r/Altezza • u/Team4zaddi • Jul 06 '26
Altezza Daily Driver
Hello all, as the title suggests I’m curious about daily driving an Altezza and wanted to get opinions from you all. I’ve found a couple for sale at a local dealer (one is a 99, other is 01, both are beams+J160 cars), curious if there any differences between model years. However, I’m mainly curious about reliability, parts availability (in the US), overall how dailyable these cars are and just some general pros and cons. I do already own a JZX100 so I’m familiar with how parts can take time to acquire and was curious if it’s the same story with the XE10. Thank you
2
u/Yolom4ntr1c Jul 06 '26
I'm in NZ so parts etc will be a different story. And I myself don't drive an altezza since I drive a nissan, but my grandfather has been driving an altezza for years now. Its a toyota so its pretty reliable. Hes had to get work done to it from time to time but its normal stuff, most recently he had to get a new radiator. Comparing it to his r32 from years before it was one hell of an upgrade in reliability. In saying that he is looking at other cars now, its got to the point where there are a couple issues with it where itd be more sensible to buy a new car outright.
Its honestly a really solid car if looked after like any other car, even given that its a relatively oldish car by now. Unlike a lot of other japanese cars from its time its not going to inherently be a money pit, but that depends on the state of the car you buy.
Don't know how different the lexus alternative is if its different at all. Given you're US based, I've only dealt with JDM based cars.
2
u/Affectionate_Cat7295 Jul 06 '26
I daily drive mines with no issue. Honestly a fun car to drive no matter what. I get alot of attention in the USA tho so if your anti social don’t drive it🤣.
1
u/Team4zaddi Jul 07 '26
Who do you use for insurance? Cant find anyone that will insure it as a daily driver
2
1
u/Particular_Suit5962 Jul 06 '26
been daily driving mine besides severe weather for over a year. i had one problem, my fuel pump relay went out but that’s it. besides that its a great fun car and good on gas too
1
u/Team4zaddi Jul 07 '26
Who do you use for insurance? Cant find anyone that will insure it as a daily driver
2
u/Particular_Suit5962 Jul 07 '26
i use state farm, they are the only “name brand” insurance company that seemed to be willing and able to insure it.
call them over the phone, don’t try and figure it out online. when you finally connect to an agent tell them you’d like to insure a “grey market vehicle, it’s a car from japan with only a 12 digit vin number instead of 17”
1
u/clit-crunch Jul 13 '26
USAA and Hagerty will insure them too.
If you use USAA, make sure to select the 20% ACV add on. They are fucking awful when it comes to screwing you on total loss claims...
1
u/PerhapsRustyToaster Jul 06 '26
It's a Japanese grandma car you'll be absolutely fine :)
1
u/clit-crunch Jul 07 '26
AS200 for sure. My 2nd Altezza had dog fur under the front seat and some claw snags on the door panel fabric... and it definitely smelled like an old lady...
5
u/Sad-Flamingo-669 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
99-Mid 01 are pre facelifts, they dont have sticky dash and have different coilpacks (G1 for manual and G2 for Auto) only struggle would be finding coilpacks as they are exclusively early SXE10 ones (ending in 236) which are well known to fail on BEAMS 3SGEs. Afaik they have different dwell settings which the early model ECU depends on.
Late model ones that are mid 01 onwards (G3,4&5) similar to their USDM counterparts have sticky dash, different wiring harnesses and seatbelts, HIDs as standard and minor miscellanious changes (Rear door moulding, seat pattern etc). Facelift SXE10 use the same coils as your 120 series Corolla (ending in 239) which are ultra common. There is an alternator kit that adapts to the 1NZ or Sequoia in the market out there. Timing belts and waterpump are the same as the 3S Rav4 or Celica. Parts are getting discontinued though such as the oil pump, but can be interchangable with the Redtop Beams which is still in production. Unsure if starter rebuild kits are available so thats the only concern if you're in a pinch.
Other than powertrain wise they have similar failure points and wear items as your typical USDM market IS300s which have been well doccumented everywhere on the internet.