Hey guys, looking to buy a 2008 GX470 with 135,000 miles and see one that checks out everywhere else except the frame has me a little skeptical. It started off as a lease in NJ and stayed in Illinois for a little less than a decade til the owner traded it in last month. I’ll be daily driving it in Michigan, which also uses salt on the roads. is this too much rust or can i get 15+ years out of it if i take care of it and wash the bottom regularly? thanks
Opinions on frame of 08 GX i’m looking at
- Thread starter xhophunter
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I've seen lots worse. That said, clean it and apply your favorite paint or coating. The rusty bolts are an issue you don't see on dry climate cars, they will probably have to be cut off someday. With maintenance you should get a lot of years. With no maintenance, another 15 years is questionable.
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awesome, good to know. i've test driven about 5 of them and fallen in love, and am more than willing to do maintenance to make it last longer. I'm going to look at it saturday, can let it know how it goes
Not bad at all and similar to how my 2007 used to look. IMO Woolwax Black is the best option for these. Power wash it, lay on a thick coat, and touch it up yearly. It acts as a penetrating oil and will loosen rusty bolts. Make sure to get inside the frame too.
I've seen worse on East Coast rigs that have been brought to the West Coast, and this is nothing compared to the Canadian rigs that are coming across the border lately (mostly fullsize pickups).
If the price is right, get it and address the rust as mentioned earlier. With your Michigan winters preparation and prevention will be key to keeping any rig alive.
If the price is right, get it and address the rust as mentioned earlier. With your Michigan winters preparation and prevention will be key to keeping any rig alive.
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I forgot to update and thank you guys for your help, I ended up getting the truck and i absolutely love it. Needed a radiator that the dealer i bought it from replaced free of charge and it runs beautifully now. I’m extremely happy with the purchase and happy to be a part of the GX club. Here’s more pics if you guys want. Needs new tires before winter and i’m going to start doing research into which way to coat the underside for the winter but i couldn’t be happier.
Congrats on the beautiful GX! I used Woolwax Black to undercoat my 470 and have been very happy. Self-applied it with their Kellsport undercoating gun and a 8-gallon compressor, as documented in my build thread.
Having grown up in Michigan myself, I know the hell winter is on trucks. I applied fluid film to my truck for this winter after bringing it up to CT from south carolina, and I was impressed with how well it held up. Woolwax black looked like a good option from Rednexus' thread too. I would just plan on doing an application/touchup each year to get the most out of your purchase.
The white paint is pretty suspect on these trucks too, so plan so upkeep there as well.
The white paint is pretty suspect on these trucks too, so plan so upkeep there as well.
Looks great!
The rear seat DVD player is aftermarket and honestly looks better than the OEM unit.
Also, if the Nav maps haven't been updated you definitely should get the most recent update Gen 5 DVD discs you can find (2017 I think?). There are some... *cough* bootleg *cough* ... Nav discs all over ebay for $10ish that work perfectly fine.
Edit: OH! And the Nav updates get rid of the "I AGREE" screen on startup. Worth it for that alone!
The rear seat DVD player is aftermarket and honestly looks better than the OEM unit.
Also, if the Nav maps haven't been updated you definitely should get the most recent update Gen 5 DVD discs you can find (2017 I think?). There are some... *cough* bootleg *cough* ... Nav discs all over ebay for $10ish that work perfectly fine.
Edit: OH! And the Nav updates get rid of the "I AGREE" screen on startup. Worth it for that alone!
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Great, i will check out your thread, thank you so much. I've been seeing a lot of people recommending Woolwax and Fluid Film, i'll do a little more research and decide which one to go with. If I go with woolwax, your guide should help a lot.
I've got no problem with doing a yearly (or twice-a-year honestly) preventative maintenance on this truck, trust me. I'll be more than happy to undercoat it every year. As for the paint, there is a little road rash underneath the grille and some very tiny spots of exposed primer on the roof just above the windshield. After I get the car titled in my name I wanted to call Lexus and see if they would do the recall paint job on the Blizzard Pearl because it was offered for 08-09 Blizzard Pearl GX's. My co-workers think the dealership is going to rush the job because it's a recall, anyone have input or an opinion on that? I figured a free paint job from the dealership is a free paint job. A guy on a GX-OR facebook group told me they just did his last month, so i believe the recall is still good.
Thanks, honestly I had no idea that the DVD player was aftermarket because it looked so good to me (it wasn't actually an option i was particularly interested in but it seemed fun), I prefer my cars bone stock but something as small as that i don't mind letting slide. Thanks for pointing that out. It will be a fun quirk to utilize on roadtrips with my friends either way. I've heard about updating the nav and meant to look into it, I punched in my home address from the dealership and checked my phone just in case, luckily i did because the car nav was telling me to go a way further out of the way, no idea why. Hope an update can fix that, but worst case scenario i've always got my phone on me anyway. Thanks for the heads up!
I've always heard people talking about these things being addicting to drive and i thought it was kind of corny, but after driving it for almost a week I understand it now. Such a beautiful piece of machinery lol. I don't even mind the gas fill-ups because I live 2 miles away from work, i'm putting mid-grade in it for now but we'll see how long that lasts before i switch to regular.
