Looking at 08 GX470

[Noah Miller]

Just over $10K, just under 140K miles southern car for my daughter to drive. Looks good, 25 services, good Carfax, clean except front seats are worn out and torn in one place. Dealer recently did brakes, oil, battery, detailed, and I need to verify Timing Belt/Water pump has been done. Wife has GX460 and I have a 15 LX570, so familiar with the vehicle. A few questions:

1. Anyone have the leather on their front seats replaced?
2. After reading the FAQ going to take to my Craig Auto, our local LC Toyota 4wd guy, but is there anything else major I should be looking for (will test center diff)?
3. It's a safe reliable tank which equals a good choice, any thoughts?

Noah

 

[tlin]

1. Safe, reliable tank - agreed, not a bad choice for a first ride.

2. I don't recall if listed in the FAQ (definitely look at the radiator) but rear air bags go out - no getting around it. Easy to replace those yourself if you intend to keep it stock-ish and use as a daily driver for your daughter. It's such a silly job to pay $1,500-ish for a dealer to do that replacement, my $.02.

Edit - what a coincidence - great writeup from @hammerheadfistpunch for the air bag replacements. Looks like a lot of steps but if I was able to do this job on my wife's previous MB R320, you can do it on a GX.

Let us know when you get serious and want to give it a lift, sliders, a supercharger, a rear diff locker, etc. .

Take care....

 

[TahoeLX450]

Front seat OEM driver's cushion =$185-250. Front OEM driver's lower leather $700-900 not including installation. Prices vary from the Lexus dealership parts counter to online Lexus dealers. ebay has leather covers for $160 set for each seat. Not sure of the quality but some positive feedback on eBay.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

Search lseats.com on this forum. Some good feedback on lseats.com they sell a full GX470 front set upper and lower leather for $300 on eBay.

I’m thinking of getting them soon and go to a small auto upholstery shop for installation.

 

[Noah Miller]

Awesome, thanks for the responses. I figured good maintenance records and southern (no or less rust issues) would be priority over seat or other cosmetic wear.

 

[Noah Miller]

Looks like the one I was looking at hasn't had the timing belt done (+$1000 + seat issue $), although someone snagged the next morning. Serves me right for posting on the internet.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

If you see a good deal, jump on it as long as carfax/history checks out okay