Any indication high gas price is bringing the GX values down? (1 Viewer)

[sheptastic]

Well said and I agree. Heck man, I really wanted a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. My best friend whom passed away a few years ago was a Jeep guy. Unfortunately I don't have the bankroll required not only for up front cost but major repairs along the way.

My 94 Silverado was pretty reliable and my current Sierra the same. But not even comparable to our Lexus's. I am really put off on the current selection of domestic choices.

As it is right now I can only wish that the GX, Sequoia, and 4Runner will come down in price as the gas prices get up to the 10.00 per gallon mark. Kind of off topic but how about that 4Runner? Not only hard to find but the pricing is outrageous for what you get compared to a GX. The DM's on those blow my mind. But the motoring public likes them and are willing to pay 10K or more over MSRP and what the bank values them. The GX is looking a lot more attractive when you compare the two.

No contest, really. Back in January I entertained a Grand Cherokee, T4R, and a LR4. The GX was a clear winner for me and cheaper than what else was available with comparable year/mileage. Actually, I'm not sure about the Grand Cherokee price. Other factors steered me away from that.

I also like that my 7 year old GX likely just dropped kids off at school. Who knows what a TRD Pro has been through in 7 years?

 

[MrTorgue]

I also like that my 7 year old GX likely just dropped kids off at school. Who knows what a TRD Pro has been through in 7 years?

^ This

 

[K Dub]

In our own l ittle echo-chamber of MUD, we like to pat ourselves on the back a lot. After a miserable experience with a Chyrsler, I swore off domestics for almost 20 years. Then realized how cheap F250 parts were, and started doing some math. It seems you either "pre-pay" for reliability and buy a Toyota/Honda, or "pay-as-you-go" with a less reliable, but cheaper, model. As you suggest, in the end, it's not ALL that much different in terms of TCO. I do, however, personally prefer the lower hassle/worry rate of the up-front costs of purchasing a more expensive, but reliable, car.

I might lose some friends here for saying it, but my 80 series was one of those cheap, disposable jalopies. I laugh at the folks who'll tell you how reliable they are; after their 3rd head gasket and a $10k engine rebuild. Having just done a 600mi road trip in a pretty remote area I was happy to have my trustworthy GX under me. The working A/C and cooled seats were just icing on top.

 

[mudwagon]

I also like that my 7 year old GX likely just dropped kids off at school. Who knows what a TRD Pro has been through in 7 years?

^second that. My GX has some rust, nothing drastic, but literally was only used to shuffle kids around since it was bought. Stock everything until I got it and still drives smooth. In fact I traded from a 2017 colorado zr2 and was shocked how much smoother everything was despite 4 years older and 50k more mileage. I beat the crap out of that truck with half the life off road on gravel or deep mud, etc; sucks for the person buying that used. I could only assume an TRD trim 4runner would be similar.

 

[OllieChristopher]

I also like that my 7 year old GX likely just dropped kids off at school. Who knows what a TRD Pro has been through in 7 years?

You actually can't tell what either has been through unless you get up on a lift and inspect. And even then it's questionable when purchasing anything used.

I beat the crap out of that truck with half the life off road on gravel or deep mud, etc; sucks for the person buying that used. I could only assume an TRD trim 4runner would be similar.

Around here in Southern CA most all capable vehicles with huge mud tires, rolling coal and rigs lifted to the moon don't see much more than pavement or a graded fire road.

The big issue with anything here in my part of the country is abuse you don't see and is difficult to find during an inspection. I live on the highway daily with pedal to the metal drivers that abuse the throttle, suspension and brakes from the time they pull out of the driveway.

 

[mudwagon]

The big issue with anything here in my part of the country is abuse you don't see and is difficult to find during an inspection. I live on the highway daily with pedal to the metal drivers that abuse the throttle, suspension and brakes from the time they pull out of the driveway.

For those I usually look at aftermarket part brands. You know if they put rough country, etc on the truck stay away. I try to find 100% stock or very tastefully modded vehicles if the parts used are of quality. You can usually tell meeting in person what the person knows about the vehicle. I stay away from used car salesman no matter what.

 

[r2m]

... I've driven a lot of old jalopies that conked out in a year or two, and have had a couple of pricier cars like the GX that were reliable and held their value. Over the years, I've pretty much broken even on both in terms of annual expense...

