Before I buy this GX 470 on Monday, I need some input [long]. (1 Viewer)

[Pyrenees]

Let's just say I've found a GX 470 I'm willing to buy. Price and history is fine. Minimal surface rust underneath, no leaks, runs great. Drove it today. I'm aware of most of the generic GX issues (Dash cracks, warranty extension expired last year. Timing belt, etc. Nav vs non-nav, KDSS, sport trim, etc). However, I have a couple of specific questions I was hoping someone could address. I searched, but if there's just a thread you want to point me to, that's great and I'll read it.

1) Suspension - I played with the transfer case and it worked fine. No clunks or weird stuff, everything seemed good when cornering, backing up, etc. When I set the suspension height to High/Low from inside the car, it seemed like the rear slowly raised and lowered slightly but I don't think the front did. Is that normal? The car was parked on a hill at an angle in case that matters. I should have tested on a flat surface but did not. Is there an AHC fluid reservoir in the engine bay like on the LX or the late 100-series LC? For the life of me I couldn't find it, although I did lift up the two pieces of black plastic on the sides to try and find it. Or does the GX not have AHC and it has the KDSS on some models? I guess I'm confused about that. I set it to sport and set it to comfort and could tell some difference on the highway, mainly in the levels of brake dive from a high speed stop. But generally, it didn't make much difference. Does the sport setting mean it's a sport model?

2) High-speed steering wheel wobble - Let me describe this... Accelerating from 0-50 at any rate is fine, no vibrations in the vehicle or the steering wheel. At around 50-70 there is a minor/moderate steering wheel wobble that I also visually noticed vibrating the High/Low transfer case shifter know on the console. However the body vibrations from this aren't bad and there is no associated noise. It does not feel like warped/glazed rotors because frankly it was never exacerbated by braking, ever. It simply occurs while driving around 50-70 MPH and I can't cause it to happen or make it go away. The vehicle literally had new tires just put on it, so either they didn't do a high-speed balance or there's a bent wheel, or worse? Are these models sensitive to wheel balance? Is there a known issue I should consider if I make an offer? I am not going to be turned off by some small repairs like tie rods, but if it's one of those "replace entire suspension" deals I may not be as cool with it.

3) Is there anything screwy/weird/recalls on the 2006 model year in particular I should know about? I know the 2004's have the MFD issues. I know KDSS is desirable but I don't see a KDSS light on the dash when I turn on the key, etc.

4) THANK YOU in advance. This forum is amazing.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

Ill only answer one question. Only has rear air bags, so only the rear raises and lowers. The front doesn’t move.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

Okay, a second answer. Kdss and sport model have nothing to do with the buttons for comfort and sport. These are the electronically controlled shocks. It changes the valving of the shocks to soft/comfort or firm/sport. All gx470s have the electronic shocks.

 

[Pyrenees]

Ill only answer one question. Only has rear air bags, so only the rear raises and lowers. The front doesn’t move.

thank you

 

[GXO]

Wobble can be a lot of things, most likely bushings, hub bearings, or other wearable parts. Baseline the mechanicals and it will likely go away. Alignment, wheel balance, etc are all suspect. Driveshafts could also have bad u-joints. Everything is cheaper to fix than a land cruiser, and they share parts with the 03-09 4runner V8. Everything else above for the rest.

 

[joabmc]

Agree with others. Wobble can come from a number of items. What is the mileage of the rig? Have you ran the vin through Lexus.com? If not, you can register the vin and view the service history. This may help narrow down where the wobble is coming from. I’d say it’s a balance issue if it’s only in a certain range of speed but could be a bushing, upper or lower balljoint or wheel bearing. Normally there is sound affiliated w/ a bearing issue though.

 

[Pyrenees]

Agree with others. Wobble can come from a number of items. What is the mileage of the rig? Have you ran the vin through Lexus.com? If not, you can register the vin and view the service history. This may help narrow down where the wobble is coming from. I’d say it’s a balance issue if it’s only in a certain range of speed but could be a bushing, upper or lower balljoint or wheel bearing. Normally there is sound affiliated w/ a bearing issue though.

Thanks, It doesn't sound like a bearing issue at all, I know what that's like (rumble/hum with speed) unless the bearings on the GX have play without making noise. Then maybe a possibility? It's a totally silent wobble and this vehicle rides pretty effortlessly at 80-90 MPH (briefly took it on the hwy to see). Brakes quietly work very effectively and smoothly. I don't think it's the brakes. Has 130k miles and I ran it through the lexus VIN checker but didn't notice anything, other than the lack of a timing belt. I'll check it again. Based on this mileage, if it's a hub, bearing or bushing/ball joint, what am I in for? 4Runner/Prado prices? Less than a grand? Or more like 2 grand to tighten it up?

 

[joabmc]

Doubt it’s a bearing either. I’d start w/ having the tires checked and ensure the balancing is correct. Tie rod ends are fairly inexpensive. There are several aftermarket options for UCAs from $400-600 range. Depends on whether you plan on lifting and modding the truck. LCAs can be a PIA but won’t break the bank. Lastly you can buy complete hub assemblies for the 120 for around $200 a side, only takes about 1hr per side to swap them out.
Bent wheels are pretty rare when it comes to aluminum so I’d start with a simple balance.

 

[Pyrenees]

Doubt it’s a bearing either. I’d start w/ having the tires checked and ensure the balancing is correct. Tie rod ends are fairly inexpensive. There are several aftermarket options for UCAs from $400-600 range. Depends on whether you plan on lifting and modding the truck. LCAs can be a PIA but won’t break the bank. Lastly you can buy complete hub assemblies for the 120 for around $200 a side, only takes about 1hr per side to swap them out.
Bent wheels are pretty rare when it comes to aluminum so I’d start with a simple balance.

