Malcolm99
Member
The 99 has a 99% failure rate of the fuel level inclinometer, due to defective parts installed at the factory, deemed as a TSB that should have been a RECALL that the customer has to pay $800 to fix if you need the tank dropped aswell as the chip (how that is possible is beyond me since running out of fuel is a safety risk potentially putting you in a few dangerous situations, stranding you remotely in a frozen wasteland or desert, losing power brakes and power steering at highway speeds, I argued with the dealer over this with no joy. Many Lexus' have this same fuel level/OD fraud problem). When the dealer performs this TSB they swap that chip which also retains mileage and they do not know how to retain the mileage and it zeros out the odometer, (a electronic specialist does know how to retain the factory mileage but not the dealer) so you can bet a dealer somewhere had the owner sign off on the odometer/mileage change 90,000miles ago, a bit of research of where this truck was 90,000mi ago and a few calls to the local dealers and you will find this TSB was performed on this truck, I'd bet my pink slip on it. I have 170,000miles on my rig (OD says I have 50,000miles) and the leather seats are still original almost mint just a bit broke in on the driver side mainly due to the lift and you would think it only has 50,000miles the way it drives and looks inside and out. I'm sure there are many Nov 1998-2000 4R owners that think they have low mileage and do not, it takes about 15 years for this fuel level problem to arise which is probably why they deemed it as a TSB and not a recall, I reported it to transport Canada but again no joy, I consider running out of fuel when the gauge says you're full a safety risk, so be very leary of these years and mileage, not sure which Lexus' used the same parts but likely the GX470, call the local dealers with the VIN.
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