I agree, that one can either pay as you go, or bite the bullet up front. If it was just a commuter and always within reach of AAA and towing, maybe, but then even a boss may get tired of "Car broke down again..." excuses being late to work.
BUT... For me, the pay as you go option also includes the possibility of being stranded. And if one goes many of the places we go off roading, that could be critical!
Sorry can't do that.
So for me and my family, I'll stick to sucking it up and getting something reliable (within $$$$ reason), than something cheap and hope it doesn't strand me/us in the middle of know where.

 

[r2m]

As it is right now I can only wish that the GX, Sequoia, and 4Runner will come down in price as the gas prices get up to the 10.00 per gallon mark. Kind of off topic but how about that 4Runner? Not only hard to find but the pricing is outrageous for what you get compared to a GX. The DM's on those blow my mind. But the motoring public likes them and are willing to pay 10K or more over MSRP and what the bank values them. The GX is looking a lot more attractive when you compare the two.

Toyota/Lexus will NEVER lower prices. They know what they have and will continue leveraging it!
What may happen is that they may drop interest rates 0% or below 1.0%. then if you can get one without dealer markup, that may be the time to jump in.
It's like free money with interest rates like that. You can take the cash money you would have paid upfront and invest it.

 

[OllieChristopher]

Toyota/Lexus will NEVER lower prices.

The last 2 years Toyota has unprecedented dealer markups that are beyond comprehension. I do agree MSRP will not get lower. That's just simple inflation as years go by. I do not know of any manufacturer lowering the MSRP price of any vehicle of following year models. I'm holding out to get closer to invoice pricing as I have in the past. I do sadly think the days of below dealer invoice are going to be far and few between. And I sure in the heck will not pay DM's even 1 penny above MSRP unless there is no other way and I'm without a vehicle.

For those I usually look at aftermarket part brands. You know if they put rough country, etc on the truck stay away. I try to find 100% stock or very tastefully modded vehicles if the parts used are of quality. You can usually tell meeting in person what the person knows about the vehicle. I stay away from used car salesman no matter what.

Well no one will want mine then. I have the Rough Country knuckle lift I installed that is approaching 100K miles on the knuckles and ball joints and just changed out the shocks to same model Rough Country ones that came in the kit. The fitment and installation was drama free accept for breaking loose one of the ball joints from OEM knuckle. I recommend Rough Country to anyone on a budget looking for a very durable and reliable suspension upgrade for off highway use.

The only negative of the kit was accelerated wear on the hub bearings and tie rod ends. Probably more to do with the heavy E rated tire and off roading. Both upper and lower ball joints are all still within spec with no noticeable play.

 

[r2m]

The last 2 years Toyota has unprecedented dealer markups that are beyond comprehension. I do agree MSRP will not get lower. That's just simple inflation as years go by. I do not know of any manufacturer lowering the MSRP price of any vehicle of following year models. I'm holding out to get closer to invoice pricing as I have in the past. I do sadly think the days of below dealer invoice are going to be far and few between. And I sure in the heck will not pay DM's even 1 penny above MSRP unless there is no other way and I'm without a vehicle.

I think the ONLY way one can get even close to or below MSRP is if you opt for the ugliest color (think Martha Stewart puke purple) with the very worst options or no options (think: crank up windows, AM radio and no AC). Anyone remember those days?

 

[OllieChristopher]

I think the ONLY way one can get even close to or below MSRP is if you opt for the ugliest color (think Martha Stewart puke purple) with the very worst options or no options

I do know that Cerritos and Newport Lexus sells for MSRP on all of the in stock vehicles on the lot. Most all GX's I have seen in stock are Premium or Luxury trim levels in the standard colors. Below MSRP as of a few weeks ago is a big NO. I always start off my offers at 10% below dealers invoice. I am disgusted with most of the dealers these days (including the motorcycle dealerships). I'm seriously considering doing the no hassle AAA buyers program when we are ready to pull the trigger on our next vehicle.

think: crank up windows, AM radio and no AC. Anyone remember those days?

Hey that's me!! 2005 GMC Sierra Base. 4.3 V6, 5 speed manual, no AC, no cruise control, hand crank windows and AM radio from the factory. I think you can still get new GM and Ford base trucks like that for commercial use.

Very sparse under the hood:

Accept for my added dual battery and solar charge controller/aux fuse box

 

[r2m]

Getting heat scalded in a vehicle with no AC on Naugahyde seats ... been there

I think in this day and age AC is a feature I miss the most when not in a vehicle. I know many really like the 4R slide down window... I'd never personally use that myself.

