Vehicle from HELL (1 Viewer)

[JW05GX]

This is my first time posting on this forum and it's going to be a long one, and any thoughts or comments are greatly appreciated. My wife has been driving our 05 GX for 3 years now and this has to be one of the most unlucky vehicles I've ever had. I went out of my way to find a GX due to visions of over landing all over the country, but instead we have just been dumping thousands of dollars into it to try and keep it running.

Our journey started back in December of 21 where I purchased the vehicle with 135k miles, for only $11,500, which if you remember at that time they were selling for +$17k in some cases, but we knew that we would need to immediately change the timing belt/water pump, as it had never been done before. $1,500 down the drain.

The next year goes by with little worries and we have fallen in love with the GX. We just had a baby, so no camping quite yet, but we are already planning the mods that this thing will have. November of 22 and we run into more issues. The water pump has failed. The shop that we brought it to initially had the part and labor under warranty which was great, and this surely must be a fluke, right (foreshadowing)? We get it changed and drive it for another year and half or so.

While driving down the road in April of 24, wife had all of the electronics go out of vehicle and the power steering has completely failed. We bring it to a different shop and find that the rack and pinion basically burst into the alternator, causing it to short and now both need to be replaced. On top of that the lower control arms and CV axles are also completely shot. The cost of this repair was about $3500 at the shop, and I replaced the arms and axles myself for about $650. The axles and arms being replaced was just normal maintenance in my eyes, but a catastrophic failure of the rack and pinion and alternator? Surely just more bad luck.

August 24, the vehicle is randomly overheating. My first instinct as it seems somewhat intermittent is the thermostat. I change it myself with little issue and replace the coolant. All good, right? Wrong! Now the transmission doesn't shift properly and the vehicle goes into limp mode at 20mph until it shudders and goes back to normal at 30mph. No codes initially pop up so I try a computer reset by disconnecting the battery and the problem goes away. Until BAM! Another bad case of overheating. I bring it back to the shop and the water pump has failed AGAIN! This time it's not under warranty and it's another $800. On top of that, the vehicle has gone back to shifting like garbage.

Luckily, I finally got a code to pop up. P2714. From all of my research on GX's, my transmission may be doomed, as it can be incredibly difficult to diagnose and most people have to bite the bullet for a new transmission, but I haven't given up hope yet. I'm going to try and change the transmission filter and gasket, and change out some of the fluid to start, as doing a full flush on a vehicle that may have never had one is either amazing or catastrophic. I figured another $150 for fluid, tools, and a filter is better than bringing it to a transmission shop and then finding out it'll be another $3-5k for a remanufactured transmission.

Anyone have this kinda luck on a vehicle that is supposed to be "bullet-proof" (check out my hood and see that a random unknown neighbor punching a hole in the hood to see it clearly is not)? My wife is now pissed and keeps being up that we should've just dumped our money into a new vehicle, and the only reason we haven't is because we still owe $5k on the vehicle. My scumbag dad is telling me to change the tranny fluid, get it driving and sell it to some unlucky Joe and let it be someone else's problem, and I'm beginning to agree .

 

[HomersCanyonero]

The engine is the most bulletproof component in the GX470, but it is expensive to maintain and repair.

I’ve spent over $12k in repairs and maintenance over 7.5 years of ownership including water pump, timing belt, integrated catalytic converters, tires, tie rods, LCAs, front calipers, rotors, brake pads, brake lines, radiator, alternator, fluid changes including two transmission drain and fills, windshield, etc.

However, all my parts were either Toyota, Lexus, or high quality Denso, Aisin, etc. never had a failure on the replacement parts. Knock on wood.

Plus another $11k in upgrades like 4.56 gears, 8.2” rear diff elocker, sport headlights, skid plates, sliders, rear long travel, extended front travel, Hd rear sway bar, wheels, etc.

My 2003 GX470 runs great right now, but it looks like a mild upgraded GX470.

If you don’t want to keep repairing the GX470, I would trade it into a dealer for a new car. Let the dealer sell it at auction.

 

[CarGuyCarl]

I can't give you any answers but I do have questions.

Where are you getting these water pumps? What brand are they? Fake and/or cheap parts are a known issue from certain places.

If you clear the P2714, does it drive normally again for a little bit?

These are old cars, that while well built and reliable, can obviously still go wrong and if you're paying for labor, sadly it's not going to be cheap. It's good you were able to do the LCAs and CVs by yourself.

If you haven't done the radiator, it's definitely also time. Additionally, evaporator cores aren't uncommon on these. a****** puckering if you're paying someone else, but also not a bad job if you can stay organized and be patient.

It sounds like you like the truck otherwise and eventually wanna use it for camping and trips. If you're not heading that way anymore, then I would sell it and move on to something else on fuel efficiency alone lol

 

[HomersCanyonero]

I can't give you any answers but I do have questions.

Where are you getting these water pumps? What brand are they? Fake and/or cheap parts are a known issue from certain places.

If you clear the P2714, does it drive normally again for a little bit?

These are old cars, that while well built and reliable, can obviously still go wrong and if you're paying for labor, sadly it's not going to be cheap. It's good you were able to do the LCAs and CVs by yourself.

If you haven't done the radiator, it's definitely also time. Additionally, evaporator cores aren't uncommon on these. a****** puckering if you're paying someone else, but also not a bad job if you can stay organized and be patient.

It sounds like you like the truck otherwise and eventually wanna use it for camping and trips. If you're not heading that way anymore, then I would sell it and move on to something else on fuel efficiency alone lol

I was going to ask about the brand of the water pump. It’s not a common issue to have the Aisin water pump go bad that often.

And for $1500 in todays inflated dollars, I was able to do denso radiator, Toyota hoses, Toyota cap, Toyota thermostat, Toyota coolant, aisin water pump and timing belt kit, idlers, and drive belt including labor. So, your shop is a little on on the high side. I paid $1000 back in 2017. My motto is buy quality parts and find cheaper good labor.

 

[Rednexus]

Most of those issues are actually pretty common on GXs, especially at higher mileage. I've done the CV axles on mine (multiple times), the steering rack, all of the front suspension components, and lots of other stuff too. These rigs are bulletproof if they are properly maintained. If they aren't maintained well with high-quality parts (I'm also presuming your water pump to be a non-Toyota/Aisin part as the OE part would not have failed like that), they will definitely have some issues. Even above maintenance, considering the newest one of these is 15 years old and the oldest is 21 years old, they're just getting long in the tooth and even the best ones will have something go wrong with them.

TBH, a 470 is really not a good budget overlanding vehicle unless you have the time, space, tools, and desire to DIY a lot of the work. It not, they'll bleed you dry when things occur by having to take them to a shop and pay for labor. In that case, a newer GX460 is a better choice. BUT, 470s are drastically more reliable than say a 2007 Ford Explorer or a Chevy Tahoe, and I'd hop in mine and drive it to Alaska tomorrow (but I've also spent the last 4 years, thousands of dollars, and hundreds of hours of my time getting it in tip-top shape). It also looks like nothing on the road and turns heads every time I drive it.

To your trans problem, assuming the fluid isn't totally cooked due to never having been changed before, it may actually be the harness inside the transmission. It's only a $60 part from the dealer and it's not hard to replace. If you are doing a pan drop, the only added work you need to do is to pull the front driveshaft (10 minutes of work) disconnect the connector outside of the transmission, and install the new harness. I'd just go ahead and replace it if you are changing the fluid so you can rule out that issue.