Cool. I thought a bent wheel would be very odd since it has the OEM smaller wheels (not some stupid giant mall cruiser rims). It's a single owner and I am pretty sure they never took it off road, so again I'd be impressed if they bent something. I'm thinking they traded it in due to having 130k miles and thinking about fixing the steering wobble/timing belt, and just bought something else instead of sinking $2k into this car to keep it proper. Just a guess though. Pretty much the story of every GX/LX/LC I've seen between 90k-140k mi.

 

[Pyrenees]

I've been reading on the internet (here and other forums) about GX 470 steering wobble at 60-70 MPH. I see a lot of "lexus admits this is an issue... no fix" kind of replies, but most of those have been for 03-04 models. Lots of people have load balanced their wheels/done alignments and haven't had a resolution. I looked over the entire service history of this thing and I don't see a thing mentioned about this.

Is highway speed steering wobble endemic on the 120? Hard to troubleshoot? I'm cool with buying it unless I'm going to start throwing parts at it in the dark hoping to fix the problem. There's a reason I'll never buy a BMW again and you just heard it.

 

[Milpilot]

I bought and subsequently returned a GX470 recently. Kinda a long story but driving away from the dealer I noticed the a steering wheel vibration from around 60-70 mph. I took it to a mechanic and they said the left wheel bearing had play in it and needed replaced and that the tires needed to be balanced. The rear shocks were also leaking and a few other things needed fixed. To fix everything it would have cost $3,000!!! The mechanic knew I was from out of town and knew I wasn’t doing the repairs at their shop as well. I called and got estimates for the work at two other shops and the other estimates were similar. Needless to say I’d highly recommend taking it to a mechanic to have it looked at before buying it. Most places I’ve called do an inspection for $50-$200 depending on how thorough it is. Money well spent for piece of mind/negotiations.

 

[GXO]

$3000 to replace a hub bearing ($400) and rear shocks (OEM, $800, aftermarket, $500) seems REALLY high. The "other stuff" must have substantial.

 

[LaserNomad]

Use the $3K for negations. I highly doubt any part of the steering/suspension will cost you $3k to fix unless you replace the upper and lower control arms with the rest of the suspension. Just my 2 whiskey fuled cents

 

[Pyrenees]

Use the $3K for negations. I highly doubt any part of the steering/suspension will cost you $3k to fix unless you replace the upper and lower control arms with the rest of the suspension. Just my 2 whiskey fuled cents

They are being relatively firm on the price, I already tried to get $1k off, seeing that it needs a timing belt. So basically I told him ok, if this truck is worth the asking price to me, it needs to NOT have that vibration. Either money off, or vibration gone. He said it may need a road force balance (of the brand new tires they just put on it) which is true. It may be something simple like that or an alignment, in which case if he wants to sell this car to me (or probably anyone) he'd be smart to drop $100 on that. Part of me thinks they probably already did.

 

[subspd]

Walk away...

 

[Pyrenees]

Used Cars for Sale Raleigh NC 27603 Stars Auto Sales

^^
It stuck out to me because of the low mileage and the non-nav setup. The dashboard was not done and has a small crack in it. It's also very convenient to where I'm located.

However after a lot of reading, it seems like the steering shimmy is either easy to fix or a nightmare that never goes away (unless you dump $$ into it). Seems like the 4Runners are affected as well, and some of the 06+ GX models have been cured by doing the 04 TSB. Still, this is too much trouble to get into straight away on a new-to-me vehicle.

I'm going to let him know that my offer still stands, if he fixes the vibration. Otherwise, forget it.

 

[Milpilot]

$3000 to replace a hub bearing ($400) and rear shocks (OEM, $800, aftermarket, $500) seems REALLY high. The "other stuff" must have substantial.

Ok. It’s been a couple weeks so I forgot that the $3000 calculation included the water pump and timing belt that needed to be installed.

So I found the invoice that the mechanic gave me which didn’t include the timing belt or water pump and it was $2,186 for the work that needed to be completed. Which included the left front hub assembly $400 plus $340 in labor. $746 for rear shocks plus $146 in labor. The other stuff was a front end alignment, the AC system needed to be recharged and it needed a new cabin air filter.

You add the timing belt and water pump and you get $3,000 in parts and labor.

Either way it was a lot for a vehicle that the dealer was already asking over blue book for. Even if you were handy and had time to do the work yourself you’re looking at close to $2000 to fix what needed to be done.

Also the previous owner didnt have the dash replaced within the extended warranty period. So i had that to think about. Anyone know how much that’s is to fix? $500-$1000 is my guess.

My point is you need to be careful when buying a GX470 and a $100 inspection by a mechanic is worth the money to me.

 

[Pyrenees]

Also the previous owner didnt have the dash replaced within the extended warranty period. So i had that to think about. Anyone know how much that’s is to fix? $500-$1000 is my guess.

From some posts I read online, $1400 got mentioned. I think the dash itself is $700.

 

[Kelevra]

If the GX was properly serviced and maintained, it should be good. My opinion is there are a lot of shade tree mechanics and DIY'er's Who have no idea what they are doing. A PPI by a reputable shop can save a lot of headache. I looked for quite some time prior to purchasing our GX. There were many that looked good on the surface. Once checked out, it was apparent they were lacking maintenance.

BTW, we were quoted about $1900.00 fo the dash replacement.