Your GX470, tell me about it.

[Dazza]

I hope you don't mind me dredging up an old thread, I've been looking for the buyer's guide for the GX470s and cannot seem to find it in the search. anybody able to point me to a link? Thanks in advance and my apologies if I missed an obvious post.

I am in need of some real life feedback. I am over building hardcore wheelers where comfort suffers. I also no longer really run hard trails. My 60 saw a couple and my Disco saw a lot. I have a 1 year old and my wife and I are wanting to get her out camping, fishing, etc... more (please do not use that overlanding term). Past rigs would have worked but they lost out in a few key areas. The GX keeps popping up as a really viable option. I am not a fan of the 4th gen 4Runner and its blindspots (plus, at 6'4", I do not find it all that comfortable) but am of the GX. It is more comfortable and with a little bit of lift, could easily handle what I might throw at it (say, greens and blues up at Rausch). The GX has enough aftermarket and enough support here that it is a very good option.

From the buyers guide thread, I am looking for one without navigation as being my primary objective. Not impossible but definitely not too common. Everything else is not too big a deal it seems. The later ones with the 5AT would be nice to allow slightly better mileage. Overall chassis mileage is high and that is where I begin to enter different territory. It is hard to pitch an 80k mile 2004-2008 vehicle to my wife as a good purchase, considering both our current cars have fewer than 24k on them. This brings me to a couple of questions:
1. How many miles are too many miles? I will load VINs into the Lexus site to research service records so that I have an idea as to history.
2. When and in what state (mileage, year, etc...) did you get your 470? What have you had to do to it while it has been under your stead?

Thanks in advance.

I am in need of some real life feedback. I am over building hardcore wheelers where comfort suffers. I also no longer really run hard trails. My 60 saw a couple and my Disco saw a lot. I have a 1 year old and my wife and I are wanting to get her out camping, fishing, etc... more (please do not use that overlanding term). Past rigs would have worked but they lost out in a few key areas. The GX keeps popping up as a really viable option. I am not a fan of the 4th gen 4Runner and its blindspots (plus, at 6'4", I do not find it all that comfortable) but am of the GX. It is more comfortable and with a little bit of lift, could easily handle what I might throw at it (say, greens and blues up at Rausch). The GX has enough aftermarket and enough support here that it is a very good option.

From the buyers guide thread, I am looking for one without navigation as being my primary objective. Not impossible but definitely not too common. Everything else is not too big a deal it seems. The later ones with the 5AT would be nice to allow slightly better mileage. Overall chassis mileage is high and that is where I begin to enter different territory. It is hard to pitch an 80k mile 2004-2008 vehicle to my wife as a good purchase, considering both our current cars have fewer than 24k on them. This brings me to a couple of questions:
1. How many miles are too many miles? I will load VINs into the Lexus site to research service records so that I have an idea as to history.
2. When and in what state (mileage, year, etc...) did you get your 470? What have you had to do to it while it has been under your stead?

Thanks in advance.

 

[vwynn]

my GX470 sits on the driveway as i drive my Prius everywhere.

/end

 

[CarolinaGX]

My GX has 176k and it runs smoothly and I have complete faith/trust in it to take my family of 5 anywhere we want to go. I have a GTI for running about but the GX is the family hauler and weekend wheeler. The only thing I dont like is the timing belt design but I used to have to do those in my VW's and BMW's. We love our truck

 

[z00t3ch]

Bought mine in November 2018 with 101k miles for $18k. Texas truck, rust free, every option box ticked minus KDSS. Besides basic maintenance consumables, the only failures I've had were a seized AHC sensor and a deer who failed to yield to my right of way...

 

[HomersCanyonero]

@Dazza the gx470 buyers guide is in the FAQ thread pinned up at the top of this forum.

 

[TahoeLX450]

Mine is now at 145K and not one issue beyond standard care. I plan reevaluate at 250K. My friend in town has a bone stock, Lexus serviced, daily driver GX470 with 388K! Our 4.7 cast iron block V8 is fairly stout and the whole truck was built to last.

 

[z00t3ch]

In 2018, Consumer Reports rated the GX460 the most reliable vehicle. I know it has the aluminum 4.6 V8 out of the car, but the 2uz-fe is a legend in its own right, so the pedigree is what I'm pointing out here.