I'm starting to get old, cranky and want to be comfortable.


Get off my lawn!!!

 

[URJ150L]

rings went out on mine at 175k… I suppose that good for a GM.

 

[OllieChristopher]

rings went out on mine at 175k… I suppose that good for a GM.

I got over 300,000 miles out of my last Silverado. Of course I took very good care of it with 3K-5K oil changes and regular maintenance as outlined per service schedule.

 

[ypyun]

as one of the few members on this forum who bought this vehicle new i'll give my 2¢.

1) i bought my vehicle at invoice from a car broker.

2) for me the gas mileage does not matter for a couple of reasons.

• my job and my wifes has switched to wfh. hence i have more of an incentive to own fun cars over commuter cars.
• the gx gas mileage is close to the competition

 

[OllieChristopher]

as one of the few members on this forum who bought this vehicle new i'll give my 2¢.

1) i bought my vehicle at invoice from a car broker.

2) for me the gas mileage does not matter for a couple of reasons.

• my job and my wifes has switched to wfh. hence i have more of an incentive to own fun cars over commuter cars.
• the gx gas mileage is close to the competition

In the times we are at invoice from a broker sounds about right. Reason being they buy in larger volumes. I'm assuming your broker is either a friend or employed by the company you work for. These days most brokers fees are pretty steep making the total cost of purchasing a vehicle right a about MSRP or above.

 

[Hiluxforever]

Gas prices have peaked and are starting to fall in Central Iowa. As some have said I jumped into a new career summer of 2020. Transitioned from an union construction gig to working in Hyperscalar DataCenters, so I could afford 5 MPG if I really wanted to, after a couple promotions. Every competent employee who started with me has received at least one major promotion.

Historically speaking, I drove Toyota's for the first 17 years of my driving career. When I started driving 'yotas in the 90s, conservatives hated them and would try to pick fights with me for not driving 'murican vehicles. When my 5 lug first gen taco was totaled, the best yota I could have bought was an 85 5 lug without AC. F- that in Austin so I jumped shipped. Didn't come back to the brand until I made the mistake of buying a Wrangler Rubicon, and what a complete and total piece of garbage. They pulled some shady used car stuff on it, and I was a fool. That whole experience led my partner to allow my vehicle budget to double and I started looking at new 4Runners, there is a little more back story with that, like I had paid exorbantly for extra insurance while they were going through cancer treatment so we were out of pocket zero dollars.

So I had this beauty of a TRD off-road T4R on order, and after 2 months it had not been allocated. The dealer was not communicating with me and we needed to have the vehicle by September and it was already early July. So I balked and went back to the drawing board. That's when I discovered the GX, which is hugely ironic because I always loved Prados but had no idea GXes we're a thing. Drove it and everything made sense. Was sold and came home with the GX that night, after some rough negotiations. Got 16K for my lemon of a jeep, so was only out about $4k. It has sprouted rust from the back side of panels in multiple places. Stuff that wasn't visible looking underneath.

In fact, 6 months later, Alex traded their Jeep and bought a 4Runner limited. The only reason they didn't buy a GX is because I had one already and this way we would be doing same car part 2 quite as much.


I can work from home when I need to, my commute is only 10 miles and is very gentle. Only about a half dozen traffic lights and half of it has no stops with a 45 MPH speed limit. So I can get decent mileage.


My biggest fear is if we have a redux of Katrina. That may send me looking for an old Corolla.

 

[tortoiseracing]

As I was reading this thread, this Yahoo article popped up on my news feed:

Oil Rally Reverses Amid Signs of Slowing Gasoline Demand

(Bloomberg) -- Oil shed its gains after a bullish crude inventory report was tempered by an unseasonal slowdown in gasoline demand.Most Read from BloombergTrump’s Final Scene Didn’t Go According to ScriptDemocrats Weigh Paring Biden Tax Hike to Win Over ManchinVenice Plans to Start Weeding Out...

finance.yahoo.com

Looks like gas prices may fall before SUV prices do?

 

[Hiluxforever]

Prices started to fall last week here. I am seeing premium for between 4.75-5.20

 

[Arailt]

Gas prices have been taking two steps forward and one step back for months in Texas. This week, they seem to have taken two or three steps back, which is nice. We're back down to low $4s at most gas stations in my area.