The Car Care Nut: Should You Buy a Lexus GX460? The Ultimate Buying Guide (1 Viewer)
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My posting of this video was informational and doesn’t mean I agree or disagree with everything he said.
10 minutes in and it sounds like a disaster... I don't think these issues are as common as he makes it seem. The engine issues seem to exclusively come down to coolant whether that's longer change intervals and or running low or dry from leaks. Heat is what's gonna kill the headgasket and valley plate gasket thus killing the engine. There's always exceptions and outliers but otherwise I still maintain on average these are amazingly reliable engines.
CCN used to have pretty good videos, but now tends to catastrophize things 
. I am not sure if any vehicle meets his reliability standards - although he certainly does like the GX470 (albeit he glosses over the weak rear diff).
The most reliable vehicles I've owned were our 2014 Outback - which is now at 135K and has needed little more than the CVT valve body and some sensors, our 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix - which made it to 214K needing nothing more than a few sensors and wheel bearings - and my 1997 Saturn college car - which made it to 200K with maybe a few hundred dollars in repairs before it needed a timing chain (at which point, I sold it). None of those are a Toyota product.
It's also important to separate reliability from build quality. My GX has not really been that reliable - it's need a starter, dash, exhaust manifolds, several sensors, SAIS bypass, airbag failure, power steering rack, etc. All three of the vehicles I listed above needed less repairs than my GX. On top of that, the repairs on the other vehicles were vastly easier and cheaper than they were on my GX. BUT, my GX is 18 years old and has 190K on it. It still looks great and feels solid. That's due to Toyota using good materials and manufacturing processes. None of those other vehicles felt anywhere near as good as my GX at 190K, with the two GM cars feeling like junkers by that time. The Outback will probably do better than the GM cars, but it doesn't feel anywhere near as robust as a Toyota.
. I am not sure if any vehicle meets his reliability standards - although he certainly does like the GX470 (albeit he glosses over the weak rear diff).The most reliable vehicles I've owned were our 2014 Outback - which is now at 135K and has needed little more than the CVT valve body and some sensors, our 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix - which made it to 214K needing nothing more than a few sensors and wheel bearings - and my 1997 Saturn college car - which made it to 200K with maybe a few hundred dollars in repairs before it needed a timing chain (at which point, I sold it). None of those are a Toyota product
.It's also important to separate reliability from build quality. My GX has not really been that reliable - it's need a starter, dash, exhaust manifolds, several sensors, SAIS bypass, airbag failure, power steering rack, etc. All three of the vehicles I listed above needed less repairs than my GX. On top of that, the repairs on the other vehicles were vastly easier and cheaper than they were on my GX. BUT, my GX is 18 years old and has 190K on it. It still looks great and feels solid. That's due to Toyota using good materials and manufacturing processes. None of those other vehicles felt anywhere near as good as my GX at 190K, with the two GM cars feeling like junkers by that time. The Outback will probably do better than the GM cars, but it doesn't feel anywhere near as robust as a Toyota.
Valve body on Outback is a simple, cheap job?CCN used to have pretty good videos, but now tends to catastrophize things
The most reliable vehicles I've owned were our 2014 Outback - which is now at 135K and has needed little more than the CVT valve body and some sensors, our 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix - which made it to 214K needing nothing more than a few sensors and wheel bearings - and my 1997 Saturn college car - which made it to 200K with maybe a few hundred dollars in repairs before it needed a timing chain (at which point, I sold it). None of those are a Toyota product
It's also important to separate reliability from build quality. My GX has not really been that reliable - it's need a starter, dash, exhaust manifolds, several sensors, SAIS bypass, airbag failure, power steering rack, etc. All three of the vehicles I listed above needed less repairs than my GX. On top of that, the repairs on the other vehicles were vastly easier and cheaper than they were on my GX. BUT, my GX is 18 years old and has 190K on it. It still looks great and feels solid. That's due to Toyota using good materials and manufacturing processes. None of those other vehicles felt anywhere near as good as my GX at 190K, with the two GM cars feeling like junkers by that time. The Outback will probably do better than the GM cars, but it doesn't feel anywhere near as robust as a Toyota.