Top 10 Most Reliable Cars: 2018 Consumer Reports » AutoGuide.com News

The 2018 Consumer Reports Car Reliability Survey results have been announced and here are the top 10 most reliable cars of 2018.

www.autoguide.com

 

[corkybuchek]

Mines been in the family since new - 2006 (05' non-kdss) has about 140k on the clock. It was my mom's grocery-getter for 13 years until she got a new 460. Its had its fair share of maintenance (wheel bearings, susp. airbag(s) were replaced at one point, TB, some misc stuff I'd have to dig up), but most of that was the dealership coaxing the folks into "necessary" repairs. Since I've owned it, about a year/20k miles, the only maintenance I've done is oil and fluid flushes. 3rd TB (counting the one it came with) is creeping up on me soon, and the dealership insists my steering rack is leaking, but other than that its been rock solid. Also would note I drive about 250 miles per week and the things just keeps on chugging, the reliability (if maintained properly) is no joke on these cars.

 

[Dazza]

@Dazza the gx470 buyers guide is in the FAQ thread pinned up at the top of this forum.

Thank you! Found it.

 

[ChaseTruck]

Two GX's joined our fleet about two years ago. Both 2004, one had 178k and the other one 128k when we got it. Experience so far is as follows:

The 178k lives in AZ, near Phoenix, but unfortunately outside. It has seen one 40-mile dirt road trip in two years, and gets driven about once a month when we're in AZ; no other off-pavement activities as we have other vehicles for that. It had one previous owner , with the car having been touched only by Lexus, including all oil changes as well. That one has needy/whiny b!tch syndrome: rear suspension airbags leaking; broken front strut (on the freeway, at an expansion joint that I didn't even notice while driving the '80 in front of the GX; strut broke right above the bottom mount); 3 dead batteries eventually traced back to leaky windshield leading to corrosion at the ECU and purportedly current draw draining the battery, eventually requiring ECU replacement; knock sensor replacement after some rodent damage leading to while-we're-in-there timing belt/water pump replacement (which, granted, was due soon anyways); more rodent damage leading to partial harness replacement (but now wrapped with the good anti-rodent harness wrap from Honda); sun roof drain tube fell off leading to rain in the cabin; and the power steering doesn't like it when it's really cold as we found out on a recent trip to Flagstaff. Current focus for combating ailments has shifted away from the GX and onto rodents...

We got the '04 with 128k in Clovis, NM, and drove it back ~880 miles to Baton Rouge 1 1/2 years ago; it serves daily driver duties here, 12 mile roundtrip to work, no off-pavement duties here. Dash replacement under Lexus warranty, oil changes as needed, new battery solved a gasoline level sensor issue (ground reference no longer correct with the old battery, despite cleaning terminals). It has flashed warning lights pointing to the brake computer a few times, but that went away again (part is $2300 or so at Lexus); don't recall whether that correlated with the battery situation.

 

[DSRTRDR]

the DSRTGX is indeed the neediest vehicle we have ever owned, between 1 GMC, 2 Buicks, 4 Hondas, 1 Hyundai, 1 Mitsubishi, 1 Mazda, 2 Toyotas and 4 Lexuses - and we selected it on account of the perfect dealer service record, as a one-owner vehicle - quite frankly, if this GX had been my first experience with Lexus/Toyota, I would have never bought another one of their products

on the other hand, the SWAMPGX is of unknown provenance (at least 3 prior owners known, could be more), came with a spotty and incomplete service history, and a hard interior life as well (someone had painted over the cracked dash and the passenger carpet is toast), but has required very little - of course, now I jinxed it and it will soon come up with a litany of needs

 

[lndshark]

2004 non-KDSS with NAV. 203,000 miles. Purchased 2 years ago from the original owner, serviced exclusively at the local Lexus dealer. It’s Dorado Gold Pearl (or as my wife calls it “old man gold”). Not my first color choice but I was really after the best example in my budget.

It wasn’t perfect when I bought it...the wheels are peeling, it has some parking lot rash and has had a fender bender which resulted in some bodywork...all disclosed to me by the PO.

It now has 230,000 miles and all I have done is maintenance...really just engine oil/filter, air filter. PCV, spark plugs. I will embark on a major maintenance baseline when it stops raining. In Seattle...lol. The steering rack is seeping but there’s no fluid loss in the reservoir. I’ll get to that one day. I think I detect some noise from the front pinion bearing so that will be addressed at some point too.

We just got back from a 2600-mile round trip to the Canadian prairies for Christmas and it didn’t miss a beat. Quiet, comfortable, and room for all of our gear.

I’ve got a 2” Ironman lift sitting here and a few other items on the way.

I’ve owned Toyota trucks almost exclusively since 1984 and this one has yet to disappoint.