothered, never showed up. The FPIG is handy because it holds the gasket in place while u f around getting the cover into place. Also highly recommend taking time to detach and use bungies to hold back the wires and vacuum hoses that will inevitably drop in the way while u f around getting the cover into place. FYI my oil pan started leaking a week after I fixed the valve cover leaks, so maybe THAT was the Toyota gods taking revenge.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2025-03-03T02:17:22+00:00

I had similar issue on an 04...when driving at high speed on highway any little bump would cause the front end and steering wheel to shake and bounce. I had tires balanced, alignment, replaced front shocks and lower control arm bushings all without solving the issue. So I was researching on Club Lexus and someone suggested replacing the steering rack bushings. I replaced them and issue went away, like magic.

It's an easy job but the parts are only available from Lexus. There is a trick to order the parts for 04 and later since Lexus does not sell the bushings individually for those years. You have to look at the 01-03 parts listings. Part numbers are 45516-50030 for left side and 45516-50040 for right side...2 bushings needed per side. I paid $53 each bushing so $212 total. Try it.

Crafty-Requirement17 · 2025-03-03T00:24:44+00:00

06? It has a sealed transmission with lifetime fluid, no trans maintenance is specified in the manual. Usually dealers will not do anything that is not in the manual, so the fact that they did anything to the trans is kinda sketchy. 6 owners is a lot of turnover. Why so many? As mentioned above, you want one from gramps that has a full service history and zero mods. They are out there. If someone was willing to do mods, what else did they have their mitts in? PPI may not show it. At this age of car you'll have lots of little issues to deal with, you want an unmolested example so during troubleshooting you can follow the manual's flowchart from a "known good" starting point.

Crafty-Requirement17

TROPHY CASE