Watch the whole video. He gets to what we all know at the end…that these are great vehicles. Most of the “horrors” he speaks of are a reality for me and are not that bad. Did the valley plate at 127k and that was a pain. Replaced the radiator and water pump at 135k as preventative, no problem. Definitely have a front cover seep, but never has dripped. I think I did take out my alternator, maybe prematurely at 159k(pic for reference). Other than that 5k oci, 25k drain and fills on the tranny and regular shell gas.
About $1700 at a dealer. Comparable to a 2UZ timing belt but easier than a 1UR valley plate leak. Probably $600 and a day of work to DIY it. Not really a big deal IMO.
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this is the tr580? i have a forester approaching 100k which is when the warranty ends but so far no issues.
2014 Outback CVT. I'm not sure which actual transmission it has. We had the trans fluid changed at 60K and sold it to a family member around 120K, after which they had the trans fluid changed again. No issues until it threw a code at 135K. It was of course just out of the warranty. When I heard it threw the code, I called multiple dealers and got costs ranging from $1,500-3,000 for the job. The dealer that did it said they had done "over a hundred" of them and it took about 5 hours. If I still owned the car I would have DIY'd it, as VB replacement (at least in my GX) is pretty darn easy. Overall, the Subies are super easy to work on compared to my GX.
I thought it was a good vid. He went over all the potential issues and the take away for me was some of these things can become a big deal if you don't keep up with maintenance. He sees a lot more of these in his shop than most of us do, so would be more familiar with these issues. The coolant leaks are the biggest concern for older trucks without comprehensive maintenance records. I can only imagine how many of these trucks are ownded by non-enthusiast crowd, e.g. 'soccer-moms', who have never looked at the coolant, let alone even opened the hood! Once a leak starts it's just a matter of time before the engine gets cooked.
r2m
Richard
With all due respect, that doesn't sound like a whole lot of miles compared to all the Toyota products we've owned. We got rid of them at usually past the 280,000 mark, with very little ever done to them (alternator, Hundy mid seat heater condenser, starter). And generally we sold them because the paint and interior was just looking very tired. Other than that, you could have driven most all our Toyota's cross country with all those miles with no worries.CCN used to have pretty good videos, but now tends to catastrophize things
The most reliable vehicles I've owned were our 2014 Outback - which is now at 135K and has needed little more than the CVT valve body and some sensors, our 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix - which made it to 214K needing nothing more than a few sensors and wheel bearings - and my 1997 Saturn college car - which made it to 200K with maybe a few hundred dollars in repairs before it needed a timing chain (at which point, I sold it). None of those are a Toyota product
It's also important to separate reliability from build quality. My GX has not really been that reliable - it's need a starter, dash, exhaust manifolds, several sensors, SAIS bypass, airbag failure, power steering rack, etc. All three of the vehicles I listed above needed less repairs than my GX. On top of that, the repairs on the other vehicles were vastly easier and cheaper than they were on my GX. BUT, my GX is 18 years old and has 190K on it. It still looks great and feels solid. That's due to Toyota using good materials and manufacturing processes. None of those other vehicles felt anywhere near as good as my GX at 190K, with the two GM cars feeling like junkers by that time. The Outback will probably do better than the GM cars, but it doesn't feel anywhere near as robust as a Toyota.
I've had 4 vehicles get up around 200k (including my GX). At that mileage, the GX has needed the second most in terms of number and cost of repairs. DIYing everything myself, i can say that the GX is the most challenging too. Only my 2000 Forester was worse due to head gaskets and a burnt valve - but it's nearing 300k now with the new owner and still rolling just fine.
I love my GX and would drive to to Alaska tomorrow, since I've completely gone through it and it's a very sorted rig. I plan to keep it to 300k miles or maybe more. But, these rigs certainly do have their problems once they get over 100k or so, and they can be fairly expensive to fix.
