Idiot YouTuber on costs of high mileage GX ownership

[WTITW]

A Quick update on everything we've done to our 460 in the first year:



I posted this to GXOR thread yesterday thinking it would show up here, but I learned that if you post to GXOR main forum it only shows to people who click that rather than showing up in both 120/150 categories as well. Apologies if you saw this twice.

 

[r2m]

Bravo Jake! Another winner!
Regarding your poor MPG which you mentioned a couple times, are you taking into account that your larger tire size WILL make your MPG reading on your binnacle be considerably less.
I have to add 10% to whatever gas mileage is showing on my dash readout.
So if my gas mileage is showing a little over 12 MPG for around town driving which is about normal for me, my actual mileage is 13.2 MPG.
So, with my rig in current form, which I believe you know who built out it is, when we did our "lobster hunt" looking for a lobster dinner last year in Maine, somewhere over the continental divide, premium gas octane went up to 95% (we get wimpy 91% here in CA... ). With that octane gas, my dash mileage was showing over 16.5 MPG, which when multiplying by 1.1 equates out to 18.15 MPG!
Even in CA on long road trips my dash will show 14-15 MPG and then multiply by 1.1%.
So to qualify my mileage above, I usually drive the speed of traffic, not more than 10 MPH over the posted speed limit. In Texas when the speed's posted at 18 MPH, that's about all I wanted to do because of all that weight and air resistance I have.

 

[manpurse]

I had my throttle body go out on my 2010 too. Of course it first acted up in the most inconvenient place: in the middle of the White Rim trail. It went into limp mode but I cleared the code and it was fine the rest of the trip and for days after, so I thought maybe it was a fluke. A couple weeks after that I was on another trip 700 miles from home and same error code and limp mode popped up a number of times. I cleaned the throttle body the best I could and drove home and replaced it with no issues since.

 

[WTITW]

Bravo Jake! Another winner!
Regarding your poor MPG which you mentioned a couple times, are you taking into account that your larger tire size WILL make your MPG reading on your binnacle be considerably less.
I have to add 10% to whatever gas mileage is showing on my dash readout.
So if my gas mileage is showing a little over 12 MPG for around town driving which is about normal for me, my actual mileage is 13.2 MPG.
So, with my rig in current form, which I believe you know who built out it is, when we did our "lobster hunt" looking for a lobster dinner last year in Maine, somewhere over the continental divide, premium gas octane went up to 95% (we get wimpy 91% here in CA... ). With that octane gas, my dash mileage was showing over 16.5 MPG, which when multiplying by 1.1 equates out to 18.15 MPG!
Even in CA on long road trips my dash will show 14-15 MPG and then multiply by 1.1%.
So to qualify my mileage above, I usually drive the speed of traffic, not more than 10 MPH over the posted speed limit. In Texas when the speed's posted at 18 MPH, that's about all I wanted to do because of all that weight and air resistance I have.

Thanks!

Good points but my tires are 265/70/17 which is only 3.6% larger than stock when I looked it up but maybe I'm wrong? The one time I did a real world calculation it actually came out a tiny bit worse than the numbers the dash estimated. That was only one tank though.

The real secret to my horrible mileage is that I work from home, my whole family works or goes to school within a mile, I have a dog I take to the park everyday and I live in phoenix so I let it idle a lot to run the AC (Don't tell PITA or whomever gets mad about that stuff). My average trip is about .5-.75 miles.

I probably spend less overall on gas than all of you guys, I just have the s***tiest mileage due to lifestyle choices : )

 

[sedonut]

I live in Arizona also, my stock , not off road, 10 miles each way to the market GX460 is getting over 18MPG. I do step on it occasionally. I have a Hennessy Viper, after driving that anything else is slow.

You don't drive a GX or Landcruiser for the MPG. I don't drive the Viper for the MPG either.

 

[WTITW]

I live in Arizona also, my stock ,not off road, 10 miles each way to the market GX460 is getting over 18MPG. I do step on it occasionally. I have a Hennessy Viper, after driving that anything else is slow.

