I've been posting on here for a few months now, and decided to start a build thread. Some of these will be re-posts, others will be new material.
We've been a Subaru family for a long time now, which was fine when we had one kid. Once we had a second kid, and he got big enough that we could go on family camping and other outdoor trips, my wife's Outback just got too small. Last August we could barely fit everything in the Outback for a weekend of camping, even with a car top carrier. I also had an old beater '00 Forester that I had owned for over a decade, and off-roaded all the time (skidplates, AT tires, etc.). It was a great car, but way too small for anything over than two people, and limited off road with a 5-speed and no low range.
I started looking for a real 4x4 midsize SUV and learned about the GX470s. My other choice would have been an X-Terra Off Road 6MT, but they lack a 3rd row, lack a V8, and are plasticky Nissans, not a posh Lexus. I looked seriously for around 2 months and happened to find this '07 GX470, at 135k, around 180 miles from home. I contacted the owner within 20 minutes of it being posted on Cargurus and took off a day from work to get it later in the week. Ended up paying $10,700 in September of 2020, with it having a fresh timing belt/water pump/fluids, brand new tires, new rotors and pads on all 4 corners, new rear shocks, LED lights inside, brand new Depo headlights, and a Phoenix PX6 already installed. The bad was that it had been smoked in (and masked fairly well - now the smell is all but gone after some ozone treatments and a thorough clean), the underside has quite a bit of surface rust, the dash is cracked, it had whimpy tires, and the infamous exhaust manifold ticks.
Regarding the name, we live in the Ozarks in southeastern Missouri, and spend a lot of time outdoors. Most of it hiking, cycling, camping, and canoeing, but definitely some hunting and off-roading. On the maiden camping voyage with the Lexus it was christened the "Rednexus" as a few buddies and I enjoyed a campsite on a gravel bar along the Current River with an awesome campfire and a cooler of cheap beer.
Right before I purchased her:
Taking my son on a off-roading trip along the Black River, after putting on a set of 265-70-17 Wildpeaks:
We've been a Subaru family for a long time now, which was fine when we had one kid. Once we had a second kid, and he got big enough that we could go on family camping and other outdoor trips, my wife's Outback just got too small. Last August we could barely fit everything in the Outback for a weekend of camping, even with a car top carrier. I also had an old beater '00 Forester that I had owned for over a decade, and off-roaded all the time (skidplates, AT tires, etc.). It was a great car, but way too small for anything over than two people, and limited off road with a 5-speed and no low range.
I started looking for a real 4x4 midsize SUV and learned about the GX470s. My other choice would have been an X-Terra Off Road 6MT, but they lack a 3rd row, lack a V8, and are plasticky Nissans, not a posh Lexus. I looked seriously for around 2 months and happened to find this '07 GX470, at 135k, around 180 miles from home. I contacted the owner within 20 minutes of it being posted on Cargurus and took off a day from work to get it later in the week. Ended up paying $10,700 in September of 2020, with it having a fresh timing belt/water pump/fluids, brand new tires, new rotors and pads on all 4 corners, new rear shocks, LED lights inside, brand new Depo headlights, and a Phoenix PX6 already installed. The bad was that it had been smoked in (and masked fairly well - now the smell is all but gone after some ozone treatments and a thorough clean), the underside has quite a bit of surface rust, the dash is cracked, it had whimpy tires, and the infamous exhaust manifold ticks.
Regarding the name, we live in the Ozarks in southeastern Missouri, and spend a lot of time outdoors. Most of it hiking, cycling, camping, and canoeing, but definitely some hunting and off-roading. On the maiden camping voyage with the Lexus it was christened the "Rednexus" as a few buddies and I enjoyed a campsite on a gravel bar along the Current River with an awesome campfire and a cooler of cheap beer.
Right before I purchased her:
Taking my son on a off-roading trip along the Black River, after putting on a set of 265-70-17 Wildpeaks:
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