Unscheduled maintenance
64k rear pinion seal
70k oil check tube o-ring, timing cover seep (haven't fixed)
102k front kdss piston leak (haven't fixed)
108k water pump
112k valley plate
I’m fastidious with routine maintenance.
Am I having a Lexus experience? All told, so far it's more costly than a 2001 BMW 740i I had for 80k miles.
64k rear pinion seal
70k oil check tube o-ring, timing cover seep (haven't fixed)
102k front kdss piston leak (haven't fixed)
108k water pump
112k valley plate
I’m fastidious with routine maintenance.
Am I having a Lexus experience? All told, so far it's more costly than a 2001 BMW 740i I had for 80k miles.
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- Thread starter
- #14
My ‘12 Premium (‘14+ Luxury) is likely considered lower mileage at ~90k miles
Only failures I’ve had on mine:
- Premature water pump failure at around 38K miles covered under powertrain warranty
- Driver’s door PDL actuator I replaced a few years back
- Fan clutch was sticking on so I replaced it
- Coolant recovery bottle lid wasn’t holding a seal so replaced
- one failing stock TPMS sensor… will just replace them all when I get new tires year or next
No noticeable weeps or leaks.
Only failures I’ve had on mine:
- Premature water pump failure at around 38K miles covered under powertrain warranty
- Driver’s door PDL actuator I replaced a few years back
- Fan clutch was sticking on so I replaced it
- Coolant recovery bottle lid wasn’t holding a seal so replaced
- one failing stock TPMS sensor… will just replace them all when I get new tires year or next
No noticeable weeps or leaks.
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Yes, a Lexus experience
. Supremely well-built and capable vehicles. But, when service is needed, it will be expensive. I'm not sure it's cost effective to own a higher-mileage GX unless you are able to and willing to DIY the repairs and maintenance.Or, you can abandon any pretense of these being cost-effective and just keep dumping money in them because they are awesome vehicles, which is what I do
.FYI we'll be pulling our camper around 5,000 miles with my 18-year old GX, with my family of four later this summer. All the way to Yellowstone and Glacier from MO. I wouldn't do that with the rig unless I trusted it (and my ability to repair it in a auto parts store parking lot in the middle of nowhere - if it comes to that).
I've had my fair share of issues, i.e. water pump, radiator, valley plate leak, door actuators, rear axle seal, but most of these I consider wear items for a 100k+ mile vehicle. Plus these issues haven't left me stranded somewhere or led to a catastrophic failure of the engine or transmission. Yes, leaks can get bad if you aren't ontop of them, but a small leak isn't going to leave you stranded. At the price point I got my truck at, there isn't anything out there that could do the job and have any less issues.
I'll add my list of issues for my 2014 Luxury. I bought it at about 73K. Currently at 102K
Service records show no issues besides maintenance before I bought it besides a leak from the roof top antenna.
~75K Replaced driver seat cover because of rip.
~80K Coolant Valley leak
~90K Radiator
I have a new water pump on the shelf that I will do sometime this year as preventative. Hoping that is it for a while because I freaking love this truck.
Service records show no issues besides maintenance before I bought it besides a leak from the roof top antenna.
~75K Replaced driver seat cover because of rip.
~80K Coolant Valley leak
~90K Radiator
I have a new water pump on the shelf that I will do sometime this year as preventative. Hoping that is it for a while because I freaking love this truck.
If he made a video stating there were no common issues, nobody would agree with that or watch it. If someone posted here that today is Monday 4/14 and nothing broke, nobody would care to read the post. Therefore you'll see the bad and people will watch / read it.
Ah, working the algorithm
.This weekend we deleted the YouTube app from our TVs. To keep prevent further brain rot in my kids from Minecraft videos (and whatever other channels they have been watching - all I know is they talk in extremely annoying voices) and in me from the various automotive channels. Like everything else on the web, it's amazing just how much junk is on that site.
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r2m
Richard
So far on my 2013 with 120k miles on the clock: only a radiator and those stupid Icon shocks that have to be rebuilt every 15k miles. For what it costs to rebuild those shocks, I could be checking things off my GX bucket list, e.g. headlights, as just mentioned on another post today.
