Advice on buying GX470 in NoVa/DC area

[Loganc08]

My wife and I are having twins in February so we're selling her Mazda 3 and are looking into purchasing this truck 2007 LEXUS GX 470 4WD Chantilly VA 33720060

If anyone would be so kind, I have a couple questions:
- Thoughts on price? We took it for a quick drive on Saturday and all seemed in good. It was raining so I didn't crawl under it to check it out thoroughly but my thought on the price is it's had body damage so that may bring it down.

- Does anyone have a shop in NoVa they would recommend? We're about 2 hours south and I don't know a good shop in the area to bring it to for having it checked out.

Thanks for any help.

Logan

 

[CarolinaGX]

It is a good looking truck and the miles are low. You are in a pricey part of VA so I am not surprised by the price. But, I think it is still a bit high (personal opinion). Definitely look under it. If it is rusty, walk. I am from Frederick, MD originally and very familiar with your area and the weather/salt. Without looking at Carfax or other history, I would expect the the TB hasn't been done and that can be a negotiating point.

I dont have a shop to recommend but you can take it to any Lexus dealer and have a pre-purchase inspection done for around $120. They will give you a laundry list of items that need to be addressed which you can use to negotiate with the seller. Or perhaps some big ticket items that might make you decide to pass on it all together.

Good luck and congrats on the babies!!

 

[Loganc08]

It is a good looking truck and the miles are low. You are in a pricey part of VA so I am not surprised by the price. But, I think it is still a bit high (personal opinion). Definitely look under it. If it is rusty, walk. I am from Frederick, MD originally and very familiar with your area and the weather/salt. Without looking at Carfax or other history, I would expect the the TB hasn't been done and that can be a negotiating point.

I dont have a shop to recommend but you can take it to any Lexus dealer and have a pre-purchase inspection done for around $120. They will give you a laundry list of items that need to be addressed which you can use to negotiate with the seller. Or perhaps some big ticket items that might make you decide to pass on it all together.

Good luck and congrats on the babies!!

Right on. Thanks for tip on the lexus dealer, we'll have that done.

 

[drowzyGX]

Seconding what Carolina suggested: absolutely get a pre purchase inspection. Lexus dealership is always a great option. If there’s a good Toyota / lexus shop in your area, you can have them do it, too.

Rusty undercarriage is a no go for me.

You can make an account for free and check the service records

Service and Maintenance | My Lexus

Easily schedule Lexus service, order parts and accessories, view your vehicle’s maintenance history, manage warranty information, and check for safety recalls.

drivers.lexus.com

You may have checked during the test drive, but make sure it switches into 4 lo.

If it’s got the mark levinson sound system, play around with the sound balancer and make sure all the speakers are in good shape. The ML sound system is, uh, unique, and replacing the speakers isn’t exactly easy. If they’re shot, that’s another negotiating point.

 

[drowzyGX]

Oh, another thing, only because it happened to me immediately after buying my GX.

Turn off the audio, and play with the AC. Run it through a range of temperatures from max cold to max hot. Make sure you don’t hear a drumming / mild jack hammer noise from either the passenger side or the driver side footwell. Make sure both sides pump out hot and cold air. The motors in the ac system can / will fail, and the evaporator core can fail as well. It ends up being a wildly expensive repair because the entire dash has to come out to fix it.

So just make sure it’s not currently as issue.

 

[McDuff123]

Another negotiating point...
The timing belt will be due in about 15k miles (actually, if it hasn’t been done, it’s basically due now because of its age).
With the water pump, it’s an $800-$1200 bill.
Great looking rig, jealous on the low miles.
Good luck...

 

[phishtaco]

2 Accidents? Lived its life in MA? For sale since September?

 

[Loganc08]

2 Accidents? Lived its life in MA? For sale since September?

1 was an accident and the other was reported as "Damage" - whatever that means. Carfax also said there was rust preventative applied at the dealer.

I had a 2009 Tacoma that I did a whole bunch of work to so I'm familiar with with Toyota rust issues.

Looks like it was traded in, dealer sold it at an auction and this used car dealer picked it up.

$14.5 definitely seems high so we'll go in for 10 and see what happens.