You don't drive a GX or Landcruiser for the MPG. I don't drive the Viper for the MPG either.

Well said. In my defense, I had to say SOMETHING I wish were better in the video and mileage was it.

 

[WTITW]

I had my throttle body go out on my 2010 too. Of course it first acted up in the most inconvenient place: in the middle of the White Rim trail. It went into limp mode but I cleared the code and it was fine the rest of the trip and for days after, so I thought maybe it was a fluke. A couple weeks after that I was on another trip 700 miles from home and same error code and limp mode popped up a number of times. I cleaned the throttle body the best I could and drove home and replaced it with no issues since.

How did you clear the code on the trail? That would have likely worked for me. I have techstream but cant drag a laptop along. I had essentially the same experience. It happened at the dealer before I drove off but they said it was just carbon on a sensor. Of course I was on the trail when happened again a week later…

 

[hakmo]

There are bluetooth enabled OBD II readers that will allow you to read/clear codes using a cellphone. I've got this one:

Amazon product ASIN B005NLQAHS
and have used it on a couple Toyotas we've owned in conjunction with the Android Torque app for reading and clearing codes. Haven't had a need to used it on the GX yet, though.

 

[r2m]

There are bluetooth enabled OBD II readers that will allow you to read/clear codes using a cellphone. I've got this one:

Amazon product ASIN B005NLQAHS
and have used it on a couple Toyotas we've owned in conjunction with the Android Torque app for reading and clearing codes. Haven't had a need to used it on the GX yet, though.

I have one of these that I used on my old 100 series Landcruiser and it was pretty cool!
Aside from being able to give me real time speed readings, temp reading with real numbers, not just a needle gauge and many other features, it could also properly adjust the MPG so I could accurately see what I was getting.
But do make note that the one featured by hakmo doesn't mention: DOES NOT WORK FOR IOS (read: Apple).
So if you should have one of those fruity phones, you'll need an OBD that has an app for IOS.

 

[CBeckFJ]

I have one of these that I used on my old 100 series Landcruiser and it was pretty cool!
Aside from being able to give me real time speed readings, temp reading with real numbers, not just a needle gauge and many other features, it could also properly adjust the MPG so I could accurately see what I was getting.
But do make note that the one featured by hakmo doesn't mention: DOES NOT WORK FOR IOS (read: Apple).
So if you should have one of those fruity phones, you'll need an OBD that has an app for IOS.

How do you like the GX compared to the 100? I've been considering stepping into a GX next year and the MPG stuff you mentioned above is a HUGE plus!

 

[r2m]

Love the GX 95% more than the 100 series LC. The 5% left for the LC is that we miss some of the extra room the LC had. But it's a double edged sword. Along with the extra size, poorer gas mileage and a little more difficult on tight trails. Don't get me wrong, when we had the LC we thought that was absolutely awesome, but they're just starting to get a little tired.
The GX also has a lot more creature comforts like three climate zones, cooled seats, better sound system, etc. but again it is 15 years newer.
Just remember MPG is largely based upon a drivers style.

 

[WTITW]

Just remember MPG is largely based upon a drivers style.

Hey! Is that a pot shot at my review? Sounds like victim blaming to me ; )

 

[r2m]

Since I don't do "pot" and I don't drink "shots" it couldn't be meant at you! No pot shots intended...

 

[re_guderian]

Hey! Is that a pot shot at my review? Sounds like victim blaming to me ; )

My wife could never muster more than 11-12 in our 100 series. Still can't get more than 15 out of the GX. @r2m is wrong. It's not "largely" based on driving style, it's almost ENTIRELY based on driving style, Putting the Pedal Commander in the GX just makes my wife flog it even harder. But it sure is fun! I don't mind cruising highways and backroads at a leisurely pace, and can get 18-20 mpg while doing so, but there are times when you just wanna get there, and then the mpg's drop. Do I miss my two 100 series that I drove for 12 years? Meh, not really. They were great, I think they look better than the GX, and they did have more cargo room. The GX excels in just about every other way, on- and off-road. Oh, and I miss the ball vent... (but the ventilated seats "almost" make up for that.