Hey guys, long time lurker and hopefully a future owner!
Just looking for any advice here, recently 2 different GX470's popped up near me. One is a 2006 with 117k miles, clean carfax, two owner. The other is a 2008, clean carfax, one owner, at 75k miles. The 2006 has had all the major maintenance I've seen suggested here done (timing belt, radiator, and water pump all replaced on schedule, along with a new alternator). The 2008 has had its water pump replaced, but in the lexus service records I see that lexus recommended a timing belt replacement, said a CV was leaking, and recommend a radiator replacement. The service record is for 60k miles and the customer declined the service, and the carfax doesn't log the owner replacing any of those (it's hard for me to imagine he drove it another 15k to 75k miles without that work done though).
The 2006 is priced at 13.9k but I'm sure I can haggle them down. The 2008 is priced at 18.9k but it's an autonation dealer so they don't budge on price. 2006 is a dark blue with ivory interior and 2008 is black with gray interior. I'd like the 2008 for the color combination and lower mileage, but the possible cost of replacing and fixing what's needed on it if it hasn't been done already has me weary. I'm going to ask the dealer to check and see if any of the suggested things were done on it, but I'm not sure if I'd trust them to correctly verify anyways.
Going to look at the 2006 today and give it a test drive, any tips? I know the famous diff lock clunk is what people say to look out for, but do I test for that just by locking the diff and giving it gas? I've read the faq and looked at everything suggested like look for overspray, matching vins, and all that. I'm hoping to have them put it up on a lift as well. It was locally kept though (Florida) so no snow/salt rust to worry about besides maybe some minor rust due to being near the coast. The 2006 has been serviced a lot by a local shop, all the big replacements I mentioned above were done at a local shop and it looks like the owner kept going back there so I'm assuming they did a good job. And I do like that it's local. I'm also taking my OBDII bluetooth reader to plug in myself and see if anything pops up.
I'll probably be looking at the 2008 next week, assuming it's still there.
I apologize if this is ramble-y, but I'm just kind of nervous buying because I don't want to run into any problems immediately. I'm looking to offroad this bad boy (and feel a little safer navigating FL traffic). Just looking for any tips/advice/guidance that hasn't been covered by the FAQ or if there's anything you'd like to add on from your expertise. I've been lurking this place and the FB group for almost a year now though so I'm hoping I can finally be an owner soon.
Just looking for any advice here, recently 2 different GX470's popped up near me. One is a 2006 with 117k miles, clean carfax, two owner. The other is a 2008, clean carfax, one owner, at 75k miles. The 2006 has had all the major maintenance I've seen suggested here done (timing belt, radiator, and water pump all replaced on schedule, along with a new alternator). The 2008 has had its water pump replaced, but in the lexus service records I see that lexus recommended a timing belt replacement, said a CV was leaking, and recommend a radiator replacement. The service record is for 60k miles and the customer declined the service, and the carfax doesn't log the owner replacing any of those (it's hard for me to imagine he drove it another 15k to 75k miles without that work done though).
The 2006 is priced at 13.9k but I'm sure I can haggle them down. The 2008 is priced at 18.9k but it's an autonation dealer so they don't budge on price. 2006 is a dark blue with ivory interior and 2008 is black with gray interior. I'd like the 2008 for the color combination and lower mileage, but the possible cost of replacing and fixing what's needed on it if it hasn't been done already has me weary. I'm going to ask the dealer to check and see if any of the suggested things were done on it, but I'm not sure if I'd trust them to correctly verify anyways.
Going to look at the 2006 today and give it a test drive, any tips? I know the famous diff lock clunk is what people say to look out for, but do I test for that just by locking the diff and giving it gas? I've read the faq and looked at everything suggested like look for overspray, matching vins, and all that. I'm hoping to have them put it up on a lift as well. It was locally kept though (Florida) so no snow/salt rust to worry about besides maybe some minor rust due to being near the coast. The 2006 has been serviced a lot by a local shop, all the big replacements I mentioned above were done at a local shop and it looks like the owner kept going back there so I'm assuming they did a good job. And I do like that it's local. I'm also taking my OBDII bluetooth reader to plug in myself and see if anything pops up.
I'll probably be looking at the 2008 next week, assuming it's still there.
I apologize if this is ramble-y, but I'm just kind of nervous buying because I don't want to run into any problems immediately. I'm looking to offroad this bad boy (and feel a little safer navigating FL traffic). Just looking for any tips/advice/guidance that hasn't been covered by the FAQ or if there's anything you'd like to add on from your expertise. I've been lurking this place and the FB group for almost a year now though so I'm hoping I can finally be an owner soon.