 

[z00t3ch]

That price would be a steal in my area with that mileage, assuming the chassis doesn't look like the Titanic does today. A clean 75,000 mile unit fetches $17-18k. It is missing the 3rd row seats but otherwise looks very clean inside.

 

[D21FJ60]

Ask to see more detailed pictures of the cargo area. Some of the US spec GX470's didn't come with third row seats.
Post over in VA/DC/MD- Capital Land Cruiser Club and one of us could maybe go look at it for you.
I agree signing up on lexusdrivers.com is the best way to see what the maintenance history is.

 

[crawlin40]

I inquired about it 3 weeks ago. I got underbody pics sent to me. It is rough. Undercoated at one point and now rusting through. Looked bad at control arm attachment points among other spots. Definitely request some pics. Made me walk away.

 

[z00t3ch]

Ask to see more detailed pictures of the cargo area. Some of the US spec GX470's didn't come with third row seats.

There are 40+ pics of the truck on that dealer site, including a very clear photo of the 3rd row seatbelts and pivot plates.

 

[D21FJ60]

There are 40+ pics of the truck on that dealer site, including a very clear photo of the 3rd row seatbelts and pivot plates.

Clearly missed that. Thanks for clarifying for OP.

 

[crawlin40]

Found the pics. I would take a rubber mallet and a screwdriver to poke around. Definitely has the rubberized undercoating hiding northeast salt

 

[Loganc08]

Found the pics. I would take a rubber mallet and a screwdriver to poke around. Definitely has the rubberized undercoating hiding northeast salt View attachment 2157937View attachment 2157938View attachment 2157939

Yikes, thanks for posting those. Definitely doesn't look good. I'll get a better look when I go back up this weekend.

 

[CarolinaGX]

That would be a no for me.

On a different note, I saw a GX very close to my house for 7000 at a used car lot. I dont know milage or any history. It is the same dark blue as mine. zip code is 29708 if you want to look into it.

 

[WReedDCVet]

My wife and I are having twins in February so we're selling her Mazda 3 and are looking into purchasing this truck 2007 LEXUS GX 470 4WD Chantilly VA 33720060

If anyone would be so kind, I have a couple questions:
- Thoughts on price? We took it for a quick drive on Saturday and all seemed in good. It was raining so I didn't crawl under it to check it out thoroughly but my thought on the price is it's had body damage so that may bring it down.

- Does anyone have a shop in NoVa they would recommend? We're about 2 hours south and I don't know a good shop in the area to bring it to for having it checked out.

Thanks for any help.

Logan

Good morning. I would walk away and wait for a better deal because that rust does not look good. I bought a one owner GX470. Clean carfax (but don't trust carfax alone) , I took blue driver with me to check for erased codes, and I brought a digital paint thickness tester. Frame had almost no rust. Blue driver was clean, paint thickness was uniform. Then took it to my favorite mechanic in and they blessed her. Then I paid 15k. Be VERY wary of used car dealers...I looked at a beautiful white GX at Victory motors in Chantilly and almost bought it, but I was smart enough to get a mechanic to check it out for 120 bucks. Thank God I did because they told me some emission codes were incomplete = most likely erased. So, I bought blue driver as a pretty check from now on. Good luck!

 

[WReedDCVet]

Edit: 1 owner 2004 GX470 with KDSS 102k for 15 thousand. Bought from Infiniti dealer in Chantilly.

 

[phishtaco]

Did you see the on FS here?

For Sale - South-East : 2009 Lexus GX 470 99k VERY CLEAN

$16900 2 owner VERY well maintained. Originally from Texas. We have owned this GX since 2014. It has been regularly serviced at Lexus Knoxville and has had consistent fluid changes. Already had the 100k ($$$$) service conducted by Lexus of Knoxville. All documentation available. Very new...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[GX470Dawg]

I'm in Georgia, bought a 2008 with 148k on the clock. I checked it out and then had a mechanic check it out. It had the timing chain and water pump changed at 120k, great maintenance records, clean car fax, 2 owner. So far it's been great, paid $12k for it. I looked at alot of dogs before I picked this one.

While I was looking, I found a mint white with all the goodies and 95k mileage but they wanted $18k and I didn't want to spend that much for a 3rd vehicle.